Off with their headsets! - Coaching hirings and firings

[sancho]

What Ute fan doesn't love Brian Johnson?

MVP of the happiest moment of a Ute fan's life. As far as I'm concerned he can have a lifetime contract along with Coach Whittingham. By the way, the lifetime contract eliminates the "he's on the hot seat" negative recruiting from competitors.

Still, I can't think of any evidence that he has the potential to be a PAC-12 level OC

That's crazy. He has had moments of brilliance in play calling and in recruiting, the two biggest components of an OC's job. And he did it in the midst of a storm of terrible bad luck in terms of injuries.

[Diehard Ute]

MVP of the happiest moment of a Ute fan's life. As far as I'm concerned he can have a lifetime contract along with Coach Whittingham. By the way, the lifetime contract eliminates the "he's on the hot seat" negative recruiting

Yes, cause coaches with valid contracts are never canned.

[sancho]

Yes, cause coaches with valid contracts are never canned.

Look, we all know it aint happening, and I'm the only one who wants it (maybe senioritis?), but just as an exercise, imagine Chris Hill announces 1 month ago that Kyle has been signed to a lifetime contract. Do you think anyone believes a "he'll be gone in a year" narrative in another school's negative recruiting pitch?

That's not the real reason for the lifetime contract, but it would be a side benefit.

[Utah]

That's crazy. He has had moments of brilliance in play calling and in recruiting, the two biggest components of an OC's job. And he did it in the midst of a storm of terrible bad luck in terms of injuries.

I agree with you. BJ was a good OC. If he wasn't, the SEC wouldn't have come calling.

Also, Whitt is a great coach. I'm so pumped to see what he can do with finally having depth, finally having 2 QB's, and having an OC that can FULLY run his offense.

BJ was put in a bad situation with no QB depth, and trying to transition us from Chow's offense to his offense, and he had to do it with only one QB each year, and each year that guy was hurt. Chip Kelly would look like crap with Hays and Schulz as his QB's. I don't get why that is so hard to understand.

[Hot Lunch]

That's crazy. He has had moments of brilliance in play calling.

No he didn't. Come on now.

[Utah]

No he didn't. Come on now.

Go rematch the games and see how many TD's were dropped by Dres, White, etc. Then look at how many WR's were wide open and the QB missed the throws.

He may not be the best at developing QB's, but he can call a game.

[Utah]

Whitt's offered a job to Guy Holliday, WR coach at BYU.

Holliday has been at BYU one year, has spent the rest of his career in the south.

If he takes the job, it's a solid hire. If not, that's ok as well.

If he takes the job, Roderick is probably gone.

[LA Ute]

MVP of the happiest moment of a Ute fan's life.

No doubt.

That's crazy. He has had moments of brilliance in play calling.

That's a surprising statement. Can you find any reasonably objective analyst who agrees with you?

[SoCalPat]

That's crazy. He has had moments of brilliance in play calling and in recruiting, the two biggest components of an OC's job. And he did it in the midst of a storm of terrible bad luck in terms of injuries.

This is an apologist view if there ever was one. The terrible bad luck with injuries came under DE, and that offense was 20 spots higher nationally than it was under Brian, who by and large played with a full deck in 2012 and was the benefactor of one of the greatest teams in Utah history with regard to touchdowns that came from outside the offense.

That said, I think Dan Mullen does not get nearly enough credit for making Brian into an exceptional D-1 quarterback. If he can have the same affect on him as a coach, this will be a huge positive for Brian and could lead to his being HC at Utah someday, a move I would totally support in the future.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Didn't Dan Mullen leave when Urban left? I would think Ludwig had much more influence on BJ's development as a QB since he was coaching him for 4 full years.

[LA Ute]

Didn't Dan Mullen leave when Urban left? I would think Ludwig had much more influence on BJ's development as a QB since he was coaching him for 4 full years.

I think Mullen coached BJ as a freshman.

[NorthwestUteFan]

I think Mullen coached BJ as a freshman.

Yes, just the one year. And Mullen did recruit Brian.

[SoCalPat]

Didn't Dan Mullen leave when Urban left? I would think Ludwig had much more influence on BJ's development as a QB since he was coaching him for 4 full years.

I would agree with this, but the groundwork Mullen laid made Ludwig's job a bit easier. Brian was fourth in the nation in total offense as a sophomore, running an offense that wasn't a whole lot different than what we ran under Urban. What really would've put Mullen over the top in regard to Brian's development was something we never saw -- Brian being forced into extensive, meaningful snaps because Alex was hurt. I believe the offense wouldn't have suffered much, if at all, in such a scenario.

[Hot Lunch]

Go rematch the games and see how many TD's were dropped by Dres, White, etc. Then look at how many WR's were wide open and the QB missed the throws.

He may not be the best at developing QB's, but he can call a game.

I don't need to go back and watch the games. There wasn't a lot of dropped tds. Brian Johnson was a horrible play caller. He had no business having that position. You need to take your live for Brian as a player out of the equation here.

[Utah]

I don't need to go back and watch the games. There wasn't a lot of dropped tds. Brian Johnson was a horrible play caller. He had no business having that position. You need to take your live for Brian as a player out of the equation here.

Yeah, you do. Your post is so off base. Brian called great games. Especially last year. If White could catch wide open TD's we win 2 more games.

[Hot Lunch]

Yeah, you do. Your post is so off base. Brian called great games. Especially last year. If White could catch wide open TD's we win 2 more games.

Oh brother.

[sancho]

Can you find any reasonably objective analyst who agrees with you?

Does Dan Mullen count? Maybe not objective but certainly knows more about offense than this board combined.

There's no objectivity on a fan board. Objectivity is overrated anyway. I admit to being a biased fan of Whitt and Johnson. I think BJ has had some great calls and some not great calls. Stanford was a work of art. Getting anything out of Shultz is more than many would think possible. The giraffe option at the start of the season against OSU was great. The end around pitch to Dres Anderson in 2012 should have won the game for us (it was dropped). Considering the disaster of QB/OL/WR line play in 2012, we were fortunate to win the few games we did.

To call BJ a horrible play caller is just an easy exercise in blamethrowing. Things are more complicated than that.

Another thought experiment. Imagine we have just an average Pac-12 QB in 2012. What is our record? 7-5? 9-3? Either way, the entire BJ story is different. Instead of being blamed for everything that went wrong, he is hailed as a young offensive genius. Articles are written in SI. Recruits come flocking. It's a fine line between success and failure. But history is written by the winners. Or sometimes, by the whiners.

[Hot Lunch]

Does Dan Mullen count? Maybe not objective but certainly knows more about offense than this board combined.

There's no objectivity on a fan board. Objectivity is overrated anyway. I admit to being a biased fan of Whitt and Johnson. I think BJ has had some great calls and some not great calls. Stanford was a work of art. Getting anything out of Shultz is more than many would think possible. The giraffe option at the start of the season against OSU was great. The end around pitch to Dres Anderson in 2012 should have won the game for us (it was dropped). Considering the disaster of QB/OL/WR line play in 2012, we were fortunate to win the few games we did.

To call BJ a horrible play caller is just an easy exercise in blamethrowing. Things are more complicated than that.

Another thought experiment. Imagine we have just an average Pac-12 QB in 2012. What is our record? 7-5? 9-3? Either way, the entire BJ story is different. Instead of being blamed for everything that went wrong, he is hailed as a young offensive genius. Articles are written in SI. Recruits come flocking. It's a fine line between success and failure. But history is written by the winners. Or sometimes, by the whiners.

BJ called the Stanford game?

[LA Ute]

I love BJ for what he is to Utah football. I'm just not going to lose any sleep over his departure from our coaching staff at this point in the program's history.

[LA Ute]

For what it's worth:

Utah: Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham is moving quickly to try to fill the opening created by the departure of Brian Johnson to Mississippi State. CoachingSearch.com has learned that Whittingham has extended an offer to BYU wide receivers coach Guy Holliday, who is considering his options. No decision has been made.

From Pete Roussel's Coaching Search Ticker. Is he a credible guy?

EDIT: I'm behind the curve on this. A bunch of others (credible folks) are reporting this is a totally groundless rumor. Some think it was started just to make touble.

[Hot Lunch]

For what it's worth:



From Pete Roussel's Coaching Search Ticker. Is he a credible guy?

The editors for Utezone swear it is not true. The have posted this on twitter as well so it is public.

[sancho]

BJ called the Stanford game?

That was my understanding. At the least, the game plan was a group effort.

[sancho]

I love BJ for what he is to Utah football. I'm just not going to lose any sleep over his departure from our coaching staff at this point in the program's history.

Now I can agree with you. I'm happy for him, and I'm glad he's going to a team I can feel good rooting for.

[LA Ute]

The editors for Utezone swear it is not true. The have posted this on twitter as well so it is public.

Yeah, I was a few hours behind the web traffic on this. My bad.

[sancho]

Yeah, I was a few hours behind the web traffic on this. My bad.

Hope the poor guy didn't hear the rumors and get his hopes up.

[tooblue]

Gary Andersen: Didn't pursue Browns

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...and-browns-job

[Applejack]

Gary Andersen: Didn't pursue Browns

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...and-browns-job

Pursue them! Pursue them!

[Crimsonute]

Utah should go after Brett Elliott. Former Utah QB and Mississippi St Grad Assistant. Take one of Mullen's guys.

[concerned]

Utah should go after Brett Elliott. Former Utah QB and Mississippi St Grad Assistant. Take one of Mullen's guys.

Why do you suppose Mullen hired BJ rather than promote Elliott?

[DrumNFeather]

Football Scoop as retweeted by Dan Sorensen: Taylor Stubblefield a leading candidate for the WR job at Utah. He accepted the same position for Eastern Michigan last week. http://www.wakeforestsports.com/spor...ld_843222.html