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Top qualities for the next OC

freewillie07

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Aug 22, 2017
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  1. Has been an OC before: With Fitz being a defensive-minded head coach, NU needs an OC who can stand on his own two feet and be a largely sovereign entity. Preferably a Power 5 OC, but a Group of Five would also work. This disqualifies Rees. I would make an exception for Kafka, obviously.
  2. Has a track record of recruiting and developing great receivers: The biggest thing that has held the NU offense back as of late has been the lack of dangerous playmakers on the outside. Yes, some of it was probably due to McCall’s scheme and the inability of the OL to pass protect. But NU needs a guy who can immediately sell a vision to our top receiver targets. And future QBs, for that matter. Ayeni and Anderson have the RB and OL recruiting locked down.
  3. UPDATE via Darmok: Adaptable to the players’ talents and able to make in game adjustments like Hank does on defense: 100% agree, for example if we are breaking in a QB like Hunter, take some of the in-game responsibility off his plate.
  4. Intends to stay for at least 5 years (assuming all goes well): NU doesn’t need a lifer, especially with Ayeni in the wings, but it also would set the program back to have an OC who views the job as a brief stepping stone. I don’t think this will be a problem as anyone who is interested knows this likely won’t be a super quick fix.
  5. Has ties to the Midwest OR other fertile recruiting grounds like Texas: For obvious reasons
  6. No Air Raid: Again, obvious reasons
  7. No history of drama, nor allowing academics to slide within the program
I do NOT think that previous ties to NU or working at an Ivy is at all necessary. This is big time college football, plain and simple. Let’s get the best OC we can.

Any qualities I missed?
 
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  1. Has been an OC before: With Fitz being a defensive-minded head coach, NU needs an OC who can stand on his own two feet and be a largely sovereign entity. Preferably a Power 5 OC, but a Group of Five would also work. This disqualifies Rees. I would make an exception for Kafka, obviously.
  2. Has a track record of recruiting and developing great receivers: The biggest thing that has held the NU offense back as of late has been the lack of dangerous playmakers on the outside. Yes, some of it was probably due to McCall’s scheme and the inability of the OL to pass protect. But NU needs a guy who can immediately sell a vision to our top receiver targets. And future QBs, for that matter. Ayeni and Anderson have the RB and OL recruiting locked down.
  3. Intends to stay for at least 5 years (assuming all goes well): NU doesn’t need a lifer, especially with Ayeni in the wings, but it also would set the program back to have an OC who views the job as a brief stepping stone. I don’t think this will be a problem as anyone who is interested knows this likely won’t be a super quick fix.
  4. Has ties to the Midwest OR other fertile recruiting grounds like Texas: For obvious reasons
  5. No Air Raid: Again, obvious reasons
  6. No history of drama, nor allowing academics to slide within the program
I do NOT think that previous ties to NU or working at an Ivy is at all necessary. This is big time college football, plain and simple. Let’s get the best OC we can.

Any qualities I missed?
Adaptable to the players’ talents and able to make in game adjustments like Hank does on defense.
 
  1. Has been an OC before: With Fitz being a defensive-minded head coach, NU needs an OC who can stand on his own two feet and be a largely sovereign entity. Preferably a Power 5 OC, but a Group of Five would also work. This disqualifies Rees. I would make an exception for Kafka, obviously.
  2. Has a track record of recruiting and developing great receivers: The biggest thing that has held the NU offense back as of late has been the lack of dangerous playmakers on the outside. Yes, some of it was probably due to McCall’s scheme and the inability of the OL to pass protect. But NU needs a guy who can immediately sell a vision to our top receiver targets. And future QBs, for that matter. Ayeni and Anderson have the RB and OL recruiting locked down.
  3. Intends to stay for at least 5 years (assuming all goes well): NU doesn’t need a lifer, especially with Ayeni in the wings, but it also would set the program back to have an OC who views the job as a brief stepping stone. I don’t think this will be a problem as anyone who is interested knows this likely won’t be a super quick fix.
  4. Has ties to the Midwest OR other fertile recruiting grounds like Texas: For obvious reasons
  5. No Air Raid: Again, obvious reasons
  6. No history of drama, nor allowing academics to slide within the program
I do NOT think that previous ties to NU or working at an Ivy is at all necessary. This is big time college football, plain and simple. Let’s get the best OC we can.

Any qualities I missed?

6 is on Fitz as head coach.

What you have against Air Raid?
 
  1. Has been an OC before: With Fitz being a defensive-minded head coach, NU needs an OC who can stand on his own two feet and be a largely sovereign entity. Preferably a Power 5 OC, but a Group of Five would also work. This disqualifies Rees. I would make an exception for Kafka, obviously.
  2. Has a track record of recruiting and developing great receivers: The biggest thing that has held the NU offense back as of late has been the lack of dangerous playmakers on the outside. Yes, some of it was probably due to McCall’s scheme and the inability of the OL to pass protect. But NU needs a guy who can immediately sell a vision to our top receiver targets. And future QBs, for that matter. Ayeni and Anderson have the RB and OL recruiting locked down.
  3. Intends to stay for at least 5 years (assuming all goes well): NU doesn’t need a lifer, especially with Ayeni in the wings, but it also would set the program back to have an OC who views the job as a brief stepping stone. I don’t think this will be a problem as anyone who is interested knows this likely won’t be a super quick fix.
  4. Has ties to the Midwest OR other fertile recruiting grounds like Texas: For obvious reasons
  5. No Air Raid: Again, obvious reasons
  6. No history of drama, nor allowing academics to slide within the program
I do NOT think that previous ties to NU or working at an Ivy is at all necessary. This is big time college football, plain and simple. Let’s get the best OC we can.

Any qualities I missed?

Dream scenario would be getting the Hank equivalent on offense. Then we could seriously be a top 10-15 program the likes of Wisc.
 
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6 is on Fitz as head coach.

What you have against Air Raid?

Nothing! But I’m pretty sure it’s a non-starter for Fitz.

I also think it would take at least a few cycles to get the right guys in the program to run it successfully.
 
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6 is on Fitz as head coach.

What you have against Air Raid?
GCG,
Is it ball control?
Is it power run adaptable?
Does it fit our personell?
Does it our weather condition variations?
Hot reads?
Pass pro?
Recruiting plus or minus?
Coaching staff?
Does it compliment our program philosophy and B1G West competitive needs?
Just a few questions.
 
  1. Has been an OC before: With Fitz being a defensive-minded head coach, NU needs an OC who can stand on his own two feet and be a largely sovereign entity. Preferably a Power 5 OC, but a Group of Five would also work. This disqualifies Rees. I would make an exception for Kafka, obviously.
  2. Has a track record of recruiting and developing great receivers: The biggest thing that has held the NU offense back as of late has been the lack of dangerous playmakers on the outside. Yes, some of it was probably due to McCall’s scheme and the inability of the OL to pass protect. But NU needs a guy who can immediately sell a vision to our top receiver targets. And future QBs, for that matter. Ayeni and Anderson have the RB and OL recruiting locked down.
  3. Intends to stay for at least 5 years (assuming all goes well): NU doesn’t need a lifer, especially with Ayeni in the wings, but it also would set the program back to have an OC who views the job as a brief stepping stone. I don’t think this will be a problem as anyone who is interested knows this likely won’t be a super quick fix.
  4. Has ties to the Midwest OR other fertile recruiting grounds like Texas: For obvious reasons
  5. No Air Raid: Again, obvious reasons
  6. No history of drama, nor allowing academics to slide within the program
I do NOT think that previous ties to NU or working at an Ivy is at all necessary. This is big time college football, plain and simple. Let’s get the best OC we can.

Any qualities I missed?
I don’t think 1, 3, 5 are necessities.

If NU could nab a highly-productive passing/running game coordinator from a top program, I’d be totally on board. Those guys tend to have OL or WR coach as their daily responsibilities.

Five years is a looooong time for someone who views themselves as a high-riser. I don’t want a coach who views NU OC as the highest they can go — I want someone who will learn ‘CEO’ stuff from Fitz, and go run their own program in three years.

Re , Air Raid — I want points however they’re produced. I hope Fitz watched LSU this year and has decided the same. Substance, not style.

(Nice post, @freewillie07 .)
 
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GCG,
Is it ball control?
Is it power run adaptable?
Does it fit our personell?
Does it our weather condition variations?
Hot reads?
Pass pro?
Recruiting plus or minus?
Coaching staff?
Does it compliment our program philosophy and B1G West competitive needs?
Just a few questions.

You're talking about the Air Raid?

1) Sure, if you run it well.
2) Sure.
3) Does any offense really fit our personnel right now?
4) Fine
5) Yes there are hot reads, as there are in any modern passing offense
6) Of course there's pass pro? I don't get it
7) Probably a plus for skill positions
8) Staff can adapt to scheme just like players
9) Sure, a good offense tends to compliment program philosophy (i.e. winning)
 
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I don’t think 1, 3, 5 are necessities.

If NU could nab a highly-productive passing/running game coordinator from a top program, I’d be totally on board. Those guys tend to have OL or WR coach as their daily responsibilities.

Five years is a looooong time for someone who views themselves as a high-riser. I don’t want a coach who views NU OC as the highest they can go — I want someone who will learn ‘CEO’ stuff from Fitz, and go run their own program in three years.

Re , Air Raid — I want points however they’re produced. I hope Fitz watched LSU this year and has decided the same. Substance, not style.

(Nice post, @freewillie07 .)

Fair counterpoints. I don’t particularly see 5 years as a long time for a program that has long used stability as a selling point that differentiates it from other schools. I just picked 5 because it would cover the entire time of one recruiting class (in this case, the 2020 group).
 
I think that hoping a guy will stay at least five years is probably asking too much. Yes, in a perfect world, we get a great OC that stays forever. But the reality is your top OC’s are almost always going to want to move into a head coaching position unless they are older and maybe already tested the head coaching waters without success.

If we get a good OC, I truly have no problem with him leaving after a few years for a head coaching gig. If that occurs, that means things have gone well. Not saying finding a really good OC with no higher aspirations isn’t possible- just seems highly unlikely.
 
6 is on Fitz as head coach.

What you have against Air Raid?
With the iffy weather we often have during BIG season, it is likely to break down. It is more all or nothing approach. Don't think it is a direction Fitz is willing to go
 
Has a track record of recruiting and developing great receivers: The biggest thing that has held the NU offense back as of late has been the lack of dangerous playmakers on the outside. Yes, some of it was probably due to McCall’s scheme and the inability of the OL to pass protect. But NU needs a guy who can immediately sell a vision to our top receiver targets. And future QBs, for that matter. Ayeni and Anderson have the RB and OL recruiting locked down.

I hope whoever gets this OC gig can raise NU recruiting a level. Somebody with a big rep might hit the ground running, but it is harder work at NU than nearly everyplace else. Some will be discouraged by the challenge.

The Freshmen WRs look like they are a level better than what we've seen and I hope they get a real shot to play next season. NU seems to have more seniority bias than it needs.

I'm all in with Anderson's recruiting as of this year's recruits and I think he'll get a rep soon which will sustain his success.

Ayeni otoh has yet to recruit a RB equal to those on NU's stronger opponents. Maybe Porter is a sleeper and maybe Azema is for real. Short term, RB is a weakness. Heavy lifting considering recent history. Life was so good with JJTBC.
 
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I hope whoever gets this OC gig can raise NU recruiting a level. Somebody with a big rep might hit the ground running, but it is harder work at NU than nearly everyplace else. Some will be discouraged by the challenge.

The Freshmen WRs look like they are a level better than what we've seen and I hope they get a real shot to play next season. NU seems to have more seniority bias than it needs.

I'm all in with Anderson's recruiting as of this year's recruits and I think he'll get a rep soon which will sustain his success.

Ayeni otoh has yet to recruit a RB equal to those on NU's stronger opponents. Maybe Porter is a sleeper and maybe Azema is for real. Short term, RB is a weakness. Heavy lifting considering recent history. Life was so good with JJTBC.

Bashing Ayeni for recruiting is completely unfounded.
 
Ayeni otoh has yet to recruit a RB equal to those on NU's stronger opponents. Maybe Porter is a sleeper and maybe Azema is for real. Short term, RB is a weakness. Heavy lifting considering recent history. Life was so good with JJTBC.

This commentary doesn’t make much sense at all.

In his first season (2018) Ayeni had Larkin for a whole three games before he was diagnosed with a career ending injury... even so, he was still able to get a true freshman (Bowser) up to speed in short order.

This past season Bowser gets hurt week one, yet Anderson and Hull have shown promise in what was otherwise the year from hell.

It should be also noted that Ayeni recruited/developed David Montgomery and Kareem Hunt, two young NFL RBs.

Seems like a good track record to me.
 
I hope the new OC can maximize the talent available. I do not think that occurred during the last few years. Speed kills in college FB-NU has been deficient in that quality but I can think of 2 players who possessed that attribute that never came close to reaching their potential due to the offense employed Each may have had injury problems but their speed was never used effectively
 
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I hope the new OC can maximize the talent available. I do not think that occurred during the last few years. Speed kills in college FB-NU has been deficient in that quality but I can think of 2 players who possessed that attribute that never came close to reaching their potential due to the offense employed Each may have had injury problems but their speed was never used effectively
Only 2?
 
Bashing Ayeni for recruiting is completely unfounded.

Bashing? "has yet to recruit" by you is bashing?

Regarding Columbus' comments, I wasn't saying he's incapable nor that he hasn't already succeeded elsewhere, but that the NU RBs are a level beneath those playing against NU at duh-OSU, UW and UM are a level better. Mostert from Purdue, now playing for the Niners, was better. JJTBC was that level imo, and one position where NU can improve and needs to improve is in recruiting RBs.

You folks seem to think everything is peachy.
 
Bashing? "has yet to recruit" by you is bashing?

Regarding Columbus' comments, I wasn't saying he's incapable nor that he hasn't already succeeded elsewhere, but that the NU RBs are a level beneath those playing against NU at duh-OSU, UW and UM are a level better. Mostert from Purdue, now playing for the Niners, was better. JJTBC was that level imo, and one position where NU can improve and needs to improve is in recruiting RBs.

You folks seem to think everything is peachy.

I do? I made a post with the subject "Broken" about the offense and called for McCall's job. Repeatedly.

Ayeni is probably the best recruiter we have on staff. Period.
 
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You refusing to answer?

I think our RBs are fine, not great.

Ayeni's "behind the scenes" contributions to landing some of our higher-profile recruits are probably more valuable than the recruiting he has done for his own room.
 
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