Wednesday, December 13, 2006
See, He's Loyal!
For a guy branded as unloyal, this hire is puzzling.
New Sun Devil head coach Dennis Erickson announced late yesterday that his long-time assistant Rich Olson will be the offensive coordinator next year at ASU. Olson has been at the helm of some of the most un-powerhouselike offenses of this century, including the 2006 Miami Hurricanes and the 2001 & 2002 Arizona Cardinals. I'm not exactly creaming my pants about this one, with visions of dink and dunk passes into the flat for negative yardage dancing in my head. Erickson is also bringing Dan Cozzetto back to Tempe, a guy that ran the Sun Devil offense for Bruce Snyder from 1993 to 1999 and worked with Erickson in Corvallis. Coach Coz was a player favorite who is remembered for his passion and fire.
ASU has been burdened in the past with this type of coach-loyalty syndrome, watching Brent Guy captain a sub par 4-2-5 defense for far too long in Tempe before leaving for his own head coaching job (?!) at Utah State. Let's just say he hasn't exactly set the world on fire there, either. Koetter was also erroneous in the minds of many for his incredible loyalty to special teams coach Tom Osborne, even after all of the kicking gaffes that tanked games in 2004 and 2005, most notably the post-Katrina miracle LSU was able to pull off. In another instance, rather than point to a need for better coaching, Koetter threw punter Chris MacDonald under the bus in a press conference by saying that his motion and approach was the reason for so many blocked punts. It couldn't have had anything to do with the shield formation that allows defenders the opportunity to get a running start at the kicker, could it? After losing his punting job at ASU, C-Mac transferred to Texas State and is doing quite well from what I hear.
I tried to find footage of the 2005 ASU-LSU game, but this will have to suffice in it's stead. Fun stuff.
I guess the point of all of this is that ASU should be "Country Club U" for recruits, but not for coaches. There is a lot of work to be done and this AARP buddy system of staffing doesn't thrill me. Erickson should make the effort to surround himself with the best minds in the game, not necessarily his golfing buddies. I dread the thought of ASU becoming the NFL Cardinals of the NCAA, "Where coaches come to die."
Having said all of that, I'll wait for results on the field of play before I further denounce this action. In Dennis we trust! (why do I feel creepy saying that?)
New Sun Devil head coach Dennis Erickson announced late yesterday that his long-time assistant Rich Olson will be the offensive coordinator next year at ASU. Olson has been at the helm of some of the most un-powerhouselike offenses of this century, including the 2006 Miami Hurricanes and the 2001 & 2002 Arizona Cardinals. I'm not exactly creaming my pants about this one, with visions of dink and dunk passes into the flat for negative yardage dancing in my head. Erickson is also bringing Dan Cozzetto back to Tempe, a guy that ran the Sun Devil offense for Bruce Snyder from 1993 to 1999 and worked with Erickson in Corvallis. Coach Coz was a player favorite who is remembered for his passion and fire.
ASU has been burdened in the past with this type of coach-loyalty syndrome, watching Brent Guy captain a sub par 4-2-5 defense for far too long in Tempe before leaving for his own head coaching job (?!) at Utah State. Let's just say he hasn't exactly set the world on fire there, either. Koetter was also erroneous in the minds of many for his incredible loyalty to special teams coach Tom Osborne, even after all of the kicking gaffes that tanked games in 2004 and 2005, most notably the post-Katrina miracle LSU was able to pull off. In another instance, rather than point to a need for better coaching, Koetter threw punter Chris MacDonald under the bus in a press conference by saying that his motion and approach was the reason for so many blocked punts. It couldn't have had anything to do with the shield formation that allows defenders the opportunity to get a running start at the kicker, could it? After losing his punting job at ASU, C-Mac transferred to Texas State and is doing quite well from what I hear.
I tried to find footage of the 2005 ASU-LSU game, but this will have to suffice in it's stead. Fun stuff.
I guess the point of all of this is that ASU should be "Country Club U" for recruits, but not for coaches. There is a lot of work to be done and this AARP buddy system of staffing doesn't thrill me. Erickson should make the effort to surround himself with the best minds in the game, not necessarily his golfing buddies. I dread the thought of ASU becoming the NFL Cardinals of the NCAA, "Where coaches come to die."
Having said all of that, I'll wait for results on the field of play before I further denounce this action. In Dennis we trust! (why do I feel creepy saying that?)
Labels: Dirk's a horse's ass, rivalry rants, surrounded by morons, the new era, UA morons
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Nothing like raising Red Flags with your first hire, DE!
I don't mind neopotisim if the individual is good. Olsen as Miami's OC was less than spectacular. Actually, he could be described as..Horrible! Whether, this was a function of the team, the HC or Olsen is open for debate. But, there was no question that when Olsen coached the Cardinals in 01', he was soundly and rightly thrown out of that job.
The last thing ASU fans want to see, is this offense go into a shell and become a dull.
I don't mind neopotisim if the individual is good. Olsen as Miami's OC was less than spectacular. Actually, he could be described as..Horrible! Whether, this was a function of the team, the HC or Olsen is open for debate. But, there was no question that when Olsen coached the Cardinals in 01', he was soundly and rightly thrown out of that job.
The last thing ASU fans want to see, is this offense go into a shell and become a dull.
Hey, Gene Stallings left the Arizona Cardinals, nee Phoenix, to lead Alabama to a national championship.
Anything's possible, as long as you have a solid running game and eight future NFL players in your starting defense.
Anything's possible, as long as you have a solid running game and eight future NFL players in your starting defense.
"Having said all of that, I'll wait for results on the field of play before I further denounce this action. In Dennis we trust! (why do I feel creepy saying that?)"
I will tell you why, the last time you trust a man much older than you all you got was a beer and a questionable "aspirin" and you woke up three days later face down in a ditch with your pants on backwards and a sore bung hole.
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I will tell you why, the last time you trust a man much older than you all you got was a beer and a questionable "aspirin" and you woke up three days later face down in a ditch with your pants on backwards and a sore bung hole.
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