6 Comments

  1. Walter McInnis

    Great article. Thank you. I think some of the frustration is not seeing the future of the program in these backward looking moves because of who was added. Thinking about the structure itself as forward looking is a genuine insight.

  2. […] Smart management would feature top coaches that coach the staff so that dealing with players and day to day concerns can be handled by the position coaches and other figures lower down the chart. If TCU has Jerry Kill freed up to coach the offensive staff, that could be massive not only for freeing up Gary Patterson to offer more oversight elsewhere but also for other programs that see details slip through the cracks all the time because of the scope of the job. [Concerning Sports] […]

  3. Will

    Only 1 comment on this? This is super interesting stuff.

    I had a similar thought process when I heard Kill was hired. He was a good coach, got to 8-9 wins at Minnesota, which was impressive pre-Fleck. But he was a good manager and program builder, not necessarily a guy who is going to contribute a lot to the Xs and Os. So you would naturally bring a guy in to do what he’s good at, which is to manage a program.

    I agree with you that this is potentially significant from an organizational standpoint. In terms of what is publicly available, it seemed like all of these types of hires had been for primarily the stuff that occurs on the field (watching film, working up schemes). But maybe, as you note above, other programs have already figured this out quietly.

    Taking the administrative burdens of the HC role off an HC, particularly a gifted schemer and play caller (like Patterson), could have a significant impact on the field indirectly and perhaps change what ADs look for in HCs if proven successful.

    • ianaboyd

      The only hangup with Patterson doing this is that Kill is his pal. This year we’ll be watching Gary try to pick his program back up off the mat by doubling down on coaching alongside his same guys rather than expanding his circle and bringing many fresh ideas or perspectives.

      It may work because Kill and Patterson are effective old coaches that both still have something to offer and this structure may serve them super well. Or it may not catch on because if it struggles it will just look like a way for Patterson to have avoided making major changes. I’ll be very interested to see how it goes.

      • Philly Frog

        Your stuff is always a great read, my man.

        Patterson’s had different inflection points over the years where he’s been forced to adapt and evolve. This coming season is something of a predicate to your ageing-out question; does he have one more trick to pull out of a large experiential bag?

        My gut tells me the last two seasons boil down to who was behind center. Some truly bad injury ju-ju in the QB room killed them.

        And I question whether Duggan can avoid that ju-ju over the long term.

        Philly

        PS: Gary’s staff does seem to have a lot of mon freres vibe. The fact that Kill is buds with Gary just looks like it builds on that. All for one, yo’.

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