The case for Dan Enos

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Sure, but you can do that with anybody. "Hey, I'm going to hire you, but this is what I want you to do. Now go do it." The problem is we are all hoping this 50 year old CAN do it. He can adapt more modern concepts into his offense, because we don't have the overall talent to make his preferred scheme successful.

I'd much rather have hired somebody that is already running what we ideally want.

I hear you, but we honestly don't know what Manny wants, beyond "speed and aggression." We all assumed some kind of read-option spread or Air Raid because of the names being floated but we can't really say that's actually what Manny had in mind. Maybe Enos will bring elements of spread from Bama. Maybe he'll run what he ran at Arkansas. Most likely a combination of those things. I'm just saying that, at least in his one stint as OC at Arkansas, he proved that he can do exactly what was asked of him at an extremely productive level.
 
This is an objectively good hire. About as good as we could've hoped for and expected.
 
If nothing else, we poached a guy that both Baga and UGay wanted. That's a huge win. And as I've mentioned, Sabag obviously dictates what he wants on both sides of the ball and admitted needing to change his philosophy on the offensive side due to the evolution of the passing game in CFB. We saw that this year. Also, OP's mention of how Beilema made known to Enos what type of offense he wanted to see and Enos taking the bull by the horns and being very successful is also a key indicator that he can innovative and adaptable.
 
something we all need to keep in mind that probably deserves its own thread but there aren't just two offensive philosophies in the world - "pro" and "spread." Those days are over. You can run "Spread" with a fullback and 2 TEs and you can run "prostyle" with 5 WR. People get really really hung up on labels. The real question is - can Enos get our athletes in space and allow them to make plays? Can he put them in the best position to succeed? And, in my opinion, he's proven he can do that based at least on his quantifiable production as an OC at Arkansas.
 
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It's just odd to hire somebody to do something he doesn't naturally want to do.
His offenses aren't running a ton of pre-snap horizontal motion along the line. They aren't running tempo.

We're basically going to have our defensive minded coach force our OC to do what he naturally doesn't want to do?
Perhaps he’s more of a “technician” than an “etched in stone” kinda coach. We owe it to ourselves to wait an see how it all pans out. 15 years and four dudds is a lifetime for some. I’m grateful to be a Cane fan today.
 
He got ran out at central michigan i remember their fans chanting for him to go on tv diring a game? What makes him so great
 
I live in Alabama (God help me) and when Enos' name first showed up as a candidate in another thread I kinda brushed it off as a pipe dream. This guy is one of the best football coaches in the country, hands-down. He is a major quarterback whisperer. Everywhere he's gone, the QBs put up ridiculous numbers. At Arkansas he groomed the two Allens (Brandon and Austin) to back-to-back 3000 yard seasons. We all saw what he did with Tua this year, and even had Hurts prepared to step in and win the SEC Championship game - Hurts looked more like a QB in that game than in any other during his career. This guy will get the absolute most out of the QB room.

Further, despite the internet mopery, he does NOT run a plodding offense. Is it "pro-style"? I guess, but a better term might be "power run/vertical pass." Here's a pretty good article on him at Arkansas: https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/a...ielema-plus-enos-match-made-offensive-heaven/

As you can see, Bielema is a run-first coach and so that's what Enos ran there. BUT, you can also see from that article (and others, I'll do a breakdown at some point too) that Enos likes to run out of passing formations and vice-versa. Will he line up in 5-wide sets every down? Probably not, but don't think for a second that this is a "3 yards and a cloud of dust" scheme. QBs have put up gaudy numbers in his offenses - so have running backs - and make no mistake, if Manny wants our offense to run tempo, Enos will run tempo. He's a brilliant offensive mind.

Briefly also, Enos can recruit, has head coaching experience, has been part of a winning and championship-level culture, and was literally on his way to being OC at Alabama before Manny poached him. The Roll Tide-rs down here are in shock that he's leaving. I don't believe the whole "if Saban wanted him he'd still be there" crap. Saban wanted him. So did Kirby. So did a lot of coaches. But he's now the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach at Miami. And yes, in my opinion, it's a home run.
Nice write up
 
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Also, regardless of who we hired, I think it's okay to kinda downplay their record as HC - I felt that way about Applewhite ("he hired Dorito, bro!!") and Fedora, and I feel that way about Enos too. His stint at CMU was abysmal offensively, but his career has been on a major upward tilt since then, and he seems to be at his best calling plays and working with QBs - which is what we hired him to do.
 
something we all need to keep in mind that probably deserves its own thread but there aren't just two offensive philosophies in the world - "pro" and "spread." Those days are over. You can run "Spread" with a fullback and 2 TEs and you can run "prostyle" with 5 WR. People get really really hung up on labels. The real question is - can Enos get our athletes in space and allow them to make plays? Can he put them in the best position to succeed? And, in my opinion, he's proven he can do that based at least on his quantifiable production as an OC at Arkansas.

this is exactly it. the idea that there is only one way to have a good offense -- or only one way to get athletes the ball in space -- is verifiably false if you look at any actual statistics.
 
Seems like people are forgetting the differences between what's involved with being a head coach, vs a coordinator, vs position coach. If the jobs were almost the same, there wouldn't be so many successful coordinators flaming out as head coaches and getting rehired as coordinators. There's not doubt about the QB coaching with him. Will see what system he runs at Miami, but I'd think he's going to adapt to the talent he has.
 
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Another great great article: https://www.si.com/college-football...quarterbacks-coach-jalen-hurts-tua-tagovailoa

Players appreciate Enos's organizational skills; that’s one of the first ways he earned his quarterbacks’ trust. Third-stringer Mac Jones says that every time they walk into the meeting room, Enos already has notes laid out at each seat. He also appreciates how Enos can simultaneously make film study interactive with jokes and take extra time to evaluate each QB individually.


“Stuff he does is just way above,” Jones says.

Tagovailoa, who was initially skeptical of Enos because he didn’t know him, likes how he has expanded their vocabulary and communication. For example, the quarterbacks now use streamlined terminology like “movement key” instead of saying, “This is the person we’re reading.”

“Last year, we didn’t get as much attention focused on just the quarterback position,” Tagovailoa said. “I think he’s definitely refined it by the way we go about things, how we communicate, and our footwork and whatnot. We’ve all got to be on the same page.”

Enos says he has a “tremendous passion” for strategy and X’s and O’s, and he has improved his quarterbacks’ mechanics. Even Crimson Tide players at other positions have noticed.

“I mean, just watching them go through their footwork,” says senior tight end Hal Hentges. “A lot of times you see quarterbacks go through the same old three-step drop, five-step drop that everyone does, but the way they do it seems more intentional. Other positions do footwork to get warmed up, but they’re doing it to get prepared for a game.”

Alabama’s quarterbacks do a lot of drills focused on run-pass option plays, which were unstoppable against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and work on throwing quick strikes on the run. Thanks in large part to Tagovailoa’s Heisman runner-up campaign, the Tide have the nation’s sixth-best passing offense, averaging 325.6 yards per game with 50 passing touchdowns. It’s by far the most potent passing attack Saban has ever had at Alabama, his second-best coming in 2014, when quarterbacks Blake Sims and Jake Coker combined to throw 32 touchdown passes and finished 29th in the nation with 277.9 yards per game through the air.

Enos, who will reportedly be promoted to offensive coordinator after Locksley leaves, doesn’t want to take too much credit for putting his mark on Alabama’s quarterback success this year. But his impact is indisputable, and he's positioned to see his influence only grow from here.

“He’s changed me dramatically as a person and a player,” says Jones. “But I mean you can see the results from Jalen and Tua. Those guys have improved, obviously you can tell that from their play and the mental aspect, we’re in there every day trying to get better and doing extra work.

“He provides the easiest way to get that going.”
 
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Then you sir are a fool.

Go ahead. I’m still waiting.

Show me evidence he has proven he can successfully and routinely produce top offenses.

If you’re just gonna keep throwing out football chick cliches, move along.
 
I love the hire. dont oppose it AT all...But i do not want to hear the term "qb whisperer" ever again. That is what everyone called richt and we saw how that turned out.
 
One thing we should also see in his offense is the resurgence of the TE position. Jordan and Mallory should be licking their chops over this hire.

Was Hunter Henry at Arkansas when Enos was there?
 
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