I don't think Charlie Strong ever coached at Miami. My first memory of him was he was DC at Florida when Urban took over, and Urban kept him, much like he did with Kyle at Utah.
I don't think Charlie Strong ever coached at Miami. My first memory of him was he was DC at Florida when Urban took over, and Urban kept him, much like he did with Kyle at Utah.
I had to look it up. I was thinking of Florida. He took over for the bowl game the year Zook was fired.Originally Posted by SoCalPat
I'm not sure why that minor piece of minutiae is sticking in my brain.
Twitter says Utah has hired Dave Christiansen as a new solo OC. DE and BJ to stay in different roles.
Like having him. Hate having a new OC again.
At least KW went outside his small circle of intimates to hire someone with Pac 12 experience, especially recruiting ties. (TIC)
I guess we won't be playing Air Force (and their "F'ing Howdy Doody" coach) any time soon:
Why are we hiring a new OC?! Was this expected? Does this mean that Dennis didn't like being up in the booth, and who will be calling the plays next year? What about BJ and Roderick with their coordinator titles?
Apparently BJ is now the QB coach and Dennis is the RB coach. I presume Roderick is just the WR coach, now.
No one saw this coming.
Christenen - OC
DE - RBs
BJ - QBs
ARod - WRs
This is 7 OCs in the last 7 years - Christensen, DE, Johnson, ARod, Schramm, Chow, Ludwig.
We'd have been better off keeping Ludwig the whole time. Then the Chow thing, which looked so good, blew up on us and created a mess we are still trying to fix.
And I was hoping for coaching stability this offseason. Ugh.
What in the fuck is Kyle Whittingham doing?
So I said to David Eckstein, "You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
--fjm.com
Do some of you still think Kyle is the right person for the job?
I don't think that we can fire Whittingham now, but I'm now convinced that the timetable has been moved up to next year for him to prove himself as a Pac-12 coach. His handling of his assistant coaching staff has been inexcusable. 7 offensive coordinators in 7 years. There was absolutely no reason to not retain Dennis Erickson as the OC, none whatsoever.
So I said to David Eckstein, "You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
--fjm.com
I like this. I think this will bring long term stability.
Does anyone think DE would be here more than a year or two more? Would BJ be ready by then? Too much uncertainty there.
Christensen is a fantastic hire, and I believe this means Kyle has finally committed to the spread offense.
I have no reason to believe that Christensen will be at Utah more than 1 year. Whittingham's track record with his assistants speaks for itself.
So I said to David Eckstein, "You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
--fjm.com
I'm not sure that Chow, BJ, and DE are fair judgements. None of those feel permanent.
The guys that have left since the move to the PAC12 (Anderson, Hill, Chow) moved on to be head coaches. Hard to judge based on that as well. I suppose Christensen could leave for a HC gig, but he'd have to have some success at Utah before that happens.
Last edited by U-Ute; 12-20-2013 at 12:09 PM.
Wow, I can't believe this is getting opposition. Hire someone without a great track record as a coach and Whit is screwing up by hiring someone who isn't experienced enough. Hire someone with a fantastic track record as an OC and it's a mistake because they probably won't be here long. What do we want here?
All along the concern with DE has been that he probably won't be here long; well, we just got someone with a better track record as an OC who is young enough to provide some stability and who is probably a ways away from another HC gig (not good enough for Wyoming, at least in Wyoming's eyes) doesn't exactly line someone up for a lot of great job offers.
I can also only assume that DE was fine with this, given the positives that I've been hearing. My assumption is that he'll still have a big role but he can focus more on other things. Great hire by Whit.
I don't think anyone questions Christensen's ability. I'm happy to have him. It's just that 7 OCs in 7 OCs is the reason we can't score. If we had any one of those 7 for 3-4 years, our offense would be fine. They are all capable - it just takes time. Now it feels like we have to do the whole "adjusting to a new offense" all over again.
Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. The fact that Utah is on its 7th OC since 2008 is a joke. There is no other way of saying that. Dave Christensen has a great track record. Kyle does not when it comes to making the right hires for the program.
I'm guessing that Whit asked DE if BJ would be ready next year or the year after to be the OC and the answer was no.
"It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant
But you have to put down the haterade then too. This could be great for us. If we could go back to last year and pick between DE and Christensen for OC, we would have picked Christensen. Now we have both on staff. I'm just bummed that it sets us back in learning a new offense yet again.
Kyle has made some good hiring decisions. Some have worked out (Anderson, Sitake), some have not (Chow), and the jury's out on many others (Shaw, BJ, DE, Christensen).
Lya tweeted that DE was surprised by this move and is not commenting. That is something to worry about. I like this a lot more if it's a situation of DE wanted to get back to a position group one last time before retiring.
I will put it down when someone gives me a good reason to do so. Since all I am seeing right now is a program that is desperate and has no idea where it is going and how it is going to get there, I will continue to be concerned.
As as for hires, Anderson was Mcbrides guy. So take was hired because of Gary. I can't give Kyle credit on that one.
He picked his staff. If you won't give him credit for his good moves, he will only ever make bad decisions in your eyes.
I honestly do not know what to think.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I am concerned about this hire, not because I know the first thing about Wyoming football, but because we can't seem to get anyone to stick around for two years as an OC. If Ericksen was blindsided by this, that is a really, really bad sign.
I wonder if this signals that Travis Wilson isn't coming back next year. If we are starting over at QB, might as well move on to a new OC.
Did anyone think DE or BJ would be the long term solution at OC?
Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Those guys were brought here by others not named Whitt. Until he proves me otherwise then yes, I will continue to see it that way.
It it is amazing the amount of credibility the Sugar Bowl won has given Whit.
Jury is not still out on Shaw and BJ. BJ is a terrible QB coach and was a terrible offensive coordinator. He was a bad hire for both positions. Shaw is a terrible coach and terrible hire.
So I said to David Eckstein, "You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
--fjm.com
Also, a little desperation never hurt anyone. What would've been more disturbing would be doing nothing on the staff.
Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
unfortunately whittingham has not given a reason to believe otherwise.
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