Why don't we go out and hire more coaches?

#1
KKruzVFL

KKruzVFL

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#1
Just read where Alabama has a whole think tank of ex coaches that help on the consulting side. Why can't we do that? Saban wants to win at all costs!
 
#3
#3
It's an arms race to build larger and larger non-coaching staffs for a program and we're in it too. We may not be landing the big names that some other teams are reeling in but we're in the game. I think this may be the article you reference. Keep in mind our Athletic department has until recently been pretty strapped for cash.

It started with Saban's arrival at Alabama. Four national championships later, everyone is playing copycat.

"If you're not willing to evolve and you get comfortable in what you're doing, then you get passed by."
Jim McElwain
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"Saban changed the game," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "He changed it for everybody, changed the whole model. And you see the results that they've had."
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USC employs a Chief of Staff, Tennessee a Sports Technology Coordinator, Penn State a Special Teams Recruiting Assistant for Quality Control. The titles are products of creative human resources departments, but the thought process is simple and powerful: more bodies equals more wins. As long as the NCAA won't restrict the number of non-coaching personnel, there's nothing stopping the arms race.

Ever since the dawn of football, coaches have been obsessed with filming practices and games for review. Thousands of hours are spent pausing, fast-forwarding and rewinding frames of their own team and future opponents, not to mention scouring tape of recruits they get from high schools.

Joe Harrington, who has been at Tennessee for 26 years now, is one of those film gophers. He sets up cameras, uploads the video and makes sure it gets into the right hands. He takes in all the recruit highlights and feeds them into the system, too.

But now, instead of working largely on his own, he has a handful of assistants, some of whom are full time. And with underlings taking care of some of the grunt work, it has freed him up to work on more ambitious projects befitting his title of Sports Technology Coordinator. In 2013, he got a drone to film practice. This year's pet project: virtual reality.

Instead of buying the tech from an outside company at a considerable cost, Harrington created his own version during his free time, reading through chat rooms and scouring the dark corners of the internet for tips.

"I was like that guy trying to build his own Ironman suit, I kept running into wall after all," he said. "... When it finally worked, it was one of the most professionally satisfying things I've ever done.

Now, when Tennessee starting quarterback Joshua Dobbs takes a snap during practice, there's a camera set up right beside him, capturing everything. When practice is over, his backups put on goggles and take virtual reps: a 360 degree vantage point that gives them the ability to turn their heads right and left to see where the rush is coming from and what routes are being run.

Those extra reps could, in theory, make the transition to in-game action smoother. And all because of support staffer who majored in communications and never played a down of college football.
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To your specific point - Alabama's think tank. They're in a different league but then they have had the money to get well out in front while we've had to rebuild almost entirely every facet of our program including the financial side of things.

Getting an accurate number of everyone working in the Mal Moore Athletic Facility is difficult -- in 2012, there were 146 non-coaches on the athletic department payroll -- but a few big names stand out over the past few years. For instance, when McElwain was offensive coordinator, he had former Power 5 offensive coordinators Mike Groh (Virginia) and Billy Napier (Clemson) on his staff. Kevin Steele, who had been a head coach at Baylor, served as director of player personnel in 2013. The next year, former Washington assistant and ace recruiter Tosh Lupoi joined the staff as an analyst. This year, former Maryland O.C. Mike Locksley will hold a similar position.
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Alabama Crimson Tide, Nick Saban lead revolution in size of college football coaching staffs
 
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#4
#4
BigOrangeTrain said:
I would venture to say that any coach who comes to Alabama comes to learn from Saban. Not the other way around.
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No, I think is was driven by the other way around - at least according to the article cited.

It started with Saban's arrival at Alabama. Four national championships later, everyone is playing copycat.

Looking at the college game through the lens of his time in the NFL, Saban beefed up the Tide's organizational infrastructure, adding bodies to the personnel department and bringing in accomplished coaches to lend a hand wherever possible.
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#6
#6
LittleVol said:
Yes.

When you pay a coach to join the staff, it's because that coach brings something to the table.
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I thought about my comment afterwards and think BOT probably has a point too. These guys get paid big bucks ($300k?) so like you say they probably bring something to the table but they're not getting paid in the vicinity of what they could earn as a coach. In that sense, having worked for Saban might be a good resume enhancer. So I could see it going both ways. I don't think Saban is in the charity business but then these guys presumably will move on to higher paying gigs once they "rehabilitate" their careers. Right now they have a job to do on his staff and I'm confident he expects them to offer significant contributions.

I'm impressed that his ego doesn't seem to be a hindrance. A lot of times people in his position with such acclaim can come across as know-it-alls. I've always admired leaders who solicited ideas from their team and actually deployed some of those ideas. I've worked with both kinds - the latter tend to be much more successful and a lot more enjoyable to work with.
 
#7
#7
If the offense underperforms all year and an OC change is required, maybe a committee of consultant/former coaches would be a good thing to transition DeBord over to to head up. Kippy Brown would be a good member. Fulmer too. Cutcliffe if he retires soon. Add former NFL coaches too.
 
#10
#10
Alabama is in a unique position. Saban will likely go down as one of the games greatest coaches. He's at one of the nations premier programs. He's totally secure in his position and every move he makes seems to work. He's able to put aside friendships and work with talented coaches he may not care much for (Kiffin). He's got no qualms about making changes and has a seemingly endless budget to get what he wants and needs. I won't go so far as to say he has full control, but it's as close as this game will ever see. He's driven/obsessed with winning. I see little in common with UT and Butch Jones. In fact, I see many of the opposite traits. We aren't Bama. We don't have Saban. Reality.
 
#11
#11
CAVPUT said:
Alabama is in a unique position. Saban will likely go down as one of the games greatest coaches. He's at one of the nations premier programs. He's totally secure in his position and every move he makes seems to work. He's able to put aside friendships and work with talented coaches he may not care much for (Kiffin). He's got no qualms about making changes and has a seemingly endless budget to get what he wants and needs. I won't go so far as to say he has full control, but it's as close as this game will ever see. He's driven/obsessed with winning. I see little in common with UT and Butch Jones. In fact, I see many of the opposite traits. We aren't Bama. We don't have Saban. Reality.
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How do you know he doesn't "care much" for Kiffin? Because you don't like him, you assume everyone else doesn't, including Saban?

I wouldn't mind Kiffin coaching at UT again. If the result is winning at a high level.

You don't believe in forgiveness and second chances?

Any rational person has to blame Mike Hamilton for what happened at UT while he was here....even down to Hamilton personally telling me they didn't budget for plastic forks at a dinner they served beans or potato salad at. Literally told me that to my face when I asked him where forks were.

That's the kind of person that was running the athletic department....

He then sent some young female employ or intern to get me a couple of plastic forks from who knows where. Very strange ordeal....
 
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#12
#12
Why hire more coaches? We already have an additional 66,000 coaches here on VolNation.

Every morning, Butch reads this to get some tips.
 
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#14
#14
madbamahater said:
How do you know he doesn't "care much" for Kiffin? Because you don't like him, you assume everyone else doesn't, including Saban?

I wouldn't mind Kiffin coaching at UT again. If the result is winning at a high level.

You don't believe in forgiveness and second chances?

Any rational person has to blame Mike Hamilton for what happened at UT while he was here....even down to Hamilton personally telling me they didn't budget for plastic forks at a dinner they served beans or potato salad at. Literally told me that to my face when I asked him where forks were.

That's the kind of person that was running the athletic department....

He then sent some young female employ or intern to get me a couple of plastic forks from who knows where. Very strange ordeal....
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Note the phrase "may not". Not an absolute. Regardless, he's not a Saban life long friend or someone that Saban would know he's "comfortable with". He saw talent and hired it. That's the point.
 
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#15
#15
madbamahater said:
How do you know he doesn't "care much" for Kiffin? Because you don't like him, you assume everyone else doesn't, including Saban?

I wouldn't mind Kiffin coaching at UT again. If the result is winning at a high level.

You don't believe in forgiveness and second chances?

Any rational person has to blame Mike Hamilton for what happened at UT while he was here....even down to Hamilton personally telling me they didn't budget for plastic forks at a dinner they served beans or potato salad at. Literally told me that to my face when I asked him where forks were.

That's the kind of person that was running the athletic department....

He then sent some young female employ or intern to get me a couple of plastic forks from who knows where. Very strange ordeal....
Click to expand...

I would rather UT go 8-4 the rest of my life than to ever hire Kiffin here again.

He will be leaving Alabama at the end of the season and I think he lands back on the west coast.
 
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#17
#17
LittleVol said:
Yes.

When you pay a coach to join the staff, it's because that coach brings something to the table.
Click to expand...

Debord is a perfect example. What he brings to the table is intimate knowledge of Bearcat offense - this is apparently very valuable to Butch. :crazy:
 
#19
#19
KKruzVFL said:
Just read where Alabama has a whole think tank of ex coaches that help on the consulting side. Why can't we do that? Saban wants to win at all costs!
Click to expand...

If it means frolicking with the like of Kiffin and Sarkesten then I think our staff will do just fine. We've tried that set up once and its 50 percent responsible for where we are now....
 
#21
#21
bama and saban are out of control. The amount of money now being spent by these big schools on the football programs--to win college football games--is insane. It's a sobering window on America's sports obsession. What is Saban getting paid now--$5 million annually? I'll have to research what bama spends on the football program every year. It's a bit pathetic, really--that one state, university, program would be so obsessed with winning football games--but college football is pretty much what the state of alabama hangs its hat on--that and extremely corrupt politicians. And, yes, the rest of the SEC is almost as bad--but not quite.
 
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#23
#23
I'd hire Art Briles as a consultant and get the passing game going. It just appears to me that every pass Tennessee throws is a tough, pretty well covered pass. Other teams appear to get people more open and easier passes to complete.

I realize this offense has run nothing yet that hasn't already been on tape for opponents to see. I'm just saying some guys appear to be able to get people open easier than Tennessee does.
 
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#24
#24
ChattaTNVol said:
I thought about my comment afterwards and think BOT probably has a point too. These guys get paid big bucks ($300k?) so like you say they probably bring something to the table but they're not getting paid in the vicinity of what they could earn as a coach. In that sense, having worked for Saban might be a good resume enhancer. So I could see it going both ways. I don't think Saban is in the charity business but then these guys presumably will move on to higher paying gigs once they "rehabilitate" their careers. Right now they have a job to do on his staff and I'm confident he expects them to offer significant contributions.

I'm impressed that his ego doesn't seem to be a hindrance. A lot of times people in his position with such acclaim can come across as know-it-alls. I've always admired leaders who solicited ideas from their team and actually deployed some of those ideas. I've worked with both kinds - the latter tend to be much more successful and a lot more enjoyable to work with.
Click to expand...

Working under Saban certainly helped Dooley rob UT's coffers.
 
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