Friday, December 28, 2012

Rhule's complete staff is ...

BREAKING NEWS: Nick Rolovich accepts position as Temple offensive coordinator as of 6:30 p.m. Saturday night ... as Tyler Haddock-Jones might say ... #geniuses ..
The Wisconsin football website "Bucky's 5th Quarter" has high praise for Rolovich.



Nick Rolovich
The most agonizing thing out of Matt Rhule's first few days as Temple head coach has to be the delay in the staff hiring announcements, which has to be expected.
The fans want to hear who now and that's just not happening.
After all, Rhule's got a job to finish at New York first.
Yet, if we are to believe the recruits, they seem to know who the assistants will be and they are not telling.
One of them, Tyler Haddock-Jones, used the hashtag #geniuses to describe the staff Rhule is assembling (see post below). He tweeted that he got off the phone with Rhule at 1:23 on Sunday afternoon and that Rhule told him what the staff would be then.
Haddock-Jones must have been impressed or maybe he's just easily impressed.
We should find out one or the other in the next few days.
So far, two assistants have been named and while both appear to be solid hires, I wouldn't use the hashtag #geniuses next to either one. Brandon Noble is going to be defensive line coach, while Rhule hired a guy from Tennessee Chattanoga, Marcus Satterfield,  to be an offensive coach in some capacity.
Of course, there are more announcements forthcoming and I would use the hashtag #geniuses next to these two:
CHUCK HEATER (DC) and NICK ROLOVICH (OC).
Genius, miracle-worker, same thing.

Heater, for obvious reasons well-documented here. He's been an outstanding defensive coach everywhere he's been and his 2011 Temple defense might have been one of the school's best ever. It's not his fault two of his starting defensive linemen were suspended or that his defensive ends lacked closing speed on the quarterback. A 3-4 defense utilizing linebackers as pass rushers would fix that problem until the Owls can recruit some stud sackers. Love to see Heater retained.
Rolovich's pistol offense would work well at Temple. Chris Coyer was not the same quarterback in 2012 as he was in 2011 simply because Scot Loeffler wasn't around to utilize he talents.
If Coyer can get out of a pass rush and throw on the run, that makes him a more effective dual-threat. The same can be said for Juice Granger and Kevin Newsome, who have similar skill sets.
I'll believe Rolovich comes when I see him on North Broad Street. It might be a culture shock for someone who has worked in Hawaii and near Vegas the last two years to work at 10th and Diamond. Still, it can't be too different from the Gainesville to Philly trip Heater enjoyed and, from all accounts, is apparently enjoying.
We don't know yet if Rolovich and Heater are in the fold or will be in the fold, but if they join Rhule the staff IQ goes up exponentially and Haddock-Jones can use that hashtag without fear of contradiction.