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RaysBoomBoomRoom

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  1. 20 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

     

    Spoiler

    The most recent college coaching carousel will be rightfully remembered for the changes at the top.

    Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly moved jobs, Ed Orgeron and Dan Mullen lost jobs, and other notable head coaches found themselves in new places or looking for work. But the carousel didn't stop spinning in mid-December. The hiring of prominent coordinators and the formation of new staffs provided a few more spins to a carousel that won't be forgotten.

    Gary Patterson, who dominated Texas while coaching TCU, is now wearing burnt orange as the special assistant to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian. Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, once suspended for scouting Oklahoma on the sideline while coaching for Baylor, has returned to OU, his alma mater, as the most important addition for new Sooners coach Brent Venables. Ohio State coach Ryan Day remade his defensive staff after a poor performance in 2021, and plucked a potential savior coordinator from Oklahoma State. Mike Gundy replaced the savior with a former SEC head coach. And after losing Mario Cristobal to Miami, Oregon is keeping the pedal down in recruiting with its new staff.

    The coordinator/staffing carousel has delivered so far, and it's still not done spinning. Several key hires still must be made. Here's a look at the most significant staffing hires since the end of the season and how they will shape 2022 and likely beyond.

    Knowles might be missing piece for Buckeyes' title push

    There are two undeniable truths about the Ryan Day era at Ohio State.

    1. Quarterback has become the premier position in the program, reaching a level -- with multiple players -- never seen before at Ohio State.

    2. The defense hasn't been very good.

    Day has deserved credit for the quarterback evolution in Columbus, but after this season, he needed to address the defensive issues head on.

    Ohio State has been mediocre to bad on defense in three of the past four seasons. Remove the 2019 season, when the Buckeyes led the nation in total defense and finished fourth in scoring defense, and Ohio State has ranked no higher than 38th nationally in either category since 2018. The Buckeyes' defense ranked No. 59 nationally in yards allowed in each of the past two years.

    Day's best and boldest hire on defense since taking over from Urban Meyer had been Jeff Hafley, who spent only 2019 with Ohio State before landing the Boston College head-coaching job. After the 2021 season, Day needed to hit again and delivered with Jim Knowles, who not only improved Oklahoma State's defense but changed the way the Cowboys play. Knowles is a veteran defensive playcaller with 12 seasons of Power 5 playcalling experience, as well as a six-year stint as Cornell's head coach.

    He was a finalist for the Broyles Award last year (he should have won), as Oklahoma State finished fifth nationally in total defense and ninth in scoring defense. Knowles can give Ohio State the schematic boost it needs with a talented roster that underachieved the past two seasons under coordinator Kerry Coombs, a valuable staff member who lacked Power 5 coordinator experience. Ohio State also added two new assistants, Tim Walton and Perry Eliano, to coach the secondary.

    The Rose Bowl showed that Ohio State will have a national championship-caliber offense in 2022. But the Buckeyes won't end their title drought without a much more formidable defense. The talent is there. Look at the recent recruiting rankings.

    Knowles gives the unit a chance to quickly catch up.

    The significance of Gary Patterson's move to Texas

    The most interesting non-head coach hire of the carousel isn't even a coordinator or a position coach. Texas brought in Patterson to assist Sarkisian, a seemingly unthinkable possibility when the 2021 season began.

    TCU's decision to oust Patterson -- a future Hall of Fame coach with a statue on campus -- might have been surprising, but Patterson's desire to keep coaching certainly is not. Several coaches at TCU told me right away that Patterson, 61, wouldn't retire. The only question seemed to be whether he would return as a college head coach, a college coordinator or an NFL assistant.

    The answer: None of the above. The questions now are what Patterson's role will be at Texas in 2022, and also what it could become in the future.

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    Texas' hire of Patterson seems positive, and adds to a strong offseason for Sarkisian that included ESPN's No. 4 recruiting class and several key transfers, including Ohio State quarterback Quinn Ewers. Patterson knows the Big 12 after spending the past nine seasons in the league. He can mentor Sarkisian, who is 51-42 as a head coach, and improve areas that have hurt Texas for years.

    The Longhorns ranked 100th nationally in total defense last season, haven't ranked in the top 60 since 2017 (tied for 41st) and haven't finished in the top 25 since 2014. In the past seven seasons, Texas ranks 70th in points allowed (27.9 PPG) and 61st in yards per play (5.63). Under Patterson, TCU led the nation in total defense from 2008 to 2010 and led the Big 12 in defense from 2016 to 2019.

    Patterson's role should let him work behind the scenes, focus on scheme and personnel, and help Sarkisian manage the program. He'll occupy a spot largely like the one he created for Jerry Kill, the former Minnesotaand Northern Illinois coach who served as Patterson's special assistant before replacing him as interim coach in November. If things continue to go poorly on the field, Patterson could be moved into an on-field role for the defense. Sarkisian kept his defensive staff in place after 2021, including coordinators Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate, but now has one of the sport's top defensive minds by his side.

    There's also the connection between Patterson and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, who held the same role at TCU from 2009 to 2017. Patterson and Del Conte have worked together a lot longer than Sarkisian and Del Conte. While Del Conte led the Texas search to replace Herman, which quickly focused on Sarkisian, would things have been different if Patterson was truly available? Sarkisian should get more than two years to get things right at Texas, but another season like 2021 will turn up the heat, and undoubtedly bring attention to the Patterson-Del Conte connection.

    LSU staff makeup mixes familiarity and local knowledge

    Until Kelly wins at LSU, there will be questions about whether he fits the job. Despite his adjusted accent, Kelly is an outsider, a Boston-area native who has worked in the Midwest -- Michigan, Ohio and Indiana -- since 1987. LSU has gone this route before, though, as Orgeron was the only homegrown Tigers coach out of the past four.

    Kelly's background made his staff hires especially interesting, though. After failed attempts at luring several Notre Dame staffers, he assembled a group of assistants who will blend familiarity with Kelly, and knowledge of the Louisiana landscape.

    Tommy Rees elected to remain Notre Dame's offensive coordinator under new coach Marcus Freeman, so Kelly pivoted to Cincinnati's Mike Denbrock, who worked under him at Notre Dame (2010 to 2016) and Grand Valley State (1992 to 1998). Denbrock understands how Kelly operates and what his vision will be for LSU's passing game, in particular. Kelly brought special teams coordinator Brian Polian with him from Notre Dame, as well as defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks, who twice worked under Kelly at Notre Dame and boasts extensive Big 12 and Big Ten experience. None of those hires were particularly surprising.

    Mike Denbrock helped Cincinnati beat Brian Kelly and Notre Dame in South Bend during the 2021 season. Now he'll take over as offensive coordinator at LSU under Kelly. Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire

    The intrigue for Kelly was always going to be the assistants with direct connections to the state. Kelly's hire of running backs coach Frank Wilson, a New Orleans native and former LSU assistant who had been McNeese State's head coach, should be a significant addition. Wilson is known throughout the state and helped former LSU coach Les Miles sign top recruiting classes.

    Kelly retained offensive line coach Brad Davis, a Baton Rouge native, and added two more assistants with ties to the state in Cortez Hankton (wide receivers) and Joe Sloan (quarterbacks). Hankton, who spent the past four seasons at Georgia, is a New Orleans native who went to the same high school as Wilson (St. Augustine), should help LSU's area recruiting efforts. Sloan spent the past nine years at Louisiana Tech, rising to the offensive coordinator role. He recruited standout players from the state such as Jaylon Ferguson and Amik Robertson, who both earned All-American honors at Louisiana Tech.

    Other than Wilson, Kelly's most significant hire outside his circle will be defensive coordinator Matt House, the former DC at Kentucky, Florida International and Pitt, who spent the past three seasons on the Kansas City Chiefs' defensive staff. Although Kelly pursued current Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White and others, House is a well-respected coach who brings experience from both the SEC and NFL.

    Lebby's mission: Keep Oklahoma a QB destination

    Riley's abrupt departure from Oklahoma to USC left scars for many Sooners fans. After seamlessly succeeding Bob Stoops, Riley kept the Big 12 titles and CFP appearances coming, and made OU a destination for NFL-caliber quarterbacks. His departure undoubtedly stings.

    But there's a different way to view how things turned out. Oklahoma's playoff losses under Riley, combined with a defense that never consistently got over the hump, cast doubt on whether national championship success would ever happen for his program.

    This is why I thought Oklahoma needed to prioritize defense in its coaching search, either head coaches with backgrounds on defense or elite defensive coordinators such as Venables and Georgia's Dan Lanning. Oklahoma ended up with Venables, who knows the program from his time there under Stoops, but also understands what types of defensive players the Sooners need to return to the CFP and ultimately have success there.

    The Big 12's pivot to defense, which played out during the 2021 season, should make Oklahoma a more attractive destination for defensive recruits and transfers. So will OU's upcoming move to the SEC. Venables' hiring of defensive assistants with SEC experience -- including coordinator Ted Roof, who won a national title as Auburn's DC in 2010 -- will help in this effort.

    But Oklahoma also had to offset the impact of Riley's departure for its offense. The Sooners need to remain an attractive program for quarterbacks and other offensive playmakers, which is why Lebby's hiring will be so significant. Lebby has been part of dynamic offenses at Baylor, UCF and most recently Ole Miss. He has coordinated top-four offenses in each of the past three years. But he also has worked alongside offensive-minded head coaches (Art Briles, Josh Heupel and Lane Kiffin).

    Oklahoma provides him a new degree of autonomy.

    Lebby's arrival is off to a promising start. Oklahoma added quarterback transfer Dillon Gabriel, who initially committed to UCLA but switched to OU after Caleb Williams entered the transfer portal. Gabriel played under Lebby at UCF in 2019, passing for 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns. Lebby also has helped fortify Oklahoma's quarterback room for the future. Oklahoma landed ESPN 300 quarterback Nick Evers, a Florida commit, just before the December signing date, and recently added Jackson Arnold, ESPN's No. 2 dual-threat quarterback and No. 43 overall junior for the 2023 class. Lebby inherits an offensive depth chart that took several hits after Riley's departure, but if he can get through 2022, better days are likely ahead.

    He also should benefit from Oklahoma retaining four offensive coaches from Riley's staff, including longtime Sooners assistants Bill Bedenbaugh (started as offensive line coach in 2013) and Cale Gundy (has coached OU's wide receivers or running backs since 1999).

    Young Oregon staff will keep pedal down in recruiting

    When Oregon reached national championship games in 2010 and 2014, it did so largely with a homegrown staff of veteran coaches. Head coaches Chip Kelly (2010) and Mark Helfrich (2014) both had been promoted from within, and assistants such as Gary Campbell (started in 1983), Don Pellum (1993), Steve Greatwood (2000) and Nick Aliotti (1999 to 2013) carried long tenures with the program.

    But Oregon pivoted to a different staff model after firing Helfrich, bringing in coaches without ties to its program, and doubling down on recruiting. Cristobal showed the new approach could work well, and Oregon appears to be taking the same strategy with Lanning.

    What first stands out about Lanning and his staff is their youth. Not only is Lanning young (35), but so are several of his key assistants, including offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham (31), defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi (40) and co-defensive coordinator Matt Powledge (34).

    None of the new Oregon coaches previously worked at the school. Several have Pac-12 ties, including Lupoi, offensive line coach Adrian Klemm and cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin. But only Martin (Colorado) and co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Junior Adams (Washington) joined Oregon directly from other Pac-12 programs.

    Those who closely follow recruiting need no introduction to Oregon's coaches. Lupoi was just 29 when he made ESPN.com's list of top 25 national recruiters in 2011, as defensive line coach at Cal, his alma mater. He continued to build his recruiting profile at Washington before joining Nick Saban's staff at Alabama.

    Martin got his start as a high school coach near Los Angeles and has recruited the area for multiple Pac-12 schools (Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Colorado). Klemm, an Inglewood, California, native, also is no stranger to the Southern California recruiting scene, as a UCLA assistant from 2012 to 2016. Several other assistants, including Adams and Drew Mehringer, are known mainly for their recruiting prowess.

    Lanning, a former recruiting coordinator at Arizona State and Memphis, has quickly built his profile as an elite recruiter who has spent time in different areas of the country.

    The new staff isn't without controversy, as Klemm received a two-year show-cause order at UCLA in 2016, and the NCAA investigated Lupoi during his time at Washington.

    What seems clear is Oregon's commitment to keeping the pedal down in recruiting after Cristobal, who enhanced the possibilities for what the program could do on the trail.

    What to make of Miami's slow approach to staff hiring

    Back on Dec. 6, Miami hired Cristobal, a quick and targeted move to restore glory to the U. Cristobal left immediately for his alma mater.

    Among his duties at Miami was hiring a staff, a process that has been ... deliberate, to put it mildly. December featured plenty of splashy coordinator hires, but Miami remained mostly quiet well into the new year as Cristobal evaluated options. Miami made runs at Toledo coach Jason Candle, Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and others for its primary offensive coordinator spot, but didn't land them. The Hurricanes' defensive coordinator role, meanwhile, also remained open, although Cristobal had talks with Kevin Steele before Steele took the Maryland job, colleague Chris Low reported.

    Mario Cristobal brought over several coaches over from Oregon to Miami but he still has some big holes to fill within his new coaching staff. Lynne Sladky/AP

    One stumbling block, according to sources, was that coordinator candidates likely could not bring any position coaches with them to Miami. Most coordinators prefer to join a new staff with at least one assistant of their choosing.

    Miami's initial staffing hires all had been with Cristobal at Oregon, including offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, a high school teammate of Cristobal's and a close confidant. Wide receivers coach/co-offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon, defensive line coach Joe Salave'a and head strength coach Aaron Feld all also made the move from Oregon to Miami. McClendon landed Georgia's wide receivers job so Miami has another spot to fill. Cristobal's first outside hire came Jan. 14, as he brought in running backs coach Kevin Smith from Ole Miss.

    Cristobal's methodical approach to hiring staff isn't a surprise to coaches who know him. He rarely makes quick decisions on staffing, which can work against him with candidate pools but also might help him make the right choices in the end.

    Coordinator/Staffing odds and ends

    Oklahoma State's hire of defensive coordinator Derek Mason is significant, for both the present and the future. The team lost Knowles despite a competitive offer to keep him, but showed it could attract a very accomplished replacement. Mason, the former head coach at Vanderbilt, had options after spending last season at Auburn, where he produced a solid defense. Earlier this month, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy talked to me about increasing the program's profile, especially for the new Big 12. Greater investment in coaching and the defense, which improved dramatically under Knowles, is an encouraging sign. Gundy has lost plenty of talented coordinators over the years, but he's now bringing in replacements with stronger profiles. "Our assistant coaches need to be in the upper echelon of the new conference, whenever it comes, salary wise," Gundy said. "If we have good people here that are quality at what they do and they're loyal, then we can't lose them to schools on what I call lateral moves."

    Florida seemed to have the most normal head-coaching search among top programs, plucking Billy Napier from Louisiana. Napier's staff hires also have been somewhat under the radar, but there's a lot to like with this group of assistants. Primary coordinators Rob Sale (offense) and Patrick Toney (defense) both worked for Napier at Louisiana, and Sale also has previous experience in the SEC from Georgia. The position coach group stands out. Florida hired longtime LSU defensive backs coach Corey Raymond, as well as former North Carolina and Army defensive coordinator Jay Bateman to coach linebackers. Running backs coach William Peagler mentored Doak Walker Award winner Kenneth Walker III at Michigan State in 2021, and has worked with Napier before. Defensive line coach Sean Spencer had talented lines at Penn State before joining the New York Giants' staff two years ago. Keary Colbert did good work with USC's wide receivers and also spent two years at Alabama.

    The ACC had several potentially impactful coordinator hires after the season. The most notable is Gene Chizik, who leaves the media world to begin his second stint as North Carolina's primary defensive coordinator. Chizik engineered an impressive turnaround of UNC's defense in 2015, and takes over a unit that fell well short of expectations last season. Syracuse's hiring of offensive coordinator Robert Anae and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck from Virginia could pay off immediately in a critical season for coach Dino Babers. Anae and Beck helped develop record-setting quarterback Brennan Armstrong at Virginia, and take over a unit featuring All-American running back Sean Tucker and others. Georgia Tech's offense needs a boost after finishing 95th nationally in scoring last year, and hopes to get it from new coordinator Chip Long. He held the same role at Notre Dame from 2017 to 2019 before spending the past two years at Tennessee (analyst) and Tulane (coordinator).

    New Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire put together a really interesting staff, which should meet the program's clear goal of Texas immersion. The most notable addition is offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, only 30, who rose rapidly from Houston Baptist in 2020 to Western Kentucky this past season, overseeing record-setting quarterback Bailey Zappe at both programs. Kittley attended Texas Tech, started coaching there under Kliff Kingsbury and could soon draw comparisons to another Tech alum, Lincoln Riley. Wide receivers coach Emmett Jones begins his second stint at Texas Tech, and McGuire added others with Big 12 ties such as Kenny Perry and Zarnell Fitch. Texas Tech undeniably went Texas-centric with the McGuire hire, and his staff fits the same mold

     

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  2. Horns 247 telling us what we already know, but good news is good news I guess.

    Spoiler

    TEXAS IN GOOD POSITION WITH TCU TRANSFER OCHAUN MATHIS

    Sources close to TCU transfer Ochuan Mathisbelieve Texas is currently in a good spot and appear to be on track to land the proven transfer target. Gary Patterson’s prior relationship with Mathis only helps Texas, and the Manor product can return to familiar territory to finish his college career.

    The Longhorns are looking for all the edge help they can find, and Mathis brings a veteran presence with an All-Big 12 distinction on his resume.

    Mathis has plenty of time to make his decision while he finishes the spring semester before picking his landing spot and enrolling in the summer. There hasn’t been much word regarding a potential timeline, but we anticipate the Texas staff being patient with him.

     

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