How to rate coaches

stinger 1957

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IMO Ed Orgeron is outstanding recruiter, maybe not quite as good a coach as he is recruiter, and yep I'm saying that in the face of having one of the all time best CFB teams ever and they were well coached. I may have to eat those words, time will tell. It certainly will not be the first time.
 

gtrower

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IMO Ed Orgeron is outstanding recruiter, maybe not quite as good a coach as he is recruiter, and yep I'm saying that in the face of having one of the all time best CFB teams ever and they were well coached. I may have to eat those words, time will tell. It certainly will not be the first time.

I feel like these coach rankings that come out should be split into two categories - Roster Builders and Gameday Coaches. Guys like Dabo, Orgeron, Mack are just too hard to compare against the CPJ, Leach, Mullens of the game.

Kind of the same way CGC being ranked at the bottom of ACC coaches this year. There’s probably 9 conference teams who would trade for him straight up right now the way he’s building the roster. But he hasn’t shown much on gameday. That shouldn’t average out to 13th out of 14.
 

Augusta_Jacket

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I feel like these coach rankings that come out should be split into two categories - Roster Builders and Gameday Coaches. Guys like Dabo, Orgeron, Mack are just too hard to compare against the CPJ, Leach, Mullens of the game.

Kind of the same way CGC being ranked at the bottom of ACC coaches this year. There’s probably 9 conference teams who would trade for him straight up right now the way he’s building the roster. But he hasn’t shown much on gameday. That shouldn’t average out to 13th out of 14.

I somewhat agree with this, but I don't like the way it seems to diminish the overall talents of roster builders. Dabo, for instance, is wildly successful because he not only assembled talented players, but talented assistants as well. Orgerons NC came with a great QB playing under a great OC. Saban has risen to the point where he can acquire major talent on the sidelines coaching with him. If CGC is successful at GT, it will be because he assembled the right assistants to coach the upgraded talent in the locker room. You don't have to excel at x's and o's if you have the right assistants.

Hopefully, the culture and brand CGC is building is attractive to AT.
 

jacketup

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I somewhat agree with this, but I don't like the way it seems to diminish the overall talents of roster builders. Dabo, for instance, is wildly successful because he not only assembled talented players, but talented assistants as well. Orgerons NC came with a great QB playing under a great OC. Saban has risen to the point where he can acquire major talent on the sidelines coaching with him. If CGC is successful at GT, it will be because he assembled the right assistants to coach the upgraded talent in the locker room. You don't have to excel at x's and o's if you have the right assistants.

Hopefully, the culture and brand CGC is building is attractive to AT.
I agree with you, but a lot of folks won't like the rest of this post,

Dodd's record wasn't so special after Broyles and Graves left.

Johnson was great at coaching run blocking, but he was never going to attract high level assistants. An assistant was in training to be a coach at an FCS school or maybe an academy. That's not what a real up and comer aspires to.

Bobby Ross was a guy coaches wanted to learn from, so he had good assistants.

Clemson pays well which is why they have good assistants. So get out your wallets!
 

bikeseat

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Johnson was great at coaching run blocking, but he was never going to attract high level assistants. An assistant was in training to be a coach at an FCS school or maybe an academy. That's not what a real up and comer aspires to.

this is a great point that me and my teammates talked about when we were all seniors. Very few if any of us wanted to be GA's because being a "triple option coach" is not really sexy on the ol resume. As an OL, there are no big time places where you can get on then ladder to a great job (after 7-8 yrs of the grinding, politics and brownosing needed to be a top tier P5 assistant).

Attracting top assistants is just as important as recruiting. Not to start any wars but the quality gap from Head Coach to Assistant should not be massive and at times we felt it was. There were games that CPJ would himself come to the OL and 100% change blocking schemes on plays at the half and they would hit for 150yds in the 2nd quarter. Nobody else had that same understanding on offense to be very direct
 

slugboy

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Hope you don’t mind me moving this, but we got way off of the AT discussion.

@bikeseat, I may have to nuke my own post if I end up destroying this conversation, but what kept the D from flourishing? I can see CPJ affecting so much of the offense, based on what you said, but we had defensive coaches who did well elsewhere, but not here.

If it’s not appropriate, just PM me and I’ll nuke my own post.
 

bikeseat

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I would say more the talent gap between the HC and the offensive assistant was massive. Primarily due to the "cream" of assistants gravitate toward more conventional offenses
 

Augusta_Jacket

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Clemson pays well which is why they have good assistants. So get out your wallets!

It's more than just the pay. Bama pays well yet their coaching staff is a revolving door of assistants. Clemson coaches tend to stay even though they are often attached to head coach searches. It's the culture Dabo created.

Also, Saban has a habit of utilizing failed HCs for quality assistants while giving them a second chance, usually in the same role that got them noticed to begin with.
 

Ash

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Nobody else had that same understanding on offense to be very direct

I don't think anyone has the understanding of the offense CPJ did. He is the best at what he did. I miss his gameday coaching.

The current staff seems to do well on the motivating players, and attracting talent. Can they get that out on the field on Saturdays and be successful? I think we will see after just a few weeks this season. Do we win the games we are supposed to, and how do we play those games against tougher opponets? That to me tells me how to evaluate a coaching staff.
 

Northeast Stinger

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It's more than just the pay. Bama pays well yet their coaching staff is a revolving door of assistants. Clemson coaches tend to stay even though they are often attached to head coach searches. It's the culture Dabo created.

Also, Saban has a habit of utilizing failed HCs for quality assistants while giving them a second chance, usually in the same role that got them noticed to begin with.
I am reminded that Pepper Rodgers both rehabilitated coaches and attracted up and comers. When you have both Norm Van Brocklin and Steve Spurior coaching the backfield that is pretty special. Alas, something else was holding Tech back in those days, as it so often does.
 

Heisman's Ghost

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I am reminded that Pepper Rodgers both rehabilitated coaches and attracted up and comers. When you have both Norm Van Brocklin and Steve Spurior coaching the backfield that is pretty special. Alas, something else was holding Tech back in those days, as it so often does.
Pepper might have been better off "rehabilitating" his relationship with alumni and donors but that was probably a lost cause and he was not responsible for the facilities and academic restrictions. Under the circumstances, he might have done about as well as anyone.
 

augustabuzz

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Pepper might have been better off "rehabilitating" his relationship with alumni and donors but that was probably a lost cause and he was not responsible for the facilities and academic restrictions. Under the circumstances, he might have done about as well as anyone.
Some of those "alumni and donors" assumed that they had the authority to tell Pepper how to live his life. And when they found out that authority was lacking, they took it upon themselves to sabotage recruiting and almost led to the demise of Ga. Tech. football. They're the reason the cupboard was bare for Bill Curry.
 

Heisman's Ghost

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Some of those "alumni and donors" assumed that they had the authority to tell Pepper how to live his life. And when they found out that authority was lacking, they took it upon themselves to sabotage recruiting and almost led to the demise of Ga. Tech. football. They're the reason the cupboard was bare for Bill Curry.
I would not doubt it. Very sad times to be a Tech fan and Coach Collins thinks he has problems.
 
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