Recruiting Forum: Football Talk XVI

[TechnoVol]

People saying Sheridan just steps up and coaches the QBs is fine but if he's the guy then he needs to be a full-time coach not GA. I can't see CBJ getting rid of anyone currently on staff to promote Sheridan. Using a GA to coach a key position like QB is a terrible idea IMHO.

 

[LebanonVolunteer]

Let it play out. Most of volnation loved the Kiffin hire and hate the Jones hire. Not a great record.

I was all for the Jones hire. I always liked Jones over Strong. That said, I'd hire Cumbie at OC. LOL

 

[LA Vol]

Butch has a system that he likes and he's going to run it. He's not going to hire anyone outside his circle who might dissent. After eight years, Bajakian started having a different viewpoint, Butch shut him down and Jake walked. So Butch turns around and hires a yes-man who'll fit in with the "family." I feel like we've hired the Michigan Mafia.

 

[Aesius]

People saying Sheridan just steps up and coaches the QBs is fine but if he's the guy then he needs to be a full-time coach not GA. I can't see CBJ getting rid of anyone currently on staff to promote Sheridan. Using a GA to coach a key position like QB is a terrible idea IMHO.

Mahoney could be on the chopping block.

Maybe that's what LWSVol meant when he said DeBord was a key in landing Allen and Richmond. Mahoney might just suck at recruiting and neither Allen nor Richmond really want to play for him, despite wanting to come to UT.

 

[RockyTop85]

You can't honestly say this hire moves the needle for you in a way that doesn't involve a head scratch and "Well, I hope it works out."

Neither did Butch. Neither did the short guy we've got coaching basketball. Neither did Jancek, Stripling, Elder, or Martinez. The last coaches I remember "moving the needle" we're Sal and Kiffin.

My needle is moved by the fact that we won a bowl game this year. By the fact that we've got a handful of 5 stars and a top 10 recruiting class coming in. By the fact that Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina look to be a little bit down. If this hire can keep us on the trajectory that we're on, then my needle doesn't need to go anywhere.

I can understand people feeling that way, I just think It's a stupid, fan-made criteria for people who don't know any more than I do about the process for evaluating and hiring coaches. Whether it "moves the needle" has 0 to do with whether it's the right hire.

Regardless, this place is quickly becoming unreadable. It's sad because the last few weeks were really nice.

 

[BigVol80]

Neither did Butch. Neither did the short guy we've got coaching basketball. Neither did Jancek, Stripling, Elder, or Martinez. The last coaches I remember "moving the needle" we're Sal and Kiffin.

My needle is moved by the fact that we won a bowl game this year. By the fact that we've got a handful of 5 stars and a top 10 recruiting class coming in. By the fact that Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina look to be a little bit down. If this hire can keep us on the trajectory that we're on, then my needle doesn't need to go anywhere.

I can understand people feeling that way, I just think It's a stupid, fan-made criteria for people who don't know any more than I do about the process for evaluating and hiring coaches. Whether it "moves the needle" has 0 to do with whether it's the right hire.

Regardless, this place is quickly becoming unreadable. It's sad because the last few weeks were really nice.

This. Great post!

 

[jjay2518]

I agree on scoring a ton of points and remaining swagger. It's just the hire? He's been out of coaching for so long that I don't get it. I know this is Butch's offense, but we all saw how insanely predictable our offense ran last year. The announcer at the Gator Bowl was calling our plays everytime we lined up. And this lame duck coach comes in with nothing fresh and runs the predictable offense. So Azzani has to bring new ideas or get a talented OC that will work and mesh with Butch to bring new ideas to the offense that can play to the strengths we have.

I'm judging quickly if it happens and should give him a chance, but this is a huge opportunity for Butch to put a new stamp on his offense to really shine. With this much talent, we can't have a "well that didn't work out", let's get another OC. That disrupts the whole process Butch is putting together. And coaches don't have time to succeed like they did in the old days...

What the announcer was calling out is just the way running plays are executed out of the shotgun spread. You could do the same thing with Oregon's offense. Plus you can tell what the RBs assignment is based on how he lines up, but with all the different read option variations we run, you definitely can't know pre-snap where the ball is going.

Also I would say that the system is fine as is. The problem people had was with how CMB called games. For all we know Debord has a knack for in game play calling and he could work out just fine.

 

[SigNu_VolFan]

My needle moved when we hired Sal Sunseri. Ended up hating the guy.

I didn't care for Butch Jones or the entire staff he brought in outside of Martinez and Thigpen. Love 'em all now.

 

[TechnoVol]

Mahoney could be on the chopping block.

Maybe that's what LWSVol meant when he said DeBord was a key in landing Allen and Richmond. Mahoney might just suck at recruiting and neither Allen nor Richmond really want to play for him, despite wanting to come to UT.

If CBJ cuts Mahoney loose then I would be okay with it. Would CBJ do this? I'd be surprised if he did.

 

[Playdo]

my needle moved when we hired sal sunseri. Ended up hating the guy.

I didn't care for butch jones or the entire staff he brought in outside of martinez and thigpen. Love 'em all now.

yeah but i need to feel things right away or it isn't real

 

[InVOLuntary]

One thing that caught my attention with what LWS posted in regards to Debord being pivotal in landing Allen and/or Richmond. Does that say something about recruit's perception of Mahoney? What does this say about Bruce's perception of Mahoney?

 

[jjay2518]

Neither did Butch. Neither did the short guy we've got coaching basketball. Neither did Jancek, Stripling, Elder, or Martinez. The last coaches I remember "moving the needle" we're Sal and Kiffin.

My needle is moved by the fact that we won a bowl game this year. By the fact that we've got a handful of 5 stars and a top 10 recruiting class coming in. By the fact that Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina look to be a little bit down. If this hire can keep us on the trajectory that we're on, then my needle doesn't need to go anywhere.

I can understand people feeling that way, I just think It's a stupid, fan-made criteria for people who don't know any more than I do about the process for evaluating and hiring coaches. Whether it "moves the needle" has 0 to do with whether it's the right hire.

Regardless, this place is quickly becoming unreadable. It's sad because the last few weeks were really nice.

Totally agree with all of this. Nothing "moves the needle" more than winning.

 

[jjay2518]

One thing that caught my attention with what LWS posted in regards to Debord being pivotal in land Allen and/or Richmond. Does that say something about recruit's perception of Mahoney? What does this say about Bruce's perception of Mahoney?

Made me wonder the same thing. Mahoney's time on this staff won't be much longer if he's actively keeping us from getting to OL prospects.

 

[VolGee4]

Neither did Butch. Neither did the short guy we've got coaching basketball. Neither did Jancek, Stripling, Elder, or Martinez. The last coaches I remember "moving the needle" we're Sal and Kiffin.

My needle is moved by the fact that we won a bowl game this year. By the fact that we've got a handful of 5 stars and a top 10 recruiting class coming in. By the fact that Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina look to be a little bit down. If this hire can keep us on the trajectory that we're on, then my needle doesn't need to go anywhere.

I can understand people feeling that way, I just think It's a stupid, fan-made criteria for people who don't know any more than I do about the process for evaluating and hiring coaches. Whether it "moves the needle" has 0 to do with whether it's the right hire.

Regardless, this place is quickly becoming unreadable. It's sad because the last few weeks were really nice.

But, but, but....this is a message board, and we aren't dumb. Just because I have never played football, I know how all this works.

Blue font.

 

[VolsnCards5]

I think it's safe to say none of us really has any idea what Butch is thinking.

Let it play out, then react if you must

 

[Aesius]

Maybe this is what the staff will look like by NSD:

Mike DeBord - co-OC, OL coach (calls plays with heavy involvement from Butch)
Zach Azzanni - co-OC, WR coach (also heavily involved in offensive gameplanning but more from a "watch and learn" perspective).
Nick Sheridan - QB coach (can devote 100 percent of his time to teaching Dobbs and the freshmen)

Let's not forget that Butch has been an offensive coordinator for 9 years. 1992-1994 at Wilkes, 1995-1997 at Ferris State, and 2002-2004 at CMU. It's been a while since he actively called plays, but he knows his offense and I'm sure he's confident that DeBord would be able to pick it up quickly.

 

[74volz]

What the announcer was calling out is just the way running plays are executed out of the shotgun spread. You could do the same thing with Oregon's offense. Plus you can tell what the RBs assignment is based on how he lines up, but with all the different read option variations we run, you definitely can't know pre-snap where the ball is going.

Also I would say that the system is fine as is. The problem people had was with how CMB called games. For all we know Debord has a knack for in game play calling and he could work out just fine.

Agree to an extent, but our offense is definitely more predictable than Oregon's. CMB did abandon what was working in a lot of games last season, so this guy could have a knack for it. But still doesn't make sense to hire him. Not looking for a splash hire. Just an OC that can make this team explode. And someone that's been out of coaching for so long doesn't impress me...

 

[VOLinCO]

Maybe this is what the staff will look like by NSD:

Mike DeBord - co-OC, OL coach (calls plays with heavy involvement from Butch)
Zach Azzanni - co-OC, WR coach (also heavily involved in offensive gameplanning but more from a "watch and learn" perspective).
Nick Sheridan - QB coach (can devote 100 percent of his time to teaching Dobbs and the freshmen)

Let's not forget that Butch has been an offensive coordinator for 9 years. 1992-1994 at Wilkes, 1995-1997 at Ferris State, and 2002-2004 at CMU. It's been a while since he actively called plays, but he knows his offense and I'm sure he's confident that DeBord would be able to pick it up quickly.

This is what I was thinking as well, with one exception...Azzanni would call the plays.

This would mean Mahoney would have to leave.

 

[LebanonVolunteer]

Agree to an extent, but our offense is definitely more predictable than Oregon's. CMB did abandon what was working in a lot of games last season, so this guy could have a knack for it. But still doesn't make sense to hire him. Not looking for a splash hire. Just an OC that can make this team explode. And someone that's been out of coaching for so long doesn't impress me...

If more guys were healthy maybe the play calling would have looked different in 2014.

 

[Aesius]

Agree to an extent, but our offense is definitely more predictable than Oregon's. CMB did abandon what was working in a lot of games last season, so this guy could have a knack for it. But still doesn't make sense to hire him. Not looking for a splash hire. Just an OC that can make this team explode. And someone that's been out of coaching for so long doesn't impress me...

There's still a risk in bring in an outsider, even if it's someone known for putting up big numbers recently.

My theory is officially that Butch wants to retake control of the offense and will bring in DeBord to be a figurehead OC, but more an OL coach and mentor to Azzanni, who Butch ultimately wants to be his full-time OC in a couple of years.

 

[vosams]

@SoundOfMuszik: Excited to announce that I'll be continuing my football career at The University of Tennessee! #GBO 🍊

Preferred Walk-on, LB Michael Muszik

 

[jjay2518]

Agree to an extent, but our offense is definitely more predictable than Oregon's. CMB did abandon what was working in a lot of games last season, so this guy could have a knack for it. But still doesn't make sense to hire him. Not looking for a splash hire. Just an OC that can make this team explode. And someone that's been out of coaching for so long doesn't impress me...

Our playcalling was more predictable. There's nothing in the scheme that is inherently more predictable than other teams though. I think it's pretty obvious at this point that any OC we bring in will be running Butch's system. Maybe this can can do a great job with it. Maybe not. I'd say Butch is probably the best guy to determine who can execute his system though. I don't care who he hires as long as we score points and win games.

 

[Vol knight]

@SoundOfMuszik: Excited to announce that I'll be continuing my football career at The University of Tennessee! #GBO 🍊

Preferred Walk-on, LB Michael Muszik

BOOM!!! epper:

 

[74volz]

If more guys were healthy maybe the play calling would have looked different in 2014.

I agree. There were so many limiting factors last season. But when something was clicking, all of us on here would be typing out, why are we abandoning the run or the middle of the field is wide open to throw to...

 

[TechnoVol]

In this Volquest interview CBJ states that he's looking for an expert in coaching multiple positions, first and foremost the QB position. This seemingly would rule out DeBord. However, the rest of what he says could easily be spun to support DeBord as the guy.

One thing I haven't looked into regarding all of the other candidates that we have seen listed or mentioned is what are their buyouts? Dave Hart may have a bit more to say in this hire from a $$$ standpoint.

I'm just going to have to sit back and wait to see what CBJ does. I trust he'll make the right moves in forming the new offensive staff.