OC Wish List

[rutgersguy1]

Nice article on the Riley brothers, possibly facing each other in the playoffs. It would be nice if Garrett had a hankering for the big city in the east the way Lincoln did for the big city in the west lol.

From the article:

"Just kind of always [glad to be] a part of Leach's tree, kind of being associated with him," Garrett told CBS Sports. "Coach Dykes was looking for a guy at SMU, and I was at Appalachian State [in 2019]."

"I was just talking to a guy the other day and realized how incredible it is that these two coaches have their first-year teams about to make the College Football Playoff," said Beaty, now an assistant in the USFL. "By the way, the world better take notice of the young one because he is special just like his brother."

At Kansas, where Garrett worked his way up from analyst to quarterbacks coach to tight ends/fullback coach, he facing his brother three times when the Jayhawks battled the Sooners. Then Beaty and his staff were fired following the 2018 season. After a year at App State, Garrett joined SMU. There he found unlimited freedom. Dykes does not hover. He is not a helicopter head coach.

What you've seen is unprecedented creativity at TCU. Duggan is having a career year. Running back Zach Evans was lost in the portal to Ole Miss, so up stepped Kendre Miller with a 1,200-yard season. Quentin Johnston came out nowhere to become the Big 12's third-leading pass catcher with 49 receptions.

"Sonny is kind of the master of being even keel, not making things too big," Garrett said of his boss.

 

[Knight Shift]

Nice article on the Riley brothers, possibly facing each other in the playoffs. It would be nice if Garrett had a hankering for the big city in the east the way Lincoln did for the big city in the west lol.

From the article:

"Just kind of always [glad to be] a part of Leach's tree, kind of being associated with him," Garrett told CBS Sports. "Coach Dykes was looking for a guy at SMU, and I was at Appalachian State [in 2019]."

"I was just talking to a guy the other day and realized how incredible it is that these two coaches have their first-year teams about to make the College Football Playoff," said Beaty, now an assistant in the USFL. "By the way, the world better take notice of the young one because he is special just like his brother."

At Kansas, where Garrett worked his way up from analyst to quarterbacks coach to tight ends/fullback coach, he facing his brother three times when the Jayhawks battled the Sooners. Then Beaty and his staff were fired following the 2018 season. After a year at App State, Garrett joined SMU. There he found unlimited freedom. Dykes does not hover. He is not a helicopter head coach.

What you've seen is unprecedented creativity at TCU. Duggan is having a career year. Running back Zach Evans was lost in the portal to Ole Miss, so up stepped Kendre Miller with a 1,200-yard season. Quentin Johnston came out nowhere to become the Big 12's third-leading pass catcher with 49 receptions.

"Sonny is kind of the master of being even keel, not making things too big," Garrett said of his boss.

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When you said Riley brothers, I thought:

Not a chance in hell we get the younger Riley here.

 

[needmorecowbell]

I’d think it would be helpful to have one in place before the transfer portal officially opens on Dec 5.

I know for HCs, some ADs wanted the HC in place before the portal opened. Is it the same for coordinators and staff? Probably not but it can only be a positive.

My guess is 2-3 weeks (hopefully before signing day). That also eliminates any coaches in the playoff hunt or playing in bigger bowl games. Obviously not current OCs.

 

[LotusAggressor]

Yup, offense was humming before that 1st 3 n out in the conference game.

That was exactly Johnathan Lewis' career path at RU.

 

[Joey Bags]

Considering the only realistic qualifier is whether or not the prospective OC is Italian, I’d say Cignetti or Ciarrocca are a take at this point.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Looks like one of the guys I mentioned as a candidate is going to Old Dominion. One to keep an eye on to see how he does there for the future then.

 

[Knight Shift]

Yes, please.

@tico brown -a Mike Leach disciple.
He was co-OC at Indiana with Kevin Johns under Kevin Wilson 2012-13, and Indiana had the #2 B1G offense both years.
In 2014-15 he was assistant head coach for offense at UNC, and they had some solid offenses (#2 in 2015).
In his second year at North Texas, the offense went from last to second in C-USA, and stayed in the top 3 (top 4 for one year) since then. Looks like they had bad defenses. Would an Okie from Muskogee (he's from Muskogee) want to come to New Brunwick, NJ?

 

[Roy_Faulker]

So the NY QB commit article noted HCGS has interviewed several candidates. Guessing with this hire the decision needs to be made (likely by the new OC) to retain assistants as well as identify any replacements. We promoted some guys last year and if they are on 2 year contracts there is buyout financing to procure

Best thing I guess the holdover staff can do is kill it on the e recruiting trail.

Can understand why it takes so much time to sequence.

 

[rutgersguy1]

This is the kind of direction I’ve been wishing we’d go in for many years. No guarantees but I feel it’s the path with the most potential.

 

[kupuna133]

This is the kind of direction I’ve been wishing we’d go in for many years. No guarantees but I feel it’s the path with the most potential.

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Longo wanted to be back in NJ when Schiano was hired and was talked about on this site as petitioning for the job. Instead we opted for the shiny new toy. The new hires in the B1G are going to be major pains on the recruiting trail. And they will continue to have a presence in NJ with Rhule and Fickel things are going to get tougher.

 

[kupuna133]

This is the kind of direction I’ve been wishing we’d go in for many years. No guarantees but I feel it’s the path with the most potential.

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Fickell can pry away an OC from an ACC school prepping for a bowl game within a week of being hired and here we are nearly 60 days without an OC.

 

[Knight Shift]

Longo wanted to be back in NJ when Schiano was hired and was talked about on this site as petitioning for the job. Instead we opted for the shiny new toy. The new hires in the B1G are going to be major pains on the recruiting trail. And they will continue to have a presence in NJ with Rhule and Fickel things are going to get tougher.

 

[jtung230]

Longo wanted to be back in NJ when Schiano was hired and was talked about on this site as petitioning for the job. Instead we opted for the shiny new toy. The new hires in the B1G are going to be major pains on the recruiting trail. And they will continue to have a presence in NJ with Rhule and Fickel things are going to get tougher.

The shiny new toy was a Longo type hire. I don’t get your argument. Gleeson is a NJ guy from a high power offense team.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Longo wanted to be back in NJ when Schiano was hired and was talked about on this site as petitioning for the job. Instead we opted for the shiny new toy. The new hires in the B1G are going to be major pains on the recruiting trail. And they will continue to have a presence in NJ with Rhule and Fickel things are going to get tougher.

Longo is a Leach guy, never on his staff but friend and heavily influenced by him. He came up from the FCS levels to the P5. Decker may be going through a similar transition now from FCS to ODU. If he does well then next step P5, although I was fine taking a shot with him taking the P5 step to us now lol.

Longo/Fickell could be a good combo. It's the kind of combo I've mentioned as the ideal despite the fact that I'm big on offense (defensive HC with strong open offense OC). The hard nose type coach in Fickell but the open offense of Longo with hopefully still a little toughness to the team. If you can strike that balance, it can be dangerous. Problem is you don't find a ton of defensive coaches to allow that freedom. We'll see how it goes.

 

[rutgersguy1]

The shiny new toy was a Longo type hire. I don’t get your argument. Gleeson is a NJ guy from a high power offense team.

Whatever the heck we ran with Gleeson it certainly wasn't an open spread type offense IMO. Didn't see much use of tempo and never had a qb really with an arm to run one (should've been looking after year 1 IMO). No identity. Whether that was GS issue or a Gleeson issue, who knows.

 

[kupuna133]

The shiny new toy was a Longo type hire. I don’t get your argument. Gleeson is a NJ guy from a high power offense team.

Gleeson had 1 year experience as a P5 play caller and 3 years total. Who was working for an offensive coach that had a multi year offensive strategy in place. He didn’t really implement an offense or strategy. Pretty much kept status quo. Gleeson is the definition of shiny new toy. Whereas longo had a 20 plus year history as coach with 15+ with playcalling responsibilities. And you do know Longo is from jersey too?

 

[rutgersguy1]

Fickell can pry away an OC from an ACC school prepping for a bowl game within a week of being hired and here we are nearly 60 days without an OC.

Sam Howell followed up by Drake Maye, sounds like good news for Wisconsin if he keeps that track record going. They may get over their nightmares from Mertz lol.

 

[kupuna133]

Longo is a Leach guy, never on his staff but friend and heavily influenced by him. He came up from the FCS levels to the P5. Decker may be going through a similar transition now from FCS to ODU. If he does well then next step P5, although I was fine taking a shot with him taking the P5 step to us now lol.

Longo/Fickell could be a good combo. It's the kind of combo I've mentioned as the ideal despite the fact that I'm big on offense (defensive HC with strong open offense OC). The hard nose type coach in Fickell but the open offense of Longo with hopefully still a little toughness to the team. If you can strike that balance, it can be dangerous. Problem is you don't find a ton of defensive coaches to allow that freedom. We'll see how it goes.

Yep I have followed Longos career for a long time. Have mentioned him as a perfect fit on this site multiple times.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Yep I have followed Longos career for a long time. Have mentioned him as a perfect fit on this site multiple times.

I'm big on Leach/Briles guys and I've mentioned Longo in the past too. As I say, never a guarantee but just the path with most potential IMO. The Sean Lewis hire (Briles influence) for Deion might be a good one too.

 

[LotusAggressor]

Whatever the heck we ran with Gleeson it certainly wasn't an open spread type offense IMO. Didn't see much use of tempo and never had a qb really with an arm to run one (should've been looking after year 1 IMO). No identity. Whether that was GS issue or a Gleeson issue, who knows.

We saw some of it in the COVID year. It disappeared in a flurry of wildcat Langan runs up the middle.

 

[Knight Shift]

Yep I have followed Longos career for a long time. Have mentioned him as a perfect fit on this site multiple times.

He seems like a guy who wants to run his offense unfettered by a controlling head coach. Probably a bad match.

 

[jtung230]

Gleeson had 1 year experience as a P5 play caller and 3 years total. Who was working for an offensive coach that had a multi year offensive strategy in place. He didn’t really implement an offense or strategy. Pretty much kept status quo. Gleeson is the definition of shiny new toy. Whereas longo had a 20 plus year history as coach with 15+ with playcalling responsibilities.

Longo has 2 years of experience as a P5 play caller.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Longo has 2 years of experience as a P5 play caller.

He’s been an OC and play caller in the P5 for 6 years. First at Ole Miss and the last 4 with Mack Brown at UNC. His Wikipedia is wrong currently if that’s where you got your info. It doesn’t show his UNC tenure at all.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Just as a FYI, more on Longo from the Athletic.

The 54-year-old Longo has spent the past four seasons as the Tar Heels’ offensive coordinator under Mack Brown. UNC has ranked in the top 30 nationally in scoring each season. At quarterback, Longo coached fifth-round draft pick Sam Howell and Drake Maye, who has passed for 4,115 yards this season.

However, Longo’s offenses also have focused on the run, which will be an important component given Wisconsin’s history of success with its offensive line and running backs. The Badgers have lacked sizzle in the passing game for much of the last decade, and the expectation is that Longo’s addition will bring new juice to the offense. North Carolina has ranked in the top 15 in total offense in each of the past four seasons under Longo.

 

[kupuna133]

Longo has 2 years of experience as a P5 play caller.

He has 15+ years (6at p5) as a play caller and teaches the air raid offense to many high school and college coaches. The guy produced everywhere and at every level he has ever coached.

 

[jtung230]

He has 15+ years as a play caller and teaches the air raid offense to many high school and college coaches.

Essentially he was a Gleeson type hire by UNC. Now he is a more proven commodity and gets to coach at Wisc.

 

[kupuna133]

Essentially he was a Gleeson type hire by UNC. Now he is a more proven commodity and gets to coach at Wisc.

No he wasn’t. Longo has produced at every level he has coached for 20 plus years with 15 being a play caller. Gleeson coached 5 years with 3 years as a play caller, 2 at Princeton one at OSU.

 

[jtung230]

No he wasn’t. Longo has produced at every level he has coached for 20 plus years with 15 being a play caller. Gleeson coached 5 years with 3 years as a play caller, 2 at Princeton one at OSU.

Sorry, I don’t follow Slippery Rock and Sam Houston State.

 

[colbert17]

Especially after the first year I don't recall a big clamor on this board re: Gleeson being a mistake. Matter of fact the talk was about how much we had to extend and pay him so we didn't lose him. There might have been a few outliers but there is a ton of revisionist history on this board regarding Gleeson.

 

[kupuna133]

Especially after the first year I don't recall a big clamor on this board re: Gleeson being a mistake. Matter of fact the talk was about how much we had to extend and pay him so we didn't lose him. There might have been a few outliers but there is a ton of revisionist history on this board regarding Gleeson.

Somewhat agree. I was not a huge fan of the hire but willing to give him a shot. First year was gimmicky but there was movement and points. Second and third year there was no identity and absolute chaos from an organizational standpoint. All of the blame cannot fall on Gleeson but the job was way too big for him.

 

[kupuna133]

Sorry, I don’t follow Slippery Rock and Sam Houston State.

I think you should pay more attention to lower level schools because that’s where many future coaches come from especially coaches that know how to do more with less. Followed Longo because he was a local guy that was climbing the ranks.

 

[colbert17]

absolute chaos from an organizational standpoint

This year's opening series vs BC with the QB carousel is the gold standard for this. Nunz didn't do much with the offense but there was at least better organization. Saying that, the OC job is too big for him also.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Especially after the first year I don't recall a big clamor on this board re: Gleeson being a mistake. Matter of fact the talk was about how much we had to extend and pay him so we didn't lose him. There might have been a few outliers but there is a ton of revisionist history on this board regarding Gleeson.

I’m partial to Leach/Briles guys but Gleeson was one a few names I brought up. Never know how things will work out and no guarantees for anyone. Year 1, I felt optimistic but I don’t see us stretching the width and length of the field as GS said in his initial presser. I mean how can you when you don’t have qbs with good passing ability. Options should’ve have been there after year 1, NV shouldn’t have been qb1 imo. Quick decision making and passing ability are the two most important things for a qb imo. Legs are just a bonus, most can move well enough to get a few yards here and there or shuffle around the pocket. We don’t use tempo much either to help with rhythm of the offense or keep defenses on their heels if we have an “upperhand” so to speak. How much of this is on Gleeson or GS, who knows.

 

[jtung230]

I think you should pay more attention to lower level schools because that’s where many future coaches come from especially coaches that know how to do more with less. Followed Longo because he was a local guy that was climbing the ranks.

What was the connection at Ole Miss? Interesting jump from Sam Houston.

 

[kupuna133]

What was the connection at Ole Miss? Interesting jump from Sam Houston.

He was a competent play caller that got results. His offense was very successful at Sam Houston and Longo was as an option for many OC openings at the P5 level. He was mentioned on this board during the Flood/Ash years and Schiano regime change. As I said earlier he taught the air raid system to many high school and college coaches and was a known commodity. Sam Houston head coach is and was KC Keeler of Rowan Delaware fame.

 

[Shelby65]

We see other OCs being hired. Does it mean anything, especially with the portal now open, that we’ve had this opening for months and still no hire ?

 

[rutgersguy1]

He was a competent play caller that got results. His offense was very successful at Sam Houston and Longo was as an option for many OC openings at the P5 level. He was mentioned on this board during the Flood/Ash years and Schiano regime change. As I said earlier he taught the air raid system to many high school and college coaches and was a known commodity. Sam Houston head coach is and was KC Keeler of Rowan Delaware fame.

IIRC he had one of the top or the top offense in the FCS at SHSU. Again similar to Decker with Fordham (#2 offense in the FCS) and now jumping to ODU.

I think it’s good move for Longo to be working along side a hard nosed defensive guy like Fickell. He wasn’t getting that at UNC lol. It might help him get a better appreciation for a balanced team and ties to good defensive coaches. If he works out as OC at Wisconsin, it could be the last step to HC in general and possibly in the P5 or B10.

 

[Knight Shift]

He was a competent play caller that got results. His offense was very successful at Sam Houston and Longo was as an option for many OC openings at the P5 level. He was mentioned on this board during the Flood/Ash years and Schiano regime change. As I said earlier he taught the air raid system to many high school and college coaches and was a known commodity. Sam Houston head coach is and was KC Keeler of Rowan Delaware fame.

Mike Dare, former RU QB, transferred to Sam Houston in 2018 after a year at Lackawanna after leaving RU in 2016. I remember asking Ash a question about Mike Dare early in his tenure as HC, and he reacted pretty poorly and dismissively. On his demeanor at that event, I figured he was going to fail at one major aspect of being a head coach, which was courting donors. Dare's QB career went better than Ash's career as HC, but Dare got injured and did not play again until his graduate student year.

 

[jtung230]

He was a competent play caller that got results. His offense was very successful at Sam Houston and Longo was as an option for many OC openings at the P5 level. He was mentioned on this board during the Flood/Ash years and Schiano regime change. As I said earlier he taught the air raid system to many high school and college coaches and was a known commodity. Sam Houston head coach is and was KC Keeler of Rowan Delaware fame.

Interesting that Ole Miss took a chance on him but him go to UNC. Was there a coaching change at Ole Miss. Because UNC is not going to out money a SEC school.

 

[Knight Shift]

Interesting that Ole Miss took a chance on him but him go to UNC. Was there a coaching change at Ole Miss. Because UNC is not going to out money a SEC school.

Maybe he wanted to work with a legend in Mack Brown. Maybe he wanted to be closer to home, NJ.
Sounds like the kind of OC RU needs. He would not come to NJ though.🙄

But he probably left because he was hired by Hugh Freeze, and left after one year under Coach Visor Cap. Things were messy at Ole Miss.

"Longo was one of Mack Brown’s first hires when he came to Chapel Hill for his second go-around, and the hire immediately paid dividends — with a true freshman at quarterback of a roster that had won two games the previous year, Longo engineered the nation’s 26th-most effective offense in terms of efficiency, getting an unprecedentedly good season out of Sam Howell."

"Getting nearly everybody back for 2020, Longo took things to the next level, orchestrating possibly the greatest offensive season in program history and a top-5 offense in the country as UNC went to a New Years’ Six bowl game for the first time in living memory.


Just as impressive, however, may have been how he handled the next two years — In 2021, losing nearly all of his offensive contributors through the air and on the ground, Longo didn’t blink, and posted another top-15 offense on the back of Sam Howell and Josh Downs even as his offensive line regressed into one of the worst in the nation and his counterpart’s defense struggled mightily and frequently didn’t allow room for the offense to be anything but perfect."

UNC Football: Offensive coordinator Phil Longo leaving for Wisconsin

The Air Raid disciple was responsible for some of UNC’s best offensive seasons and multiple broken records

www.tarheelblog.com

Reports: Phil Longo leaving Ole Miss for UNC

Ole Miss has already been through one major coaching change this offseason. Now they will be replacing both coordinators, as Phil Longo is now leaving the Rebels. The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, as well as a handful of other outlets, is reporting that the former Ole Miss offensive coordinator will...

www.oxfordeagle.com