Question for coaching aficionados

[denguegopher]

UNLV hired a new coach, Bobby Hauch, in Dec. Yesterday they had their first spring practice. As a part of my jogging route I do a few laps around the UNLV practice fields, which I did this morning. The fields looked completely different than in the past, all the blocking dummies and blocking sleds were neatly aligned, no wadded up balls of tape laying around, etc. Also he has been low key with the press. They asked him what offense he would run and he said, in so many words, that they had a good idea but still wanted to evaluate the talent before making a firm commitment to any offensive strategy. The past coach, when asked the same question had said the they were going to “run the U of Utah offense which is virtually impossible to stop, etc.” OK, my question is, how hopeful should I be? Can I assume more than that this guy is neater, more organized and less of a windbag than the previous coach? Thanks.

 

[Rosemountian]

I believe Lou Holtz talked about stuff like this in his book. He said something to the point of....

When you lack talent and skilled players, winning is not always something you can control. But you have to control the things you can control. You need to be neat, organized, running in and out of huddles, practicing crisply, ect.

As to what kind of offense they will run, it is smart to play to your strengths, but it is also important to have an identity. While I think it is fine if they are not being public with what they are gonna do, if they seem to be changing completely what they are trying to do from week to week, I would start to worry a little.

Bobby Hauck has learned under Rick Neuhiesel, so he has seen how a big time coach does it. He has coached at both the FCS and FBS levels as an assistant. He only has one stop as a head guy and was very successful. Something like 80-17. From watching his Montana teams play I can say they look well coached. The gameplanning seemed to be pretty good. The question for him is whether he is going to bring in good enough players to compete in the Mountain West. If he can do that there is no doubt in my mind he will be a success. I could also see him being very successful and leaving for a BCS level school within 5-7 years.

 

[MGGopher]

More importantly than how UNLV will do...YOU LIVE IN VEGAS?!?!? I hate you...

That is all.

 

[RodentRampage]

I can see initially choosing your offense based on what matches the talent you have, it lets you do fairly well initially. If you don't, you can get into a hole that might be difficult to climb out of. On the other hand, you need a long term plan. That too is subject to change. A coach can't be too changable or too rigid. I like going old school on offense myself.

 

[Gibsogurski]

I am sure he knows what style of offense he will be running. All coaches have their ways and a style of play that they have had success with in the past. As to what parts of the offense he feels comfortable executing, I am sure he will find that out during spring practice.

 

[Gold Rush]

I believe Lou Holtz talked about stuff like this in his book. He said something to the point of....

When you lack talent and skilled players, winning is not always something you can control. But you have to control the things you can control. You need to be neat, organized, running in and out of huddles, practicing crisply, ect.

As to what kind of offense they will run, it is smart to play to your strengths, but it is also important to have an identity. While I think it is fine if they are not being public with what they are gonna do, if they seem to be changing completely what they are trying to do from week to week, I would start to worry a little.

Bobby Hauck has learned under Rick Neuhiesel, so he has seen how a big time coach does it. He has coached at both the FCS and FBS levels as an assistant. He only has one stop as a head guy and was very successful. Something like 80-17. From watching his Montana teams play I can say they look well coached. The gameplanning seemed to be pretty good. The question for him is whether he is going to bring in good enough players to compete in the Mountain West. If he can do that there is no doubt in my mind he will be a success. I could also see him being very successful and leaving for a BCS level school within 5-7 years.

Good post. I think the OP will be very happy with Bobby Hauck. He will look for the strengths on the team and build on them. He won't change your entire offense around and then change it again a few years later and destroy your offensive identity leaving you far far worse off than you were before. You also don't want an old windbag that comes in with pie-in-the-sky talk without being able to back it up. Talk is cheap and pretty soon the coach loses all credibility when he talks. Being positive is good, but be realistic, too. Give me a coach who knows what they are doing and knows how to coach over a loudmouth who talks a great game but can't back it up with a cohesive gameplan. There is no doubt in my mind that Hauck has what it takes to be very successful there at UNLV.