New DC: Jim O'Neil
- Thread starter freewillie07
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Was a grad assistant at NU in 2003-04........and has a Masters in CAS from NU as well.
Did not expect that. He has bounced around quite a bit in the NFL. He was hired as a DC by two coaches who were fired a year or two later.
Raiders bio here.
Raiders bio here.
I bet he breaks that pattern at NU.....
That's what stood out to me, too. He's 42 years old, with coaching experience at five different college programs and five different NFL teams. With two sons and a daughter, it would make sense he would look for a potential stable spot where he can build something of his own.
He's only 42 now and he got his first DC gig at age 36, so he's was on the fast track.
Here is a podcast interview with him last year, he definitely knows what he's talking about.
The thing I like the most about this hire is the diverse background of O'Neil. He's worked with a vast number of coaches and different systems, in different roles from position coach to two gigs as DC. My main concern is that he is relatively young and might get antsy for the NFL after a few successful seasons at NU.
Makes perfect sense to me as a "bridge" DC while McGarigle keeps developing.
Honestly that may not be as big of a deal because by then you could see some of our defensive coaches ready for promotions as they approach their 40s.
And yeah as I wrote that up gcg pointed it out.
Makes all the sense in the world; we don't need next guy to be DC for 10+ years though it would be great if he ends up a great DC of course.
Spot on. This guy was a DC in the NFL at 36. Even in an era where young head coaches and coordinators are becoming more the norm, this guy’s career has been on a pretty meteoric rise. He must be pretty impressive. Having said that, I have rarely heard his name and I follow the NFL very closely. The first time I heard his name was a few years ago when Fitz was filling Jerry Brown’s spot as DB coach and his name came up. I am confident Fitz realizes the importance of this hire and believe Fitz has hired him in the belief that he can continue and build on the standard of excellence established by Hank.
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That's my unfounded speculation as well. If O'Neil proves to be a great DC and is successful at NU, he will be wooed by the NFL in 2-3 years. He might even be hired by Kafka. 🙂 Financially, becoming DC at NU is probably a lateral move, as the average NFL assistant salary is about $400K and I would guess that is roughly what he would make at NU. So it makes sense that this is a stepping stone back into the NFL for O'Neil, from both a financial and career perspective.
Possibly. I don't know exactly how old his three children are, but I do think part of the draw of NU is its proximity to some strong schools in the North suburbs. I figured his thought process was that it could be a place where he could find stability for several years before maybe testing the NFL waters again.
Thanks for circulating. Mostly a lot of pre-season optimism and coach speak / not that much on scheme or specifics, which is to be expected. Complimented the talent of a lot of their guys. He came across as an old school, get in there and make hits, I like cold/ rain/ the elements type guy which Fitz probably likes.
Did say they wanted to be a press coverage team and were drafting / developing toward - but that might be a function of the Raiders DC approach last year and his players rather than O'Neil's personal preference. Talked about challenges of "making the middle of the field a scary place for opponents" (ie hitting them hard) while avoiding flags - "lowering our aiming point".
I dunno, tough to take too much away from that, but thanks for sending anyways. I like that he has NFL DC experience even if only 1 of the 3 years he was a DC were really successful. And he's been a bunch of different places. Should mean he has a good feel for X's and O's in various schemes. Was a recruiting coordinator at EMU back in 2006-2008 so he must have at least a little bit of that background.
Generally speaking, if Fitz felt that he was the best guy for the job over the various internal options (and maybe over bringing back Bates too), then that's good enough for me. We will see how it goes...
Welcome (back) to Northwestern, Jim! Look forward to you continuing a tradition of excellent defensive football!
There’s a 0% chance he will be making only $400k as our DC.
My guess he is making much more than that as DC at NU. My guess is 600k-750k.
You guys are right. Here is a list of top assistant salaries in 2019. SEC coaches were highlighted, as the point of the article was that 10 of 15 top assistant salaries were SEC.
- LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda — $2.5 million
- Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables — $2.2 million
- Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko — $2.1 million
- Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele — $1.9 million
- Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham — $1.8 million
- Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando — $1.7 million
- Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian — $1.5 million
- Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis — $1.5 million
- Ole Miss defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre — $1.5 million
- Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown — $1.5 million
- Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim Chaney — $1.5 million
- Washington defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake — $1.4 million
- Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch — $1.4 million
- South Carolina defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson — $1.2 million
- Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding — $1.1 million
This was probably discussed in the media, but did he throw a malicious elbow or was he just bracing himself to be hit and his arm went out a bit? I'd like to think he's not some hot-head a$$hole.
I like it. NFL DC experience. Young enough to be hungry. Give McGarigle and McPherson a raise, get someone who will likely help each of them develop and who needs to have great success to get back to another NFL DC role.
I don't mean to pick on you specifically, but I hate this metaphor. Meteors don't rise. They are rocks that fall from space and either burn up in the atmosphere or crash spectacularly into the earth. I don't understand where the term "meteoric rise" came from.
I believe it is intended to connote a sense of rare speed. Like that of a meteor approaching the earth’s atmosphere.
In that context it makes perfect sense.
GOUNUII
Aside from the SEC point, which is clear, I found it interesting that 13 of the top 15 assistant coach salaries (and the top 6) are for DC's. Makes me wonder if that is a snapshot thing in this set of data, or a consistent fact - do DC's usually get paid more than OC's? I'm not really sure why that would be the case given the game seems to be transitioning to be increasingly offense-oriented, with those guys also more frequently getting promoted to HC roles. Or maybe the DC's just get paid more at the top end... there are fewer guys regarded as top-end DCs than top-end OCs, so they demand a premium? Perhaps it is that there are more top-tier DC's that are content to stay in that role on a quasi-permanent basis and thus accrue more experience and higher salaries, while top OC's tend to be more ambitious and are looking for HC roles... kind of just musing ideas here.
PS- Some of those SEC DC's didn't do a very good job of earning their wages in 2020!
As a fan I'm going in here with an open mind/clean slate, but on paper I'd say I'm at least a little bit worried about a dude who has spent the last 10+ years in the NFL, especially given how our program historically relies on developing young talent vs. ready out of the gate. Guys like Lovie, Weis and others have shown a total deficiency when it comes to this specific issue, which has me a little gun shy, but I also realize this isn't inherent to all NFL guys.
I think the position coaches are more critical to developing talent than the Coordinators, but you make a fair point.
Technically they don’t really fall either. They move; at times their motion is described in relation to other things. /p
I hope Riley’s career continues to rise, though.
Only....and I mean only,,,,,on an NU board. Preach it brother.
On a related subject. Who took Highlights of Astronomy in Tech Aud?
Was unable to confirm whether Hynek was once a teacher for that class. Always wanted to enroll in one of his classes, but they were always full.
Did come across this added bit of trivia that I had not previously known - that our Professor Hynek actually came up with the term, "Close Encounters:"
"In his first book, Hynek published the "Close Encounter" scale that he had developed to better catalog UFO reports. Hynek was later a consultant to Columbia Pictures and Steven Spielberg for the popular 1977 UFO movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, named after a level of Hynek's scale. He made a cameo appearance in the film.[19] At the end of the film, after the aliens disembark from the "mother ship", he can be seen, bearded and with pipe in mouth, stepping forward to view the spectacle."
Northwestern Professor Hynek
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This is the type of post you only find on a Northwestern board. Nebraska fans would be calling it a "metoric rise" and all agreeing with it.
The auditorium overflowed the week Dr. Hynek gave his lectures on UFOs. He also was readily available for firesides also
One of the best cartoons ever was in the papers with Dr. Hynek next to a gas pump, filling up a flying saucer with "swamp gas"
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