If I am Brian Kelly, Brady Hoke, or Turner Gill, I have to wonder what I have to do to get a premier coaching job these days? This "hiring" season has to be titled the Year of the Coordinator! It's crazy how many coordinators are getting college head coaching jobs.
Breaking News: It seems head coach "in waiting" at Texas and defensive coordinator Will Muscamp will be named the new Auburn head football coach today. Auburn interviewed but did not hire, Turner Gill, Brady Hoke, and Tulsa's Todd Graham before choosing Will. Of course this will be looked at as an solid hire since Will was in such huge demand and most likely turned down the Washington job. Update: Will is saying he is not going to Auburn.
Syracuse: tried to hire a current head coach but Skip Hotz turned down the job. Which was actually a smart move, I'm not sure Syracuse is a better job then East Carolina anyway. Now, The Big Orange is planning on naming New Orleans Saints' offensive coordinator Doug Marrone. That same Doug Marrone who just lost in overtime to the Bears last night. I'm sure Doug is a good coach but to choose him over Brady Hoke and or Turner Gill is crazy in my mind.
Washington: Also got "one of the hottest" coordinators in the country in hiring USC's offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. I really can't argue with this hire, he is from out West, he knows the PAC 10, and is a great recruiter. Very good choice.
Tennessee: Picked another former USC offensive coordinator who had a "cup of coffee" in the NFL as a head football coach with the Raiders. Lane Kiffin has been a head football coach for a total of 20 games. So most of his experience comes from being a coordinator under Pete Carroll since 2005.
New Mexico: Hired Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley. I believe this is a great pick up and that Mike was another "hot" commodity in the coordinator ranks. No offense to the New Mexico program but this is the type of job a very good coordinator should be getting.
Mississippi State: Hired Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen who now has to decide to build his staff and recruit or coach in the National Championship Game which is played sometime in mid-January. I think this was a solid hire, but I would have leaned to someone with some head coaching experience.
So there you have it, 5 "Big Time" college football job openings and all of them (depending on how your rate Lane Kiffin) went to a former coordinator. I think college athletic directors are getting to focused on trying to find the next great coach and passing up 3 really good candidates with leadership skills. These AD's should know more then anyone that everyone doesn't have leadership skills. Do you really want your new head coach learning his job at the expense of your program? Sure, some of these guys will do well but others will fail. If it was my couple of million dollars a year, I sure would want a guy that knew how to captain the ship.
These three guys, Brian Kelly, Brady Hoke, and Turner Gill should be leading top college programs. Brady now has to interview with San Diego State, Brian is happy at Cincinnati if they double the capacity of their stadium and get a practice field, and Turner Gill keeps doing something with nothing at Buffalo. I can't believe how many AD's missed the boat on these 3. Keep your chin up boys, the Notre Dame Job will be open next year!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Everyone Loves a Good Coordinator
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2 comments:
The skill set to be a good head coach is not necessarily the same as that for a good coordinator.
For the same reason, in business, the engineers/tech people don't necessarily have what it takes to be good managers.
The Head Coach has to be a manager, organizer, motivator, and have the right kind of people skills, whereas a coordinator, though he may possess all of these traits, really has to be an X and O geek, above all.
You need look no further than Charlie Weis to see someone who is a perfect fit as a coordinator, and not so much as a head coach. Hopefully, we won't be saying the same about RichRod over the coming years.
Unfortunately, this hiring trend will continue until AD's stop falling for X+O guys and start thinking about what the job of head coach really entails.
Jeff, I couldn't agree more. I know RR had very good head coaching background/experience before he got to Michigan. So I'm not too worried about him.
Here is another example of an assitant coach failing as Army's head coach who was let go today.
Brock, a former NFL offensive lineman, served as Army's offensive line coach for three years before replacing Bobby Ross in early 2007. He had no previous Division I college coaching experience.
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