5 Most Indispensable Assistant Coaches in College Football
There are really two coaching silly seasons.
The first, and more recognizable, is in December when head and assistant coaching vacancies become available. Like with musical chairs, coaches come and go from program to program.
The second is right after national signing day in February. Recruiting classes are set, assistant coaches have done their job and so they, too, move on to other opportunities.
It makes you appreciate when a coach does hang around a staff for longer than a year or when that coach gets promoted elsewhere and leaves a big hole behind. Those assistants can be labeled as indispensable.
Which college football assistants fall under that category? The answers are in the following slides and include coaches who have been at their current jobs for at least one season.
Alabama Defensive Coordinator Kirby Smart
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Has there been a coordinator in college football linked to more coaching searches—head and assistant—than Alabama's Kirby Smart? It doesn't feel it.
Most recently,
Smart has been the Crimson Tide's defensive coordinator under Nick Saban since 2007 and was an assistant under Saban with the Miami Dolphins in 2006 and at LSU in 2004. The 2009 Broyles Award winner for top assistant coach has led Alabama to a top-five finish in total defense every year from 2008 to 2013.
The 2014 Alabama defense was especially good against the run, giving up just five touchdowns on the ground all season. It's hard to find another coordinator who has been as consistently good as Smart has been under Saban.
Why Smart hasn't been hired away as a head coach could be due to myriad reasons, but Saban knows that day is coming. When it gets here, it will be well-deserved.
"I know Kirby will do a good job being a head coach when he does get the opportunity, and I know he’ll get one," Saban told Don Kausler Jr. of AL.com in 2013.
Virginia Tech Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster
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Want to know the one guy who figured out Ohio State's offense last year? It was Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster.
Granted, Foster lined up against a much greener Buckeyes team than the one that hoisted the national championship trophy in January. Still, the Hokies knew that getting to quarterback J.T. Barrett early and often was going to be the key.
In a 35-21 stunner in early September, Virginia Tech held Ohio State to 327 yards of total offense—the second-lowest total for the Buckeyes last year.
Nicole Auerbach of USA Today wrote the following in September:
"Particularly disruptive along the line was junior defensive end Dadi Nicolas, who was seemingly everywhere and tallied two sacks. Junior linebacker Deon Clarke recorded a career-high 10 tackles, including a sack, and broke up a pass. The Hokies' pair of elite cornerbacks Kendall Fuller and Brandon Facyson handled Ohio State's deep threats.
Foster said he counted up 31 times that Barrett, the Buckeyes' quarterback, was hit by a Hokies defender. That's particularly impressive considering the youth and inexperience of the Virginia Tech front.
"When that quarterback is getting hit — and there were a couple of nice hits – that scenario benefits us, hopefully, in the end," Foster said.
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Foster has been with Tech since 1987 and has been synonymous with the blue-collar image of the program. Tech has finished among the top two ACC teams in scoring defense in six of the past seven seasons.
In December, Foster agree to a new five-year contract that will pay him $900,000 annually, per Andy Bitter of the Roanoke Times.
Oregon Running Backs Coach Gary Campbell
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Oregon has had its fair share of great coaches, both at the head and assistant levels, over the years. Two of the program's longest-tenured coaches—defensive coordinator Don Pellum and running backs coach Gary Campbell—have been through it all.
Specifically, Campbell has helped lead the Ducks to top-10 finishes in rushing offense from 2008-2013.
As noted by Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer last month, "Campbell has watched 17 1,000-yard backs cycle through the program. He's coached 15 of the 17."
This past year, freshman Royce Freeman finished with 1,365 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. He's just the latest. Campbell has been coaching up 1,000-yard running backs for years and extended the Ducks' recruiting footprint into his home state of Texas.
As noted by Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com, Campbell may not be the Ducks' head coach, but he is in many ways a face of the program:
"Campbell has worked for four head coaches: [Rich] Brooks, who was succeeded by his offensive coordinator, Mike Bellotti, who was succeeded by his offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, who was succeeded by his offensive coordinator, Mark Helfrich. Oregon's success is rooted in its stability, and Campbell is the rock.
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.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Auburn Offensive Coordinator Rhett Lashlee
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As far as younger coaches go, no assistant may be joined more closely to his head coach than Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee is to Gus Malzahn.
Since his first year as a graduate assistant for Arkansas in 2006, Lashlee has been separated from Malzahn once—and that was to take the offensive coordinator position at Samford in 2011.
In 2012, he moved back up to the Division I ranks and served as Malzahn's offensive coordinator at Arkansas State. He's held the same position with the Tigers under Malzahn for the past two years.
While Malzahn is the better-known offensive mastermind, Lashlee has proved he's not just someone playing second fiddle. In his three years as an FBS offensive coordinator, Lashlee's offenses have averaged 36.6 points per game. In 2013, Auburn averaged 501 yards of offense per game.
Lashlee is undoubtedly on the fast track up the coaching rankings.
However, as Scott Roussel of FootballScoop.com has noted before, Lashlee appears content to coach under Malzahn for a few more years to gain experience.
TCU Co-Offensive Coordinators Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie
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As usual, I cheat where I can. It's almost impossible to separate TCU's co-offensive coordinators Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie (pictured above as Texas Tech's quarterback) as two different guys.
Yes, they both bring something to the table. However, if you consider how both coaches transformed the Frogs offense in 2014, they're both indispensable.
Meacham, a Broyles Award finalist this past season, handled the play-calling duties and the results were dramatic. TCU was easily most improved offense in college football from 2013 in total yards (197.4 more per game) and scoring (21.7 more points per game).
Additionally, the Frogs' wide receiver unit went from an underwhelming one to arguably the Big 12's best.
Cumbie was responsible for morphing quarterback Trevone Boykin from a player destined for a position change to the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Heading into the 2015 season, Boykin should be on the short list for realistic Heisman Trophy candidates.
Bringing on Meacham and Cumbie to reignite TCU's offense under a high-tempo spread attack took head coach Gary Patterson, a defensive-minded guy, out of his comfort zone.
In hindsight, how he ever got by without them is a wonder.
"Their relationship is awesome,” Patterson told Max Olson of ESPN.com last April. "I think the whole group has meshed real well. They’ve brought a lot of energy and new ideas."
Eventually, one or both of of TCU's offensive lifesavers will find a head coaching gig. For now, they make up the best one-two offensive punch in college football.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats used courtesy of cfbstats.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
