10-11-2022, 09:11 AM
The next largest category belongs to coordinators, though as you'll see that's become less well-trod of a route over time. Here is that second category:
Coordinators
Mark Stoops (Kentucky): Florida State defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; previously had the same positions at Arizona and Houston; also coached defensive backs at Miami [Miscellaneous: Apprenticed under Hayden Fry and, as you'll see below, being a defensive coordinator named Stoops is one of the best credentials in the sport] - 46
James Franklin (Vanderbilt): Maryland offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; previously had the same positions at Kansas State; before that was an NFL and college position coach [Miscellaneous: Pennsylvania roots] - 39
Charlie Strong (Louisville): Florida defensive coordinator; long-time SEC defensive coordinator with Florida and South Carolina [Miscellaneous: Varied position coaching background earlier in his career but primarily defensive line] - 50
Steve Sarkisian (Washington): USC offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; previously Oakland Raiders quarterbacks coach [Miscellaneous: This is arguably the edgiest case in the post but after how disastrously Gilbertson and Willingham left the Huskies, four straight winning seasons including several good bowls just could not be left off the list; that level of winning is why I can't truly credit Chris Petersen as a turnaround artist, though clearly he's a great/better coach and if I were to include Petersen he would have been in the proven lower level coach category thanks to his time at Boise State] - 35
Dan Mullen (Mississippi State): Florida offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; previously followed Urban Meyer around as a quarterbacks coach [Miscellaneous: Urban Meyer may be a distasteful person but he's one of the greatest coaches ever and Mullen learned a lot] - 37
Doug Marrone (Syracuse): New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator and offensive line coach; offensive line coaching background in college and NFL [Miscellaneous: Syracuse alum] - 45
Bo Pelini (Nebraska): LSU defensive coordinator; previously defensive coordinator at Oklahoma and Nebraska and before that an NFL position coach with the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers [Miscellaneous: Debatable whether Callahan's tenure was enough to make Nebraska a mediocre program but given the combination of what preceded/succeeded Pelini I think he belongs on this list] - 40
Mike Stoops (Arizona): Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; previously held the same positions at Kansas State [Miscellaneous: Apprenticed under Hayden Fry, Bill Snyder, and Bob Stoops; judgment call on whether to call Mike Stoops or Rich Rodriguez or neither the turnaround artist at Arizona and the answer really may be neither but Stoops getting to three good bowls after inheriting crap somewhat impresses me] - 42
Jeff Tedford (Cal): Oregon offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; previously held the same positions with Fresno State [Miscellaneous: local-ish ties as former Fresno State player and coach] - 40
Mark Mangino (Kansas): Oklahoma defensive coordinator; previously Oklahoma and Kansas State offensive line coach [Miscellaneous: Apprenticed under Jim Tressel, Bill Snyder, and Bob Stoops; Lance Leipold hasn't had enough success yet at Kansas to fit my methodology for this list but he feels like a guy who belongs as an exemplar of a hire gone right.....if I had included him he'd be in the proven lower level coach category] - 46
Greg Schiano (Rutgers, the first time around): Miami defensive coordinator; previously Chicago Bears and Penn State defensive backs coach [Miscellaneous: New Jersey high school and Rutgers grad assistant ties] - 35
Ralph Friedgen (Maryland): Georgia Tech offensive coordinator; very long-time offensive coordinator (San Diego Chargers, another previous stint with Georgia Tech, Maryland, Murray State, William & Mary, Citadel) [Miscellaneous: Maryland alum] - 54
Les Miles (Oklahoma State): Technically was a position coach (Dallas Cowboys tight end coach for three years) but had been Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator and offensive coordinator for three years before that and that seems salient; previously Michigan and Colorado offensive line coach [Miscellaneous: Mike Gundy is an incredible coach but Miles bequeathed too good of a program for Gundy to make this list] - 47
Bob Stoops (Oklahoma): Florida defensive coordinator; previously Kansas State co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach [Miscellaneous: It now feels weird to include Oklahoma on a list like this but they were most definitely mediocre when Stoops came on board] - 38
Tom O'Brien (Boston College): Virginia offensive coordinator; offensive line coaching background; no previous head coach experience [Miscellaneous: Played/coached at academically-minded institutions] - 48
The median age of this group is 42.
Only 3 of 10 happened since 2010. This was a very hot way of doing things in the 2000s but it's passe. Good turnaround artists aren't hired this way anymore. When they were, offensive coordinators with a grounding in QB or OL instruction and defensive coordinators with a grounding in DB instruction were the ways to go.
Names that would fit this bill (same caveats as above): Lance Taylor, Josh Gattis, Jeff Grimes, Jeff Lebby, Graham Harrell, Jesse Minter, Jim Knowles, Jim Leonhard two weeks ago, Tommy Rees, Alex Grinch, Morgan Scalley, Todd Monken, Warren Ruggiero, Sherrone Moore, Casey Dunn, Alex Golesh, LeVar Woods
When this has worked it's tended to be guys coming from big-time programs and often with experience learning at the feet of a master. I don't want to pick from this category and don't think Stanford would have to but the above names wouldn't be crazy to look into. The one exception I'd take a very close look at is Lance Taylor - he's a former successful Stanford assistant under Shaw, a reasonably successful recruiter at Stanford, one of the hottest coordinators in the sport, a person of color, and has apprenticed for an insanely impressive assortment of masters in Nick Saban, Jerry Moore (Hall of Fame FCS coach for those who don't know), Rex Ryan, Ron Rivera (ok that's somewhat less impressive), David Shaw, and Brian Kelly. Taylor is an obvious candidate to look very, very closely at.
Coordinators
Mark Stoops (Kentucky): Florida State defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; previously had the same positions at Arizona and Houston; also coached defensive backs at Miami [Miscellaneous: Apprenticed under Hayden Fry and, as you'll see below, being a defensive coordinator named Stoops is one of the best credentials in the sport] - 46
James Franklin (Vanderbilt): Maryland offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; previously had the same positions at Kansas State; before that was an NFL and college position coach [Miscellaneous: Pennsylvania roots] - 39
Charlie Strong (Louisville): Florida defensive coordinator; long-time SEC defensive coordinator with Florida and South Carolina [Miscellaneous: Varied position coaching background earlier in his career but primarily defensive line] - 50
Steve Sarkisian (Washington): USC offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; previously Oakland Raiders quarterbacks coach [Miscellaneous: This is arguably the edgiest case in the post but after how disastrously Gilbertson and Willingham left the Huskies, four straight winning seasons including several good bowls just could not be left off the list; that level of winning is why I can't truly credit Chris Petersen as a turnaround artist, though clearly he's a great/better coach and if I were to include Petersen he would have been in the proven lower level coach category thanks to his time at Boise State] - 35
Dan Mullen (Mississippi State): Florida offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; previously followed Urban Meyer around as a quarterbacks coach [Miscellaneous: Urban Meyer may be a distasteful person but he's one of the greatest coaches ever and Mullen learned a lot] - 37
Doug Marrone (Syracuse): New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator and offensive line coach; offensive line coaching background in college and NFL [Miscellaneous: Syracuse alum] - 45
Bo Pelini (Nebraska): LSU defensive coordinator; previously defensive coordinator at Oklahoma and Nebraska and before that an NFL position coach with the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers [Miscellaneous: Debatable whether Callahan's tenure was enough to make Nebraska a mediocre program but given the combination of what preceded/succeeded Pelini I think he belongs on this list] - 40
Mike Stoops (Arizona): Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; previously held the same positions at Kansas State [Miscellaneous: Apprenticed under Hayden Fry, Bill Snyder, and Bob Stoops; judgment call on whether to call Mike Stoops or Rich Rodriguez or neither the turnaround artist at Arizona and the answer really may be neither but Stoops getting to three good bowls after inheriting crap somewhat impresses me] - 42
Jeff Tedford (Cal): Oregon offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; previously held the same positions with Fresno State [Miscellaneous: local-ish ties as former Fresno State player and coach] - 40
Mark Mangino (Kansas): Oklahoma defensive coordinator; previously Oklahoma and Kansas State offensive line coach [Miscellaneous: Apprenticed under Jim Tressel, Bill Snyder, and Bob Stoops; Lance Leipold hasn't had enough success yet at Kansas to fit my methodology for this list but he feels like a guy who belongs as an exemplar of a hire gone right.....if I had included him he'd be in the proven lower level coach category] - 46
Greg Schiano (Rutgers, the first time around): Miami defensive coordinator; previously Chicago Bears and Penn State defensive backs coach [Miscellaneous: New Jersey high school and Rutgers grad assistant ties] - 35
Ralph Friedgen (Maryland): Georgia Tech offensive coordinator; very long-time offensive coordinator (San Diego Chargers, another previous stint with Georgia Tech, Maryland, Murray State, William & Mary, Citadel) [Miscellaneous: Maryland alum] - 54
Les Miles (Oklahoma State): Technically was a position coach (Dallas Cowboys tight end coach for three years) but had been Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator and offensive coordinator for three years before that and that seems salient; previously Michigan and Colorado offensive line coach [Miscellaneous: Mike Gundy is an incredible coach but Miles bequeathed too good of a program for Gundy to make this list] - 47
Bob Stoops (Oklahoma): Florida defensive coordinator; previously Kansas State co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach [Miscellaneous: It now feels weird to include Oklahoma on a list like this but they were most definitely mediocre when Stoops came on board] - 38
Tom O'Brien (Boston College): Virginia offensive coordinator; offensive line coaching background; no previous head coach experience [Miscellaneous: Played/coached at academically-minded institutions] - 48
The median age of this group is 42.
Only 3 of 10 happened since 2010. This was a very hot way of doing things in the 2000s but it's passe. Good turnaround artists aren't hired this way anymore. When they were, offensive coordinators with a grounding in QB or OL instruction and defensive coordinators with a grounding in DB instruction were the ways to go.
Names that would fit this bill (same caveats as above): Lance Taylor, Josh Gattis, Jeff Grimes, Jeff Lebby, Graham Harrell, Jesse Minter, Jim Knowles, Jim Leonhard two weeks ago, Tommy Rees, Alex Grinch, Morgan Scalley, Todd Monken, Warren Ruggiero, Sherrone Moore, Casey Dunn, Alex Golesh, LeVar Woods
When this has worked it's tended to be guys coming from big-time programs and often with experience learning at the feet of a master. I don't want to pick from this category and don't think Stanford would have to but the above names wouldn't be crazy to look into. The one exception I'd take a very close look at is Lance Taylor - he's a former successful Stanford assistant under Shaw, a reasonably successful recruiter at Stanford, one of the hottest coordinators in the sport, a person of color, and has apprenticed for an insanely impressive assortment of masters in Nick Saban, Jerry Moore (Hall of Fame FCS coach for those who don't know), Rex Ryan, Ron Rivera (ok that's somewhat less impressive), David Shaw, and Brian Kelly. Taylor is an obvious candidate to look very, very closely at.