Offensive Coordinator Search

[Ndaccountant]

ISD also commented on how much Moorhead likes ND. We’ll see.

Rental or not, I would be very disappointed if ND did not go after him with vigor.

 

[ThePiombino]

The Moorhead timing is pure serendipity.

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[Mavericknyc1980]

I would be all about it.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Heads up in case Moorhead is hired, that offense has shown to take around 6 games to really get going. At least in Happy Valley in 2016 and at Michigan this year.

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[GoldenToTheGrave]

You ever heard of "read and react"? I'm just the react part.

But in all seriousness, like I said this article isn't my point, but just another supplementary piece that says the OL wasn't "bad". 24th isn't elite, but it's also not "we must fire our OC" bad.

My point is still about the big lanes that were there that a top 30 RB would have taken advantage of.

And Wed all have a very different perspective of the OL and Quinn, IMO.

Lets be real though, we struggled to run the ball, especially on short yardage, against New Mexico. Which was among the worst defenses in the country. The stats for the running backs in that game were

K. Williams
4 26 0 14

T. Jones Jr
6 17 0 9

M. Assaf
3 8 0 8

C. Flemister
7 -2 1 3

That was with a healthy Kraemer and Hainsey. I know I'm harping on one game, I know our RB's were not good this year, but if your healthy, veteran Oline can't get a push on a FCS caliber defense it's a major problem. It's a problem that with little exception didn't improve as time went on. Creating excuses for such problems instead of fixing it will keep this program from competing for championships, plain and simple.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Lets be real though, we struggled to run the ball, especially on short yardage, against New Mexico. Which was among the worst defenses in the country. The stats for the running backs in that game were



K. Williams

4 26 0 14



T. Jones Jr

6 17 0 9



M. Assaf

3 8 0 8



C. Flemister

7 -2 1 3



That was with a healthy Kraemer and Hainsey. I know I'm harping on one game, I know our RB's were not good this year, but if your healthy, veteran Oline can't get a push on a FCS caliber defense it's a major problem. It's a problem that with little exception didn't improve as time went on. Creating excuses for such problems instead of fixing it will keep this program from competing for championships, plain and simple.

Wasn’t the main issue Chip Long’s offense and OL blocking scheme?

I would say firing Chip Long is not creating an excuse, but is fixing the issue. You can even see in the bowl game the different blocking scheme and also playing under center. Both with improved results.

So if replacing the offensive coordinator and blocking scheme is not a fix according to you; what is an acceptable fix/solution for you in order for Notre Dame to compete for a championship?


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[arndtjc]

You ever heard of "read and react"? I'm just the react part.

At least he finally admitted it

 

[Crazy Balki]

I really didn't know Adams ran that time.

The 2017 O line had NFL talent. The 2019 O line could have it as well. We don't know at this point. I said I don't expect ND to dominate the trenches against Georgia and Clemson. But we shouldn't expect them to struggle up front against inferior teams.

If you aren't at practice every day, you can't say what Quinn did or did not emphasize. Just...no.

I want to see the scheme where ND lines up on third and short, blows people off the ball, and gets more than they need. Let's do that again. It was fun.

On Quinn, based on what are you saying he's so respected? He seems like a great guy and a really good recruiter, but there's no way he gets this job if he isn't linked to BK.

The problem is that Quinn doesn't emphasize anything. Long does. It's his offense and he chooses what the offense will emphasize, along with I'm sure input from Kelly. Based on what was reported all offseason, ND was going to lean on the pass. That's not meant to slight Long, because I get it. ND went into the season with apparently a very strong receiver corp, a good pass blocking OL and a veteran QB with great accuracy. RB was a position with a ton of question marks and their best run blocking OL (Banks) had broken his foot in the offseason.

Long dictates what the position coaches will emphasize based on his scheme and playcalling. The same will be the case with whoever Kelly hires to be the next OC.

Is it possible that ND was hoodwinking everybody viewing practices all offseason and actually going hard on the run game? Sure, but the results don't support that. Reality is that this team was very good at pass protection and once Book got out of his funk, they were very good passing it. They weren't very good running it.

What Koon stated is somewhat true. ND was better at run blocking than what most perceived. The scheme did them zero favors. I'm not going to say it was the wrong scheme, because I think it was used to necessitate RPO's and help maintain holes longer for backs that lacked explosiveness. It really does make a difference when you have a guy like Dexter, who is arguably the best natural runner ND has had in years and has legit explosiveness. That is something ND sorely lacked in '19. Whether a guy like Smith, Kyren or C'Bo turns into one remains to be seen.

I also want a scheme that allows ND's line to just attack, rather than pull so much and be more precise and intrinsic with their assignments. I also know that ND's talent at running back needs to improve for that to be beneficial. It's difficult for a line to just switch gears for short yardage situations and then go right back to a different mindset and scheme. Hopefully somebody emerges, preferably somebodies, that will allow ND to run primarily zone.

 

[Irish#1]

The Moorhead timing is pure serendipity.

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Thanks Mary Poppins.

 

[IrishLion]

I know LAX cited some examples of why he doesn't think Book would work in Moorhead's offense, but I'm kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum... I think Book would be great meshing some of the playaction stuff he excels at with Moorhead's QB run game. I think he would flourish as a runner with a lead-blocker in front of him every time he runs, rather than relying on wide-open backside keep plays like they tried to set up this year and last.

Obviously you can't pound him into the line on power plays, but you can fake a zone left and pull an H-back (Brock Wright, George Takacs, Michael Mayer) around the right side to lead the way for him and give him extra chances to find a hole and then protect himself.

BUT, if something were to happen, and he did take punishment... Jurkovec is the perfect QB to step in and run Moorhead's simplified QB-power run game.


TL;DR
Moorhead's offense would be nice, IMO, because it has things that both Book and Phil J would excel at.

 

[ThePiombino]

I know LAX cited some examples of why he doesn't think Book would work in Moorhead's offense, but I'm kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum... I think Book would be great meshing some of the playaction stuff he excels at with Moorhead's QB run game. I think he would flourish as a runner with a lead-blocker in front of him every time he runs, rather than relying on wide-open backside keep plays like they tried to set up this year and last.

Obviously you can't pound him into the line on power plays, but you can fake a zone left and pull an H-back (Brock Wright, George Takacs, Michael Mayer) around the right side to lead the way for him and give him extra chances to find a hole and then protect himself.

BUT, if something were to happen, and he did take punishment... Jurkovec is the perfect QB to step in and run Moorhead's simplified QB-power run game.


TL;DR
Moorhead's offense would be nice, IMO, because it has things that both Book and Phil J would excel at.

Yeah I don't think the Moorhead hire would be anything short of a home run. If what the "insiders" are saying is accurate too, that Moorhead is NOT a big ego guy and would come crawling to ND (I'm sure there's some hyperbole there), then no reason to think he wouldn't accept some sort of co-title with Rees. Both would likely benefit from the arrangement -- Moorhead can springboard this into another P5 HC job in 2-3 years and Tommy will be ready to take the wheel by himself by then as well.

Only rub here is that Moorhead is a QB coach, so how does all that get worked out? Moorhead just take a ceremonial TE coach position? Hmmm....

 

[stlnd01]

Yeah I don't think the Moorhead hire would be anything short of a home run. If what the "insiders" are saying is accurate too, that Moorhead is NOT a big ego guy and would come crawling to ND (I'm sure there's some hyperbole there), then no reason to think he wouldn't accept some sort of co-title with Rees. Both would likely benefit from the arrangement -- Moorhead can springboard this into another P5 HC job in 2-3 years and Tommy will be ready to take the wheel by himself by then as well.

Only rub here is that Moorhead is a QB coach, so how does all that get worked out? Moorhead just take a ceremonial TE coach position? Hmmm....

Assuming they all get along, this is like the icing on the cake.

Also I know there have been some concerns about the "culture" under him at Mississippi State - discipline, some sort of academic scandal - but was there any of that at Penn State? I've got to think the "culture" at Mississippi State is EXTREMELY different than Notre Dame. ND may be more his speed. Either way, as a coordinator, he'd have far less to do with that stuff and setting the tone for the program than he would as a head coach. Unless there's something really bad we don't know about, I wouldn't let that stand in the way of anything.

 

[ThePiombino]

Assuming they all get along, this is like the icing on the cake.

Also I know there have been some concerns about the "culture" under him at Mississippi State - discipline, some sort of academic scandal - but was there any of that at Penn State? I've got to think the "culture" at Mississippi State is EXTREMELY different than Notre Dame. ND may be more his speed. Either way, as a coordinator, he'd have far less to do with that stuff and setting the tone for the program than he would as a head coach. Unless there's something really bad we don't know about, I wouldn't let that stand in the way of anything.

He's a northeast guy, so that's likely the case and is on par with what the "rumblings" are.

 

[Free Manera]

Only rub here is that Moorhead is a QB coach, so how does all that get worked out? Moorhead just take a ceremonial TE coach position? Hmmm....

The staff could be shuffled a bit. I have heard a few ideas:

1. Polian to TEs and a collaborative approach to special teams
2. Moorhead coaches TEs
3. No TE coach and they work with WRs and O line depending on practice schedule

Frankly, I think if you can get Moorhead you do and just figure out the other details later. He is an absolute blow the doors off hire.

 

[GoIrish41]

Isn't RichRod available? He wasn't a good head coach, but that guy put some dynamic offenses on the field. He's worth a look.

 

[NDdomer2]

Isn't RichRod available? He wasn't a good head coach, but that guy put some dynamic offenses on the field. He's worth a look.

he is currently available. I highly doubt hes an option.

 

[BabyIrish]

Only rub here is that Moorhead is a QB coach, so how does all that get worked out? Moorhead just take a ceremonial TE coach position? Hmmm....

I'd say let Moorhead coach the QB's and move Rees to TE's. I think him coaching another position would be even more beneficial to him being OC in a couple of years.

 

[zelezo vlk]

I can't remember which podcast, but either II or ISD mentioned a couple weeks back that it's BK's belief that a good coach can handle any position group, hence why Chuck Martin switched from D to O Coordinator and Elston was moved to LB from D line and Denbrock moved from TEs to WRs.

Get the coach in and figure it out later.

 

[stlnd01]

He's a northeast guy, so that's likely the case and is on par with what the "rumblings" are.

Fair. As a Northeast guy myself I suspect I would be a poor cultural fit for a high-pressure, high-visibility job in Starkville, Mississippi.

 

[ThePiombino]

Fair. As a Northeast guy myself I suspect I would be a poor cultural fit for a high-pressure, high-visibility job in Starkville, Mississippi.

Same.

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[OCIrish]

Question about an OC?

Yes??? Go ahead....

 

[NDMIA]

Pete Sampson mentioned if Moorhead is hired as OC then ND would have one of the top coordinator combos in the country. I’m all about it. For the CB job or a defensive coach job, II mentioned Demetrice Martin from Arizona (worked with Clark Lea at UCLA and sensational recruiter) along with Jeff Burris (ND alum working with Bob Diaco at La. Tech), and Christian Parker from the GB Packers (only 28yrs old young and inexperienced but could be a fit I suppose). I hope they go with Moorhead and Martin. I’d be sooo pumped. I think you’d immediately see some movement at CB recruiting cause Demetrice Martin is a heavy hitter in that facet.

 

[IrishLax]

OK so here's the thing, if you rewind to 2017/early 2018 I was ranting and raving on here about how our offensive scheme was dumb and we needed a Joe Moorhead type of offense. I have way too many posts on here about it. I love his offense, there are no gimmicks its just about maximizing explosive plays. It does not go for efficient, methodical drives.

But you need four things for it to work, or its a disaster:
1. A deep threat WR
2. An explosive RB
3. An OL like '17
4. A QB with a good deep ball, and ideally one that is also athletic and can make plays with his legs

Do we have any of those things? For #1 you can say Lenzy, but he has not proven to be an every down player yet. And he's the only guy on the roster who can take the top off the defense. For #2, we certainly don't have that besides Tyree. If you don't have someone who can turn a crease into a 50 yard TD then the offense doesn't work... you need, at minimum, a Josh Adams or Dexter Williams. Ideally a Saquon Barkley. You will get a half dozen opportunities a game at an explosive running play and whether that play goes for 7 yards or 50 makes a massive difference. For #3, I'm optimistic about the OL for next year. They might not be the best in the country, but they will be very good on paper. For #4, Ian Book does not have elite arm strength but did throw a good deep ball over the latter half of the season.

What you are talking about doing is eschewing what works from the current offense (efficient passing game, efficient red zone offense) for something that is a bit of square-peg-round-hole. Moorhead's offense is much better suited for someone like Jurkovec than someone like Book.

So if we hired Moorhead, what I would hope is that we keep a lot of what worked in the red zone and marry that up with a more explosive "between the 20s" offense. His redzone TD % at PSU was only 55% in 2016 and 64% in 2017 against opponents with winning records. Last three years under Long were 79%, 68%, 76% against teams with winning records.

 

[snoopdog]

OK so here's the thing, if you rewind to 2017/early 2018 I was ranting and raving on here about how our offensive scheme was dumb and we needed a Joe Moorhead type of offense. I have way too many posts on here about it. I love his offense, there are no gimmicks its just about maximizing explosive plays. It does not go for efficient, methodical drives.

But you need four things for it to work, or its a disaster:
1. A deep threat WR
2. An explosive RB
3. An OL like '17
4. A QB with a good deep ball, and ideally one that is also athletic and can make plays with his legs

Do we have any of those things? For #1 you can say Lenzy, but he has not proven to be an every down player yet. And he's the only guy on the roster who can take the top off the defense. For #2, we certainly don't have that besides Tyree. If you don't have someone who can turn a crease into a 50 yard TD then the offense doesn't work... you need, at minimum, a Josh Adams or Dexter Williams. Ideally a Saquon Barkley. You will get a half dozen opportunities a game at an explosive running play and whether that play goes for 7 yards or 50 makes a massive difference. For #3, I'm optimistic about the OL for next year. They might not be the best in the country, but they will be very good on paper. For #4, Ian Book does not have elite arm strength but did throw a good deep ball over the latter half of the season.

What you are talking about doing is eschewing what works from the current offense (efficient passing game, efficient red zone offense) for something that is a bit of square-peg-round-hole. Moorhead's offense is much better suited for someone like Jurkovec than someone like Book.

So if we hired Moorhead, what I would hope is that we keep a lot of what worked in the red zone and marry that up with a more explosive "between the 20s" offense. His redzone TD % at PSU was only 55% in 2016 and 64% in 2017 against opponents with winning records. Last three years under Long were 79%, 68%, 76% against teams with winning records.

Potentially yes to all 4.

Key word POTENTIALLY

 

[koonja]

OK so here's the thing, if you rewind to 2017/early 2018 I was ranting and raving on here about how our offensive scheme was dumb and we needed a Joe Moorhead type of offense. I have way too many posts on here about it. I love his offense, there are no gimmicks its just about maximizing explosive plays. It does not go for efficient, methodical drives.

But you need four things for it to work, or its a disaster:
1. A deep threat WR
2. An explosive RB
3. An OL like '17
4. A QB with a good deep ball, and ideally one that is also athletic and can make plays with his legs

Do we have any of those things? For #1 you can say Lenzy, but he has not proven to be an every down player yet. And he's the only guy on the roster who can take the top off the defense. For #2, we certainly don't have that besides Tyree. If you don't have someone who can turn a crease into a 50 yard TD then the offense doesn't work... you need, at minimum, a Josh Adams or Dexter Williams. Ideally a Saquon Barkley. You will get a half dozen opportunities a game at an explosive running play and whether that play goes for 7 yards or 50 makes a massive difference. For #3, I'm optimistic about the OL for next year. They might not be the best in the country, but they will be very good on paper. For #4, Ian Book does not have elite arm strength but did throw a good deep ball over the latter half of the season.

What you are talking about doing is eschewing what works from the current offense (efficient passing game, efficient red zone offense) for something that is a bit of square-peg-round-hole. Moorhead's offense is much better suited for someone like Jurkovec than someone like Book.

So if we hired Moorhead, what I would hope is that we keep a lot of what worked in the red zone and marry that up with a more explosive "between the 20s" offense. His redzone TD % at PSU was only 55% in 2016 and 64% in 2017 against opponents with winning records. Last three years under Long were 79%, 68%, 76% against teams with winning records.

You give me those many elite groups and I can coach the team to 16 wins with Lea on defense.

 

[IrishLax]

You give me those many elite groups and I can coach the team to 16 wins with Lea on defense.

That's the point, it's not about elite groups. You don't *need* elite WRs, you *need* someone who is a one-trick pony deep threat. You don't *need* Saquon Barkley, an UDFA caliber Josh Adams is fine... you need someone with long speed. You don't *need* Joe Burrow, you just need someone who can throw a deep ball.

The biggest bang-for-your-buck is on the OL, where the quality of run blocking has a direct correlation to the number of explosive running plays and where pass blocking allows the QB to throw deep.

 

[NDdomer2]

You give me those many elite groups and I can coach the team to 16 wins with Lea on defense.

Lol what you need is all Americans at all 4 offensive position groups

 

[BobbyMac]

Pete Sampson mentioned if Moorhead is hired as OC then ND would have one of the top coordinator combos in the country. I’m all about it. For the CB job or a defensive coach job, II mentioned Demetrice Martin from Arizona (worked with Clark Lea at UCLA and sensational recruiter) along with Jeff Burris (ND alum working with Bob Diaco at La. Tech), and Christian Parker from the GB Packers (only 28yrs old young and inexperienced but could be a fit I suppose). I hope they go with Moorhead and Martin. I’d be sooo pumped. I think you’d immediately see some movement at CB recruiting cause Demetrice Martin is a heavy hitter in that facet.

So this is where the Coach Meat smoke is coming from. That's disappointing. If they are basing a potential fit here based on them working together at UCLA, then they are mistaken. Lea worked for Neuheisel and Martin came in when Mora replaced them. If there is any connection it would be to Todd Lyght, They were with the Rams together.

 

[Irish#1]

OK so here's the thing, if you rewind to 2017/early 2018 I was ranting and raving on here about how our offensive scheme was dumb and we needed a Joe Moorhead type of offense. I have way too many posts on here about it. I love his offense, there are no gimmicks its just about maximizing explosive plays. It does not go for efficient, methodical drives.

But you need four things for it to work, or its a disaster:
1. A deep threat WR
2. An explosive RB
3. An OL like '17
4. A QB with a good deep ball, and ideally one that is also athletic and can make plays with his legs

Do we have any of those things? For #1 you can say Lenzy, but he has not proven to be an every down player yet. And he's the only guy on the roster who can take the top off the defense. For #2, we certainly don't have that besides Tyree. If you don't have someone who can turn a crease into a 50 yard TD then the offense doesn't work... you need, at minimum, a Josh Adams or Dexter Williams. Ideally a Saquon Barkley. You will get a half dozen opportunities a game at an explosive running play and whether that play goes for 7 yards or 50 makes a massive difference. For #3, I'm optimistic about the OL for next year. They might not be the best in the country, but they will be very good on paper. For #4, Ian Book does not have elite arm strength but did throw a good deep ball over the latter half of the season.

What you are talking about doing is eschewing what works from the current offense (efficient passing game, efficient red zone offense) for something that is a bit of square-peg-round-hole. Moorhead's offense is much better suited for someone like Jurkovec than someone like Book.

So if we hired Moorhead, what I would hope is that we keep a lot of what worked in the red zone and marry that up with a more explosive "between the 20s" offense. His redzone TD % at PSU was only 55% in 2016 and 64% in 2017 against opponents with winning records. Last three years under Long were 79%, 68%, 76% against teams with winning records.

The O line improved considerably from the previous year and I expect them to improve again next season.

The problem with that offense is going deep and missing puts you behind the chains and you're relying too much on the big play to eventually pop whether it be a run or pass. Against good D's you need to be able to sustain drives with runs and some shorter passes.

I'm not saying it won't work here, but at the moment we're missing 2 1/2 key ingredients IMO. My guess you would see some of the existing O remain with a sprinkling of Mooreheads O.

 

[NDMIA]

So this is where the Coach Meat smoke is coming from. That's disappointing. If they are basing a potential fit here based on them working together at UCLA, then they are mistaken. Lea worked for Neuheisel and Martin came in when Mora replaced them. If there is any connection it would be to Todd Lyght, They were with the Rams together.

Now I’m gonna have to go back and listen. Maybe they were mentioning somebody else but I swear I remember them saying he had a connection to Lea.

Just did some research. Apparently Lea was kept on and was recruiting for UCLA and then moved on a few months after the rest of the coaching staff. Demetrice Martin was hired 12/14/11 and Clark Lea left 2/16/12. It’s a stretch to say there’s a deep bond there but maybe that’s the connection that they are dealing with and they’ve kept in touch. Doesn’t really matter to me cause quite honestly I’ve wanted Demetrice Martin or Donte Williams as the CB coach for a long time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCLA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCLA</a> is out in full force with <a href="https://twitter.com/UCLACoachMora?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UCLACoachMora</a>, Demetrice Martin, Clark Lea and Angus McClure at the Westlake-DeLaSalle game.</p>— Kevin Carden (@KevinCarden) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinCarden/status/148270295386554368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2011</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>