Post of the Year (C&P'd) from another board about our Co-Coordinator situation

Dec 3, 2014, 9:44 AM

Thoughts?

"Like many, I was pretty surprised to see the co-coordinator announcement come down today. I was anticipating that Scott would be announced as OC and that would be the end of that. I don't necessarily think that naming co-coordinators is a bad move, but I can certainly see why some wouldn't like the idea, given that it leaves a lot of questions about how the offense will be run going forward.

It's simply too early to pass judgement on the arrangement, IMO, because we just don't know what the mechanics are going to be internally. Is this a situation where one will be the actual OC and one is more of a title? Is this designed so that these guys are still able to recruit? Is it a "two heads is better than one" approach since we're dealing with a couple of guys who have never had this position before?

I do know that I believe that there has to be one decision maker, there has to be one person who is in charge and makes final decisions. To an extent, Dabo serves that role as the head coach. However this becomes a bigger issue on gameday if there is an issue with what play to call. Who makes that decision? Does Scott have the ability to overrule Elliott, or vice versa? Or do they have to let Dabo decide? Personally, I believe that history has shown that Clemson is better off with Dabo not making play calls. Dabo has a lot of great, great talents that have made him a successful head coach, but calling plays is simply not one of them.

I tend to imagine part of the design here is that one person can be up top while one remains on the side lines, so you can have the offensive coordinator on the sideline actually talking to the players while someone else who is just as prepared, just as versed in the opponent and the week's gameplan, someone who also has a playcalling sheet sits up top and has a calmer environment to observe and communicate information to the staff. IMO, this could work very well as it allows for easier communication between coaches and players. It's simply easier to make adjustments when you can be face to face with the players and having two guys manage the play sheet may make for more efficient and effective play calling.

A play caller needs access to very quick information. "Hey what did we call on the last 2nd and long? What front did they show the last time we were in X formation? What personnel grouping are they bringing on the field?" etc. Having someone else who has also helped design the offense, helped design that week's gameplan, and helped design that week's play sheet may allow for more efficient flow of information.

So I think there some potential positive aspects here. But I am concerned about the unknowns. As I mentioned above the primary unknown is who will ultimately have the final say on Xs and Os, playcalls, and personnel? IMO, Dabo needs to set that rank for one of these guys very early, and I do not think that Dabo needs to be a third offensive coordinator. I repeat: Dabo does not need to be a third offensive coordinator, most especially on gameday.

What is most important is that Scott and Elliott share an offensive philosophy. I know that Scott favors the spread, and I have to think Elliott does as well. I think one of the things that really exacerbated the problems with our offense when Napier was OC was that Dabo and Napier had totally different ideas about the direction the offense should be going. Obviously you really want these two guys to be on the same page about what they want the offensive identity to be going forward. I suppose we will learn a good bit more as we get closer to the bowl game.

As for Recruiting coordinator, I wonder if the new arrangement allows for Scott to stay in that role. I tend to think that the title will be given to someone else (perhaps Hobby or Mike Reed) but ultimately the recruiting coordinator needs to be Dabo. There is no one on staff who is better, more creative, or more intelligent about recruiting than Dabo and unlike play calling, the more he is involved in recruiting the better off Clemson is, and with new freedoms granted to the head coach through rule changes, Dabo should take advantage.

Staying with recruiting, Clemson really needs to start taking advantage of the new rules that allow "recruiting only" staff positions. There's been a lot of talk about Ellis Johnson, and I'd like to think an administrative role here would be great. I think putting him in as director of high school relations and allowing Brad Scott to be a full time recruiter would be a smart move. I wonder if there are any former players that are still close with the program who might be interested in that type of role.

With Venables, if I'm Dabo, I make Venables the highest paid DC in the country. He coordinated the #1 defense in the nation this year, and he deserves to be paid like it. While it doesn't appear that Brent is itching to leave for a lateral job, the best way to build loyalty is to give your guys what they earn. No need to wait for a school like Texas A&M or anyone else to come calling with a huge offer to up his salary, go ahead and make it happen. IMO, the head coach should give every assistant a raise every season. Now we just have to cross our fingers and hope he doesn't get a good head coaching opportunity. If he does go, it might be time to give Marion Hobby a shot to coordinate the defense. He's been co-coordinator here and at Duke, and has an NFL background, no question he'd be qualified for the job.

I don't think Chad made a mistake by going to SMU despite there being some "better" openings coming up. I think Chad wanted to go back to Texas, and the truth is, if he felt he was ready to go, and felt that this was a good fit, he would really have been silly to pass it up on the hope that Ole Miss or some other more attractive school came calling. There's simply no way to know that and if you're ready to go then you have to take the job that's available to you.

Will be interesting to see the way it all pans out, having programs like Florida, Nebraska, and Michigan all with openings at the same time is rare and will cause a pretty big shake up with other programs since I'd have to think all three will want to hire proven head coaches. If I'm Florida, I'm calling Bob Stoops. Guy is a proven winner, national championship, ties to Florida and a top of the line recruiter. Nebraska ought to be on the phone with Paul Johnson, and Michigan should start calling Jim Harbaugh right now and don't stop until he says yes. Les Miles is also intriguing, though IMO Michigan is not a better job than LSU. But if Miles were to take the job that would obviously vacate another big time program.

Should be an interesting couple of weeks."

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Post of the Year (C&P'd) from another board about our Co-Coordinator situation

I think the way Jeff and Tony collaborated

Re: I think the way Jeff and Tony collaborated

Thumbs Down if you read this entire post***

That was a good post until.....

Harbaugh has a bad relationship with Michigan right now...

TL***

Re: Post of the Year (C&P'd) from another board about our Co-Coordinator situation

TigerBoard POTD