forums

assessing our coaching staff

CanesAreAble

CanesAreAble

All-ACC
Joined
Nov 2, 2011
Messages
9,081
Lu and I were talking about the balance of the staff between teachers (T) and recruiters (R):


Golden (R): He's had success as a DC, but I wouldn't call him an X's & O's guru. Has the makings of a great CEO, though. And that's precisely what we need.
Fisch (T): I'd say he has the best résumé on staff in terms of being a tactician. NFL experience, and he seems to be somewhat of a rising commodity.
Cristobal (R): Monster recruiter who bleeds orange and green. He has some experience coaching TEs, so he should be okay (especially when teaching blocking)
Kehoe (T): I think he's a good teacher who doesn't need or want any responsibility beyond that.
Richardson (R): RB is probably the easiest position to coach, but he's got a ton of experience there.
Carroll (R): He played and coached TE, so he clearly understands the concepts of the passing game. I'm sure Fisch (who's coached WR in the NFL) can help with the nuances of the position.
D'Onofrio (T): Easily the most hated coach on staff, but I'm not concerned. He's got a solid pedigree, and he's had success calling plays before.
Franklin (R): A lot of experience coaching DL, but I'm skeptical. Smart coaches keep hiring him, so maybe something's there.
Barrow (R): Outstanding recruiter who's slowly growing into a position coach.
Williams (T): I think he's done a pretty **** good job with what he's had to work with: converted safeties, converting RBs, cast-offs, career backups, true freshmen, etc...


We've got a very strong staff of recruiters that includes 3 aces (Golden, Cristobal, Barrow). I'd like to see another graybeard mixed in there, though. It's relatively young staff, so I'm sure it's more important than usual to rely on collective wisdom. I trust Golden at the helm to manage all the egos.
 
Advertisement
I was in all the way before Cristobal. With that hire, I'm more sold now that I ever was before. We should have recruiting locked down very well in south FL, just need the NCAA to get out of the way.

If we can keep this staff, at least the key members, for the next few years... well, the sky is the limit.
 
Kehoe seems to have the reputation on the boards as a poor/lazy recruiter, but the the o-linemen they've brought in the last couple of years all sound like they love him and he's a huge reason why they committed. And it sounds like he's been fairly dogged/aggressive in some cases (Sunny Odogwu, etc.).
 
Last edited:
Advertisement
The only one I would really disagree with is I feel Richardson with his track record is more of a teacher than recruiter. Although he seems to be quite accomplished at both.
 
The main thing I like about hiring Cristobal back is the fact that he can go into a recruits house and flash two NC rings.
 
Richardson might be the best teacher on the roster. He's also just a great recruiter, too.
Mario's a good teacher (track record at TE includes three pros). But a great recruiter, too.
We can discuss the merits of Kehoe in 2013, but he's got an unrivaled resume of pros and stud collegiate players...and he's a guy that a lot of people LOVE on the recruiting trail.
 
Is there a list of the GA's?

I know Kareem Brown is the defensive one. Do we know who is the offensive one?
 
Advertisement
Funny thing is that Kehoe was listed in one of the prominent mags several years ago as one of the top recruiters in the nation. You don't need an X and O genius as a HC.

HC needs to be a leader of men first and foremost. He needs to know how to push the right buttons and how to have his team play at a high emotional level every week. He's not a guy who is in the X and O mix unless he's a playcaller, which is very rare and works even more rarely.

Not so sure I agree with the OP on Fish and his pedigree. He's been an OC once before and was a miserable failure. He is, however, a smart guy who obviously picked up some things along the way after his failure. He, like anyone else, is benefitting greatly from an enormous amount of talent on the offensive side of the football. We have a veteran OL, a very good QB, and one of the best players in the game in Duke along with some good explosive receivers. Our offense busted up the bad defenses, as they were supposed to, and we struggled with the good defenses. I expect to see us be very good in 2013 with an extra year under Morris's belt.
 
Matt Applebaum played on the OL while Terry Richardson was at UConn. He did video at Miami.
 
The Cristobal hire may the biggest acquisition this off-season...recruits included. Great recruiter, loves the area, loves the school, etc. He can jump in from day one--no moving, knows a bunch of the high school coaches, familiar with The U (obviously). In addition, TE is probably the area of greatest potential this year on offense. If he can really pull that unit together--wow.
 
Advertisement
I think our offensive staff is probably tied with Clemson for the best in the ACC. I think we will know more about our defensive staff in October 2013..
 
The Franchise said:
Funny thing is that Kehoe was listed in one of the prominent mags several years ago as one of the top recruiters in the nation. You don't need an X and O genius as a HC.

HC needs to be a leader of men first and foremost. He needs to know how to push the right buttons and how to have his team play at a high emotional level every week. He's not a guy who is in the X and O mix unless he's a playcaller, which is very rare and works even more rarely.

Not so sure I agree with the OP on Fish and his pedigree. He's been an OC once before and was a miserable failure. He is, however, a smart guy who obviously picked up some things along the way after his failure. He, like anyone else, is benefitting greatly from an enormous amount of talent on the offensive side of the football. We have a veteran OL, a very good QB, and one of the best players in the game in Duke along with some good explosive receivers. Our offense busted up the bad defenses, as they were supposed to, and we struggled with the good defenses. I expect to see us be very good in 2013 with an extra year under Morris's belt.
Click to expand...


I've been critical of Fisch all year, but objectively he has called plays before, and has had multiple NFL stops.

I actually though he did a better job year one.
 
Advertisement
numerounocane said:
The only one I would really disagree with is I feel Richardson with his track record is more of a teacher than recruiter. Although he seems to be quite accomplished at both.
Click to expand...


I labeled him recruiter simply because of the position. You want the RB coach to be a great recruiter more than anything else.
 
riceman said:
I was in all the way before Cristobal. With that hire, I'm more sold now that I ever was before. We should have recruiting locked down very well in south FL, just need the NCAA to get out of the way.

If we can keep this staff, at least the key members, for the next few years... well, the sky is the limit.
Click to expand...

This is how I felt as well. I have seen improvement and they have been recruiting like crazy, impressive in the face of a **** storm.
 
Am I crazy to think Richardson is the best overall coach on this staff besides Golden? Great track record of producing backs and a great recruiter.
 
Larry said:
Matt Applebaum played on the OL while Terry Richardson was at UConn. He did video at Miami.
Click to expand...

Thank you sir.

I thought we just lost a GA to a real coaching job? I believe he was a WR assistant...

Do you know what the new GA's specialty is? OL, TE, WR, RB?
 
Advertisement
Back
Top