Money’s Not a Problem

[The Miami Ute]

Last night, I posted a comment which covered how much a large number of college football OCs received in salary at the start of this season.

Needless to say, I was shocked to find out that Andy Ludwig was #2 on the list, receiving $1.85M. The only OC receiving a higher salary was Notre Dame’s Mike Denbrock, who currently makes $2.1M a season. That means that Utah was paying more for its OC than any Blueblood other than Notre Dame.

Another commenter mentioned hiring Brian Brohm from Louisville and Central Coast Ute said we probably couldn’t afford him. Well, I checked his salary and he “only” makes $700K a season or approximately 2.5 times less than Ludwig did.

To me, it’s obvious that Utah has the money to hire whomever it wants as the next OC. And, now you know why Bajakian wants the full-time gig.

As I looked at the list, I doubted whether there were many guys that would say no to the kind of money that Utah has been throwing at the OC position. However, I then came to the realization that Utah could spend $10M on an OC and the team’s fortunes wouldn’t change unless the right players are around and Whitt changes his offensive philosophy.

So, again, money is not the problem. It’s the hiring of the right guy with the right system and having the right players to run it that’s difficult.

[DataUte]

The ‘right guy with the right system with the right players’ is the issue. But when the HC sets strategy and it is Time of Posession, field position, ball control (no turnovers), it forces the offensive coordinator to not be able to open it up that much.

Air Raid with higher potential for INT or 12 second 3 and outs? No. RPO? Sure, but have to have the qb. Spread? Need the WR. The recruiting philosophy has been top defense, qb that manages the game with string RBs and line. We have missed on some and injuries have hurt as well.

So, money may not he the problem, but HC philosophy holds us back from changing up the offense too much (plus exchanging the personnel, as different systems need different OL skills – now the NIL and transfer portal makes the switch a little easier and quicker).

[Yergensen]

Know a guy that knew Troy Taylor when he was here. Taylor told him that as the seasons progressed, Whitt became more and more “involved” in the offense, to put it nicely.

[utahwingman]

Great insights on looking at the pay of OC. Would be interesting to see how long those OC have been at the same position with the same school. Outside of money, what else do OC wants? An OC career path is either getting fired or to become a HC. If they are not good, they are out. If they are good, most likely they will be asked to become a HC at a different school. If you were an OC, would you take a lateral move to be an OC just for the money but still have to operate under a HC, or become a HC having full control and higher ceiling for pay? I know we have gone through many OC but that’s the nature of the positions. You are leaving either way and you are not going to find many OC wants to stay long.

We are not getting a roster full of 4-5 stars athletes either, so our success is highly depends on a handful of players to stay healthy and perfrom. Evan programs with 4-5 stars athletes are losing them in the portal but they are able to reload with other 4-5 stars.

[2008 National Champ]

I find the recruiting ranking argument as a reason why Utah can’t have a great offense to be silly. Mike Leach had great offenses every year and no one confused WSU’s athletes for blue chippers. He chose one thing, coached his team to do it well, and ran it over and over daring the defense to stop it.

Utah’s current athletes running the 2011-2013 schemes should be able to average over 35 points in their sleep. Instead they are struggling to get 20 with whatever this spaghetti against the wall concoction is called. Never in my life have I seen an offense where it appears the receivers are designed to be covered and the run game is planned to be stopped. I’m not joking when I say that a guest OC could show up in the box every week having never seen the playbook and call the game by randomly picking plays with their eyes closed and not have it be any worse than what we’ve seen the last two years.

[utahwingman]

Mike Leach first 3 years at WSU is 3-9, 6-7, 3-9 and last year was 6-7. Maybe he had great offense every year but still had losing years. I’m sure WSU fans were hoping Leach could coach defense. Leach is all about offense and Whitt is about defense. Scalley will also be defensive mind. At the end of the day, it’s the W that matters.

Can’t argue about the offensive plays haven’t been good but if we have players like Harrison Jr. or Drake Landon on the team, probably doesn’t matter the play callings. Just throw the ball to their directions and they will catch the ball. They made their QB and OC looked good. Harrison Jr. (as a freshman) burnt us in Rose Bowl when their WR 1, 2 and 3 not available. Drake Landon also destroyed our defense with their backup string QB. Having good recruiting class doesn’t gauranteed wins but it’s a good luxury to have if your starters are not available.

[2008 National Champ]

Ohio State had a 1st round pick at QB, a 1st round pick at receiver (Jaxson Smith-something), a blue chip O Line and a blue chip RB who will be in the league next year if he isn’t already. Let’s not pretend Harrison Jr beat Utah on his own. Or that all that damage through the air wasn’t done against a secondary featuring Micah Bernard.

Having studs at every position helps a lot. But if Indiana can have a top 2 scoring offense with a MAC transfer at QB, perhaps we should start looking past recruiting rankings and recognize that scheme can beat athletes at the college level.

[2008 National Champ]

Mike Leach took over a WSU program that had one .500 season the 8 years before he got there. That won 9 games total the previous 4 seasons before 2012 in an era when you could only improve your team through recruiting which typically took 3 seasons before bearing fruit. Mike Leach could have only dreamed of having the recruiting profile of Utah to build his team.

[Trailgoat]

Said it before. Leach was brilliant at making a complex system simple with plug and play WRs and QBs fitting his system. QBs we’re essentially the same skill set. His list of QBs he coached and QBs that went through the WSU system is impressive. Over the past 20 years under KW, Snoop-Erickson, Smith-Mcbride recruit, the QB position talent has been abysmal.

[2008 National Champ]

That’s the thing, I’m not sure that damn near every QB that comes through Utah is as bad as their career stats. Any more than I believe that Utah is completely incapable of recruiting a receiver that can get open and catch the ball when thrown to. You aren’t weak at those positions every year unless your scheme dictates that you will be.

It’s the reverse effect of the D Line. How can the same staff spend 20 years of turning low to mid 3 stars into D Line pro prospects but not find capable skill players?

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Thanks Miami for the interesting OC pay. If Whitt stays or retires he consults Scalley. We have the money to pay an experienced OC. The offense needs to be designed off the talent you have not the talent you wish you had.

History shows we can recruit RBs and TEs but with the portal there will be disgruntled playmakers that are not getting a chance to play at the blue blood schools. NIL money and an experienced OC can help push them our way.

I don’t think we are too far off being a solid team next year if we don’t get key portal losses.The program has become dysfunctional and needs new leadership.

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