Official 2016 All-in-One Assistant Coaches Compendium Thread - hagan in, bernardi to te, adams ol -

[DavisBuff]

Right sounded like he wants to stay in coaching as an assistant to be more hands on.
We should make this happen. He would be s huge boost for our program. Break the bank bring him back to the Rockies.

 

[DiggerBuffs]

If some of you could remember 12 months ago it would be nice! We lost the DC and secondary coaches last year because it was announced UNLV had hired them. MacIntyre and Rick George play poker well. I am sure he is meeting with his coaches that he doesn't plan to retain and tell them, please look for other opportunities, I am not going to throw you out there as a fired guy but give you the opportunity to shop around and say it was a mutual decision. He needs to be having this talk with Neinas. He may also need to have it with Bernardi and Lindgren. Even though we had injuries on the OL, the simple fact is this OL looked worse than it has. Our Center regressed greatly because instead of being shielded by two 5th year seniors, he had to play with a group of average guards. Nembot should have been great, he was stagnant. Didn't see much to go wow they are getting better. Lindgren I have voiced my displeasure. I am on the fence. The RB constant rotation and the inability to do jack in the red zone has me on the fence. I feel this offense would be better with a true dual threat QB that doesn't turnover the ball. Both Montez and Noyer seem to fit that bill better than Sefo.

 

[BuffUp]

Right sounded like he wants to stay in coaching as an assistant to be more hands on.
We should make this happen. He would be s huge boost for our program. Break the bank bring him back to the Rockies.

He's from freakn "Omaha" is the only problem I have.

 

[Buffnik]

Just read through Howell's chat from today and that seems to be the feeling on which coaches could get replaced.

I've been pretty consistent in thinking that Neinas and Bernardi definitely coached themselves out of a job this year.

Jeffcoat is a guy I went into the season at #2 on my hot seat list after Neinas and now I'm not as negative on him. I still think there are upgrades out there, but I no longer think this is a vital change. I'd be ok either way.

(fwiw, the above lines up pretty much with Howell. And he seems to think Lindgren is probably gone.)

Which brings us to Lindgren. I thought he did a great job in 2014. In 2015, I thought that there were excuses based on OL play and surprising/incomprehensible regression from Sefo killing drives early in the season by not being able to complete passes he'd been hitting for 2 years. I also thought he'd done a good job with game planning and then management, especially by maintaining possession with great pace and number of plays to rest our defense and tire the other team's defense out. But...

1. The offense regressed. They averaged just under 20 ppg in Pac-12 play after averaging just under 30 ppg in 2014. And that's with very few personnel losses and the same staff of offensive assistants.

2. Leavitt opened my eyes. We saw what a change on defense did when you bring in a seasoned professional who can run the staff on his side of the ball, make tweaks in-game, use personnel well, motivate his group, and commit to whatever is working on a particular Saturday. Lindgren looked good when compared to Baer. When compared to Leavitt, it's clear that he's not all that.

3. Hawaii game. I blame Neinas, Bernardi and Lindgren for that loss. That loss defined the season and the team never recovered. Those 3 guys had 12 weeks to make up for it and were unable to. This is the thing that decides it for me and caused me to change my mind without reservation. I'm still pissed to a surreal level about that loss. Lindgren has to go.

In short, MacIntyre needs to go to a bowl game and bring in great recruits for the 2017 class or he is going to either be fired quickly or fail over a longer timeline. Time to sh!t or get off the pot. None of these 4 coaches brings much of anything to recruiting. 3 of them were failures with their coaching this year, too. If MacIntyre wants to be successful here, he replaces at least Neinas, Bernardi and Lindgren. Jeffcoat I'm 50/50 on and I'm sure that HCMM and Leavitt will talk that one through and make a decision I can live with either way.

P.S. I know you all were thinking, "You know what we need? Another thread about staff changes." You're welcome.

 

[onealcd]

That would be a lot of change offensively. Nienas was a given but I don't see Jeffcoat leaving unless Leavitt really does not approve of the job he does.

 

[Burrito]

I thought you were an insider? This post (and the last one) doesn't make sense. Unless you are trolling. Which you are, of course. But as has been said elsewhere, HCMM is a good man, just like Mac the first. He won't throw his guys under a bus.

I'd imagine BJ has been fired in spectacular fashion, so he expects fireworks!

 

[Darth Snow]

Funny, I read that and it seemed to me like Howell had no idea about anything other than maybe the tidbits about Neinas and Jeffcoat.

 

[Buffnik]

Funny, I read that and it seemed to me like Howell had no idea about anything other than maybe the tidbits about Neinas and Jeffcoat.

My intent was not to suggest that Howell is some dialed-in scoopmeister. He's not. But it did seem like he had heard some rumblings on this and some 4th year juniors hanging up the cleats at CU.

 

[Darth Snow]

My intent was not to suggest that Howell is some dialed-in scoopmeister. He's not. But it did seem like he had heard some rumblings on this and some 4th year juniors hanging up the cleats at CU.

I wasn't suggesting you were. I just wanted to point out I think you have to put Bernardi and Lindgren in a separate category from Jeffcoat and Neinas based on his responses. I'm sure he's heard something, but his stuff on Lindgren especially seemed to be just his opinion after looking at the season instead of any info.

 

[SerenityBuff]

Lindgren, Neinas, and Bernardi should go. They are not Pac 12 caliber coaches. Bernardi reminds me a lot of the Baer situation last year. A guy whose been coaching forever, made a lot of stops and just isn't getting the job done anymore. Injuries are part of the game and how the OL regressed this year should be enough to get him replaced. Our QBs were running for their lives all year long.

Regarding Lindgren, the subplot with letting him go is that, essentially, if he goes then you're making a change at QB too. If they bring in a new OC, with Sefo out until June or July, he will have limited time to work in the new offense while Montez and Apsay will be working on it from Day 1. Can Sefo catch up in just a month or two before the CSU game? Ideally, they bring in a new OC ASAP and hand the reins to Montez during spring practice.

 

[Goose]

Just thinking out loud here - but how much of the 10 ppg drop in scoring this year can be attributed to the fact that opposing teams actually had their starters in for the second half of games this year as opposed to last year when Oregon pulled their guys in the 2nd quarter?

 

[BuffsNYC]

Does anyone know if assistant coaches in states other than Colorado generally sign multi-year employment contracts? If so, for how many years does the contract run? Are the contracts renewed yearly?

I'm just trying to get at whether ACs at other programs are getting a buyout when they are fired. It seems most end up with a new job by the next season, but usually at a lesser program, so lesser salary.

I was always astounded by Barnett and Hawkins keeping dead weight assistants on the staff forever and wonder if the reticence to cut someone loose arose because of the lack of any severance package. It seemed that last year MM might have eased Baer and the other guy into other jobs before announcing their separation from CU.

 

[onealcd]

Just thinking out loud here - but how much of the 10 ppg drop in scoring this year can be attributed to the fact that opposing teams actually had their starters in for the second half of games this year as opposed to last year when Oregon pulled their guys in the 2nd quarter?

You could say similar things about ASU and Stanford this year though.

 

[Darth Snow]

Just thinking out loud here - but how much of the 10 ppg drop in scoring this year can be attributed to the fact that opposing teams actually had their starters in for the second half of games this year as opposed to last year when Oregon pulled their guys in the 2nd quarter?

good point. Although we didn't score all that much even after that happened. Maybe a TD or 2. Never all that much.

 

[TimmyDUBs]

If we dropped those four guys, who would still be left that came over with Mac? Only Walters comes to mind. It would seem odd to have nearly the entire coaching staff turned over within three years while keeping the head honcho in the middle.

 

[Goose]

good point. Although we didn't score all that much even after that happened. Maybe a TD or 2. Never all that much.

Yeah, I was just wondering. I actually am on the "keep Lindgren" board, so I shouldn't be pointing that out, but it jumped out to me when I read Nik's post.

 

[Buffnik]

If we dropped those four guys, who would still be left that came over with Mac? Only Walters comes to mind. It would seem odd to have nearly the entire coaching staff turned over within three years while keeping the head honcho in the middle.

Clark, Adams and Walters

Honestly, that's pretty normal attrition. The problem isn't the turnover in assistants, it's that they aren't leaving for promotions. And that's pretty damning in terms of MacIntyre's initial staff.

 

[DBT]

Just thinking out loud here - but how much of the 10 ppg drop in scoring this year can be attributed to the fact that opposing teams actually had their starters in for the second half of games this year as opposed to last year when Oregon pulled their guys in the 2nd quarter?

I suppose it'd be easy to go back and look at first half stats and second half stats for each season. But I'm not going to. I'm not sure why our offensive production dropped. It sure seemed like Lindgren struggled with play calling this year. Maybe that's because he just didn't have the tools to work with due to Sefo's and the O Line's injuries. I don't think Sefo was healthy much of the year. He was also usually under duress when he dropped back to throw. Hell. I don't know.

 

[Buffnik]

Just thinking out loud here - but how much of the 10 ppg drop in scoring this year can be attributed to the fact that opposing teams actually had their starters in for the second half of games this year as opposed to last year when Oregon pulled their guys in the 2nd quarter?

Some of it has to do with the Pac-12 going from having ridiculous QBs in 2014 and a high-scoring style of play reflecting that. Shoot-outs were more likely in 2014. But scoring wasn't all that different. A number of teams put up more points in 2015 than they did in 2014. And as you'll see below, no team experienced anything like CU's 10 point drop in scoring (even Oregon State which had a new coach and replaced a 5th year senior QB with a freshman).

2014 (conference only)
SCORING OFFENSE Avg/G
1.Oregon 43.9
2.California 37.6
3.Arizona 35.7
4.UCLA 33.9
5.USC 32.1
6.Arizona State 31.8
7.Washington State 30.2
8.Colorado 29.2
9.Washington 26.2
10.Utah 24.6
11.Stanford 23.8
12.Oregon State 23.7

2015 (conference only)
SCORING OFFENSEG Avg/G
1. Stanford 40.9
2. Oregon 40.9
3. Arizona State 35.8
4. Washington State 33.8
5. UCLA 32.8
6. USC 31.9
7. California 31.7
8. Arizona 30.9
9. Utah 30.0
10. Washington 29.0
11. Colorado 19.7
12. Oregon State 17.8

Bottom line: Lindgren failed

Stat source: http://pac-12.com/content/football-statistics

 

[Liver]

it is pretty clear that they have to shake things up. bring in some p5 level recruiters. the only one on the list that would surprise me would be lindgren. but, when you have a hc who knows he is coaching for his job next year, he has to act boldly.

 

[skibum]

I have wondered that all year. Hawaii came all-out, every-down with the blitz and we had no answer. I kept asking for the screen, which was a big component a few years ago under Lindgren (was that Sefo or pre-Sefo?). I sort of figured it had to do with mobility of OL or something else. But Apsay ran it really well vs Utah..... Odd.

This is a combination of limited memory (I've been drinking a lot during games the past few years) and pure speculation, but I really think Lindgren did call screens with Sefo before this year (that's the limited memory part). Then, this last off-season he looked back, studied the film and found that Sefo had a terrible completion percentage, very low yards per attempt, and a high interception rate with the screens (and/or quick slants), so he essentially expunged them from the playbook (that's the pure speculation part).

Which then makes me wonder: did he not work with him during the off-season to try and improve those throws? Is that his job? These actually aren't rhetorical questions; I honestly don't know who is supposed to work with the QBs to improve their abilities. It could be different people, one for physical skills (mechanics, footwork, etc), and another one for the "mental" parts (reading a defense, game management, etc). Either way, if Lindgren is directly responsible for either of those, the results to date are not promising, as the only QB improvement I've seen could reasonably be attributed entirely to improved strength, increased familiarity with the playbook and game experience (and even game experience hasn't been used appropriately in terms of developing QBs).

 

[skibum]

nm

 

[DavisBuff]

If we dropped those four guys, who would still be left that came over with Mac? Only Walters comes to mind. It would seem odd to have nearly the entire coaching staff turned over within three years while keeping the head honcho in the middle.

Adams and Clark are from the original staff. Looks like the initial staff didn't work out so well. Not so much a problem coaching or teaching; but we couldn't recruit with the PAC 12.

 

[Buffnik]

I believe the reduction in screen passing was for a couple reasons. First, analyzing Sefo's performance from 2014 would show that those plays didn't gain a lot of yards, resulted in some costly picks because they were used to much and keyed on, and the team wasn't going to have guards who were as good in space or slot receivers who were as good at blocking. McCullogh/Goodson and Munyer/Crabb were good blocking in space.

So it made sense as an adjustment to reduce usage of those plays and focus on what better-suited the personnel.

Regarding slants and seams, I think you'd find that a lot of Sefo's picks are throws to the middle of the field. Sideline throws are simply a lot safer.

 

[skibum]

I mentioned it in one of the other threads, but does Lindgren have positional coaching responsibilities? Is it the QBs? I'm going to assume yes for the rest of this post, if it's no, feel free to ignore.

There has been almost zero quarterback development beyond regular processes that exist regardless of what Lindgren does. Can you point to one area where a quarterback has meaningfully improved that isn't easily explainable by one of:
- Being stronger and more mature, i.e. S&C coach plus time is largely responsible for this.
- Game experience. Again, we play games, someone has to play QB in those games and get experience (and arguably, he's even managed to mismanage this).
- Familiarity with the playbook. This is purely time in system and individual QB effort.

The quarterbacks aren't getting better. They're getting stronger, older, and more experienced. Otherwise their skills are pretty much what they arrived on campus with. If you're not going to coach it up, you have to recruit it, and, uh...

Yeah, I can totally see Lindgren being let go (if so, expect another soft landing - a la Baer).

 

[SD Buff]

MacIntyre was not happy with the regression on offense, specifically the red zone scoring. He was not happy with special teams.

Over under is at 2.5 changes IMO. Could be as much as 4.

 

[DavisBuff]

Rumors that Ron Gould was fired from UCD were shut down UCD says he is still their coach. If he does move on he would make a great RB coach at CU. he recruited very well for Tedford at Cal.

 

[patebuff]

I think its pretty telling on who we have on the road recruiting at this point in time that we know of. We haven't heard anything regarding the 4 above. Probably a good assumption on yours or Howell's part if it is true.

 

[sackman]

I think any list has to include Neinas. The guy is simply in over his head. He hasn't the first idea of how to properly coach a special teams unit.

After that, I'm OK with the rest of them staying. I think depth on the OL was the biggest issue we faced on offense this year. That's something that *should* be better next year. Yes, we lose Nembot, but there are a bunch of guys who have been in the system now for three years who will be getting their chance to play. They should be bigger, faster, stronger, and have a better feel for the offense now. Changing up the offensive system at this point could (not saying "will") lead to another steep learning curve that isn't necessary.

JMHO.

 

[BlackNGold]

What are the prospects for getting quality assistants to CU? There will be a lot guys on the streets with all the changes but there will also be a lot of openings to fill.

Considering the perception may be that MacIntyre could be a dead man walking there may not be viewed as the best opportunity. But Norm Chow is available for OC.