With the strong possibility of Jimbo Fisher going to Louisiana Tech, I thought this might be a good time to indicate who we think would be a good choice for the new OC. Here are some of my ideas. Anyone have any comments or additions to the list? PAUL PETRINO - LOUISVILLE. The best hire would be Paul Petrino, OC and receivers coach at Louisville. Petrino has been the Cardinal's OC for three years counting this year and is one of the masterminds of the Cardinal offense. In his first year as OC at Louisville the Cardinals had the nation's #1 offense in 2003, was #9 the following year and has the #2 offense this year. Previous coaching jobs included Utah State and Idaho University. He also served as offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Carroll College under his father. Petrino is 38 years of age. The big question is, would he leave Louisville for anything less than a head coaching position? Petrino could be a long shot, but considering his credentials, I think LSU should have him on their short list. SONNY DYKES - TEXAS TECH. Sonny Dykes is another name that should be on LSU's short list. Dykes is in his 6th season as Texas Tech's offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. He has been instrumental in Tech's record-setting passing attach. Under him Tech has set numerous conference receiving records. In 2002 Tech had the #4 offense in the country, moved up to #1 the following year, ended up in sixth place in 2004, was again #6 in 2005 and is #7 this year. Tech was the #2 passing team from 2003-2005 and was #1 at the end of the 2006 regular season. Scoring-wise, Tech was #15 in the nation in 2001, #6 in 2002, #4 in 2003, #8 in 2004, #6 in 2005. Previous coaching stints included graduate assistant at Kentucky, and assistant coach (tight ends and special teams) at Northeast Louisana University in 1998. ROBERT ANAE - BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY. Anae is in his 13th year of coaching and is currently in his second year as the offensive coordinator at BYU. From 2002-2004 he was the offensive line coach at Texas Tech and deserves a lot of credit for the kind of offensive success Tech has had in recent years. He has also coached at UNLV and Boise State. This year BYU has the fifth offense in the nation. It is also the sixth highest scoring team. Last year it was the 13th highest scoring team in the nation.
I don't think he's coming back to the college game any time soon. I think he's making over a million per with the Titans. No way we (or any) college team throws that kind of money to a coordinator. Plus, he's a big part of the early success VY is having, so he MAY be enjoying competing at the highest level. I like the names BB tossed out there, but not sure if they are realistic; especially PP for the reasons he mentioned. I'm not sure about Dykes. I love TT offense, but it's more pass oriented. You have to be able to run the ball to win consistently in the SEC.
Sonny just signed on with Mike Stoops and AZ. Anae would be interesting, just don't think he has enough history for your program. He is, however, a good coach.
This is an unbalanced offense, why do you want it? They got the crap kicked out of them by Texas, Ok., and by a good Bama defense in the cotton bowl a year ago. This is the offense you run when you can't attract top flight talent across the offense, o-line, receivers, running backs, QB, and you need a gimmick to win. It did not win any championships for them, why do you think that's what we need? I don't like that offense myself. It will help an inferior team spring an upset once in a while. I like more balance.
Offensive coaches are either run-oriented or pass-oriented. Most played in college, and they generally coach that element of the game. So if a coach was a wide receiver, he generally becomes a wide receiver coach because that is the aspect of the game that he is most familiar with. But that is not to say that he can't develope a balanced offense. In making my selections I looked at what schools had the best total offense over the last 6 years. To my surprise, everyone of them emphasized the passing game over the ground game. That does not mean that they did not have a good ground game, but it was in the passing department that they excelled as a team. I will continue to research and see if I can find a school with a strong, consistent running game that also is also a team with a top total offense.
