The most unpopular guy, to fans, is the offensive coordinator.
The offensive coordinator is like an umpire. If he's good, you don't know he's out there.
Still, even with that, I don't get all the vitriol directed at Steve Addazio when he had that job for half of his six years at Florida.
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| Give me an older guy type, like Ralph Friegden, as our next OC |
I still don't get it.
Didn't Urban Meyer hire Addazio?
Didn't Urban Meyer take part in the offensive game plan?
Didn't Urban Meyer show full support for the way Addazio was doing things?
Yes, yes and yes.
Did Urban Meyer turn his back and look into the stands when Florida was on offense?
No.
Yet Urban Meyer must have built up so much street cred that it was Addazio's fault, not his.
As a Temple fan, I can see where Florida fans were coming from, though.
We all blamed Matt Rhule's for Temple's underachieving offense this year, despite top-notch personnel.
Then someone said something insightful.
Isn't this really Al Golden's fault?
Doesn't Al Golden sign off on the offensive game plan?
So, by season's end, most Temple fans came to that way of thinking.
Golden was the program's CEO and, ultimately, he was responsible for an offense that failed to utilize more sophisticated weapons (Bernard Pierce, Matty Brown, Michael Campbell, Evan Rodriguez, Rod Streater, Delano Green, Joey Jones, etc.) than the Pentagon had in its arsenal.
That's why this next big hire, is the most important one.
Give me an older guy, a Ralph Friegden or a George DeLeone type who Addazio respects, over a younger guy that Addazio will want to mold. Now I don't know that Addazio can sweet talk either one into coming to Philadelphia. I've heard rumblings that DeLeone is bound for UConnn and Friegden could be bound for Virginia Tech. However, Philadelphia is a lot closer to Friegden's Maryland home than Blacksburg is so that could be a consideration for a 63-year-old man.
If not either, I'll take someone with a simliar long and proven record of turning scoreboards into adding machines.
That way, Addazio can hand over the keys to the tanks and artillery to someone who knows how to use them and he can concentrate on being a good CEO.
I want no parts of Matt Rhule in his old job, though.
DeLeone was so good when he was OC at Temple (also under Golden) I didn't know he was out there. I can't say the same for Matt Rhule, even though I blamed Golden for his shortcomings.
DeLeone or Friegden would not be the most popular Owls, but they would do their jobs with the kind of quiet efficiency that would make you think they were not even there.
That's the OC show I like the most.
