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Is Steve Marshall a good hire?

dio

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Junta Member
The Cal fans are giddy that Marshall is gone. However, we have seen him have top-level success right here in Colorado, as he coached one of the best offensive lines in Colorado history, along with one of the most potent rushing attacks (2001).

Cal utilizes smaller, quick lineman in their system. I don't know Marshall's style, but was he simple placed in a situation without the necessary tools to succeed? Let's delve deeper:

Cal
2010

53rd in Rushing Yards (1907, 4.5 yds/A, 158.9/game)
59th in pass protection (23 sacks allowed)

2009
41st in Rushing Yards (2203 total, 4.7 yds/a, 169.5/g)
88th in pass protection (31 sacks allowed)

Cleveland Browns
2008

26th in rushing yard (1605 yds, 3.9 yds/a, 100.3 yds/g)
8th in pass protection (24 sacks allowed)

There is a break in his resume here

Houston Texans
2005

15th in rushing yards (1816 total yds, 4.2 yds/a, 113.6/g)
32nd (dead last... by alot) in pass protection (68 sacks allowed)

2004
12th in rushing yards (1882 total yds, 3.9 yds/a, 117.6/g)
26th in pass protection (49 sacks allowed)

2003
23th in rushing yards (1651 total yds, 3.9 yds/a, 103.2 yds/g)
t-16th in pass protection (36 sacks allowed)

2002
21st in rushing yards (1347 total yds, 3.2 yds/a, 84.2yds/g)
32nd (last... by a lot) in pass protection (76 sacks allowed)



Not much impressive there.... but can he recruit?

2011
3* Athlete, Jalen Jefferson

2010
3* OL Chris Adack
3* DB Michael Coley
4* OL Alex Crosthwaithe
3* OL Geoffrey Gibson

That's it as far as the Rivals database goes.


This seems like a guy who might have had success early in his career, but may have lost his fire and/or his ability to personally adapt and develop.
 
The break was only 1 year. He was out of coaching in 2006. He joined the Browns in 2007. Strangely, there was an article on Scout about Marshall being hired for Saban's Alabama staff. However, Joe Pendry actually coached the Alabama OL that season with Marshall coaching the Browns. I wasn't able to figure out what happened there.

Anyway, here is the bio that was written up on Marshall at the time Alabama hired him (Jan '07):

Steve Marshall

Steve Marshall brings an impressive depth of experience to the Crimson Tide staff, having served successful stints at several colleges and in the NFL. Marshall spent the 2006 season out of coaching after serving two seasons (2004-05) on the staff of the Houston Texans as an offensive line assistant. In 2004, Marshall oversaw the offensive tackles for the Texans, and then he took over complete control of the offensive line during the 2005 season.

Prior to joining the Texans, Marshall spent the 2000-03 seasons as offensive line coach at the University of Colorado under head coach Gary Barnett. During that period, the Buffaloes won one Big 12 Conference championship and two Big 12 Conference North Division titles. Prior to his stint with the Buffaloes, Marshall spent two seasons (1998-99) at the University of North Carolina as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Marshall joined the Tar Heels after he coordinated the Texas A&M offense in 1997. The Aggies were 9-4 with a No. 20 final national ranking in the Associated Press poll, made a Big 12 championship game appearance and earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl.

A native of Vernon, Conn., Marshall played offensive guard and tight end at Louisville in 1976-78. He coached the offensive line and kicking game at Marshall in 1982-83, offensive line and tight ends at Louisville in 1984, and coordinated the offense and coached the line at Murray State in 1985-86.

He coached the offensive line at Virginia Tech in 1987 and a year later was promoted to offensive coordinator, a position he held for the next five seasons (through the 1992 season). While at Tech, Marshall coached standouts including running back Vaughn Hebron, quarterback Will Furrer, and wide receiver Antonio Freeman.

In 1993, Marshall moved to the University of Tennessee to coach the offensive line. After two years he was given the added responsibility of running game coordinator. The Volunteers led the Southeastern Conference in rushing in each of those three seasons. In 1995, Tennessee beat Ohio State in the Citrus Bowl and finished No. 2 in the final coach’s poll. In 1996, Marshall coached the offensive line at UCLA before moving on to Texas A&M.
 
That's rose-colored glasses. I burned mine because there was an imprint of Dandy-Dan burned into them.

The resume of this guy is mixed at best and perhaps even scary. I would give him that he was the coach of the best OL I've perhaps ever seen in College football, running a west-coast, power running oriented offense. I'd think some of our O-Line are built for that, but probably not Bahktiari and Givens, at least not yet.
 
That's rose-colored glasses. I burned mine because there was an imprint of Dandy-Dan burned into them.

The resume of this guy is mixed at best and perhaps even scary. I would give him that he was the coach of the best OL I've perhaps ever seen in College football, running a west-coast, power running oriented offense. I'd think some of our O-Line are built for that, but probably not Bahktiari and Givens, at least not yet.

For whatever it's worth, over on the Cal board (I like CU too and lurk around here sometimes) we are not sorry to see him go. Our O-Line was routinely solid to awesome when Jim Michalczik coached it (with lower ranked recruits, because he was a bad recruiter) but after we lost him to the Raiders and Tedford hired Marshall the unit seemed to take a huge step back. Technique was a mess and they just routinely whiffed blocks completely.
 
FWIW, he was hired by Cal in January of 2009. That gave him 2 months to recruit his guys in the 09-10 year, and one full year '10-11. He would have had to use the first year-ish to unteach them whatever they learned from the previous regime. If he was as bad as they claimed, it would have been because the guys he actually had some time to recruit would have been true freshmen.

Granted, I would have preferred if Cal would be sad to see him go, but as somebody mentioned in some thread we're pulling coaches from actual BCS schools. These coaches are making lateral moves, at best. Gotta feel pretty good about that.
 
He is a great get. Embree is looking to run a pro style physical offense and that has served CU well in the past and he has already had proven success here running that type of scheme. CAL is more of a spread style that uses smaller linemen. He is going to be a huge upgrade and he has had a year to work in the PAC 10. I don't see how we can really complain given who our last O-line coach was.
 
One thing that's getting sold short is that Marshall has been a very successful BCS offensive coordinator in his career. We have a first time OC in Bieniemy. Marshall is going to be extremely valuable to him.
 
Did I miss the announcement that Marshall is officially coming to CU?

Yep. Confirmed by various news sources. Embree is waiting to announce everyone at the same time. I think he wants to make it a bit of an event. That's why we're not getting individual press releases from CU.
 
Yep. Confirmed by various news sources. Embree is waiting to announce everyone at the same time. I think he wants to make it a bit of an event. That's why we're not getting individual press releases from CU.
Cool, thanks. I didn't see it in the Camera this morning and all I saw on AB was this thread, but I've been distracted this morning and haven't been able to really focus on CU news all that much.

I do think the combo of Embree, Marshall & EB should be a good one.
 
Barney's run game left when Marshall, EB and Embo. Left. I believe all 3 know they can work together. They were great when they were here. He left here to join the NFL too. I love this hire.
 
We are hiring an actual O-line coach, not a guy who coached o-line 10 years ago and is now returning to it. This will be a big step up for the Buffs. Knowing that he can work with the current staff members is a big plus as well.

The coordinators we are highering are BCS guys, but more importantly, they have beenin the PAC-10. They know the players/coaches that we will be going against, which will be huge for game day prep.
 
One thing that's getting sold short is that Marshall has been a very successful BCS offensive coordinator in his career. We have a first time OC in Bieniemy. Marshall is going to be extremely valuable to him.

i think this is questionable. one year under RC Slocum at ATM, a D oriented team always with RC and at UNC for the very ill-fated Carl Torbush era Tar Heels?

c'mon, this is more press release than anything. so, what happens on the Marshall CV after his years at UNC to be OL coach at CU? c'mon. i think it's a good hire for us but SM's OC experience isn't "very successful"...or he'll still be doing it and not coaching OL at Colorado in 01.
 
i think this is questionable. one year under RC Slocum at ATM, a D oriented team always with RC and at UNC for the very ill-fated Carl Torbush era Tar Heels?

c'mon, this is more press release than anything. so, what happens on the Marshall CV after his years at UNC to be OL coach at CU? c'mon. i think it's a good hire for us but SM's OC experience isn't "very successful"...or he'll still be doing it and not coaching OL at Colorado in 01.

I did overstate it. He had a couple really good years as an OC. And he does have five years at Virginia Tech (poor to mediocre records with one top 25 season), one year at Texas A&M (top 25 season), and two years at North Carolina (one bowl season & one bad season). 8 years as a BCS Offensive Coordinator is valuable to a team that hired a first time OC in Bieniemy. Throw in that Marshall has a ton of experience, including doing very well at CU with Embo and EB, and I really like this hire.
 
Marshall has proven, at CU, that he can be a solid offensive line coach in a physical, grind it out, fullback leading, style of offense.

If it's true that we are going to run an offense similar to what Stanford is running, with a leading fullback, play action passing, etc. -- then I think Marshall is a very solid choice.
 
I'm in favor of it. Marshall was part of the 2001 team that simply knocked the crap out of the DL on running plays. Gurode, Rogers et al. were like bulldozers. He can get it done. CU will be a power running team in short order IMO with EB, Embree and Marshall running the show.
 
We are hiring an actual O-line coach, not a guy who coached o-line 10 years ago and is now returning to it. This will be a big step up for the Buffs. Knowing that he can work with the current staff members is a big plus as well.

The coordinators we are highering are BCS guys, but more importantly, they have beenin the PAC-10. They know the players/coaches that we will be going against, which will be huge for game day prep.

Agree with everything you wrote. Can't underestimate the value of his knowledge in preparing for games next year... and we are going to need ALL the help we can get. Next year's schedule is going to be brutal compared to the past few.
 
Yes I like this hire...don't love it but, better than the Denver Johnson hire (when he was hired i remember thinking what the hell is dan doing hiring this guy). Steve Marshall teams were generally good running the ball, and that is were the o-line is most noticeable. His teams were generally ok in the passing game, but there are more factors for the success of the passing game. QB play, wide receiver play (wether they are getting open or not), and coverage (in regards to coverage sacks).
 
Basing an opinion on an line coach off of rushing yards and pass protection ranking alone is ridiculously shortsighted. The numbers are useless without considering the offensive players themselves, the OC and the HC.

Basing an opinion off the OP in this thread is like saying Toyota sucks because their gas mileage is low and not considering any parts that go into the car.

Fact is, JE, EB and SM are proven to be successful working together, you can't argue with that. If JE wants to bring in people he's been successful with in the past, who are we to question that, especially using 10% of the information to prove our ill informed opinion.

Statistics are dangerous things when put in the wrong hands and used incorrectly.
 
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Yep. Confirmed by various news sources. Embree is waiting to announce everyone at the same time. I think he wants to make it a bit of an event. That's why we're not getting individual press releases from CU.

Making an event of the hires is a really smart move. He will get another pretty good press conference that should not get overshadowed by the Broncos. The more press he can generate for this program right now, the better. I like the strategy if true.
 
I'm not sold on this hire either, but I do think SM brings a lot of credentials. We're not going to really know how good of a hire this is until he's coaching and recruiting for CU.
 
I'm not sold on this hire either, but I do think SM brings a lot of credentials. We're not going to really know how good of a hire this is until he's coaching and recruiting for CU.


What are you talking about? We have already seen what he has done here. Only made our line the most physical and dominant line here since the early 90's.
 
What are you talking about? We have already seen what he has done here. Only made our line the most physical and dominant line here since the early 90's.

yes, but correct me if I'm wrong, he didn't recruit Gurode, Rogers and others did he? He did coach them well, but then you have times in his career where he wasn't "coaching" well...like at Cal. I'm not trying to bag on the guy...just saying SM isn't a smash hit to me.
 
yes, but correct me if I'm wrong, he didn't recruit Gurode, Rogers and others did he? He did coach them well, but then you have times in his career where he wasn't "coaching" well...like at Cal. I'm not trying to bag on the guy...just saying SM isn't a smash hit to me.

you could also plug in Shawn Watson's name for the 01 team accolades. Don't see anyone wanting him back.

a lot of selective memory goin' on.
 
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