General News about Key and his Staff

[stech81]

GT tie to Faulkner:

Ok I was only blowing smoke about Buster last night but going by Timmy Byerly facebook he sounds like he liked him.

 

[stech81]

If JBatt gave CBK $5million for staff salaries and we make someone (Weinke) currently on staff our new OC, then that hire has failed. Especially in light of the fact that we appear to be keeping Thacker on as DC.

That's what we need someone who can't wait to see how the season goes before it starts and thinks it has failed.

 

[mts315]

That's what we need someone who can't wait to see how the season goes before it starts and thinks it has failed.

If you believe that we have given $5million for staff just to stick with our QB coach who has zero OC experience outside of maybe 2 games last season, I don't know what to tell you.

That increase in staff budget was intended to bring in top notch coordinators.

 

[orientalnc]

If JBatt gave CBK $5million for staff salaries and we make someone (Weinke) currently on staff our new OC, then that hire has failed. Especially in light of the fact that we appear to be keeping Thacker on as DC.

Maybe you guys can educate me on this, because I do not understand the dislike of Thacker and how that impacts any decision on the OC. With CGC in place this season we surrendered 37 ppg (Omitting WCU) and without him Thacker improved that to 27 ppg.

But, beyond that, what would be wrong in giving Weinke a shot at OC if Key and Batt like him in that role? Without knowing how much Key has to spend and what would be the asking price for more experienced OC candidates, how do you evaluate the choices? Would Weinke be my first choice? Probably not, but Jim Caldwell probably isn't interested and would be an expensive OC.

 

[kittysniper101]

Without knowing how much Key has to spend and what would be the asking price for more experienced OC candidates, how do you evaluate the choices?

But we've already discussed that we DO know how much Key has to spend. The pool expanded 30% and we certainly don't need that much to retain the coaches we already have on staff. No one else was going to try and poach most of our staff. We could definitely have a 1MM+ OC and there are absolutely more experienced names than Weinke to fill the position at that price (I'm happy to keep him as QB coach). We should have a home run hire OC, and I'll definitely be disappointed if that isn't the case.

 

[stech81]

If you believe that we have given $5million for staff just to stick with our QB coach who has zero OC experience outside of maybe 2 games last season, I don't know what to tell you.

That increase in staff budget was intended to bring in top notch coordinators.

You understand the money could be for a larger staff. so here are the top offenses this year Tennessee, Washintgon, UCLA, Oregon, USC, UGA, and Ole Miss now which of those offensive coordinators do you really believe would come here? Maybe I dumb but point blank I don't see them coming here if they are that good they will hold out for a Head Coaching Staff.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

If we are truly waiting for someone who is either playing in a bowl or in the FCS playoffs, what does the list look like? And no, I'm not looking for every single name, just the ones who would be a fit and should be under consideration for our OC gig.

 

[Techster]

If we are truly waiting for someone who is either playing in a bowl or in the FCS playoffs, what does the list look like? And no, I'm not looking for every single name, just the ones who would be a fit and should be under consideration for our OC gig.

Heavy rumor it's Buster Faulkner, currently Offensive Analyst at UGA under Todd Monken.

 

[Madison Grant]

Let's see, you're trying to minimize Ellis's history as OC, but defend Barbay with a one year performance at App State? Yes, his OFEI of 36 this year was impressive, however, App State already had a decent to pretty good offense (OFEI: 2021 - #56, 2019 - #39, 2019 - #45) BEFORE Barbay went there, and the HFC Shawn Clark at App State was the Co-OC/Assist HC there before being promoted after Satterfield left. Barbay was an OC for only two seasons previously (2021 Central Michigan, 2018 Stephen F Austin) and they were not impressive stints. Ellis was not only a record setting OC (Co-OC) at Western Kentucky, his 2022 GSU offense actually made enormous improvement over what was previously at GSU (From OFEI of 118 to 41 from 2021 to 2022!!!). It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Ellis was mainly responsible for GSU's improvement. BTW, if you want to do a deeper dive of the WKU OC situation, Zach Kittley (who Key was rumored to have pushed for) was the other Co-OC at WKU with Ellis. Before Kittley arrived at Texas Tech, their OFEI was #25, this year with Kittley at the helm it was #45. So maybe Ellis is pretty darn good with or without a Co-OC, huh?

But let's back further up and do a better analysis of Barbay and Faulkner than your superficial one year "analysis". Note that previous years OFEIs may have been under a different regime...I wasn't going to spend time investigating further, but in an effort to give a deeper look at the offensive situations at the respective schools I went back 3 years before each coach's OC tenure.

Barbay's OC history (OFEI):

CMU OC 2021
2021 - 88
*CMU previously had OFEIs of 67 (2020), 73 (2019), 130 (2018)

Stephen F Austin OC 2018
2018 - No OFEI data
*I'll let the readers decide how he did at SFAU

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 2018 College Football Players Stats - ESPN

Get the full Players stats for the 2018 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks on ESPN. Includes team statistics for scoring, passing rushing and offense.

www.espn.com

Buster Faulkner OC history (OFEI)

Southern Miss OC 2019
2019 - 97
*USM previously had OFEIs of 120 (2018), 102 (2017), 86 (2016)

Arkansas State OC 2016 - 2018
2018 - 82
2017 - 92
2016 - 100
*ASU previously had OFEIs of 80 (2015), 67 (2014), 95 (2013)

Middle Tennessee State OC 2012-2015
2015 - 61
2014 - 78
2013 - 81
2012 - 61 (*This is the team that beat GT at home with Al Groh as DC)
*MTSU previously had OFEIs of 112 (2011), 114 (2010), 96 (2009)

I think Faulkner did well at MTSU relative to MTSU's previous offenses (pretty well comparatively), but his other stops at OC were not anything you would look twice at. Barbay's history at OC would make me think REALLY hard about hiring him at a P5 school. Is his 2022 OFEI of 36 at App State a product of what was already there, or was he truly the architect of change? I would like to see another year or two at the same level in order to risk hiring him. His OC background isn't extensive or productive enough to say he could replicate that 36 OFEI at GT.

Am I "stuck on a style of offense"? Yes, I'm stuck on GT getting an OC that has an effective offense regardless of scheme. My HFC top choices were Bill O'Brien, Jamey Chadwell, Mike Houston, Willie Fritz, Curt Cignetti, Jeff Lebby. None of them have similar offenses...but they all have effective offenses. At the end of the day I don't care how we get from Point A to Point B with the football, all I care about is getting from Point A to Point B.

Faulkner's Possession Efficiency (which takes out the SoS factor that caused his #10 ranked offense in YPG to somehow be the 92nd best offense by FEI in 2017) was 37, 36 and 54 at Ark State in his 3 years. I respect that FEI is a useful stat that digs further beyond raw averages, but when it produces statistical anomalies like that, it's missing something. I'm sure even Football Outsiders would be looking to reconcile that. FWIW, Zack Kittley's OFEI was 45th at Texas Tech this year. TT's was 25th the prior year. And offenses that produce rushing yards by spreading defenses out and throwing it 2/3rds of the time, while to be respected for their scheme accomplishments, are finesse. Win with whatever system works, but Key is going to be more familiar and comfortable with some systems than others. I was all behind Chadwell, but that fell through.

 

[orientalnc]

If we are truly waiting for someone who is either playing in a bowl or in the FCS playoffs, what does the list look like? And no, I'm not looking for every single name, just the ones who would be a fit and should be under consideration for our OC gig.

I will let you dig through this list and see if you find an OC you like. And then ask yourself if that person would leave their current spot for a similar payday at GT.

NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA FBS Football leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

Maybe you guys can educate me on this, because I do not understand the dislike of Thacker and how that impacts any decision on the OC. With CGC in place this season we surrendered 37 ppg (Omitting WCU) and without him Thacker improved that to 27 ppg.

But, beyond that, what would be wrong in giving Weinke a shot at OC if Key and Batt like him in that role? Without knowing how much Key has to spend and what would be the asking price for more experienced OC candidates, how do you evaluate the choices? Would Weinke be my first choice? Probably not, but Jim Caldwell probably isn't interested and would be an expensive OC.

I dont think there is a dislike for him anymore after the turnaround the defense did

 

[mts315]

Maybe you guys can educate me on this, because I do not understand the dislike of Thacker and how that impacts any decision on the OC. With CGC in place this season we surrendered 37 ppg (Omitting WCU) and without him Thacker improved that to 27 ppg.

But, beyond that, what would be wrong in giving Weinke a shot at OC if Key and Batt like him in that role? Without knowing how much Key has to spend and what would be the asking price for more experienced OC candidates, how do you evaluate the choices? Would Weinke be my first choice? Probably not, but Jim Caldwell probably isn't interested and would be an expensive OC.

I have no dislike for Thacker. My comment in regards to Thacker was that his salary for DC is fairly low currently, due to this more of the increased staff money could go to an upgraded OC.

 

[ramblin_man]

No new news regarding OC

 

[stinger 1957]

Key says he knows what he wants to do offensively, he can tell most recruits what they need to know I'm guessing. GOL recruited some good offensive players before they ever saw what the Fridge would do. My impression is Key is determining what we will do offensively and I have absolutely no problem with that, as a matter of fact I would hope that is the way it would be.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

I will let you dig through this list and see if you find an OC you like. And then ask yourself if that person would leave their current spot for a similar payday at GT.

NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA FBS Football leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

Well, personally I wouldn't mind having Bryan Ellis. He made $235,000 this past year and with the salary pool announced for Key, this should be an easy hire to throw money at. Faulkner just got a raise to bring him to $200,000 annually which is another hire we should be able to throw some money at. Seth Littrell was making $1.35M before he was hired so he might be out of our price range. Honestly, of the smaller schools in the Top 50, there isn't a single person we shouldn't be able to afford. That's why I'm baffled that we keep talking about how we can't afford this guy or that guy. Maybe our position isn't attractive right now, but it shouldn't be because of the money if the pool is truly as large as reported.

 

[kg01]

Thoughts on the Geep Wade hire?

Other than hoping it's not pronounced 'Jeep'..

AppSt board seems mixed. Some say good riddance. Others say, if he was so "bad", why're 2 of their OL named 1st team all conference and 1 named 3rd team? Seem to be including TE in that.

 

[dcall]

Thoughts on the Geep Wade hire?

Other than hoping it's not pronounced 'Jeep'..

AppSt board seems mixed. Some say good riddance. Others say, if he was so "bad", why're 2 of their OL named 1st team all conference and 1 named 3rd team? Seem to be including TE in that.

Just watched an old ECU video, it is pronounced like Jeep. You're welcome.

 

[Tech93]

Thoughts on the Geep Wade hire?

Other than hoping it's not pronounced 'Jeep'..

AppSt board seems mixed. Some say good riddance. Others say, if he was so "bad", why're 2 of their OL named 1st team all conference and 1 named 3rd team? Seem to be including TE in that.

Well, for starters I have a bad taste in my mouth for coaches who pronounce their names with G as J lol Seriously though, seems like an underwhelming hire. Also, seems like the guy jumps to a new job about every year.

 

[orientalnc]

Well, for starters I have a bad taste in my mouth for coaches who pronounce their names with G as J lol Seriously though, seems like an underwhelming hire. Also, seems like the guy jumps to a new job about every year.

Most of my career I was called a geek. Happy no one considered using the J sound. I might have switched to something easier to get right.

 

[Creative]

Maybe you guys can educate me on this, because I do not understand the dislike of Thacker and how that impacts any decision on the OC. With CGC in place this season we surrendered 37 ppg (Omitting WCU) and without him Thacker improved that to 27 ppg.

But, beyond that, what would be wrong in giving Weinke a shot at OC if Key and Batt like him in that role? Without knowing how much Key has to spend and what would be the asking price for more experienced OC candidates, how do you evaluate the choices? Would Weinke be my first choice? Probably not, but Jim Caldwell probably isn't interested and would be an expensive OC.

I’m not sure points per game tells the whole story in the defensive side of the ball.