The Best of the Non-AQ Head Coaches

[Go Gophers Rah]

None of us will have any say over the next coach, but that doesn't make it any less fun to speculate.

I thought it would be interesting to devote a thread to head coaches from FBS teams that are in non-automatic qualifying conferences.

There are some very experienced coaches (such as Troy's Larry Blankenly who has been their HC for 19 years) and some new, but high-potential coaches too (such as 1st year coach Ruffin McNeil at ECU.

There are a few I would eliminate from consideration due to age (Frank Solich and Larry Blakenly) and a couple that I would eliminate because I really dont think they would have any long-term desire to be in Minnesota; my example here is Baylor's Art Briles who is from Texcas and has worked exclusively at Texas schools for the past 31 years - it sounds like he wants to be in Texas to me.

I am also eliminating a couple of coaches who only have 1 or 2 years of valid HC experience.

So, with that, here is my list of non-AQ coaches that I think we should at least consider:

Jerry Kill - Northern Illinois; pros: has been a winner everywhere he's been - often at schools w/o a ton of resources. Cons: health concerns; vanilla style of playing.

Brady Hoke - San Diego State. Pros: had Ball State ranked! Knows the Big Ten. Might be a long-term guy, young. Cons: Is his success a reflection of the weak schedules played?

Troy Calhoun - AFA Pros: squeezes a lot of wins out of an undertalented group. Cons: Can a "gimmick" offense have long-term viability? Only in 3rd year as HC - is this his success or is he coasting off fumes?

Ken Niumataolo - Navy. See above.


Kevin Sumlin - Houston. Pros: Houston seems to be a legit team, monster offenses, experience at big programs, midwesterner, knows the Big Ten pretty well, coached here as an asst. Cons: defense? Strength of opponents?

George O'Leary - UCF Pros: Consistent success, has coached big program in a metro area, knows the Twin Cities. Cons: resume-gate, too old?

Pat Hill - Fresno Pros: Never has a "bad" team, good on both sides of the ball. Cons: hasn't really dominated the WAC, no higher than #3 conference finish in the past 6 seasons.

Of these, my top 3 (in no particular order) would be:
Brady Hoke
Jerry Kill
Kevin Sumlin

Discussion?

 

[glovedgopher]

Your Calhoun take is wrong. He was a NFL OC and only runs the triple option to fit his current team.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

Your Calhoun take is wrong. He was a NFL OC and only runs the triple option to fit his current team.

Yeah, I knew that. I'm curious what kind of offensive scheme he would suggest that we use here?

 

[RodentRampage]

The triple option is NOT a gimmick offense. That's like saying meat and potatoes is some gimmick meal or that 2+2=4 is some gimmick mathematics. It's just old-school football.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

The triple option is NOT a gimmick offense. That's like saying meat and potatoes is some gimmick meal or that 2+2=4 is some gimmick mathematics. It's just old-school football.

I used "quotation" marks on gimmick to connote the general concensus that I've seen on this board - not necessarily my own opinion. I guess that I feel the same way about the option that I do about a lot of offensive schemes. If only a handful of teams do it, then it is harder to defend. If everyone starts to run it, then defenses will get good at playing against it (see "the spread offense").

Also, I have concerns about recruiting players into a system that might inhibit their chances of going pro. Will we miss out on a lot of good athletes?

I don't have the answers, but I think these are valid questions.

 

[RodentRampage]

Getting players to the pros is a side benefit, but it's a secondary matter. We recruit talent to help us win, not for the NFL. If we ran the triple option, we might be less appealing to wide recievers, but it would be quite good for running backs. If we are running the same offense as everyone else, we are also recruiting for the same pool of athletes. But if we ran something different, such as the triple option, we would be recruiting athletes with a different set of skills, and would be competing for them with less teams. A QB being recruited by other teams as a RB might well find playing in the option quite appealing, because he could play QB.

 

[dpodoll68]

You don't include:

Chris Petersen
Gary Patterson
Kyle Whittingham
Al Golden
Rick Stockstill
June Jones

For some reason.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

You don't include:

Chris Petersen
Gary Patterson
Kyle Whittingham
Al Golden
Rick Stockstill
June Jones

For some reason.

A couple of them were excluded by me because I don't see them going anywhere unless is to a currently elite team. This would include Petersen and Patterson. A couple of others were excluded for the same reason I excluded Art Briles - because they are so perfectly suited to their current situation and/or geography - Bronko Mendenhall would be one of these.

I should have included most of those you mentioned, though, and invite you to throw in your own pros and cons for each.

 

[littlebigboy]

In big time FB you will not win consistantly with the option offense. Good def. will load up and stuff it. If you can't pass you can't run and if you can't run fairly decent, you cann't pass!

 

[GopherGod]

In big time FB you will not win consistantly with the option offense. Good def. will load up and stuff it. If you can't pass you can't run and if you can't run fairly decent, you cann't pass!

Nebraska and their 3 national championships in the '90's disagree. These also used it pretty effectively from the 70's all the way through the 90's.

 

[Silvio]

Nebraska and their 3 national championships in the '90's disagree. These also used it pretty effectively from the 70's all the way through the 90's.

Why don't they use it anymore?

 

[ruralgopher]

In big time FB you will not win consistantly with the option offense. Good def. will load up and stuff it. If you can't pass you can't run and if you can't run fairly decent, you cann't pass!

Why don't they use it anymore?

I bet over 40% of 'big time' NCAA offenses right now are option offenses. The zone read or veer option that Nebraska is currently running is still an option offense.

 

[GopherGod]

Why don't they use it anymore?

Because the Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator who implemented and ran it retired after 25 years. He was eventually replaced by Bill Callahan who wanted to run the West Coast Offense. They now run more of a hybrid offense with elements of the "West Coast, Spread, and Option."

 

[Silvio]

Because the Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator who implemented and ran it retired after 25 years. He was eventually replaced by Bill Callahan who wanted to run the West Coast Offense. They now run more of a hybrid offense with elements of the West Coast, Spread, and Option.

Basically, outside of the Academies, the game has evolved past the triple option. While there are great aspects of that offense it has gotten to the point where any team needs to be more balanced (run & pass) to have success on the national level.

Plus I would guess that the reason Nebraska went away from that offense would in part be due to the fact that it became more difficult to recruit highly skilled players to be the quarterback in that offense. (I am talking about the late 90's early 2000's, I am aware of the highly skilled players Neb. has had at that position).

The question is why did Neb chose to go as far away from the triple option as possible with Callahan? For some of you the answer is stupidity, but I would guess there was some sound logic at the time. It probably didn't play out like they had hoped, and they hired Kevin Cosgrove.

 

[GopherGod]

Basically, outside of the Academies, the game has evolved past the triple option. While there are great aspects of that offense it has gotten to the point where any team needs to be more balanced (run & pass) to have success on the national level.

Plus I would guess that the reason Nebraska went away from that offense would in part be due to the fact that it became more difficult to recruit highly skilled players to be the quarterback in that offense. (I am talking about the late 90's early 2000's, I am aware of the highly skilled players Neb. has had at that position).

The question is why did Neb chose to go as far away from the triple option as possible with Callahan? For some of you the answer is stupidity, but I would guess there was some sound logic at the time. It probably didn't play out like they had hoped, and they hired Kevin Cosgrove.

The switched because that was the offense that Callahan was comfortable with and the system he brought in from the Oakland Raiders. It was a bad hire and a bad call by the A.D, one which cost him his job as well. The only reason Nebraska went away from it was the coaching change, period. It is actually easier to recruit highly skilled players to play QB at this position than a true drop back passer because you are not competing with so many schools for these athletes. The athletes recruited to play QB in a option based offense are ones that quite frankly would be playing receiver, running back, defensive back, at another program running more of a pro set offense. Many kids don't want to give up that dream of playing QB and these option offenses give these great athletes the opportunity to do so, an option they wouldn't have at many other schools. The game has not evolved past the option, that same argument was used in the '90's in reference to not being able to compete with Spurrier and his fun and gun offense at Florida. Guess what, the option trounced his offense and a Bob Stoops coached defense to the tune of 62-24 in the national title game when it was said it couldn't be done. Georgia Tech has also done pretty well with it as recently as last year. I could care less which offense is run but to say that a particular offense like the option is outdated and cannot win is a tired argument that has been repeated in the '80's, 90's, 00's and proven wrong each decade.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

Which teams run a variant of the option more than 2/3 of the time?

Air Force
Navy
Georgia Tech
Anyone else?

 

[GopherGod]

Which teams run a variant of the option more than 2/3 of the time?

Air Force
Navy
Georgia Tech
Anyone else?

Florida Gators for one. They also use some traditional drop back passing, more so with Brantley than with Tebow. Urban Meyer has even talked about how critical the option is to their success.

 

[Silvio]

The switched because that was the offense that Callahan was comfortable with and the system he brought in from the Oakland Raiders. It was a bad hire and a bad call by the A.D, one which cost him his job as well. The only reason Nebraska went away from it was the coaching change, period. It is actually easier to recruit highly skilled players to play QB at this position than a true drop back passer because you are not competing with so many schools for these athletes. The athletes recruited to play QB in a option based offense are ones that quite frankly would be playing receiver, running back, defensive back, at another program running more of a pro set offense. Many kids don't want to give up that dream of playing QB and these option offenses give these great athletes the opportunity to do so, an option they wouldn't have at many other schools. The game has not evolved past the option, that same argument was used in the '90's in reference to not being able to compete with Spurrier and his fun and gun offense at Florida. Guess what, the option trounced his offense and a Bob Stoops coached defense to the tune of 62-24 in the national title game when it was said it couldn't be done. Georgia Tech has also done pretty well with it as recently as last year. I could care less which offense is run but to say that a particular offense like the option is outdated and cannot win is a tired argument that has been repeated in the '80's, 90's, 00's and proven wrong each decade.

I don't mean to say that it can't be run successfully, just very few teams in this day and age can run a pure triple option (or pure any offense) for that matter and have success. The ones that can are the ones with a distinct advantage in terms of offense.

I thought Callahan was hired because Neb. wanted to "modernize" their offense, not that they switched the offense because that is what Callahan was comfortable with. I understand that a lot of top athletes are willing to run the triple option to continue to play QB. It seems more likely that a majority of the top athletes want to be in an offense that will increase their chances to "go pro" at their current position, but I see the strengths of your argument.

You gave a couple of great examples were the triple option can work, but you must admit that the results of Frank Solich (sp) who I believe still ran the Triple Option where not acceptable to the fans of Nebraska and was part of the push for the change to Modernize the offense (we should be lucky enough to have 2-3 loss seasons considered unacceptable).

 

[Seany]

I love Pat Hill, and consider him probably the ballsiest coach in all of college football. There are *never* any creampuff non-conference schedules for Fresno State, as it's Pat Hill's goal and philosophy to always schedule the toughest teams he possibly can. His motto has always been 'Anybody, anywhere, anytime', and since 2000 his Bulldogs have won 15 games vs. BCS schools, more than any other non-BCS school including Boise St. and TCU. Among his victims have been Tennessee, UCLA, Georgia Tech (twice), Oregon, Mississippi, K-State, Washington, Virginia, and on and on and on. He'll also schedule teams at the peak of their powers like Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and USC, and more times than not have his team right there in the game with the heavyweights. He's also a heck of a recruiter, as there are more Fresno State players on NFL rosters (24) than there are Boise State players (13).

And he actually gets criticized for this by some people, as if he's doing his team a disservice by wanting to match them up against the best competition he can work into the schedule.....and maybe, possibly they might have a point, as sometimes it's just 'too' hard and his team gets so physically challenged during the non-conference portion of the schedule that they tend to fall apart a bit once the WAC portion of the schedule hits, and that's borne out by the fact that his team has never won an outright WAC title and has only shared one once.

But still, I've got to salute a coach with testicular fortitude such as that, especially given the fact that virtually everyone in the BCS schedules the weakest and lamest non-conference schedules they possibly can. And Mr. Hill did take little Fresno State to a top ten ranking at one time, and that was all due to how courageously he schedules, and how his team can hang right in there against the very best of the best.

 

[Silvio]

Florida Gators for one. They also use some traditional drop back passing, more so with Brantley than with Tebow. Urban Meyer has even talked about how critical the option is to their success.

It was very important with Tebow. I'm intrigued to see how long Urban will stick with it now that Tebow is gone. I don't believe Alex Smith ran the option @ Utah ( I could be wrong). It seems like the option worked because of the unique skill set of Tim Tebow.

 

[monk10]

I believe Rich Rod developed his offense from the triple O from the shotgun formation.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

My problem with Pat Hill is that he doesn't win enough WAC games to be considered an elite coach.
Here are his recent WAC records:

2004 5–3 T–3rd
2005 6–2 T–3rd
2006 4–4 5th
2007 6–2 3rd
2008 4–4 T–5th
2009 6–2 3rd

These are obviously very good and very consistent, just not "elite" considering the quality dropoff after the top-2 in the WAC.

 

[Silvio]

I believe Rich Rod developed his offense from the triple O from the shotgun formation.

That would make a lot of sense to me with limited X's and O's Knowledge. The point is that he advanced/developed a new offense that spreads out the field from the base triple option it shows how the game has evolved. Even when you have the premier athlete at the position their will come a point when you have to be able to throw the ball to win. I am sure that I am over simplifying the triple option to what I saw in high school, so that is a big part of my argument.

 

[GopherGod]

I don't mean to say that it can't be run successfully, just very few teams in this day and age can run a pure triple option (or pure any offense) for that matter and have success. The ones that can are the ones with a distinct advantage in terms of offense.

I thought Callahan was hired because Neb. wanted to "modernize" their offense, not that they switched the offense because that is what Callahan was comfortable with. I understand that a lot of top athletes are willing to run the triple option to continue to play QB. It seems more likely that a majority of the top athletes want to be in an offense that will increase their chances to "go pro" at their current position, but I see the strengths of your argument.

You gave a couple of great examples were the triple option can work, but you must admit that the results of Frank Solich (sp) who I believe still ran the Triple Option where not acceptable to the fans of Nebraska and was part of the push for the change to Modernize the offense (we should be lucky enough to have 2-3 loss seasons considered unacceptable).

His results were not acceptable to many fans but his failures were not the result of the offensive scheme, they were the result of him being a poor recruiter and once Osborne's recruits graduated it started to show. Callahan was hired because the previous A.D. botched the hire and scrambled to simply find a name, not necessarily the best fit for the job. He hired a guy a year removed from the Super Bowl, it was not a hire based on modernizing the offense.

 

[Redbird]

Hope I'm not going to subject myself to ridicule, but I'd like to see the Gophers go after Urban Myer. He would be a "Tubby" kind of hire and I am under the impression that he is not happy at Florida although I don't know exactly why. Obviously it is a pressure cooker and the season has not gone well by Florida standards, and I recall that he tried to retire? a year ago for health reasons so he maybe ready to leave.

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

Pat Hill has a 73% winning record in the WAC. Hard nosed, good recruiter, would probably make a good Big Ten coach. Age 59.