forums

How should position coaches be allocated?

S

SpikeUM

Head Meshuggah
Premium
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
14,883
Schools are allowed 10 assistants, how should they ideally be used? To me, the following seem to require dedicated position coaches:

OC
WR
DC
DL
DB
LB

So how do you address ST/RB/TE/Striker with the remaining 4 coaches?

Disclaimer: There are plenty of Manny and Baker bashing threads, this is not one of them. This is a theoretical discussion on how a teams coaches should be allocated.
 
Advertisement
I wasn't sure where to put this so I'll leave it here since this is a coaching thread. found it interesting. also wonder where Justice fits in...

The highest-paid offensive line coaches in college football: 2020 edition (NOTE: Some of these coaches have moved to new teams in recent weeks)

1. Matt Luke, Georgia — $900,000
2. Will Friend, Tennessee — $805,000
3. Bill Bedebaugh, Oklahoma — $750,000
4. Justin Frye, UCLA — $700,000
5. Eric Wolford, South Carolina — $700,000
6. Kyle Flood, Alabama — $650,000
6. Herb Hand, Texas — $650,000
8. Robbie Caldwell, Clemson — $640,000
9. Ed Warinner, Michigan — $625,000
10. Josh Henson, Texas A&M — $605,000
 
You forgot QB coach, I know the OC usually does the job but for one of the most important position on the team would love to have someone dedicated just to that.
 
There are a number of combinations that have worked well. It may depend on how you use the positions. If your TEs catch the ball a lot, you might want your WR coach to coach them. If they are more to block, you OL coach may want them.


I just find it amusing that the NCAA places these limits, yet you can hire an infinite amount of coaches as your "support staff."
 
Advertisement
SpikeUM said:
Schools are allowed 10 assistants, how should they ideally be used? To me, the following seem to require dedicated position coaches:

OC
WR
DC
DL
DB
LB

So how do you address ST/RB/TE/Striker with the remaining 4 coaches?

Disclaimer: There are plenty of Manny and Baker bashing threads, this is not one of them. This is a theoretical discussion on how a teams coaches should be allocated.
Click to expand...
You need a dedicated OL coach.
 
This is tangential to OP's original question, but as far as "staff makeup", I like a good mix of young up-and-comers alongside a couple of greybeards. I want both coordinators to have demonstrable, quantifiable schemes. It'd also be good if they're upwardly mobile - guys who want to be head coaches in 5 years. Every position coach HAS to be able to recruit. The days of Coach X being just a "technician" are gone.

But above all, every member of the staff on both sides of the ball has to be on the same page on the type of players they want in their respective schemes, and evaluate kids and allocate resources accordingly.
 
Advertisement
It depends on what offensive and defensive systems you're running...For example, if you are running a Mike Leach spread, you won't need a TE coach but instead utilize inside and outside receiver coaches, respectively...Triple option teams may combine the FB with inside OL or QB. On defense, if you're primarily 4 man front, you may need to have two LB coaches...also, depends on what side of the ball the HC hails from...if he has coached or played QB, he may not want a full-time QB coach, perhaps all he needs is a grad assistant handling that position..no right or wrong way on how to configure a staff...it is kind of like soccer with regards to formation, you want to go with what works best for philosophy and players at hand.
 
Mr. Dynasty1 said:
I'd go

OC who will also be the QB Coach
RB
WR
TE
OL


Defense
DL
LB/Striker/Jack/Star/Buck whatever the **** you like to call it
DB
DC



ST
Click to expand...
It be funny af when people come on here talking about get rid of the striker position lol. Nearly every team has a position like this for spread formations in the 4-2-5
 
Advertisement
Offense:
OC/QB’s coach
RB’s Coach
WR’s Coach
TE’s Coach
OL Coach

Defense:
DC
DL Coach
LB’s Coach
CB’s Coach
S’s Coach

The Special Teams coach can be a slash of nearly any position from S’s, TE’s, RB’s, LB’s or CB’s coach.

We double up on DC/LB’s coach because we have a Strikers (OLB’s) coach on staff, but in IMO you don’t really need a separate LB’s coach & yes I’m fully aware that Strikers are not the same as regular traditional LB’s, they’re Hybrid players but to me you really only need 1 LB’s coach & should use that additional spot to add an ACE recruiter on your staff.

But it really depends on the scheme you run, teams that run a 3-4 usually have ILB’s & OLB’s coach as well, but most 4-2-5 scheme teams don’t have 2 LB’s coach, TCU for example has only 1 LB’s coach even though they run the 4-2-5 with the same Striker position. But because they play in the Big XII they used that extra coach spot for an Inside Receivers coach position. Lots of Air Raid teams have both an Inside WR’s & Outside WR’s coach, the Inside Receivers coach spot is usually doubled up as a TE’s coach.

I think the NCAA should actually allow up to 11-12 on field position coaches anyway, but the loophole around that is the Analyst game. Schools like Bama, Oh St, Clemson etc have an Army of Analysts coaches who are essentially on field positions coaches who specialize in whichever positions they’re brought in to look after, so for example when Hugh Freeze was an Analyst at Bama he was basically a second OC/QB’s Coach, or like when Fedora was an Analyst at Texas with Herman for a year.

Ultimately it just boils down to the HC using those 10 spots to bolster his staff up to the best within his allowed budget as possible. You wanna hit Home runs at the Coordinator spots & have to have good recruiters at spots like WR’s, RB’s, CB’s & S’s, at OL & DL coach you usually want a guys who are smart technicians & are good motivators because the positions in the trenches are just as much about effort/will/motor as it is about fundamental techniques.

As most should know, I keep up with quite a few coaching staffs around the country & not just the major P5’s & I can tell you that almost 95% or even higher of every coaching staff (with the exception of Bama) that the ST’s coach is almost exclusively used for a recruiter, very very few staffs a have a dedicated ST’s coach who’s background specifies in Special Teams lol.
 
Last edited:
Advertisement
OC
QB (too important to overlap and your QB coach can be groomed to replace your OC so your systems stay in place if your OC gets poached)
RB
OL
WR/TE (TEs can work with the OL coach too on blocking)

DC (can also help out at a particular position probably DB)
DL
LB
DB

STC (I feel teams leave easy room for improvement on the table by having someone do this only part time. A really good unit can mean an extra win over the course of the year)
 
Advertisement
Back
Top