Tag Archives: Geoff Collins

01.05.17
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How Do We Know About Collins?

geoffrey

Great story on Coachingsearch.com about Geoff Collins.

About a year ago, just about every Rutgers’ fan was singing the praises of getting an Urban Meyers’ disciple in then Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash.


“Over the last 4
years, I’ve helped
Matt (Rhule) with
key decisions within
the program; philosophy
shifts at different times.”
_ Geoff Collins

A few of those same fans are singing a different tune about Ash now. Rutgers lost to Michigan, 78-0; Ohio State, 58-0 and Penn State, 38-0 (yes, the same Penn State team that beat Temple by a measly touchdown). The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 2-10 season and some people are questioning his game day coaching ability. Even the media has joined in as NJ.com called the loss to Michigan State “all on Chris Ash.”

The point being the 100 percent praise Ash received a year ago mollified considerably after watching the guy with the clipboard in his hands.


If those decisions
were to utilize
the fullback to
jump start an ailing
running game and ditch
the four wides and
go to a play-action
passing game, expect
Temple to head to
a NY6 bowl under Collins

Geoff Collins has received universal praise as Temple’s new hire, just like Ash did a year ago at Rutgers, so the question some fans might ask about Collins is “How do we know he won’t be a Chris Ash?”

You know, like another hot assistant, like UConn’s Bob Diaco—the national college football assistant coach of the year in 2012 with Notre Dame—who falls on his face as a head coach. Heck, we don’t know if Ash will join Diaco but a 2-10 first season with one of the wins over Howard doesn’t engender a lot of confidence among the North Jersey faithful. What they have learned in East Hartford and Piscataway is being the greatest assistant coach in the world does not automatically translate to being a great head coach. They are two different jobs and even Matt Rhule had a rocky first couple of years. For every assistant who turns into a great head coach like Rhule, there are 10 guys like Diaco who need to get fired. Head coaches who move from one place where they did well as a head coach to another have a higher rate of success. Those are the guys P5 schools can afford to hire.

As far as assistants go, the answer is we do not know, but the weight of the evidence is in Collins’ favor over Ash or Diaco.

goldenash

RU fans wanted Golden over Ash in this poll.

The truth is, with an assistant coach, you never know but there are a couple of things with Collins that give him a little more street cred than say, an Ash or a Diaco. One, the Temple program is in much better shape, player-wise, than the Rutgers or UConn. Two, no less of an authority on Temple football than Matt Rhule himself said the hire of Collins was a “home run” and, three, in two coaching stops along with way, Collins was Rhule’s boss, not the other way around. Rhule learned from Collins. Four, Collins was a coordinator, not a “co-coordinator” like Ash, so you know the Florida Mayhem defense was his production and there are no blurred lines on who contributed what. Collins already has been a coach at Temple of sorts over the last four years as “helped Matt with key decisions within the program” according to this interview.

If those decisions were to utilize the fullback to jump start an ailing running game and ditch the four wides and go to a play-action passing game, expect Temple to head to a NY6 bowl under Collins.

Now all Collins has to do is perform on game day and, from what he has done in the days leading up to his first one, all systems are go for a great liftoff.

01.03.17
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Staff: Quality Over Speed

spouses

This helmet won seven-straight games between a black helmet loss and a white helmet one.

There is a long stretch of empty offices between the ones occupied by Ed Foley, the other two holdovers (Chris Wiesehan, Frisman Jackson) and head coach Geoff Collins at the Edberg-Olson Complex.

Already, Dave Patenaude has taken over the offensive coordinator’s office that Glenn Thomas used to occupy and the leading candidate to replace defensive coordinator Phil Snow is reportedly Florida defensive backs’ coach Torrian Gray. The only holdup seems to be Collins talking Gray into taking the job and the fact that Gray is a Lakeland (Fla.) native reluctant to leave. The process seems a little bit slower in comparison to past Temple head coaches (for instance, by this time in 2011, Steve Addazio had pilfered Chuck Heater and Scot Loeffler from the national champion Florida staff) but, hopefully, Collins is taking his time to sort through the 457 text messages he got asking him for a job.

spouse

If Geoff Collins recruits coaches and players like he recruits spouses, Owls should be in good shape.

If Randy Shannon, as expected, gets the Florida DC job, though, moving up to Temple DC would be a nice move for Gray. One monkey wrench Florida head coach Jim McElwain could throw in is to make Shannon and Gray co-coordinators, which means that Collins will have to look elsewhere.

If that’s the case, so far, so good because quality beats quantity every day of the week and Temple should not settle for less. These are much tougher decisions for Collins than, say, going with the Cherry helmet at the top of this post. That one should be a no-brainer.

Patenaude, the former offensive coordinator at Coastal Carolina, is known for a roughly equal distribution between rushing and passing yards there and that bodes well for the Owls to keep their play-action passing game which features a significant dose of fullback blocking.

Defense should also not be a concern because Collins was arguably the best defensive coordinator in college football last year and should have a significant say on that side of the football.

As far as Temple, Rhule seems to have raided virtually the entire staff. Even Rob Dvoracek, whose name has not been reported going to Dallas, even is joining Baylor. (I got that nugget from his mother at the Military Bowl.) Also joining Rhule is former Cardinal O’Hara running back Damiere Shaw, another guy who rose through the graduate assistant ranks. Another student assistant, Mike Wallace, is leaving to join Thomas, Rhule and Phil Snow.

When it comes to coaching staffs, only the G5 schools seem to get significantly raided by the P5 schools and not the other way around.

Still, Collins has enough coaching contacts scattered throughout the nation—even more than Rhule—to find a decent staff. He should be given the time to find the best.

Thursday: How Do We Know?

01.01.17
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The Three Things

temperor

In order to improve Temple football, Geoff Collins will be talking about three things and they won’t be the Temperors (who we readily admit are people, not things).

When Collins recovers from both a well-deserved birthday and New Year’s Eve celebration (both on the same day), he will get to work on his next project as head coach of Temple University’s football team. That is,  to sit down with each of the 105 scholarship players in the program and ask them what the three things they most like about the program and the three things that can most be improved.

As a service to any players who feel potentially stumped by this exercise, we offer a Cliff Notes’ cheat sheet.

sharga

The 3 Most Likeable Things

1) Emphasis On Defense

Very much like Navy with the triple option, Temple has carved out a unique identity as a program. The Owls win by playing great defense, an emphasis on special teams and running the football. Defense does indeed win championships and Temple really is the only team that played defense in the AAC on a consistent basis. The Owls have finished in the top 10 in defenses four of the last six years and, in a league that has high-scoring teams but few that play defense, that identity sets them apart from the rest. That’s an identity that should be embraced with newfound Mayhem.

nick

2) Offense Plays Off Run

Helping out the defense was an emphasis on the running game, which controlled the clock and kept the defense fresh. Off the running game, the Owls were able to make explosive plays in the passing game by faking the ball into the belly of one their two 918-yard rushers (Ryquell Armstead, Jahad Thomas), bringing the linebackers and safeties up to the line of scrimmage and tossing the ball over the outstretched arms of those same defenders. It is a winning formula. The Owls should keep it.

3) Use Of The Fullback

Temple is one of the very few teams in the country that utilizes the fullback in the running game. While Nick Sharga is here, the Owls should use him leading the tailback on toss sweeps behind their best lineman to suppress the will of the opposition. In a 46-30 win over USF, Sharga led the way for Armstead to gain 200 yards and his blocking was so fierce he had the USF defensive backs running away from him to avoid contact in the second half. Reward him with a carry or two or three a game. He can knock over defenders just as well with the ball in his hands as without.

Three Improvements

1) Coaching Stability

This has to be the first thing on the minds of the kids, the bleeding of coaches out the door of the E-O what seems every couple of years now. While actions are more important than words, words are important now. Instead of saying things like “I love South Philly macaroni” or “I would sign a 15-year contract here if Bill would let me” try to be the one coach who sets himself apart from the rest. One way to do it is to say something like “I believe in the sanctity of contracts and I will be here for as long as my contract says” or to tell recruits “I will definitely be here when you graduate.” Then make those words your bond. Certainly beats saying “I deal in the here and now.”

springer

2)  Cherry and White Game

For years, the Cherry and White game has been played in the cramped confines of the practice facility. Now that the brand new soccer complex is available four blocks away, it should be moved there. The place seats significantly more people than the Edberg Olson complex and people will not have to be straining for a view of the game. USF plays spring football games at its soccer facility and Temple should do the same.

helmetgif

Hopefully, the Owls will wear the distinctive Cherry T .

3) Don’t Tempt Karma

There should be a uniform code on uniforms because that’s what the word means. Not the ones the Owls wear most of the time (Cherry helmets with the ‘][‘ with white or cherry tops), but the ones that bring nothing but bad luck. The Owls won seven-straight games wearing the distinctive Cherry helmets with the White ‘][‘ but then, for some reason, decided to wear white helmets in a 34-26 loss to Wake Forest. They wore black helmets in their previous loss, at Memphis. Whatever is done with the uniforms, ditch the White and Black helmets and go Cherry. We are the Cherry and White, not the White and Cherry or the Black and Cherry. The school is blessed with the best dominant color in all of sports. Let’s accentuate it and keep the helmet brand the same or at least keep the color of the helmets the same and spell out TEMPLE on the side.

Tuesday: The Staff

12.20.16
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An Open Letter To Coach Collins

belltower

Dear Coach Collins,

Welcome to Philadelphia and I hope your stay here is both long and successful, although recent coaching stays have been partly successful and not as long as the fans have wanted.

Temple University is a great institution with a special mission and that mission has been so important to a lot of great coaches that they have considered it an honor and a privilege to make it a last stop on the way to Hall of Fame careers. As a favor to yourself, while you still can, please sit down and discuss why with football’s Wayne Hardin, basketball’s John Chaney and Fran Dunphy and 1,000-plus win baseball winner Skip Wilson. You will certainly do both yourself and the university a favor if you do. Start telling recruits you will be here four years from now when they graduate and leave the obscure answers for coaches recruiting against you. Plan to attend the alumni tailgate at the bowl game. Since you will not be coaching, stop by and have a brewski or two in front of the largest two tents of Temple fans ever assembled in the history of the school. That’s some damn good networking right there.  Once back on campus, get to know and love The Bell Tower. It is to us what the Golden Dome is to the Fighting Irish.

Oh, by the way, that’s who we open the season with next year.

Also, keep Matt Rhule’s number on the rolodex and in your contacts and consult with him whenever you have a question about the current personnel. Leave the upward mobility discussions for coaches Chaney and Hardin, though.

The Roster

What Matt Rhule is likely to tell you is this: Although this roster is suffering significant losses, specifically a four-year starting quarterback in P.J. Walker, the program was built with an eye on staying him here a long time so there is sufficient talent in the cupboard to move forward. He did not burn redshirts, like his predecessor, so this is the guy who will likely be your quarterback for the next four years:

You’re welcome. Ask Trent Dilfer if he’d like to be your quarterback coach. If not, Adam DiMichele comes cheaper and would do just as good a job. Consider keeping good guy coaches and consummate professionals in Ed Foley (special teams) and George DeLeone (offensive line) to ease the transition.

The Running Game

While the Owls lose a great running back in Jahad Thomas, they still are deep and talented at that position with Ryquell Armstead, Jager Gardner and David Hood and have a Thomas-like threat coming up in four-star running back Tyliek Raynor.

 

Also, please keep the fullback in the offense because you have a great one returning in Nick Sharga. Watch this fullback:

 

The Case For the Defense

On defense, your strength next year is the line when single digit defensive end Jacob Martin becomes a starter, and medical redshirt Sharif Finch spends his sixth year here at the other defensive end. All Finch has done his entire time here is make plays like this one against a future NFL second-round pick:

newfinch

Finch has all the physical tools to become this year’s Haason Reddick. He’s going to have the spent the offseason continuing his rehab and putting up Reddick’s insane numbers in the weight room to set him up for the big payday ahead. The interior of the defensive line is in good hands with Karamo Dioubate,  Michael Dogbe, Greg Webb and Freddy Booth-Lloyd.

With that in mind, and with three starting linebackers departing, please consider revamping the defense and going from a passive 4-3 to an aggressive 5-2. Those five guys can cause a lot of havoc—or mayhem—and you will only need to replace two linebackers, not three. One of the starters should be Jarred Folks but, in a pinch, just know that your starting fullback, the shots fired guy, is a great linebacker as well.

Defensive backs should be in good hands as Artrel Foster (16) returns to start at one corner with four-star recruit Kareem Ali. Jr. at the other corner and Delvon Randall and playmaker Sean “Champ” Chandler at the safety positions. Ali really is the greatest because he’s literally Temple Made as he was conceived at Temple by two great athletes, his mom on the track team and his dad on the football team at the time.

Here’s The Kickers

Welcome to a place where there is an abundance of riches at the kicking position. Austin Jones, who will be a true junior in 2017, had a nation-best 17 field goals in a row before being taken out on a dirty hit at Memphis. He was replaced by a true freshman, Aaron “Boom Boom” Boumerhi, who had a good-enough half year to be named second-team All-AAC kicker. This is a good problem to have. Suggestion: Since Jones has not had a redshirt year, redshirt him in 2017, then redshirt Boumerhi in 2018 and have these guys hang around an extra year or two to get their Masters’ degrees. Or, better yet, PHDS.

Good Luck and see you at the tent one week from today.

Mike Gibson

Editor and Publisher

Temple Football Forever

Thursday: Eye on The Prize

 

12.18.16
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Fake News And The Coaching Search

The entire press conference, including a question and answer session.

Under the category of “Fake News” had to be all of the names floated as possible replacements for Matt Rhule over the last 10 or so days.

With few exceptions, those names almost gave me a heart attack and certainly gave me agita—not the heartburn definition, but the “more aggravation than I can stand” second definition.

Let’s count the names: K.C. Keeler, Danny Rocco, Neal Brown, Matt Canada, Tim Beck and Chris Klieman and those were just some floated by Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

alexholley

                                                                       Philly TV treasure Alex Holley is stunned that future Philly football treasure Geoff Collins does not wear socks.

With just about everyone, my initial—and only reaction—was “you’ve got to be kidding me.” Keeler was fired from Delaware and coming off a 65-7 loss to James Madison. You would be doing Sam Houston State a favor by taking that guy off its hands. Rocco was being interviewed by Delaware, which is really a step down from the same position he was already holding at Richmond. (Rocco got beat, 42-14, by Stony Brook this year.) Canada was fired at N.C. State a year ago as offensive coordinator before being rescued by his friend, Pat Narduzzi, at Pitt. Neal Brown (Troy) and Chris Klieman (North Dakota State) have zero connections to Philadelphia and no understanding of Temple. Beck is the “co-offensive coordinator” at Ohio State, so we don’t know if he was responsible for the good plays or the bad plays. Plus, you’ve got to believe Urban Meyer has the big input there.

With those backgrounds, when the news hit the radio that Geoff Collins was hired by Temple there was a huge sigh of relief. Compared to those guys, Collins sounded like the Second Coming of Vince Lombardi. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that Temple intentionally floated those horrible choices to make this one look even better but that’s probably giving Temple too much credit.

The truth is no one really knew who the targeted guy was until the morning of the announcement and that is the real credit  Dr. Pat Kraft deserves.

This was a guy who came out of left field and was not even in the speculation, but a guy who fit what Temple was looking for infinitely better than some of the names floated. It makes you wonder who Narducci’s “source” was because Temple did not even consider some of those names he reported as being interviewed. Temple denies being involved with the only name that made any sense that Narducci floated, Old Dominion head coach Bobby Wilder.

Maybe it’s just as well.  Temple fans dodged some pretty bad ammunition before Kraft caught Collins in his netting.

“Temple hit a home run when they hired him,” no less an authority than Matt Rhule said upon hearing the news.

I believe Matt simply because from what Collins has said, he does not appear to be the kind of guy who will be stumbling to find his way as a head coach like Rhule was here the first couple of years. Rhule sacrificed immediate wins while trying to implement a system that did not fit the talents of his players. Collins, on the other hand, is a coach who said he believes in tailoring his schemes around the talents of the players he has in the program. I believe he is a guy who says what he means and means what he says.

If so, he is just the kind of guy who will hit the ground running and a baton carrier is really the only thing this program needs right now.

Tuesday: A Coach Collins Primer

 

12.16.16
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Mayhem’s Already Here

footprint

Temple’s defense is No. 1 in the nation in DL havoc rate and No. 9 in overall havoc rate.

Funny how one of college football’s best nicknames can originate essentially in the basement of a Vanderbilt University grad student, but that’s what led to Temple head football coach Geoff Collins being called the “Minister of Mayhem.”

A couple of years ago, Collins was pouring over some defensive statistics that he especially liked and stumbled upon the mayhem stat, which was developed by Stephen Prather, a student going for his Master’s at Vanderbilt.

ranking

Temple is No. 3 in overall defense.

Simply put, the “Mayhem” stat counts the percentage of plays on defense that end in a sack, fumble, tackle for loss or interception and those are the kind of stats Collins gears his defensive scheme to achieve. His players then started calling him the “Minister of Mayhem” and the nickname stuck.

If Collins is the “Minister of Mayhem” then he probably already met the “Kings of Mayhem” and they are our own Temple Owls. Temple’s DL is No. 1 in the nation in “Havoc Rate” which is a team’s total tackles for loss, passes defensed, and forced fumbles.

The defensive footprint stats, which roughly parallel Prather’s and Collins’ favorite stats, already have Temple has the nation’s No. 1 disrupting defense. Since Collins will probably not be his own defensive coordinator, he probably has a guy in mind right now to implement his system.

Who that will be is only known to him, but he will probably come from a group of coaches he met along the way in stops that started at Albright, went to Georgia Tech, Alabama, Mississippi State and Florida.

Meanwhile, he should be observing and taking notes at the Military Bowl because whatever he has in mind for the Owls’ defense are things they already are doing very well.

Sunday: Dodging Bullets

Tuesday: A Coach Collins Primer

Thursday: Eyes On The Prize

12.14.16
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Winning The Press Conference

Temple-made Morgyn Seigfried talks with Geoff Collins

So far, we can say new Temple football coach Geoff (pronounced Jeff) Collins is 1-0 after having won his opening press conference.

Certainly, it was a more impressive introduction than the last two.

Rhule also won his, but stumbled on the question of “wanting to sign a 15-year contract, if Bill would let me ” which does not look all that sincere in retrospect. Steve Addazio got a loss because just about everyone in the crowd smelled his loving “South Philly macaroni” comment as the baloney it was then and turned out to be after a two-year stay.

Why Collins won it was mostly because of the things he did not say, not the things he did say.

Collins never mentioned the macaroni or the 15-year commitment and that was just as well. Everybody in the room, or at least most, knows what the landscape of college football is these days and Temple is just a stepping stone to further greatness. Really, any Group of Five school is and some Power 5 schools are as well. Ask Vanderbilt fans if they felt like a Power 5 team when their head coach left for another Power 5 school.

That’s the world we live in, where the bigger schools who draw the biggest crowds eat their young.

If Collins is a tasty morsel in a couple of years, then he will have done his job here and Temple and its fans will be better for it. Anyone who has spent recent stops in Mississippi, Georgia and Florida probably does not plan to put down roots in Philadelphia and the room knows that and Collins did not try to toss the bull bleep at them.

Collins deftly avoided the “Elephant in the Room” which was the revolving door of head coaches at Temple. It’s best to avoid promises you cannot keep. They might have well keep a revolving door at the E-O office Collins will occupy for at least part of his five-year, $2 million-per-year deal.

It would have been nice for Collins to have said it was his goal to be the next Wayne Hardin at Temple, a guy who spent 13 mostly great years here but that was the college football of yesterday and that’s history. For another subject, at least Collins knows the geography, having worked close by in Reading.

“Me, Matt Rhule, Sean Padden at Albright College,” Collins said. “I was the defensive coordinator, Padden was the D-Line coach and Matt Rhule was the linebackers’ coach and we had a blast.”

If he keeps winning in his coming days like he did the first one, this stop along the way on the Collins Train should be another, albeit higher-paying, blast.

Friday: Mayhem’s Already Here

 

12.13.16
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Learning From History

collins

Geoff Collins looks like Dan Klecko in this photo.

Already, the testimonials are pouring in as a great Power 5 defensive coordinator is hired by an AAC school.

Got to love this quote from his former head coach:

“He’s a top-notch recruiter, a tremendous leader of young men and a brilliant coach.”

A quote about new Temple head coach Geoff Collins from Florida head coach Jim McElwain?

Could be, but that quote was uttered three years ago yesterday by Brian Kelly, the head coach at Notre Dame, about Bob Diaco, the new head coach at UConn. On that day, Notre Dame long snapper Scott Daly called Diaco “an incredible coach and an even better man.” Future All-American linebacker Jaylon Smith reacted with a “No!” when he heard the news.

Despite all the accolades, Diaco turned out to be a terrible hire for UConn, and no amount of lipstick can make that pig look good.

The point being that hiring assistant coaches—more than head coaches, certainly—is an inexact science. There is a Peter Principle involved—some guys rise to their respective levels of competence. For some guys, like Diaco, and maybe Steve Addazio, the best jobs they’ve ever done might have come as assistant coaches and that might be the best job they are capable of doing.

For some, like Matt Rhule, the best jobs they have done were as head coaches.

Maybe Collins is more like Rhule than Diaco but the point is, no one really knows. Everything about hiring an assistant coach with no track record as a head coach at the level Temple currently plays is a crapshoot.

It’s no coincidence that the best head coaching hire in Temple football history, Wayne Hardin, was a great head coach at a Top 10 team before he ever came to Temple. That market is now too rich for the Owls and they are forced to take chances because they do not have the millions to hire away Top 10 head FBS coaches anymore.

On Wednesday, at an 11 a.m. press conference, Temple rolls the dice on another assistant coach, like it rolled the dice on a Clemson DC named Ron Dickerson in 1992 and another Florida coordinator named Steve Addazio in 2010 and Matt Rhule in 2012. The testimonials will come pouring in shortly after that.

The Owls will blow hard on that pair of dice as they introduce Collins. They can only hope to be as lucky as they were on the last roll.

Tomorrow Night: Reaction From Presser