Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Coordinated moves
Assistant coaches traverse the SEC.
FAYETTEVILLE — There’s not an SEC bylaw that requires football teams to hire coordinators with previous coaching experience in the conference.
But it seems like an unwritten rule.
“We just kind of passed them around, didn’t we?” Texas A&M Coach Kevin Sumlin said of the new coordinators. “A lot of them just got new shirts on and new hats.”
Sum lin said that in July at SEC Media Days, but the same sentiment applies as teams approach the start of the 2016 season.
Last season, SEC teams featured 14 new coordinators, including four who moved directly from one conference school to another and nine with SEC coaching experience.
Going into this season, SEC teams have 13 new coordinators, including 10 who previously coached in the conference and three of whom jumped from other SEC teams.
“It probably starts with the quality of the coaches that are in this conference overall,” Florida Coach Jim McElwain said of the constant SEC recycling. “I know this — it makes for some offseason studies to be kind of nuts.
“You’re breaking down opponents’ films, and they’re not even the team you’re going to be playing. It’s some new guy’s offense or defense.”
McElwain is one of four SEC coaches who didn’t make at least one coordinator change in the offseason, along with Arkansas’ Bret Bielema, Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze and Vanderbilt’s Derek Mason.
Bielema might have lost offensive coordinator Dan Enos except for a noncompete clause in his contract forbidding him from taking the same position at another SEC school. Razorbacks defensive coordinator Robb Smith had the same clause added to his contract.
TWO SMART MOVES
Georgia Coach Kirby Smart — Alabama’s defensive coordinator the previous seven years — wanted to talk to Enos about joining the Bulldogs but never got the chance.
Smart opted to hire Jim Chaney — Enos’ predecessor as the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator who was at the University of Pittsburgh last season — and still managed to raid Arkansas’ staff by luring offensive line coach Sam Pittman, Chaney’s close fried.
Chaney and Pittman coached together at Tennessee before coming to Arkansas.
Smart said Chaney was discussed at Alabama as a possible offensive coordinator in previous years, although he never interviewed for the job.
“I’ve had to call defenses against him, and he’s created a lot of issues in what he does,” Smart told reporters at Georgia in the spring. “He gets his best players the ball.”
Smart said Chaney “felt strongly” about bringing Pittman to Georgia with him.
“He felt if he could have Sam by his side, they’d be a great tandem,” Smart said. “It was really a no-brainer for me to hire them together.”
Arkansas doesn’t play Georgia in the regular season, but the Razorbacks will face plenty of new SEC coordinators with Jeremy Pruitt (Alabama), Kevin Steele (Auburn), Dave Aranda (LSU), Peter Sirmon (Mississippi State) and DeMontie Cross (Missouri) on defense, and Josh Heupel (Missouri) and Noel Mazzone (Texas A&M) on offense.
Pruitt, who began his career as an Alabama graduate assistant in 1997 and was a Crimson Tide defensive assistant from 2007-2012, replaced Smart as defensive coordinator after holding the same position at Georgia the past two seasons. He was Florida State’s coordinator when the Seminoles won the national championship in 2013.
“Jeremy did a great job the six years he was with us before, and certainly when he went out on his own proved at Florida State and Georgia that he’s a very capable coordinator,” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said. “It always brings new energy and new ideas when you bring somebody in, but because he was here for so long and understands the scheme and how we do things, it made the transition much easier for our staff and our players.”
MALZAHN STICKS WITH HIRES
Steele, another former Alabama assistant, is working with his third SEC West team in as many years. He came to Auburn from LSU, where he was defensive coordinator last season.
Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn has hired three defensive coordinators in four seasons. They all worked at another SEC school with Ellis Johnson coming from South Carolina and Will Muschamp — now the Gamecocks’ coach — joining Malzahn after being fired as Florida’s coach.
“Kevin’s off to a great start with us,” said Malzahn, a longtime Arkansas high school coach and former Razorbacks offensive coordinator and Arkansas State coach. “Our players have really responded well to him. This spring the guys were playing with great energy and having fun.
“He’s got unbelievable experience in our league, which I think is very important.”
LSU Coach Les Miles lost his defensive coordinator to an SEC West rival for the second consecutive year after John Chavis left for Texas A&M the previous season.
Instead of looking for another replacement with SEC ties, Miles hired Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, who never has coached in the conference.
“We really just looked for a quality defensive coordinator,” Miles said. “I interviewed Dave, and he was the best interview by far.
“We certainly liked Steele. He knew the SEC and knew what to expect and was a tremendous advantage that way. But when we lost Steele, we wanted to go and really get the best, and we were fortunate to get Dave.”
Wisconsin ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring defense (13.7 points per game) last season, No. 3 in total defense (268.5 yards), No. 4 against the run (95.4 yards) and No. 7 against the pass (173.3).
LSU wanted Aranda enough that he is the Tigers’ only assistant with a three-year contract, which is worth $3.75 million.
Miles said the Tigers at times will run their traditional 4-3 as well as the 3-4 alignments brought in by Aranda.
“It’s going to give our opponents a bit of a scheme issue,” Miles said.
ROPER BACK WITH MUSCHAMP
Kurt Roper, the son of former Arkansas All-Southwest Conference defensive end and longtime college defensive line coach Bobby Roper, is back in the SEC at South Carolina with Muschamp after being his offensive coordinator at Florida in 2014.
Even though the Gators went 7-6 and Muschamp and his staff were fired two seasons ago, he wanted Roper as his play-caller again.
Roper, who also had SEC stints at Mississippi State, Tennessee and Ole Miss, worked as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns last season.
“I thought Kurt did a really good job for us at Florida,” Muschamp said. “We didn’t get the results we wanted, but I saw a very fundamental teacher, a very good play-caller. I saw a good staff guy that works well with other people.”
Mazzone and Sirmon came to Texas A&M and Mississippi State from UCLA and USC, but both have SEC experience.
Sirmon, who played linebacker at Oregon and in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans, was with the Tennessee Vols as a graduate assistant in 2010 and linebackers coach in 2011.
Mazzone was Camden native Tommy Tuberville’s offensive coordinator at Ole Miss and Auburn for seven years before Tuberville replaced him in 2002 with Bobby Petrino, who later became Arkansas’ coach.
Sumlin and Mazzone worked together as assistant coaches at Minnesota during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Sumlin was the Golden Gophers’ receivers coach and Mazzone coached quarterbacks.
“He’s been consistent wherever he’s been,” Sumlin said after hiring Mazzone. “He utilizes the pieces that he has, from running backs to receivers to tight ends to whatever he’s got.”
History suggests close to half — maybe more — of the the SEC’s coordinators will be on the move again after this season. That means more offseason film sessions of other teams.
“But that makes it kind of fun,” McElwain said. “It gives you an opportunity to study new things that people are doing.”