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Pac-12 Notes
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January 2nd
… Foe Pause …
Utah hires its new offensive coordinator – promises an “attacking style of offense”
From the Salt Lake Tribune … Utah has moved quickly to fill its offensive coordinator job in the new year, hiring Eastern Washington’s Troy Taylor.
Taylor comes after one year at the FCS program, and will also coach quarterbacks in addition to calling plays. Offensive line coach Jim Harding won’t be one of Utah’s co-coordinators next year — a position he served the last two years along with Aaron Roderick — but has added “assistant head coach” among his job titles.
Taylor brings a reputation for mentoring quarterbacks: He was the high school coach of Washington’s Jake Browning, and was the play caller and position coach for Gage Gubrud, who set an FCS record with 5,160 yards passing last year.
Eastern Washington was No. 1 in passing yards (401 ypg), No. 2 in total yards (529 ypg) and No. 3 in scoring offense (42.4 ppg) in the FCS. EWU went 12-2 this past season.
“I have watched Troy Taylor closely over the years when he was coaching innovative high school offenses in California and was eager to see how that translated to college coaching,” Coach Kyle Whittingham said in a statement. “He achieved the same results at Eastern Washington and we are fortunate that Troy was interested in bringing that style of offense here to Utah.”
Taylor served as an assistant at Cal and Colorado (a graduate assistant coaching wide receivers in 1995) founding The Passing Academy and developing his passing offense at Folsom High in California. Sam Whittingham, the son of tight ends coach Fred Whittingham, played for Taylor at Folsom.
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From the Press Release … “I am thrilled to be a part of the University of Utah football program,” said Taylor. “I have admired Coach Whittingham and his program for a long time. The opportunity to come on board and help win a Pac-12 championship is a dream come true.
“We will have an attacking style of offense that stretches the field and the defense in every way,” Taylor continued. “Creating success for the quarterback will be our utmost priority. If your QB plays well, you have a great chance of winning. Therefore, the development of his fundamentals and skill set are vital. However, it is just as imperative to have an offensive system that is both dynamic and user friendly. That has been the driving force in my offensive philosophy and I am excited to bring this to the University of Utah.”
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January 1st
… Foe Pause …
Bowl Payouts for Power Five conferences
From Forbes … When Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington took the field for the College Football Playoff semifinals they were already be winners financially. Each team earns $6 million for its conference simply by virtue of playing in the games. And it doesn’t matter who wins – at least financially; there is no additional compensation for competing in the title game on January 9.
It’s important to note that any revenue earned by a team for a berth in a bowl game goes directly to the conference and is then distributed according to each conference’s own rules. After covering a specified amount of travel expenses, most conferences divide all bowl revenue equally between full members (with an equal share calculated in for the conference office), with the SEC being the notable exception, as noted below.
Here’s a conference-by-conference breakdown for the payouts this year from the bowls associated with the College Football Playoff:
ACC (14 teams) – $88.5 million
Big 12 (ten teams) – $95 million
Big Ten (14 teams) – $132.5 million
Pac-12
$55 million base payout (which includes $300,000 for each team which meets the NCAA’s APR for participation in a post-season football game)
$6 million for Washington’s berth in the Peach Bowl
$40 million for USC’s berth in the Rose Bowl (pursuant to a contract between the Pac-12 and the Rose Bowl)
Total (12 teams): $101 million
SEC (14 teams) – $101 million
Group of Five (62 teams) – $83.5 million
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December 31st
… Foe Pause …
Oregon hires away Charles Clark
From Duck Territory …. Sources confirm Oregon has made another hire. This time on the defensive side of the ball.
Multiple sources confirm Charles Clark has accepted a position at Oregon. Clark was an assistant coach/cornerbacks coach at Colorado for the last four seasons. He has coached corners for the last two seasons according to his bio on the CUBuffs.com website.
It’s important to note, Clark will coach corners specifically for Jim Leavitt and Willie Taggart.
From our sources, the deal is in place for Clark to join the Oregon staff this week.
Charles Clark bio, from CUBuffs.com … Charles Clark is in his fourth year at the University of Colorado, his second coaching the cornerbacks, as he joined Coach Mike MacIntyre’s staff on January 1, 2013. He coached the safeties in his first two seasons, and now also coaches the nickel backs with Joe Tumpkin.
In his first two years at Colorado, he’s coached mostly underclassmen but has led through the Pac-12 waters; freshman and sophomores combined to play 2,110 snaps out of a possible 3,538 at the two safety positions. By his third year, he was overseeing a much more veteran group, with the corners intercepting five passes (compared to zero the previous year) and deflecting 34 passes. Overall, the Buffs rose to second in the Pac-12 in passing defense, allowing just 218.2 yards per game (59th in the nation).
Clark, 32, came to CU from San Jose State, where he coached the defensive backs under MacIntyre for three seasons there after following him to San Jose from Duke. Two of his top players for the Spartans included three-time first-team All-Western Athletic Conference performer, Duke Ihenacho, who signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos and made their roster, and Peyton Thompson, who was a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons.
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Utah fires offensive coordinator … running backs coach Dennis Erickson retires
From the Salt Lake Tribune … Utah football’s inability to finish in the red zone this season has led to yet another offensive staff shake-up: Offensive co-coordinator Aaron Roderick has been fired, the athletics department announced Friday, and running backs coach Dennis Erickson will retire.
The move sends Utah’s longest-tenured assistant, Roderick, packing after two stints as offensive coordinator. Roderick has been with the program for more than a decade, serving as the quarterbacks coach, the receivers coach and the passing game coordinator since joining the program in 2005.
Twice, Roderick accepted other jobs elsewhere — at BYU and Washington — but then opted to stay at Utah.
As the play-caller in the booth the past two years, Roderick took the heat when Utah (9-4) struggled to convert near the end zone. The team was No. 106 in FBS red zone offense, converting points on 77.8 percent of red zone possessions. The Utes also had the No. 8 scoring offense (29.8 ppg) in the Pac-12, and the No. 9 passing offense (216.7 ypg). Whittingham cited the red zone struggles as the biggest reason for a 1-3 ending to the season.
Also a prominent influence in Utah’s offense, Erickson ends a four-year run in which he started as an offensive coordinator in 2013 but was demoted to running backs coach after one year. In an interview with The Tribune on Friday, Erickson said he had been considering retirement for the past year.
It may be Erickson’s last college stop in a career that includes head coaching tenures at Miami (where he won two national championships), Oregon State and Arizona State.
… Continue reading story here …
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Stuart
Continue reading...
Pac-12 Notes
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January 2nd
… Foe Pause …
Utah hires its new offensive coordinator – promises an “attacking style of offense”
From the Salt Lake Tribune … Utah has moved quickly to fill its offensive coordinator job in the new year, hiring Eastern Washington’s Troy Taylor.
Taylor comes after one year at the FCS program, and will also coach quarterbacks in addition to calling plays. Offensive line coach Jim Harding won’t be one of Utah’s co-coordinators next year — a position he served the last two years along with Aaron Roderick — but has added “assistant head coach” among his job titles.
Taylor brings a reputation for mentoring quarterbacks: He was the high school coach of Washington’s Jake Browning, and was the play caller and position coach for Gage Gubrud, who set an FCS record with 5,160 yards passing last year.
Eastern Washington was No. 1 in passing yards (401 ypg), No. 2 in total yards (529 ypg) and No. 3 in scoring offense (42.4 ppg) in the FCS. EWU went 12-2 this past season.
“I have watched Troy Taylor closely over the years when he was coaching innovative high school offenses in California and was eager to see how that translated to college coaching,” Coach Kyle Whittingham said in a statement. “He achieved the same results at Eastern Washington and we are fortunate that Troy was interested in bringing that style of offense here to Utah.”
Taylor served as an assistant at Cal and Colorado (a graduate assistant coaching wide receivers in 1995) founding The Passing Academy and developing his passing offense at Folsom High in California. Sam Whittingham, the son of tight ends coach Fred Whittingham, played for Taylor at Folsom.
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From the Press Release … “I am thrilled to be a part of the University of Utah football program,” said Taylor. “I have admired Coach Whittingham and his program for a long time. The opportunity to come on board and help win a Pac-12 championship is a dream come true.
“We will have an attacking style of offense that stretches the field and the defense in every way,” Taylor continued. “Creating success for the quarterback will be our utmost priority. If your QB plays well, you have a great chance of winning. Therefore, the development of his fundamentals and skill set are vital. However, it is just as imperative to have an offensive system that is both dynamic and user friendly. That has been the driving force in my offensive philosophy and I am excited to bring this to the University of Utah.”
—–
January 1st
… Foe Pause …
Bowl Payouts for Power Five conferences
From Forbes … When Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington took the field for the College Football Playoff semifinals they were already be winners financially. Each team earns $6 million for its conference simply by virtue of playing in the games. And it doesn’t matter who wins – at least financially; there is no additional compensation for competing in the title game on January 9.
It’s important to note that any revenue earned by a team for a berth in a bowl game goes directly to the conference and is then distributed according to each conference’s own rules. After covering a specified amount of travel expenses, most conferences divide all bowl revenue equally between full members (with an equal share calculated in for the conference office), with the SEC being the notable exception, as noted below.
Here’s a conference-by-conference breakdown for the payouts this year from the bowls associated with the College Football Playoff:
ACC (14 teams) – $88.5 million
Big 12 (ten teams) – $95 million
Big Ten (14 teams) – $132.5 million
Pac-12
$55 million base payout (which includes $300,000 for each team which meets the NCAA’s APR for participation in a post-season football game)
$6 million for Washington’s berth in the Peach Bowl
$40 million for USC’s berth in the Rose Bowl (pursuant to a contract between the Pac-12 and the Rose Bowl)
Total (12 teams): $101 million
SEC (14 teams) – $101 million
Group of Five (62 teams) – $83.5 million
—–
December 31st
… Foe Pause …
Oregon hires away Charles Clark
From Duck Territory …. Sources confirm Oregon has made another hire. This time on the defensive side of the ball.
Multiple sources confirm Charles Clark has accepted a position at Oregon. Clark was an assistant coach/cornerbacks coach at Colorado for the last four seasons. He has coached corners for the last two seasons according to his bio on the CUBuffs.com website.
It’s important to note, Clark will coach corners specifically for Jim Leavitt and Willie Taggart.
From our sources, the deal is in place for Clark to join the Oregon staff this week.
Charles Clark bio, from CUBuffs.com … Charles Clark is in his fourth year at the University of Colorado, his second coaching the cornerbacks, as he joined Coach Mike MacIntyre’s staff on January 1, 2013. He coached the safeties in his first two seasons, and now also coaches the nickel backs with Joe Tumpkin.
In his first two years at Colorado, he’s coached mostly underclassmen but has led through the Pac-12 waters; freshman and sophomores combined to play 2,110 snaps out of a possible 3,538 at the two safety positions. By his third year, he was overseeing a much more veteran group, with the corners intercepting five passes (compared to zero the previous year) and deflecting 34 passes. Overall, the Buffs rose to second in the Pac-12 in passing defense, allowing just 218.2 yards per game (59th in the nation).
Clark, 32, came to CU from San Jose State, where he coached the defensive backs under MacIntyre for three seasons there after following him to San Jose from Duke. Two of his top players for the Spartans included three-time first-team All-Western Athletic Conference performer, Duke Ihenacho, who signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos and made their roster, and Peyton Thompson, who was a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons.
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Utah fires offensive coordinator … running backs coach Dennis Erickson retires
From the Salt Lake Tribune … Utah football’s inability to finish in the red zone this season has led to yet another offensive staff shake-up: Offensive co-coordinator Aaron Roderick has been fired, the athletics department announced Friday, and running backs coach Dennis Erickson will retire.
The move sends Utah’s longest-tenured assistant, Roderick, packing after two stints as offensive coordinator. Roderick has been with the program for more than a decade, serving as the quarterbacks coach, the receivers coach and the passing game coordinator since joining the program in 2005.
Twice, Roderick accepted other jobs elsewhere — at BYU and Washington — but then opted to stay at Utah.
As the play-caller in the booth the past two years, Roderick took the heat when Utah (9-4) struggled to convert near the end zone. The team was No. 106 in FBS red zone offense, converting points on 77.8 percent of red zone possessions. The Utes also had the No. 8 scoring offense (29.8 ppg) in the Pac-12, and the No. 9 passing offense (216.7 ypg). Whittingham cited the red zone struggles as the biggest reason for a 1-3 ending to the season.
Also a prominent influence in Utah’s offense, Erickson ends a four-year run in which he started as an offensive coordinator in 2013 but was demoted to running backs coach after one year. In an interview with The Tribune on Friday, Erickson said he had been considering retirement for the past year.
It may be Erickson’s last college stop in a career that includes head coaching tenures at Miami (where he won two national championships), Oregon State and Arizona State.
… Continue reading story here …
—–
Stuart
Continue reading...