Offensive coordinator: himself
This one was bad.
QB coach: his son
This one was bad.
RB coach: Thomas Brown
I have no idea what to say about this one. Seems fine?
WR coach: Ron Dugans
Everyone on this board was aghast that Kevin Beard was not retained. Beard is currently director of player personnel at Toledo. Dugans has stocked his room with 4 and 5 star recruits. Great hire.
OL coach: Stacy Searles
This one was bad.
TE/Special teams coach: Todd Hartley
Essentially unknown when he was hired. Has become arguably the staff's single best recruiter. Special teams were bad this year but probably not really his fault. Baxa seems like a find. Great hire.
Defensive coordinator: Manny Diaz
Practically everyone on this board hated this hire and argued up and down that Manny should be fired all last offseason and as recently as early this season. Rediscovered Miami's identity as a defense and rejuvenated the program as a whole, built a top 5 defense, and now everyone on this board is melting down because he left. Home run hire.
DL coach: Craig Kuligowski
Celebrated by this board when hired, trashed when he left. Helped remold Miami's D line as an aggressive, attacking unit, and left us with top-end studs, though the lack of depth was concerning. A good hire, obviously.
DL coach: Jess Simpson
Everyone on this board wanted Kevin Patrick, who had his D line in the top 25 in havoc rate this season even after losing practically his entire line to the NFL. Would've been a great hire. Simpson's unit, of course, was No. 1 in havoc rate. As a recruiter, helped identify Jahfari Harvey and Jason Blissett as takes long before they were elevated to 4 star prospects. With Bogle, he would bring in a class with both high end talent and depth. Only been one year but seems like a great hire.
OLB coach: Jonathan Patke
People on this board seem to hate him, not sure why. Also, I have no idea what he does. Grade N/A.
Safeties coach: Ephraim Banda
Viewed by many as Diaz's lackey, but his Miami resumé shows that he has coached multiple NFL players, one All-American, and was the lead recruiter on a number of studs. Understands the essence of Miami football. Great hire.
CB coach: Mike Rumph
Most divisive coach on staff. Helped coach a defense that was 9th in passing S&P+ in 2018, though only 54th in passing downs S&P+. Recruiting remains a question, but one way or another his room is stocked with young, elite talent. Good hire.
Strength coach: Gus Felder
Evaluating a strength coach's effectiveness is difficult from the outside, but nobody seems to have any complaints. Good hire.
Results:
Out of Richt's 13 hires, including himself as offensive coordinator, I break them down like this:
Great or good: 8 (Dugans, Hartley, Diaz, Kuligowski, Simpson, Banda, Rumph, Felder)
Bad: 3 (Himself as OC, his son, Searles)
Undecided: 2 (Brown, Patke)
This would give him a roughly ~60% hit rate on hires, which seems pretty good. That said, he is dragging an entire side of the ball down by himself, so that's something.
Ultimately, his record of hires at Miami so far gives me faith that he's going to make a good DC hire, especially if porsters on this board start crying about it, because usually, as this list shows, they have been wrong.
This one was bad.
QB coach: his son
This one was bad.
RB coach: Thomas Brown
I have no idea what to say about this one. Seems fine?
WR coach: Ron Dugans
Everyone on this board was aghast that Kevin Beard was not retained. Beard is currently director of player personnel at Toledo. Dugans has stocked his room with 4 and 5 star recruits. Great hire.
OL coach: Stacy Searles
This one was bad.
TE/Special teams coach: Todd Hartley
Essentially unknown when he was hired. Has become arguably the staff's single best recruiter. Special teams were bad this year but probably not really his fault. Baxa seems like a find. Great hire.
Defensive coordinator: Manny Diaz
Practically everyone on this board hated this hire and argued up and down that Manny should be fired all last offseason and as recently as early this season. Rediscovered Miami's identity as a defense and rejuvenated the program as a whole, built a top 5 defense, and now everyone on this board is melting down because he left. Home run hire.
DL coach: Craig Kuligowski
Celebrated by this board when hired, trashed when he left. Helped remold Miami's D line as an aggressive, attacking unit, and left us with top-end studs, though the lack of depth was concerning. A good hire, obviously.
DL coach: Jess Simpson
Everyone on this board wanted Kevin Patrick, who had his D line in the top 25 in havoc rate this season even after losing practically his entire line to the NFL. Would've been a great hire. Simpson's unit, of course, was No. 1 in havoc rate. As a recruiter, helped identify Jahfari Harvey and Jason Blissett as takes long before they were elevated to 4 star prospects. With Bogle, he would bring in a class with both high end talent and depth. Only been one year but seems like a great hire.
OLB coach: Jonathan Patke
People on this board seem to hate him, not sure why. Also, I have no idea what he does. Grade N/A.
Safeties coach: Ephraim Banda
Viewed by many as Diaz's lackey, but his Miami resumé shows that he has coached multiple NFL players, one All-American, and was the lead recruiter on a number of studs. Understands the essence of Miami football. Great hire.
CB coach: Mike Rumph
Most divisive coach on staff. Helped coach a defense that was 9th in passing S&P+ in 2018, though only 54th in passing downs S&P+. Recruiting remains a question, but one way or another his room is stocked with young, elite talent. Good hire.
Strength coach: Gus Felder
Evaluating a strength coach's effectiveness is difficult from the outside, but nobody seems to have any complaints. Good hire.
Results:
Out of Richt's 13 hires, including himself as offensive coordinator, I break them down like this:
Great or good: 8 (Dugans, Hartley, Diaz, Kuligowski, Simpson, Banda, Rumph, Felder)
Bad: 3 (Himself as OC, his son, Searles)
Undecided: 2 (Brown, Patke)
This would give him a roughly ~60% hit rate on hires, which seems pretty good. That said, he is dragging an entire side of the ball down by himself, so that's something.
Ultimately, his record of hires at Miami so far gives me faith that he's going to make a good DC hire, especially if porsters on this board start crying about it, because usually, as this list shows, they have been wrong.
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