Next ND Offensive Coordinator - the search

allenm5333

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The majority of NY Jets related articles I've read about him since he was connected to that OC job was that he "called some plays" at Florida. Otherwise he was OC at all of those but wasn't necessarily calling plays.

His work with QBs is obviously his strength. Trask and Jalen Hurts are testament to that.
I bet Mullen called most of the plays but Johnson was involved in scripting and had defined times when he called plays. Example: possession openers, 3rd and long, etc.
 

IrishSteelhead

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IMO

A one year rental or short term stay should be the GOAL for EVERY non HC hire.

The hire should be someone who does so well he is forced to leave for a higher role, or you are forced to pony up more dough to retain him.

The idea that it’s better to have some shitheel for 3-5 years for continuity’s sake instead of a firebrand that transforms his unit and moves on as a reward is weird to me.


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CTIDANDREW

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Byron Leftwich:
Pro's: Closely worked with the greatest QB of all time for the past (3) seasons.
Grew up in a recruiting hot-bed, and still has to have strong connections to the area (D.C.)
Spent most of his adult life playing, and coaching in four recruiting hot beds (Florida, Arizona, Atlanta, Pittsburgh)

If he proves to Marcus during the interview that he is serious about this, he could be a huge plus on the recruiting trail if he puts effort into it.
Young kids all across the country have seen him sitting right next to Tom over the last three years on their televisions.

His coaching ability left a lot to be desired this past season, but the Bucs offensive line was a disaster. We know that will never be the case during his duration in South Bend as long as Harry H is in the building.

I really like this option, and would trust in Marcus if this is the route he chooses.
 

irishog77

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IMO

A one year rental or short term stay should be the GOAL for EVERY non HC hire.

The hire should be someone who does so well he is forced to leave for a higher role, or you are forced to pony up more dough to retain him.

The idea that it’s better to have some shitheel for 3-5 years for continuity’s sake instead of a firebrand that transforms his unit and moves on as a reward is weird to me.


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I wish van gorder was still the DC at ND
 

arrowryan

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IMO

A one year rental or short term stay should be the GOAL for EVERY non HC hire.

The hire should be someone who does so well he is forced to leave for a higher role, or you are forced to pony up more dough to retain him.

The idea that it’s better to have some shitheel for 3-5 years for continuity’s sake instead of a firebrand that transforms his unit and moves on as a reward is weird to me.


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Yeah, I don’t understand the logic of “let’s hire someone who won’t leave”. If he’s not leaving, then he’s probably not a very good OC.

O’Malley said something odd in the II pod yesterday. He basically said that 4 DCs/LB coaches in 4 years isn’t good for the team. So Freeman/Kelly shouldn’t have hired young defensive minds with goals of becoming a HC? He acted like they’ve been going through DCs because they can’t find one that is good.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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IMO

A one year rental or short term stay should be the GOAL for EVERY non HC hire.

The hire should be someone who does so well he is forced to leave for a higher role, or you are forced to pony up more dough to retain him.

The idea that it’s better to have some shitheel for 3-5 years for continuity’s sake instead of a firebrand that transforms his unit and moves on as a reward is weird to me.


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Agreed. These are professionals, not fans. If they are being successful opportunities will come their way. If Al Golden becomes an NFL DC or a college HC again, that's probably a good thing. He was reportedly approached by UC when Fickell left and said thanks anyway, so that might give us some insight as to where is head is at versus Rees who is 30 and gets offered a job by Saban. Realistically, the OC they are about to hire may likely not be around to see Minchey graduate.

That being said, Andy Ludwig has been at Utah forever and he's 58 years old. If he comes to ND, based on his age and resume, there is a good chance he leans toward staying.

In reality, you never know. Often times, these guys don't go out looking for jobs, the jobs find them.
 

irishff1014

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Byron Leftwich:
Pro's: Closely worked with the greatest QB of all time for the past (3) seasons.
Grew up in a recruiting hot-bed, and still has to have strong connections to the area (D.C.)
Spent most of his adult life playing, and coaching in four recruiting hot beds (Florida, Arizona, Atlanta, Pittsburgh)

If he proves to Marcus during the interview that he is serious about this, he could be a huge plus on the recruiting trail if he puts effort into it.
Young kids all across the country have seen him sitting right next to Tom over the last three years on their televisions.

His coaching ability left a lot to be desired this past season, but the Bucs offensive line was a disaster. We know that will never be the case during his duration in South Bend as long as Harry H is in the building.

I really like this option, and would trust in Marcus if this is the route he chooses.

I wouldn’t say never but highly unlikely. He might have some struggle as the beginning of the season like he did this year though.
 

Irish14

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Agreed. These are professionals, not fans. If they are being successful opportunities will come their way. If Al Golden becomes an NFL DC or a college HC again, that's probably a good thing. He was reportedly approached by UC when Fickell left and said thanks anyway, so that might give us some insight as to where is head is at versus Rees who is 30 and gets offered a job by Saban. Realistically, the OC they are about to hire may likely not be around to see Minchey graduate.

That being said, Andy Ludwig has been at Utah forever and he's 58 years old. If he comes to ND, based on his age and resume, there is a good chance he leans toward staying.

In reality, you never know. Often times, these guys don't go out looking for jobs, the jobs find them.

Ludwig has been at Utah since 2019 not “forever” and hadn’t been there since 2008 prior to this current stint


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NDFAN2008

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Yeah, I don’t understand the logic of “let’s hire someone who won’t leave”. If he’s not leaving, then he’s probably not a very good OC.

O’Malley said something odd in the II pod yesterday. He basically said that 4 DCs/LB coaches in 4 years isn’t good for the team. So Freeman/Kelly shouldn’t have hired young defensive minds with goals of becoming a HC? He acted like they’ve been going through DCs because they can’t find one that is good.
Bama has probally had more OC/DC than any power 5 team in college the last 10 years and has the most championships so this logic is dumb
 

Veritate Duce Progredi

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Yeah, I don’t understand the logic of “let’s hire someone who won’t leave”. If he’s not leaving, then he’s probably not a very good OC.

O’Malley said something odd in the II pod yesterday. He basically said that 4 DCs/LB coaches in 4 years isn’t good for the team. So Freeman/Kelly shouldn’t have hired young defensive minds with goals of becoming a HC? He acted like they’ve been going through DCs because they can’t find one that is good.
I think there is a good middle ground here. 1 year and done is hard for kids to learn a system fully and think about the growth we often saw in a coordinators 2nd or 3rd year. Very few people expect coordinators to stay beyond that but the middle ground of the two extremes would be finding great coordinators who want to stay 2-3 years before moving on. Freeman and ND must continue refining their system for identifying up and coming coaches so they can remain ahead of the curve.
 

CTIDANDREW

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Honest question out of ignorance...if Andy Ludwig were hired would he be the first ND coach that was a member of the Church of LDS?
 

arrowryan

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Bama has probally had more OC/DC than any power 5 team in college the last 10 years and has the most championships so this logic is dumb

Exactly. I don’t think Saban hired Sark, Kiffin, and O’Brien with the thought that they’d be there for 5+ years. I’m sure he knows that Rees will probably be gone after 1-2 years too.
 

IrishSteelhead

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Bama has probally had more OC/DC than any power 5 team in college the last 10 years and has the most championships so this logic is dumb

Exactly. Their track record of churning out head coaches or rehabilitating broken ones is remarkable.

*arrowryan by a few seconds


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Jiggafini19Deux

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Ludwig has been at Utah since 2019 not “forever” and hadn’t been there since 2008 prior to this current stint


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Perhaps a poor use of the word forever. Let me break it down a bit further then.

Current stint, his third at Utah, is 4 seasons. Take away 2020 (3-2 Covid season) and all three seasons were double digit win seasons with three division titles and two Rose Bowls where Utah finished lowest at 16th. He's still there. Can we assume that he's been approached about other jobs and has obviously declined?

4 years with those accomplishments is a long time in college football, but not forever. The buried lead is that at his age and the fact that he doesn't seem to be a job hopper with HC ambition is that he could be inclined to stick around. If he's even interested and or gets the ND job.
 

NDFAN2008

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Exactly. I don’t think Saban hired Sark, Kiffin, and O’Brien with the thought that they’d be there for 5+ years. I’m sure he knows that Rees will probably be gone after 1-2 years too.
If Bama wins a title this coming season Rees will get a head coaching job somewhere
 

rtrn2glory

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based on the names that are being "leaked" it appears that they're looking for a OC that can also coach QB's right? That would pretty much eliminate Grimes if that's the case.
 

Giddyup

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Why would they limit themselves? Hire the best guy and figure it out.
 

SoIll

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based on the names that are being "leaked" it appears that they're looking for a OC that can also coach QB's right? That would pretty much eliminate Grimes if that's the case.
and preferably has called plays, but Johnson would be a home f'n run!
 

irishog77

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Jeff Grimes would be a splash hire.
Grimes might be a good choice as an OC. But I think MF has to hire a QB coach as well, so I'm doubtful of him. There aren't really other guys on the staff who could slide over and coach QB.

One of the things about CFB, restrictions on assistants. I think MF will pretty much have to hire a QB/OC combo.
 

rtrn2glory

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After reading that article, if MFMF can persuade Johnson to come considering the interest he's getting at the NFL level, he's an even better recruiter than I originally thought.
 

Plankton

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The majority of NY Jets related articles I've read about him since he was connected to that OC job was that he "called some plays" at Florida. Otherwise he was OC at all of those but wasn't necessarily calling plays.

His work with QBs is obviously his strength. Trask and Jalen Hurts are testament to that.

He also worked with Dak Prescott at Mississippi State.
 

Pennick44

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They had to fire someone. After what was by far and away their worst offensive season since he's been there. He was getting head coaching interviews this time last year. Brady's retirement, unretirement shit show, Arians leaving, Gronkowski finally hanging it up, everything just kind of went wrong for them. Someone had to go. Bowles wasn't going to fire himself.

That being said, he shouldn't be taking a step back into the college game. He should get another chance at an NFL OC job. Rightfully so.
Doubt that happens. If he was good he would be hired. I doubt he gets another OC job in NFL.
 

rtrn2glory

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Probably an un-popular opinion on Leftwich, but I could've called plays for that Tampa Bay team the year they won it all. They were loaded and had the GOAT playing QB. You learn a lot about a coach when shit hits the fan and there's a little adversity. He didn't show out this year despite the challenges. Do we not think there's going to be challenges calling plays for ND? Still a very hard pass for me. Not to mention if he was any good as a playcaller/coach there's plenty of places in the league that would be knocking on his door, which right now does not appear to be the case.
 
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