Five, Count Em', Five New Offensive Coordinators in the Big East

Monday, February 9, 2009

Posted by DCS

With the high turnover rate in college football coaching, it's no surprise to see several new faces stalking the sidelines on an annual basis. This coming season, the offensive play calling will have a decidedly different look when five new offensive coordinators take the helm of Big East offenses. Syracuse brought in Rob Spence under new head coach Doug Marrone; UCONN replaced Rob Ambrose who left to coach Towson state, with Joe Moorhead; Jim Leavitt relieved Greg Gregory of his play calling duties at USF; Pitt's Matt Cavanagh is moving on to the New York Jets as of today, and finally, Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe will be calling the plays for the Cardinals now that Jeff Brohm is off to Florida Atlantic University.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the change that is occurring on the offensive side of the ball in the Big East. In fact, many could argue that Syracuse, UCONN, and Pitt will get a definite upgrade with these switches. It will be critical to see how the new play callers respond to the uncertain quarterback situations at all of these schools (with the exception of USF), making for interesting story lines going into the 2009 season.

What else is up?:

• Donnie Webb of the Syracuse Post-Standard reports that Maine may fill a void on Syracuse's 2009 schedule...
• ...Speaking of which, Brian Bennett says that 2009 scheduling has been a tricky proposition for many Big East schools
• Cincy fans submitted their Orange Bowl photos, so here they are
• Tyler Dunne of the Daily Orange Football Blog got a hold of David Oku's HS coach and reports that Oku is still undecided on his fate

Randy's On a Roll

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Posted by DCS

Randy Edsall and the UCONN Huskies are on something of a roll as of this weekend. You first heard about running back Martin Hyppolite ending his recruitment by giving his verbal commitment to Edsall. After being radio-silent for several weeks following the departure of offensive coordinator Rob Ambrose to Towson State, we now know that Edsall went out and hired Akron Zips offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Joe Moorhead (pictured left; courtesy of Gozips.com).

Here's Moorhead's official bio from the Akron athletics website, but the following is the skinny on him:

• Started at quarterback for three years at his alma mater, Fordham
• Had a stint as a graduate assistant under Walt Harris at Pitt
• Spent time as an offensive coordinator, among other things, at Georgetown
• Has been a quarterback and receivers coach, as well as offensive coordinator at Akron for the past five years
• The Zips were 40th in total offense this season, with a 5-7 record
• Two notable players that Moorehead had a hand in developing: New York Giants wide receiver Domenik Hixon and Cleveland Browns quarterback Charlie Frye

The above sounds like a nice, albeit less than overwhelming resume. That being said, it's not as if Rob Ambrose's reputation preceded him prior to him coming on board at UCONN. If Randy Edsall trusts Moorhead, and if Moorhead can continue the development of the UCONN offense along with quarterbacks Cody Endres and Zach Frazier, then this could be a very fruitful partnership.

Randy also managed to nab two more recruits whilst hiring his new OC:

1. Kevin "will you be my?" Friend
2. Nick Williams

Finally, here are a couple of more unrelated links for your reading pleasure:

• A breakdown of Pitt's representation in the Super Bowl (scout.com)
• Jacob Messer of the Charleston Daily Mail has a write-up on former WVU assistant coach Rick Trickett's (now with Florida State) recollection of recruiting Pat White

The Big East Coaching Landscape Shifts Yet Again

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Posted by DCS

We had been waiting on a decision from Syracuse's Doug Marrone on who would be the school's next running backs coach. That decision was made last evening when it was announced that former University of Tennessee RBs coach Stan Drayton would be coming aboard.

Drayton, in addition to coaching at Tennessee under Phil Fulmer last season, also has coaching stints at the University of Florida, Mississippi State, and Villanova on his resume, among others. With the exception of having coached at Villanova and the University of Pennsylvania, Drayton's Northeast credentials are not all that overwhelming, although coach Marrone insists, "Stan has very strong ties in the Northeast."

Given that Stan Drayton is a native of Ohio and that he played his college ball there, he can be a factor for the Orange in recruiting Midwest players. His experience coaching at three different SEC Conference schools has certainly exposed him to the fertile recruiting grounds of the South. In 2007, he was named by Rivals.com as one of the top 25 recruiters in the country for his work in helping to build the nation's number one recruiting class at the University of Florida. Most notably in 2007, he managed to recruit the Pouncey brothers who were prominently featured on the offensive line of this year's National Champion Gators team.

As far as running backs that Drayton has coached, he can boast about his efforts with Brian Westbrook at Villanova and Jerious Norwood at Mississippi State. Moreover, Florida's rushing attack in 2007 averaged a shade over 200 yards per game, good enough for third in the SEC and 23rd nationally.

Stan Drayton is Doug Marrone's third hire from the University of Tennessee. One can absolutely make the assumption that offensive line coach Greg Adkins and Director of Football Operations Kevin Van Derzee played significant roles in singing the praises of Drayton. Even if Tennessee's offense wasn't all that impressive last season and that Drayton does not have any significant ties to the Big East (or Syracuse), Marrone is at least impressed with the coach's "orange" credentials, having already served stints at two other institutions where orange is an integral school color. Marrone also hopes to recreate the above (right) scene with Drayton in the middle of a pack of Orange players after winning a national title.

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University of South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt decided last evening to part ways with offensive coordinator Greg Gregory. Leavitt, citing that, "It is time for our program to move in another direction," will seek to replace a coach who is seen as largely responsible for failing to produce an efficient red-zone offense. The Bulls went 2-5 in the Big East this season, while unceremoniously swooning down the stretch and failing to improve on offense with 10 returning starters.

Gregory (in the above picture -- left), who took the offensive coordinator post after five seasons as the school's tight ends coach, was under consideration for the Army head coach position earlier this year. It's widely thought that current Bulls wide receivers coach Mike Canales will assume responsibility of the entire offense at this point, after having returned to the squad subsequent to a stint with Mike Stoops at the University of Arizona.

It is worth noting that UCONN head coach Randy Edsall is still in the process of filling an offensive coordinator position of his own. He is seeking to replace Rob Ambrose, who took a head coach position at Towson State University.