All things considered, NU's total coaching staff overhaul may have been the biggest leap in overall "coaching talent" from one season to the next in NCAA history. Factor in the VERY impressive new "FB support staff" and I really think NU's staff is one of the 10 best in the nation.
Offensively -
HC - Mike Riley: There is a good chance Riley would still be at USC or Alabama or some other major D1 program had he agreed to make the move in jobs about a decade ago and for NU to get him now is a classic case of "buying low" on a very good but undervalued asset. He did not earn the immense respect from his peers in the Pac-12 and from the media by being anything other than an ELITE coach during his best years at Oregon State. Did things start to tail off? Sure. But Oregon's rise also made the going even harder for Riley and Co. as the years went on - and its to NU's benefit that things worked out as they did so we could get a real shot at Riley unlike the blue bloods who tried before us.
OC - Danny Langsdorf: Already reaping the benefits of his NFL pedigree and QB-guru reputation on the recruiting trail and already seeing a change in the teaching focus NU is putting on the QB position in general. He and Riley also seem very smart about how they are going to transition the offense and have a long history of being versatile in how they score points and how they use personnel.
The offensive AC's are also showing good returns early on IMO. Pretty awesome to see NU go out and find a WR coach like Williams - guy is on the fast-track to being a star college HC IMO. Davis brings a ton of good experience as a teacher to the team and so does Cavanaugh (one of the most respected OL coaches in the country and someone who could've gotten his pick of major OL jobs had he chosen to leave Oregon State).
Defensively -
DC - Mark Banker: The one coaching hire I am still very unsure about is Banker - but I feel much better about his prospects seeing the other defensive coaches Riley brought in to be Banker's top assistants.
Stewart and Hughes give Banker a tremendously experienced "sounding board" to help him right the ship on his defense after seeing it struggle badly to keep up with Pac-12 teams over the last few years. Bray seems to be a stud AC himself and should make sure the LB position makes a big leap in play and talent very quickly.
As recruiters, the staff on a whole deserves a lot of praise at this point and seem to be ahead of the curve on 2016/2017 recruits already too. Stevenson coming to NU speaks volumes to me about how this staff approaches recruiting and much emphasis they will have on it going forward.
Offensively -
HC - Mike Riley: There is a good chance Riley would still be at USC or Alabama or some other major D1 program had he agreed to make the move in jobs about a decade ago and for NU to get him now is a classic case of "buying low" on a very good but undervalued asset. He did not earn the immense respect from his peers in the Pac-12 and from the media by being anything other than an ELITE coach during his best years at Oregon State. Did things start to tail off? Sure. But Oregon's rise also made the going even harder for Riley and Co. as the years went on - and its to NU's benefit that things worked out as they did so we could get a real shot at Riley unlike the blue bloods who tried before us.
OC - Danny Langsdorf: Already reaping the benefits of his NFL pedigree and QB-guru reputation on the recruiting trail and already seeing a change in the teaching focus NU is putting on the QB position in general. He and Riley also seem very smart about how they are going to transition the offense and have a long history of being versatile in how they score points and how they use personnel.
The offensive AC's are also showing good returns early on IMO. Pretty awesome to see NU go out and find a WR coach like Williams - guy is on the fast-track to being a star college HC IMO. Davis brings a ton of good experience as a teacher to the team and so does Cavanaugh (one of the most respected OL coaches in the country and someone who could've gotten his pick of major OL jobs had he chosen to leave Oregon State).
Defensively -
DC - Mark Banker: The one coaching hire I am still very unsure about is Banker - but I feel much better about his prospects seeing the other defensive coaches Riley brought in to be Banker's top assistants.
Stewart and Hughes give Banker a tremendously experienced "sounding board" to help him right the ship on his defense after seeing it struggle badly to keep up with Pac-12 teams over the last few years. Bray seems to be a stud AC himself and should make sure the LB position makes a big leap in play and talent very quickly.
As recruiters, the staff on a whole deserves a lot of praise at this point and seem to be ahead of the curve on 2016/2017 recruits already too. Stevenson coming to NU speaks volumes to me about how this staff approaches recruiting and much emphasis they will have on it going forward.
