Brian Bennett, ESPN Staff Writer
As a highly-successful defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Arkansas and Ohio State, Chris Ash eyed head-coaching opportunities for several years. But he often ran into a familiar roadblock. "When jobs come open, the first thought of athletic directors and other people is, 'We want to go with an offensive head coach,'" Ash said. "'Score all these points and put people in stands.'" Offense sells tickets and, until recently, got coaches on the fast track toward promotions. Of the 14 FBS head-coaching jobs that came open last season, only one went to a defensive coordinator -- when Pittsburgh hired Pat Narduzzi from Michigan State.
But this year's busy coaching carousel has brought renewed optimism for the defensively inclined. So far, six Power 5 programs have hired new head coaches who were serving as defensive coordinators -- Georgia (Kirby Smart), South Carolina (Will Muschamp), Maryland (D.J. Durkin), Minnesota (Tracy Claeys), Missouri (Barry Odom) and Rutgers (Ash). In addition, Virginia hired Bronco Mendenhall, the former head coach at BYU who cut his teeth on the defensive side of the ball.
Offense-first guys still got plenty of opportunities -- Justin Fuente at Virginia Tech, Clay Helton at USC, Bill Cubit at Illinois and Matt Campbell at Iowa State, to name a few -- but it appears that, for the first time in a while, defense is also getting its due.
"It was a good year for defensive coaches," said Ash, who coordinated Ohio State's defense during last year's national championship run and will remain with the Buckeyes through the Fiesta Bowl. "I think there was a lot of good defense played around the country this year that probably, looking around the landscape of college football, couldn't have been said the past few years. That opens up options for other people."
Some of the defense-oriented hires made perfect sense. At Minnesota, Claeys had spent two stints as the interim head coach because of Jerry Kill's health issues, and without a permanent athletic director in place, the Golden Gophers were wise to go with continuity. Missouri also stayed in house with Odom, a right-hand man for retiring program architect Gary Pinkel. Georgia hired Smart, who played for the Bulldogs and has been a hot commodity as Nick Saban's trusted defensive boss at Alabama. "I didn't enter this search process focused on a defensive or offensive coordinator," Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said. "It was all about the best fit and the vision the person had about the total program. A demonstrated record of success on either side of the ball was less important than who was the best fit and what was their background."
Other hires were more surprising. South Carolina settled on Muschamp, who went 17-15 in the SEC at Florida before being fired at the end of the 2014 season. The failure in Gainesville by Muschamp -- predicated, largely, on his inability to develop any kind of credible offensive attack -- was one factor people pointed to last year as a reason why fewer defensive coaches got looks for top jobs.
When Maryland fired Randy Edsall in the middle of the season, most observers thought the Terrapins would look to make a splash with a coach who brought along a high-powered offensive system. Instead, the Terps tapped 37-year-old former Michigan and Florida defensive coordinator Durkin. Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson said that when he began the search process, he was thinking about an offensive guy. But after talking to numerous people, he said, he realized Durkin was the best overall leader for the program, someone who was dynamic, energetic and a proven recruiter. Still, Anderson said that during the interview process, he and Durkin spent the most time talking about offensive philosophy. And he wanted to make sure that Durkin would be a true CEO of the program and not just try to run the defense in College Park. "I looked at a couple of programs where they brought in somebody from one side of the ball or the other," Anderson said. "With those coaches who weren't willing or able to delegate and who just delved into that side of the ball, usually you have an unbalanced team, and things usually don't work out." The merits of hiring a true program leader with a defensive background can quickly be gleaned by looking at this year's College Football Playoff field. Three of the four head coaches (Alabama's Saban, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Michigan State's Mark Dantonio) were defensive coordinators before landing in the big chair for the first time.
Still, that has not been the trend of late. Last year, when three Big Ten jobs came open -- Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin -- all three went to former quarterbacks and offensive guys. For whatever reason, the SEC East now is almost all-in on head coaches with defensive backgrounds. Five of the seven coaches in that division -- Smart, Muschamp, Odom, Vanderbilt's Derek Mason and Kentucky's Mark Stoops -- were defensive coordinators.
"It just so happened that way," Smart said during his introductory news conference at Georgia. "It could change in four years and go back the other way. Obviously, there's been a large trend towards offensive coaches as well. It goes highs and lows, ebbs and flows, who is stopping who and who is doing well."
The available coaches may have had something to do with it as well. Several of the innovative offensive minds already have been hired elsewhere or weren't interested in moving. NFL coaches Chip Kelly and Bill O'Brien were frequently mentioned as dream candidates for jobs such as USC and Maryland but stayed put in the pros. Several teams tried to lure Houston's Tom Herman away after he posted a 12-1 record in his first year, but he decided to sign an extension with the Cougars. Chad Morris has spent only one year at SMU. Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach, but he's only 32 and in his first year calling plays for a Power 5 team. South Carolina reportedly made failed overtures to Herman and Arizona's Rich Rodriguez before turning to Muschamp. "I think it's just dependent on the candidate pool," McGarity said. "I think it's just this year, and that it just happened to be this way."
But defense-oriented coaches can help themselves and their colleagues in the future by making the most of these opportunities. Pitt's Narduzzi did just that, going 8-4 in his first season and earning a contract extension. Like Narduzzi, new head coaches with defensive backgrounds hope to prove that they can win and be entertaining too.
"I get that people like [scoring points], but who says a defensive guy can't hire an offensive coordinator to do that for you?" Ash said. "If a guy understands how to build a program, he knows you're going to have to score points, move the ball and play good defense, along with special teams, to have a chance to build it the right way."
LINK:
http://espn.go.com/college-football...ive-minded-coaches-getting-hired-head-coaches
As a highly-successful defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Arkansas and Ohio State, Chris Ash eyed head-coaching opportunities for several years. But he often ran into a familiar roadblock. "When jobs come open, the first thought of athletic directors and other people is, 'We want to go with an offensive head coach,'" Ash said. "'Score all these points and put people in stands.'" Offense sells tickets and, until recently, got coaches on the fast track toward promotions. Of the 14 FBS head-coaching jobs that came open last season, only one went to a defensive coordinator -- when Pittsburgh hired Pat Narduzzi from Michigan State.
But this year's busy coaching carousel has brought renewed optimism for the defensively inclined. So far, six Power 5 programs have hired new head coaches who were serving as defensive coordinators -- Georgia (Kirby Smart), South Carolina (Will Muschamp), Maryland (D.J. Durkin), Minnesota (Tracy Claeys), Missouri (Barry Odom) and Rutgers (Ash). In addition, Virginia hired Bronco Mendenhall, the former head coach at BYU who cut his teeth on the defensive side of the ball.
Offense-first guys still got plenty of opportunities -- Justin Fuente at Virginia Tech, Clay Helton at USC, Bill Cubit at Illinois and Matt Campbell at Iowa State, to name a few -- but it appears that, for the first time in a while, defense is also getting its due.
"It was a good year for defensive coaches," said Ash, who coordinated Ohio State's defense during last year's national championship run and will remain with the Buckeyes through the Fiesta Bowl. "I think there was a lot of good defense played around the country this year that probably, looking around the landscape of college football, couldn't have been said the past few years. That opens up options for other people."
Some of the defense-oriented hires made perfect sense. At Minnesota, Claeys had spent two stints as the interim head coach because of Jerry Kill's health issues, and without a permanent athletic director in place, the Golden Gophers were wise to go with continuity. Missouri also stayed in house with Odom, a right-hand man for retiring program architect Gary Pinkel. Georgia hired Smart, who played for the Bulldogs and has been a hot commodity as Nick Saban's trusted defensive boss at Alabama. "I didn't enter this search process focused on a defensive or offensive coordinator," Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said. "It was all about the best fit and the vision the person had about the total program. A demonstrated record of success on either side of the ball was less important than who was the best fit and what was their background."
Other hires were more surprising. South Carolina settled on Muschamp, who went 17-15 in the SEC at Florida before being fired at the end of the 2014 season. The failure in Gainesville by Muschamp -- predicated, largely, on his inability to develop any kind of credible offensive attack -- was one factor people pointed to last year as a reason why fewer defensive coaches got looks for top jobs.
When Maryland fired Randy Edsall in the middle of the season, most observers thought the Terrapins would look to make a splash with a coach who brought along a high-powered offensive system. Instead, the Terps tapped 37-year-old former Michigan and Florida defensive coordinator Durkin. Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson said that when he began the search process, he was thinking about an offensive guy. But after talking to numerous people, he said, he realized Durkin was the best overall leader for the program, someone who was dynamic, energetic and a proven recruiter. Still, Anderson said that during the interview process, he and Durkin spent the most time talking about offensive philosophy. And he wanted to make sure that Durkin would be a true CEO of the program and not just try to run the defense in College Park. "I looked at a couple of programs where they brought in somebody from one side of the ball or the other," Anderson said. "With those coaches who weren't willing or able to delegate and who just delved into that side of the ball, usually you have an unbalanced team, and things usually don't work out." The merits of hiring a true program leader with a defensive background can quickly be gleaned by looking at this year's College Football Playoff field. Three of the four head coaches (Alabama's Saban, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Michigan State's Mark Dantonio) were defensive coordinators before landing in the big chair for the first time.
Still, that has not been the trend of late. Last year, when three Big Ten jobs came open -- Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin -- all three went to former quarterbacks and offensive guys. For whatever reason, the SEC East now is almost all-in on head coaches with defensive backgrounds. Five of the seven coaches in that division -- Smart, Muschamp, Odom, Vanderbilt's Derek Mason and Kentucky's Mark Stoops -- were defensive coordinators.
"It just so happened that way," Smart said during his introductory news conference at Georgia. "It could change in four years and go back the other way. Obviously, there's been a large trend towards offensive coaches as well. It goes highs and lows, ebbs and flows, who is stopping who and who is doing well."
The available coaches may have had something to do with it as well. Several of the innovative offensive minds already have been hired elsewhere or weren't interested in moving. NFL coaches Chip Kelly and Bill O'Brien were frequently mentioned as dream candidates for jobs such as USC and Maryland but stayed put in the pros. Several teams tried to lure Houston's Tom Herman away after he posted a 12-1 record in his first year, but he decided to sign an extension with the Cougars. Chad Morris has spent only one year at SMU. Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach, but he's only 32 and in his first year calling plays for a Power 5 team. South Carolina reportedly made failed overtures to Herman and Arizona's Rich Rodriguez before turning to Muschamp. "I think it's just dependent on the candidate pool," McGarity said. "I think it's just this year, and that it just happened to be this way."
But defense-oriented coaches can help themselves and their colleagues in the future by making the most of these opportunities. Pitt's Narduzzi did just that, going 8-4 in his first season and earning a contract extension. Like Narduzzi, new head coaches with defensive backgrounds hope to prove that they can win and be entertaining too.
"I get that people like [scoring points], but who says a defensive guy can't hire an offensive coordinator to do that for you?" Ash said. "If a guy understands how to build a program, he knows you're going to have to score points, move the ball and play good defense, along with special teams, to have a chance to build it the right way."
LINK:
http://espn.go.com/college-football...ive-minded-coaches-getting-hired-head-coaches
