Today's College Football Head Coach

[Sean Miller Fan]

In hearing Pat Narduzzi describe himself as a "CEO" type of coach and listening to how Dantonio ran things at Michigan State and hearing stories about big-time CEO coaches, Meyer and Saban, I'm wondering if the college football head coach position has morphed more into this CEO role where your primary jobs are recruiting, hiring good assistants, and coaching the assistants when necessary.

Narduzzi hasn't had the success yet on the recruiting front but he's out there making it a priority, even going as far as to say he's not remodeling the South Side complex for today's players. He's doing it for recruits. That's a pretty bold statement.

Today's coach seems to be more of a recruiting coordinator, fundraiser, and hiring manager. I think we got it right with Narduzzi. Time will tell. But, whether its right or wrong, Chryst was the exact opposite of this. He's basically has a "D3" mentality where he's just the old-school football coach and wasn't really engaged in anything that didn't involve X's and O's.

 

[Pitt is #1]

Assume Chryst was able to hire his counterpart as a DC. Someone as capable as himself as a DC. I'm not sure I would of had a problem with that. There is more than one way to skin a cat. I do get your point though and feel Narduzzi will be successful.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Assume Chryst was able to hire his counterpart as a DC. Someone as capable as himself as a DC. I'm not sure I would of had a problem with that. There is more than one way to skin a cat. I do get your point though and feel Narduzzi will be successful.

I agree I guess but part of my point was that Chryst didn't possess the people skills or selling skills to sell himself to top DC's, so he had to settle.

 

[Pitt is #1]

I don't buy that. He apparently has a good one in Wisconsin now and there is friction. Because he wants his guy. I think Chryst is just stubborn.

 

[OriginalEther]

I don't buy that. He apparently has a good one in Wisconsin now and there is friction. Because he wants his guy. I think Chryst is just stubborn.

Yeah, I'm more inclined to believe that.

Wasn't the rumor that Chryst wanted to bring the infamous Matt House along also, but Alvarez blocked it and forced Chryst to retain the current DC?
It at least sounds plausible given that Chryst brought along Brecktenfield and Haering.

 

[Pitt is #1]

Yeah, there was a story that his new DC scheduled a prospect to meet Chryst... and Chryst blew him off.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

In my view, it is and always has been Barry Alvarez Program even after he retired as Head Coach. This is why Coaches have left with little to no notice to Barry!

Chryst is the perfect fit for Barry, he will oversee the Offense and Barry will guide the Defense and Special Teams through the Staff.

If I could compare it to Pitt, it would have been like Jackie Sherrill would have stayed at Athletic Director and had Foge Fazio be the coach, where Foge would handle the details, Jackie would still have told him what to do? I am interested in seeing how the Special Teams do at Wisky under PC?

 

[michnittlion]

The CEO analogy is good --- but I think you could also say the job of college football coach is morphing into a mix of a CEO and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer).

With Twitter and Social Media and such and with how college football has become a 12-month sport (there really IS no off-season anymore. Much like the NFL, college football gets talked about even in June anymore), the power of branding (marketing) seems to becoming ever more important.

From my perspective, Narduzzi does seem to be acting like both a CEO and CMO. (Harbaugh up at U-M and Franklin at PSU are doing this too)

 

[pitt-girl]

In my view, it is and always has been Barry Alvarez Program even after he retired as Head Coach. This is why Coaches have left with little to no notice to Barry!

Chryst is the perfect fit for Barry, he will oversee the Offense and Barry will guide the Defense and Special Teams through the Staff.

If I could compare it to Pitt, it would have been like Jackie Sherrill would have stayed at Athletic Director and had Foge Fazio be the coach, where Foge would handle the details, Jackie would still have told him what to do? I am interested in seeing how the Special Teams do at Wisky under PC?

I don't follow any other boards; anyone know what the general feeling is right now in Madison about Chryst? I know he hasn't coached a game there yet as a HC but how is the recruiting, etc.?

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

I don't follow any other boards; anyone know what the general feeling is right now in Madison about Chryst? I know he hasn't coached a game there yet as a HC but how is the recruiting, etc.?

Chryst has Wisky Ranked #62 with 6 Commits, on Rival for 2016. Last year Wisky was Ranked #37 with 20 Recruits!

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The CEO analogy is good --- but I think you could also say the job of college football coach is morphing into a mix of a CEO and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer).

With Twitter and Social Media and such and with how college football has become a 12-month sport (there really IS no off-season anymore. Much like the NFL, college football gets talked about even in June anymore), the power of branding (marketing) seems to becoming ever more important.

From my perspective, Narduzzi does seem to be acting like both a CEO and CMO. (Harbaugh up at U-M and Franklin at PSU are doing this too)

I would agree with this. I think the days of the Paul Chryst-type of head coach are pretty much done in college football. I'm not saying Chryst won't be successful at Wisconsin because at a place like that, he can just get some good linemen and run the ball every play and win games. But at most places, Pitt especially, you can't do that. The recruiting landscape has changed. Kids today are different. Like it or not, they want to be wooed, told how great they are, they want you to be their best friend. Now, not all kids, of course, but the majority it seems. And this is why Franklin has been so successful. He's a "cool dude." Kids love that. And Narduzzi is like this also and I think will have success eventually. I know Peak is extremely high on his recruiting "efforts" (not results yet).

 

[thebadby2]

Yeah, there was a story that his new DC scheduled a prospect to meet Chryst... and Chryst blew him off.

Alvarez forced Aranda on PC, that was part of PC's deal to get the job. This was not "sprung" on him after he accepted. If PC doesn't like it, and he is acting out as you say, he's a petty idiot. Alvarez, on the other hand, is no dummy. Wisky had a top 5 D under Aranda built primarily on a bunch of 2 and 3 star players. House and his defense were a joke. It was a no-brainer to keep him on.

 

[geeman2001]

I would agree with this. I think the days of the Paul Chryst-type of head coach are pretty much done in college football. I'm not saying Chryst won't be successful at Wisconsin because at a place like that, he can just get some good linemen and run the ball every play and win games. But at most places, Pitt especially, you can't do that. The recruiting landscape has changed. Kids today are different. Like it or not, they want to be wooed, told how great they are, they want you to be their best friend. Now, not all kids, of course, but the majority it seems. And this is why Franklin has been so successful. He's a "cool dude." Kids love that. And Narduzzi is like this also and I think will have success eventually. I know Peak is extremely high on his recruiting "efforts" (not results yet).

Much of this is true. But people have to stop comparing Narduzzi to Franklin (or Meyer, Saban, or anyone at a football factory).

Franklin might be "cool" but the immediate success he had getting commitments with his loud brash tactics (vs. the tepid results of Duz so far with similar approach) have at least as much to do with the giant machine behind him.

Many kids like the spectacle, yeah maybe. Though at the risk of countering a stereotype with another, others, such as big OL type, aren't as likely. This big dude Franklin got a commit from last week, there was a profile in the local propaganda rag (naturally), and he didn't fit the mold of some crazy, hip hop dude, attention-whore one might peg as a prime attraction to Franklin. He actually seemed like he'd likely go more for a Chryst type.

But they got him, and it sounded more like (paraphrase) "he dreamed of playing at PSU." Not Franklin. Not even Paterno. .But for that giant football shrine, where football is treated like a religion (and the players and coaches are Gods, capital G).

That's The Machine in action, because truly, that program hasn't accomplished squat in these kids' conscious life times (compared to an OSU, say). A top recruit simply looking at PSU's record would be no more impressed than he would by Pitt's.

But thanks to The Machine, and the great relief that the 'sanctions' (joke that they were) are gone (also thanks to The Machine), which coincided at Franklin's hiring, OF COURSE he was going to be successful ... even if he hadn't tweeted a single word or morphed-cat photo.

Pitt doesn't have that machine. Blame the cheap fans, dullard administrators, Pitt-hating media, underachieving past coaches , kickers perplexed by the right hash, the Steelers, off campus stadium, logo, lame Sweet Caroline, whatever you want, but it's added up to a program that is going to have to show success on the field BEFORE it gets big time recruits. Which as we know is almost impossible and a vicious cycle.

So to come full circle, stop putting Franklin expectations on Duz ... right now, anyway. And stop attributing Franklin's success to "coolness" (is Urban Meyer cool? Coach K?). As I've been saying, Paul Chryst could likely come close to Franklin's recruiting success if he were at PSU at this time. He might be doing better there than Franklin right now actually, because he wouldn't have f**ked up Hackleburg last season and they likely would have won a few more games.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Many kids like the spectacle, yeah maybe. Though at the risk of countering a stereotype with another, others, such as big OL type, aren't as likely. This big dude Franklin got a commit from last week, there was a profile in the local propaganda rag (naturally), and he didn't fit the mold of some crazy, hip hop dude, attention-whore one might peg as a prime attraction to Franklin. He actually seemed like he'd likely go more for a Chryst type.

But they got him, and it sounded more like (paraphrase) "he dreamed of playing at PSU." Not Franklin. Not even Paterno. .But for that giant football shrine, where football is treated like a religion (and the players and coaches are Gods, capital G).

That's The Machine in action, because truly, that program hasn't accomplished squat in these kids' conscious life times (compared to an OSU, say). A top recruit simply looking at PSU's record would be no more impressed than he would by Pitt's.

Penn State has many inherent recruiting advantages. No doubt about it. They can sell their rural campus to the suburban kids, whose parents think State College is some type of college campus fantasy land theme park or something. And now they have a cool dude head coach who can be the BFF for any of the attention-seeking recruit who has been told how great he is by everybody his entire life. Add in the power and draw of The Cult with their sheer size (700K alumni mean many more kids and relatives of former players and alums to recruit) and its easy to see why they should be super successful.


Narduzzi isn't going to have these advantages but with a lot of hard work and creative recruiting on his part, I think we can get enough players to compete for championships in the ACC. Only time will tell. I think this is possible with Narduzzi. I could be way off. With Chryst, I felt that he wasn't a good enough coach or recruiter to do big things.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

I would agree with this. I think the days of the Paul Chryst-type of head coach are pretty much done in college football. I'm not saying Chryst won't be successful at Wisconsin because at a place like that, he can just get some good linemen and run the ball every play and win games. But at most places, Pitt especially, you can't do that. The recruiting landscape has changed. Kids today are different. Like it or not, they want to be wooed, told how great they are, they want you to be their best friend. Now, not all kids, of course, but the majority it seems. And this is why Franklin has been so successful. He's a "cool dude." Kids love that. And Narduzzi is like this also and I think will have success eventually. I know Peak is extremely high on his recruiting "efforts" (not results yet).

In addition, Chryst inattention to Special Teams and then his added arrogance of making a joke about them, actually cost him 2 game each year at Pitt.

Chryst as an OC & QB Coach reminds me so much of Foge Fazio that was a superb DC, but lacked Head Coaching abilities.

Right now, Barry Alvarez at 68 in my opinion actually is the Head Coach and created a "System Program" that so long as they get a Top Running Back and decent QB, they like MSU can turn 2 to 3 Star Recruits into good Players to form 10+ win seasons.

So long as Barry is there, Chryst should win 9 to 10 games, but without Barry Alvarez, I just think Chryst lacks the personality and Staff selection abilities to be a Top 10 Win coach.

We will know this year since, Wisky has been predicted to be a Top 25 Program!