Staff Matters: A Review of Pelini's Crew
8 comments so far
December 16, 2007 by
Bo Pelini's staff is still not entirely complete. While they still have one spot to fill and have not made any official announcements, that has not stopped the coach, Athletic director Tom Osborne, and they eight men they have gathered under NU's banner from working like crazy to try and secure recruits. Since their work has begun in earnest, I can't hold back on my thoughts of this staff so far, either. It's an intriguing group gathered from multiple sources, fit to the seemingly proper roles and that hopefully melds to be greater than the sum of its parts.
The Rundown
Let's get the basics out of the way. Here is the staff as it exists right now.
Offense
Offensive Coordinator - Shawn Watson
Offensive Line - Barney Cotton
Wide Receivers - Ted Gilmore
Tight Ends - Ron Brown.
Defense:
Defensive Coordinator - Bo Pelini (Head Coach)
Defensive Line - Carl Pelini, John Papuchis
Linebackers - Mike Ekeler
Secondary - Marvin Sanders.
It remains to be seen how the special teams units will be handled. NU has also not filled the job at Running Backs Coach. Speculation so far has been about Randy Jordan or Mike Grant. Though, that job could go any number of ways.
Some Assembly Required
Hiring a coach with head-coaching experience usually means that he will bring some of his own staff with him. When a program hires an assistant coach to become a first-time head coach, they know that a staff will need to be assembled. That's the case with Pelini and NU. And, the staff for the 2008 was assembled from three sources - The NU 2003 staff (Pelini, Cotton, Brown, Sanders), holdovers from the 2007 staff (Watson, Gilmore), and a few from Pelini's recent past at LSU and Oklahoma (Ekeler, Papuchis). There has not been much opportunity for those assembled to "gel", as they have hit the ground running with recruiting. It is a relatively young group, ranging from 29 (Papuchis) to the mid-40's. Pelini just celebrated turning 40.
What I Like
There are aspects of this staff that immediately jump out at me as positive. For starters, I'm a big Marvin Sanders fan. NU's defensive backs thrived under his teaching in 2003. I'm glad to see Ron Brown on this staff, and still finding a way to keep Ted Gilmore. Both are assets off the field. Brown's faith is great for a team. And Gilmore has been given the reins as recruiting coordinator. Gilmore is a very good wide receivers coach. So, Brown coaching TEs is great. He has extensive experience with that position. And, few espouse more physical play than Ron Brown. Having a "flex" tight end lined up wide (a la Martin Rucker) is a nice match up and kind of flashy. But, many run plays hinge on the tackle-tight end double-team block. I have a strong feeling we'll see a big dose of in-line blocking and between-the-hashes catching from NU's tight ends.
I'm also glad to see Watson retained as the offensive coordinator. I think there can be a good amount of continuity with he and Gilmore being retained. And, they aren't just being kept to appease players and keep the vocabulary lessons going. Watson is a very solid coach. I don't necessarily think that his staying means that NU run's the same offense as it did in 2007. Pelini has been pretty clear about his like of the spread and the need for an offense to be "multiple".
As a defensive coordinator, Pelini knows the offenses that are toughest to defend are the ones you can't predict. I would not be shocked to see Watson use vestiges of 2007 schemes, but give them a more physical identity (using two TEs and 2 running backs, like he did at Colorado). It will also likely implement parts of the shotgun/spread formation that we saw him deploy versus CU to end the 2007 year.
Downsides...?
I know that Barney Cotton is a Milt Tenopir disciple, but I sort of cringed when I first heard his name. The guy has been a bit of a "coach killer", with his last two stops ending in the head coaches being let go not long after his arrival (not his fault...I know...I'm just saying...). Also, Mr. Papuchis was involved in a little NCAA issue while a graduate assistant in Kansas. It appears small and Pelini says there is no issue. But still, you don't like to see that stuff on somebody's work history.
Talent To Role
I'm pretty pleased with how talents have been fit to role, at least at first look. Marvin Sanders is a great example. He's got the results people like to see as a defensive backs coach. If he were stretched to another role - defensive coordinator - I would be nervous. His only time filling that role, at North Carolina, didn't go so hot. Pelini is a defensive guy and he's going to call his own defensive signals. That's talent to fit the role.
I mentioned Cotton's not having faired too well as an offensive coordinator. That's fine, since here he will be in charge of the offensive line and not the play calling. Cotton as offensive line coach - good. Offensive coordinator - maybe not so much. Enter Shawn Watson. I will be darn happy to see this guy calling plays. Again, we see talent-to-role fit.
Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts?
When you take the names off of the staff's resumes, you get an interesting picture of the group. With the exception of Watson, they don't exactly jump off the page at you. Think of it this way - three coaches on this staff were out of football last year. Two others are getting their first break in to full-time coaching. Another has mostly high school coaching on his history and is getting his first job at a BCS school. And a first-time head coach is leading the group.
The optimist in me says that this is a situation where the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. It will be paramount for Pelini - and yes, Osborne - to take the men they have assembled and infuse them with energy and a collective sense of mission. The result can be a group of people dedicated to a common goal. Few on this staff jump out as guys who could be head coaches some days. But, consider that Callahan's first staff was full of potential head coaching candidates, and that Osborne's staffs seldom generated head coaches, and that is reason enough to be optimistic this winter.
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Scott Dec 16 07
Did you see what Pelini said about his two assistants in one of the newspapers? He gave them high praise(understatement) and says they will be as good as they come. Pelini said that wherever he was going to go he is taking them with him. Pretty powerful.
That Western Michigan game can't come soon enough. It'll be nice seeing Ron Brown on the sideline again. Intensity is his middle name. I see this young staff relating to recruits very well and making this game fun again. That's what it should be....FUN. I don't think Callahan and Cosgrove made it fun.
Tyler Dec 17 07
How do you mean??? Randy Jordan would come back after being let go? Don't follow there Darren?
cvldfg Dec 17 07
Has anyone noticed the staff changes at OU?
They have lost 3 coaches so far I believe. I wonder how this will effect them next year?
I am glad to see the staff rounding out so nicely.
I wonder if Pinkel is going to leave UM?
darren Dec 17 07
Sorry I wasn't clear, Tyler.
Basically, there was speculation about Jordan being retained. That speculation has ended, and now people are talking about Mike Grant. No, Jordan won't be coming back. Sorry about the confusion.
Personally, I have little idea about what they might do at RB Coach? Scott Frost? Eric Bieniemy? (kidding...)
Scott Dec 17 07
I heard Leodis Flowers is a candidate for RB coach.
sb Dec 17 07
Awesome information, thanks guys!
Josh Dec 17 07
Personally, I'm disappointed that Bo didn't retain Randy Jordan. I thought Jordan did a very solid job with our RB's.
I've brought this up before, and I'll touch on it again. One could argue that Jordan mismanaged personnel this past year. There were times when Castille should have gotten the majority of the carries in a game and yet, Marlon played...and so on, and so forth.....
But, what we don't know (and never will know) was if Jordan was making those personnel calls, or Billy C.
DT Dec 18 07
A couple of stories that kind of fit here:
Echoing some of Scott's comment's on the LSU assistants...a friend who went to law school in Topeka told me that Ekeler is some sort of cult hero in Manhattan--got his jersey hanging on the wall in many taverns down there. He was a special teams phenom...the guy with his face all painted up in black who'd go out and jump over a wedge or something. Supposedly super intense.
I think that's one general theme of this whole staff...I think Scott's point about Brown's "intensity" really overshadows any sort of religious heavy-handedness on his part (sort of a reputation of his for years). He just seems really intense in his approach to anything he's involved in...his religion and football only being among the most publicly visible aspects of his life. I had the opportunity to meet him once toward the end of the TO era, when he was chaperoning some NU players at an event in New York. He was one of the most gracious people I could imagine in that role. I went up to him and said, "Coach Brown, my name is Dave and I'm a UNL alum and I just wanted to shake your hand." He made a point to ask me about myself and took an interest in my life and what brought me to the east coast. He continued to talk to me for quite a while (recruiting season had just concluded and he filled me in on the new class) and he made a big production of introducing me to the players that he had along with him. I was always sort of perplexed by his getting out of coaching altogether (after he was not retained by Callahan) as I was always so impressed with my one brief encounter with the man. I'm sure that, like myself, thousands of others have gone up to him over the years and chatted him up at various functions and I'm sure they all walked away with a similar impressions. Oh...and not to imply that it should/would have, but his faith didn't come up once in the conversation and I was drinking a beer the whole time, as it took place at a reception with an open bar! So for as much as you always hear that he wears his religion on his sleeve, that wasn't my impression at all.
I have also heard stories (as have also been reported) that Bo was basically making good on a promise to some of the guys on the 2003 staff that he had made upon their dismissal...that he would always have a place for them on his staff, should he ever be named a head coach someday. I guess Brown was quoted somewhere as saying that he was floored to get the call from Bo, as he really didn't think Pelini would even remember making such remarks (in light of Brown's being out of coaching for these past several years). I think this speaks really well for Bo and the spirit of loyalty that Husker fans want associated with their program (whether it's loyalty to "Nebraska guys" or loyalty to others who have toiled under him as GA's for several years elsewhere).