PL Coaches (Head, OC & DC) what does there body of work look like:

[CFBfan]

Are the coaches in the PL in over their heads? I have seen a number of HS coaches that are far better then what I see on at least some PL teams:

Let's start with Gate:

DAN HUNT (HC)

Life long Gate assistant & OC before the team was turned over to him 2 years ago with NO search for a potentially better candidate
to date: 5wins & 10 losses: Not so good! seems to fold in close games


PAUL SHAFFNER (DC) :

last 15 years:Head coaching record[edit (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Shaffner&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro)]

Year
Team
Overall
Conference
Standing
Bowl/playoffs
Rank#


Glenville State Pioneers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenville_State_College) (WVIAC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia_Intercollegiate_Athletic_Conference) ) (2000–2003)


2000
Glenville State
3–8






2001
Glenville State
6–3

1st




2002
Glenville State
4–7






2003
Glenville State
5–6






Buffalo State Bengals (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_State_College) (NJAC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_Athletic_Conference)) (2004–2008)


2004
Buffalo State
4–6






2005
Buffalo State
3–6






2006
Buffalo State
3–7






2007
Buffalo State
2–8






2008
Buffalo State
1–9






Total:
31–60



AWFUL RECORD!!! 2009 - 2010 out of the game, 2011 - 2012 Iroquis HIGH SCHOOL
this yeat D giving up ove 400 yards per game and over 34 points NOT GOOD! also observed poor tackling and an inability to read plays by their D

CHRIS YOUNG (OC)

13 years as receiver coach for Gate and Albany prior to that
Gate O averaging only 330 yards and 15 points per game

who is next?

[crusader11]

Well, for Holy Cross:

Tom Gilmore



Coaching career (HC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_coach) unless noted)


1986
Penn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Quakers_football) (GA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_assistant))


1987–1989
Columbia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Lions_football) (DL)


1990–1991
Penn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Quakers_football) (OL)


1992–1995
Dartmouth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_Big_Green_football) (OL)


1996
Dartmouth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_Big_Green_football) (LB)


1997–1999
Dartmouth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_Big_Green_football) (DC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_coordinator))


2000–2003
Lehigh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehigh_Mountain_Hawks_football) (DC)


2004–present
Holy Cross (MA) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Cross_Crusaders_football)



Brian Rock, OC:



Seasons
School
Position


2015-present
2011-present
Holy Cross
Kent State
Offensive Coordinator
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks


2005-10
Purdue
Assistant Coach


2004-05
Western Michigan
Special Teams Coord.


1999-04
Western Michigan
Offensive Coordinator


1996-99
Western Michigan
Special Teams Coord.


1992-96
Western Michigan
Assistant Coach


1987-92
Saint Joseph’s College
Defensive Coordinator


1985-87
Bowling Green
Part-Time Assistant Coach



Mike Kashurba, DC:

2012-2013: Bucknell
2004-2012: Allegheney College

HC actually has ponied up some more money to get better assistants. After watching the team play against Towson, they were every bit as well coached, if not better than Ambrose and his guys.

[bison137]

Joe Susan, Head Coach
1978-80 Delaware (Grad Assistant)
1981-90 Bucknell (OL, OC last two years)
1991-99 Princeton (OC)
2000 Davidson (HC) 10-0 record
2001-09 Rutgers (TE's, recruiting coordinator)
2010-15 Bucknell HC


Mike O'Connor, OC

2004 Lafayette
2005-08 Rutgers
2009-15 Bucknell (QB coach 5 yrs, OC last 2 yrs)

Mike Borich, DC

2001-02 Dickinson
2003 Lafayette
2004-09 Princeton (DL)
2010-12 Bucknell (DL)
2013-15 Bucknell (DC)


Susan has put together a good staff of assistants over the past three years.

[heath]

Their body of work looks a lot like their pay checks xconfusedx xsmhx embarrassing(except for the head coach). You get what you pay for,especially in Lehigh Valley

[FordhamFan]

Joe Moorhead (HC - Fordham)

2000–2003
Georgetown (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown_Hoyas_football) (assistant)


2004–2008
Akron (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akron_Zips_football) (assistant)


2009–2010
Connecticut (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Huskies_football) (OC/QB)


2011
Connecticut (QB)


2012–
Fordham (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordham_Rams_football) (HC)



Was part of the Fiesta Bowl UConn team in 2010-2011

[DFW HOYA]

Rob Sgarlata (HC)
Georgetown, 1995-2013 (Asst/DC)
Georgetown 2014- (HC)

Mike Neuberger (OC)
Dayton 2005-08 (GA)
Maryland 2009-10 (GA)
Columbia 2011 (Asst.)
Georgetown 2012 (Asst.)
Cornell 2013 (Asst.)
Georgetown 2014- (OC)

Luke Thompson
Bowdoin 1998 (GA)
Holy Cross 1999-2000 (recruiting coordinator)
Amherst 2001-03 (Asst.)
Harvard 2005 (Asst.)
Georgetown 2006-11 (Asst.)
Army 2012-13 (Asst.)
Georgetown 2014- (DC)

[Sader87]

Gilmore is in ovah his head...he just doesn't know it.

[Pard4Life]

Whoa! The gutsiest holder in the Pard history is Bucknell OC? Had no clue! McCourt may have been the 2002 Laf Lehigh MVP, but it was really Mike O'connor

[bison137]

Whoa! The gutsiest holder in the Pard history is Bucknell OC? Had no clue! McCourt may have been the 2002 Laf Lehigh MVP, but it was really Mike O'connor


Ironically I don't think Bucknell has run a fake FG since O'Connor has been OC. As you probably know, he was also the QB at Lewisburg HS. Father was a Bucknell assistant. Grandfather was a Bucknell Head Coach. Prior to Bucknell, he coached for 4+ years for Schiano at Rutgers.

[LeopardBall10]

Having been in the college football rat race for a few years I can tell you that by and large your previous job/record doesn't mean much. Most of the time you get "the next job" because you have a relationship with the HC who gets hired. If he knows you he is going to hire you regardless of where you are currently coaching or your record last year. I have seen a lot of guys with a good last name get hired while the best coaches I saw in action continue to toil away at the lower spots on the totum pole in a system that "uses up" young coaches and spits them out.

The only exception in my mind is the Head Coach. If you want to be successful you usually need to find a guy with HC experience who knows how to run a program, put together a staff, and handle the dynamics of the administration, etc. It is very rare to find a guy who can step in as the HC and be successful if they have never done it before because they get lost in the non-football world that takes up some much of the HC's time.

[RichH2]

True enough but all HCs get a 1st job. PL is not for most a destination conference. Most of our best move up eventually ie Higgins,Lembo,Clawson.Likewise,most of our HCs are 1st timers . Personal relationships as a basis for hiring not a surprise but doubt many HCs view them as more important than talent. Their jobs are reliant on the ability not names of their staff.

[CFBfan]

Having been in the college football rat race for a few years I can tell you that by and large your previous job/record doesn't mean much. Most of the time you get "the next job" because you have a relationship with the HC who gets hired. If he knows you he is going to hire you regardless of where you are currently coaching or your record last year. I have seen a lot of guys with a good last name get hired while the best coaches I saw in action continue to toil away at the lower spots on the totum pole in a system that "uses up" young coaches and spits them out.

The only exception in my mind is the Head Coach. If you want to be successful you usually need to find a guy with HC experience who knows how to run a program, put together a staff, and handle the dynamics of the administration, etc. It is very rare to find a guy who can step in as the HC and be successful if they have never done it before because they get lost in the non-football world that takes up some much of the HC's time.

good point Leopard supporting the need to truly hold the HC accountable and not have such long (at least in the PL) leashes in the midst of mediocrity year after year
If he hires poor OC's & DC's he should be accountable for that (and not Obama/Hillary accountable!!)

[Fordham]

True enough but all HCs get a 1st job. PL is not for most a destination conference. Most of our best move up eventually ie Higgins,Lembo,Clawson.Likewise,most of our HCs are 1st timers . Personal relationships as a basis for hiring not a surprise but doubt many HCs view them as more important than talent. Their jobs are reliant on the ability not names of their staff.
Interestnig point about the best moving up. Other than the ones you just rattled off, who else is there? My impression, before digging into even the tiniest detail, is that the PL tends to be a conference where a head coach's career prospects either go to die or else they have a job for life. Other than those three you mentioned, who has moved up and done well in the last 20 years after doing their time as HC at a PL school?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Interestnig point about the best moving up. Other than the ones you just rattled off, who else is there? My impression, before digging into even the tiniest detail, is that the PL tends to be a conference where a head coach's career prospects either go to die or else they have a job for life. Other than those three you mentioned, who has moved up and done well in the last 20 years after doing their time as HC at a PL school?

Hank Small did OK after he retired. He became AD of Chuck South.

But more to the point, how many second-timer head coaches are there in all of FCS? The whole idea of lifers/young guys on the move up are the vast, vast majority of the coaches in the whole subdivision. There are Bo Pelini, Jerry Glanville, George Allen type hires, but they are understandably extremely rare.

[RichH2]

Lifers in PL Russo,Tavani,Biddle,Whitehead.Leckonby,Dunlap are ones I can rcall off the top of my head.

[ngineer]

Lifers in PL Russo,Tavani,Biddle,Whitehead.Leckonby,Dunlap are ones I can rcall off the top of my head.

Those three were not in the PL. Leckonby was HC before any divisions, when LU was part of the "small college" unofficial designation and part of the Middle Three. Dunlap was at Lehigh from 1966-75, and was AD at Colgate by the time PL created, and Whitehead stopped coaching just about the time the PL (nee Colonial) was created. Coen has been at Lehigh about as long as both Dunlap and Whitehead, and can probably stay for awhile as long as he keeps the program competitive and clean.

[Go...gate]

Those three were not in the PL. Leckonby was HC before any divisions, when LU was part of the "small college" unofficial designation and part of the Middle Three. Dunlap was at Lehigh from 1966-75, and was AD at Colgate by the time PL created, and Whitehead stopped coaching just about the time the PL (nee Colonial) was created. Coen has been at Lehigh about as long as both Dunlap and Whitehead, and can probably stay for awhile as long as he keeps the program competitive and clean.

Dunlap was HC at Colgate in 1986 and 87, the first two formal years of Colonial League play. He also came out of retirement to serve Colgate FB as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach between 1996 - 98 under Dick Biddle.

[BucBisonAtLarge]

It is not the Patriot League, but the institutions and programs themselves which employ these coaches. The long tenures seem to be successful chemistry between individual and institution.

[CFBfan]

It is not the Patriot League, but the institutions and programs themselves which employ these coaches. The long tenures seem to be successful chemistry between individual and institution.

I'm quite certain that we all know the PL does not employ the coaches nor does any other league. successful chemistry??? not sure, I think tolerance / acceptance of "average" is more likely

[LeopardBall10]

I think tolerance / acceptance of "average" is more likely

Yes, and no. Yes there has been an acceptance of average performances from most of the league for a long time, and most HCs seem to have the final say on their own employment status. But I actually think this has more to do with the institutional focus. Take Frank for example, he has long lost his connection with the locker room which has been compounded by health issues. But the team continues to rank near the top in the country in API, players are graduating on time, and there have been wins against Lehigh. As long as those things keep up he can stay as long as he wants.

To LFN's point about the number of second time HCs in the FCS, I would agree that the there are few. But my argument is that this is because of the culture within the sport, not what is best for the teams/schools/coaches. The thought from the coaching side is that you need to start as a GA at the biggest school possible (because bigger is almost always viewed as better on a coach's resume), then after you toil 7 days a week/18 hrs a day for 4 or 5 years making $7,000-$15,000 you may get your big break and get a full time position somewhere making $35,000-$50,000, again bigger is always better. So, what we have in the FCS are a whole bunch of institutions who either hire a first time HC who has been with the program forever and they trust because he knows how it works, or they hire a first time HC who was an assistant (sometimes not even a coordinator) at a Big Time School just because he was at a Big Time School so he must know how to coach xbangx.

And salaries are always going to be an issue, especially in the PL. As the FBS salaries increase it is going to be harder and harder to keep good coaches because a PL head coach can leave for a coordinator job, or sometimes even a position coach job, with on of their friends at an FBS school and make more than they would as the PL HC.

[Bill]

Interestnig point about the best moving up. Other than the ones you just rattled off, who else is there? My impression, before digging into even the tiniest detail, is that the PL tends to be a conference where a head coach's career prospects either go to die or else they have a job for life. Other than those three you mentioned, who has moved up and done well in the last 20 years after doing their time as HC at a PL school?

Fordham
You may be correct...but to be fair, Higgins took over from Hank Small. That was in the late 1990s...EVERY Lehigh coach (of course, there have only been two who have left so far) since Hank have moved on and done better. I can't say that Coen will, but Higgins and Lembo certainly did!

[Fordham]

Agreed Bill. I think it's clear that Lehigh historically has had a higher standard than the rest of the PL in terms of factoring in winning as an expectation for their coaches. I believe that since 2000, so has Fordham as we have let go of two coaches in that time frame who produced results that likely would have had them get add'l seasons to compete at other PL schools (imo). The other two have been extremely successful (Clawson and Moorhead). That said, everywhere else it appears that winning is further down on the list of priorities. Not saying that's a bad thing but one would think that it does have an impact on the overall league performance.

Other than Biddle, who else has had remarkable and consistent success and just stayed at their school? Tavani was close to getting there but he hasn't maintained it like Biddle did imo.

[Sader87]

Gilmore is in his 12th season as HC at HC....the only head football coach who has had a longah tenure on Mt St James dating back to 1896 is HoF Coach Dr Eddie Anderson.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Gilmore is in his 12th season as HC at HC....the only head football coach who has had a longah tenure on Mt St James dating back to 1896 is HoF Coach Dr Eddie Anderson.

Maybe he needs some mid 80's talent. I was watching Super Bowl XXIII last night (yes I'm a dork) and during the broadcast Dick Enberg gave a pretty good shout out to Bruce Kozerski and Holy Cross. Apparently Kozerski was a physics major there.......

[Southsider]

Fordham
You may be correct...but to be fair, Higgins took over from Hank Small. That was in the late 1990s...EVERY Lehigh coach (of course, there have only been two who have left so far) since Hank have moved on and done better. I can't say that Coen will, but Higgins and Lembo certainly did!

Not to nitpick, but I think Higgins took over in 1994, after the Idaho debacle. Boy, who could forget that one!

[Bill]

You're correct...I graduated in 1993 - and anything that happened after that was the "late 1990's" xlolx