Is anyone else getting that feeling or is it just me?
First, I have noticed some confusion on the board here with regards to this job and people are getting things tangled up.
They are confusing: How good of a job is the Nebraska OC job, as a job..which this question in itself is an easy one. The NU OC coordinator job is a pretty good job in College football.."If" it was under normal circumstances. I say normal circumstances like a coach gets hired and he tabs you to be his OC at Nebraska. Thats a pretty good job. Or the OC at NU for a coaches first two years leaves to take an HC job, and you are offered the job. And the coach has had two pretty good years leading up to hiring you. These would be normal circumstances and it would be a pretty attractive job to most folks in the coaching community to both up and comers and established A plus coordinators.
BUT
That is not what THIS particular situation is, and it is VASTLY different than normal circumstances which makes this job, dare I say it?..Not as attractive as it seems a lot of people "think" that it may be.
The job as it stands is basically a one year suicide/Hail Mary operation where you are likely not gonna get more than one year to prove your worth, or showcase your talents as a play caller. If you are someone under a multi year contract, or a former HC still getting paid and your working at a cush analyst job somewhere, you are not even thinking twice about this gig, you are gonna wait for something better to come down the pipe.
So where does that leave us?
Here is list of 2021 top 25 offensive coordinators and little blurbs about them and their last few years:
"Surely we can get someone off of this list right"? Says NU fan.
Not exactly.
As you go down the list you find that 5 of the 25 are head coaches, so we can already cross them off of the OC to NU list.
11 of them are in their 1 or 2nd seasons as OC's...and their next steps are likely looking to...be an HC somewhere, and not to take a lateral one year hail mary chance even at an NU. They gonna stay at their current jobs or are looking for an HC gig, not a lateral OC hail mary job.
So who does that leave?
A Joe Moorhead at Oregon...yeah he not leaving there.
Ludwig at Utah, he is from Utah and coached at Utah before and is already one of the highest paid OC's in the Pac 10..hes not leaving the stability of Utah for a one year NU gig.
Manning Iowa State? Dude is joined at the hip with Campbell and will be going with him when Cambell finally leaves Aames for a bigger gig, so he aint coming.
Kevin Wilson at tOSU? Yeah dont even need to bother writing this response out.
I have heard Ruggiero from Wakes name thrown out thats a non starter as well. Guy was the OC with Clawson at BG for four years prior to Wake and has been at Wake 7 years, he is also joined at the HC's hip, and is either staying there or leaving if Clawson gets a bigger job. So he aint coming.
I have heard Tom Herman? He is still owed millions from TX over the next few years, and he has a cushy NFL Analyst job..he is going to likely wait for a better opportunity to come down the pip for himself, so I doubt he is stepping foot in Lincoln..
So where are we at on the top 25 list?
You got Rich Rod, who is at a lower level job who may, take a NU one year hail mary gig..
The Navy OC..(bleh)
So not looking too promising at least to me.
So as an NU fan you say "well what about up and comer OC's then"? Hey good thought except for a little thing called reality.
An up and comer OC is gonna likely stick with his current gig for many reasons instead of jumping to a one year house on fire gig at NU. Maybe his HC is on the rise and he can move with them to a better job, or he thinks he is gonna get a HC job pretty quickly where an NU move is not worth the risk.
But another factor and one that Frost fans are not gonna like to hear is that...there is really no payoff working under Scott Frost for a year.
When I say payoff, I mean does an OC do a Scott Frost a a favor of sorts by taking the job and risking a lot...for what? How would Frost ever be able to return the favor? The cold hard reality of this situation is that it is very likely that Scott Frost if he is fired from NU after next season, will never again get a high level coaching job, or even a P5 job in college football again period. So if an up and comer coach comes in and helps Scott out...Scott is not likely to be in a position to give him an OC job someday if he fails as a coach somewhere and goes back to wanting to be a coordinator cuz he wants to continue to be a coach.
Frost even with 5 years under the Saban coaching rehabilitation clinic is going to be hard pressed just to even get a lower level MAC or Subelt level HC gig after this.
So to an up and coming OC it is a LOT of risk, with very little to no reward at least as far as the odds are concerned.
So below is that top 25 O coordinator list for you guys to take a peek at, but I have to say, this OC search feels a lot like its gonna be a Bob Diaco part 2 from where I am sitting becuz of how this specific situation is. And also, dont forget Frost has already said that he doesnt want to go away from his current offense..so that is going to eliminate a few more candidates off of the list of qualified or want candidates as well...
Gotta say, maybe there is a diamond in the rough out there, or a surprise hire..but kidna feels to me it would be in the same Bob Diaco mold where it was a few years ago that the dude had a good O or something and maybe hasnt been doing so hot lately.
But I could be wrong.
25. Ivin Jasper (Navy)
it takes a lot scrolling through the NCAA passing rankings to find the Middies, but there’s a reason Jasper is the 2nd-longest-tenured coordinator in college football (entering his 14th season). Navy’s run game is consistently elite and enables it to periodically hit big plays in the passing game.
24. Andrew Sowder (Kent State)
The Golden Flashes’ presence atop the NCAA yardage and scoring list last season was based on a small sample size with just 4 games. But when Sowder arrived in 2018, Kent State increased its scoring by more than 11 points per game and its yardage by more than 100 per game, and Sowder’s offense has kept rolling.
23. Joe Moorhead (Oregon)
Moorhead, a long-time successful OC at a handful of programs, guided the Ducks to averages of 412.9 yards and 31.3 points in his first season in 2020.
22. Darrell Dickey (Texas A&M)
In Dickey’s 7th stop as an OC with an FBS program, the Aggies averaged 439.2 yards behind the development of QB Kellen Mond last season. Dickey is in his 3rd season with A&M after 5 seasons leading Memphis’ high-octane offense.
21. Scott Satterfield (Louisville)
He followed up his impressive run as OC, then head coach at Appalachian State with 2 highly productive offensive seasons with the Cardinals, who averaged 445.9 yards (including 206.9 rushing) last season.
20. Rich Rodriguez (Louisiana-Monroe)
Rodriguez sat out last season after a sub-par season as Ole Miss’ OC in 2019. But the success of his offense as a head coach at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona as well as his contributions as OC during Tulane’s undefeated season in 1998 form an impressive résumé.
19. Kenny Dillingham (Florida State)
Dillingham’s first season with the Seminoles, which coincided with head coach Mike Norvell’s first season, featured 4 starting QBs. Still, FSU gained more than 400 yards in 5 of their last 7 games under Dillingham, who was Memphis’ OC in 2018 and Auburn’s in 2019.
18. Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri)
Drinkwitz brought his offensive success at Appalachian State to Columbia and it helped make him the most successful of the SEC’s first-year head coaches last season (5-5). The Tigers averaged 402 yards per game against an SEC-only schedule.
17. Mike Bobo (Auburn)
He begins his first season on The Plains after 1 season as OC at South Carolina. Bobo followed a lengthy and successful stint as Georgia’s OC with a 5-year run as Colorado State head coach, which included 3 of the most prolific offenses in school history.
16. Mike Leach (Mississippi State)
Leach’s first season as the Bulldogs head coach in 2020 – and some of his teams at Washington State – didn’t produce numbers like his Air Raid offense produced during his remarkable tenure at Texas Tech. But he remains one of the better offensive coaches in the country.
15. Kendal Briles (Arkansas)
Briles, who had previous stints as OC at Baylor, Florida Atlantic, Houston and Florida State, increased the Razorbacks’ total offense average by 50 yards per game in his first season last season.
14. Graham Harrell (USC)
After 3 banner seasons as North Texas’ offensive coordinator, Harrell has elevated the Trojans’ offense during the past 2 seasons. Last season, USC led the Pac-12 in passing yards (319 per game).
13. Rhett Lashlee (Miami)
In Lashlee’s first season last year, the Hurricanes made a significant leap in several offensive categories, including passing yards, total yards and points. That continued a rate of success that Lashlee had as the OC with 5 other programs.
12. Andy Ludwig (Utah)
Ludwig enters Year 3 of his second stint as the Utes’ OC in the midst of a long successful run as a coordinator that included stops at Fresno State, Oregon, Cal, San Diego State, Wisconsin and Vanderbilt.
11. Zak Hill (Arizona State)
Hill’s third season in Tempe produced one of the more productive offenses in the country, continuing a trend he had in 4 seasons as Boise State’s OC.
10. Jeff Lebby (Ole Miss)
In Lebby’s first season working with Lane Kiffin last year, the Rebels set an SEC record for total offense in conference games (564). That came a year after Lebby guided UCF’s offense, which averaged 540 yards and 43 points.
9. Tom Manning (Iowa State)
Manning’s second stint with the Cyclones produced a school record for total offense (444.3) in 2019 and ISU’s second-highest scoring average (32.9) in 2020.
8. Jeff Brohm (Purdue)
The Boilermakers have averaged more than 400 yards and 27 points per game in Brohm’s 5 seasons, an opportunity he got in the wake of his successful run as Western Kentucky head coach and OC at Western Kentucky, Louisville and UAB.
7. Jeff Grimes (Baylor)
Grimes begins his tenure with the Bears after a successful run at BYU. The Cougars finished in the top 15 nationally in 10 categories last season, including tying for 1st in yards per play (7.84).
6. Warren Ruggiero (Wake Forest)
His record-setting 8 seasons with the Demon Deacons have followed 4 seasons as Bowling Green’s OC. Wake Forest had the 3 highest-scoring seasons in school history from 2017-19.
5. Phil Longo (North Carolina)
Longo’s second season with the Tar Heels last season produced school records for total offense (537.2) and scoring (41.7). Before joining UNC, Longo had significant long-term success as a coordinator with Sam Houston State and then in a short stint at Ole Miss.
4. Dan Mullen (Florida)
The Gators led the country in passing offense last season (378.6) in Mullen’s 3rd season as head coach. His success was consistent with his 4-year run as Florida’s OC and 9 seasons as Mississippi State’s head coach between his 2 tenures in Gainesville.
3. Kevin Wilson (Ohio State)
The Buckeyes were 7th in total offense and 10th in scoring offense last season, which is about where they usually have wound up since Wilson and head coach Ryan Day came on board as co-ccordinators. The offense continues to thrive with Wilson taking more command since Day was promoted.
2. Tony Elliott (Clemson)
Among the many notable accomplishments of Elliott’s offense is the fact that the 2018 and 2019 Tigers were the first group to score 650 points in consecutive seasons since the NCAA began official record-keeping in 1937.
1. Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma)
Bill Bedenbaugh and Cale Gundy are co-offensive coordinators, but Riley continues to call the plays for the most prolific offense in the country since his arrival as an assistant in 2015.