Battle for the OC
Former Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Todd Monken could return to Stillwater, but several NFL teams are also interested in the fired Tampa Bay coach.
STILLWATER — Green Bay is off the board, but other NFL opportunities have emerged for Todd Monken, who is one of the top targets on Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy’s list of potential offensive coordinators to replace Mike Yurcich.
But Gundy will likely have to wait until after those NFL franchises make their decisions before he could try to bring Monken back to Cowboy country, where he was the offensive coordinator in 2011-12.
The 52-year-old Monken is coming off an impressive year as the Tampa Bay offensive coordinator, despite working under a head coach who was fired two Sundays ago. The Buccaneers led the NFL in passing yards and were second in yards per passing attempt with an offense quarterbacked by journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick and troubled former No. 1 pick Jameis Winston.
With that, plus the NFL’s move toward more progressive, collegestyle offenses like what Monken runs, at least three franchises pursued Monken as a head coaching candidate.
Of the three, Cincinnati and the New York Jets are still searching for head coaches, and Monken is high on both lists, according to reports. He interviewed Tuesday with the Jets.
The Green Bay Packers settled on Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur, which could present the next round of road blocks for the Monken-to-Stillwater train.
If he doesn’t land a head coaching gig in the league, Monken would still be a popular name in NFL offensive coordinator searches.
At that point, it would come down to Monken deciding what direction he wants to take his career. It’s hard to envision Gundy turning Monken away, should he want to come run the Cowboy offense.
Of course, Monken likely doesn’t fit the continuity aspect that Gundy spoke at length about before OSU’s Liberty Bowl win over Missouri on New Year’s Eve.
Gundy relished in having Yurcich run the offense for six seasons before he joined the Ohio State staff as passing game coordinator last week.
Monken has headcoaching talent and OSU would be lucky to keep him for one-third of the time it had Yurcich.
Many other up-andcoming offensive coordinator candidates could fall into the same category, leaving Gundy with a decision to make.
An opportunity at bringing back an offensive mind like Monken — who already understands the program and the offense — might outweigh the continuity of staff aspect.
But other options might not have that advantage. So if Gundy wants to keep with the familiarity he has built in his offensive meeting room, an internal promotion would provide the smoothest transition.
Offensive line coach Josh Henson has offensive coordinator experience at Missouri, and receivers coach Kasey Dunn has eight years of work in the OSU offense. Either could be a candidate for the promotion.
It’s possible they could combine in a co-coordinator situation, though Gundy has only opted for such a setup in the 200809 seasons when Gundy was calling plays himself.
An internal promotion would open the door for OSU to hire a new quarterbacks coach, and with Gundy’s pronounced desire to hire assistants with a connection to the program, a few obvious candidates move to the front of the line.
Former OSU quarterback J.W. Walsh is a well-respected young coach, overseeing running backs at Abilene Christian, where he handles recruiting in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Another former Cowboy quarterback, Zac Robinson, has worked at Pro Football Focus since his NFL career ended, and he has done personal coaching, including regular work with Mason Rudolph during his OSU career. Though he has a good job at PFF, Robinson could be drawn to the idea of college coaching.
And former OSU graduate assistant Bodie Reeder, who helped Yurcich with quarterback coaching, has elevated himself as an inventive offensive mind as the coordinator at Eastern Washington at the FCS level. Eastern Washington lost to North Dakota State in the FCS championship game.
Some reports have also mentioned Reeder as an offensive coordinator candidate.
Thousands of coaches are in San Antonio at the AFCA coaching convention, which ends Wednesday, and other candidates could emerge from Gundy’s networking in the Alamo City.
Gundy will want to have the full staff in place by early to mid-February to prepare for spring practice and recruiting, but it’s unlikely he’ll make any move until he knows Monken is off the list.