Ohio State should turn to TOB

Despite the occasional pleasure I get in watching his tired act in Raleigh, this is a serious post. I think Tom O'Brien might be the perfect guy to help Ohio State rebuild their program and reclaim their reputation. Aside from TOB's age (he would turn 64 in during the 2012 season) everything else makes sense.

Ohio State will have a tough time hiring an A list coach
The general assumption seems to be that Ohio State will get an A list head coach. Primary speculation focused on Urban Meyer. I think getting a top guy will be easier said than done. Meyer's health is still in question. This is also a guy who railed on about the corruption of college football on his way out the door at Florida. Does this fit the profile of a guy willing to step into a powder keg? I also don't think any other top guy with a job will take on Ohio State without knowing the full impact of potential sanctions. Given the timing of the USC case, it is unlikely all the sanctions will be known by December 2011 (which is when Ohio State's search will begin).

TOB has the profile that will sell to recruits, most Ohio State fans and the NCAA
He's an Ohio guy. He's a disciplinarian (with less hypocrisy than most college football coaches). He'll recruit Ohio hard. He'll beat Michigan. He'll leave the program in better shape than he found it. He has no association with Tressel nor any of the other boosters. He has a history of following rules.

When USC replaced Carroll with Kiffin, it was a slap in the face to the NCAA. They replaced the rule breaker with one of his lieutenants and a guy who was earning his own sordid reputation in Tennessee. Hence the punishment under Kiffin was severe. With TOB, Ohio State would be making a clean break and hiring TOB for his reputation.

TOB would take the job
Many (myself included) assume this will be TOB's last season. But the like all football coaches, the old Marine does have a healthy ego. He also feels like he has never been given enough credit for what he's done. If he "rebuilt" Ohio State it would solidify his career legacy and give him one final, big pay day. Plus this is the situation TOB seems to love -- low expectations and high upside. It fits his MO and his experience.

Whoever Ohio State hires will be a transitional coach through the sanctions and rebuilding. If that path is inevitable, the school might as well go with the squeaky clean Marine, endure the five years of boredom and come out smelling like a rose for the next young hot name.

TOB talk and other links

TOB is playing down the rematch.

Classic TOB spin in this Q&A. After calling last year's BC team experienced, the interviewer infers that this BC's team is young. Of course TOB disputes the theory and also calls this BC team experienced.

BC blogger Big Bhang Theory is also taking a look at the TOB years.

Jags gave the media a classic "whatever" regarding the imbalanced offense.

BC enters the hockey season as the favorite in Hockey East.

Jags is still filling out his 2009 recruiting class, yet has already garnered his first commitment for 2010.

Drew Little is getting plenty of coverage here in the Atlanta area.

Debunking more myths

I fear that if BC continues winning you’ll hear more and more about Jags winning with TOB’s players. It pisses me off and is unfair to the current staff and a convenient crutch of the new NC State coaches. This article by David Glenn sparked this post, but I am sure there is more TOB-Jags spin to come. Let me reiterate: talent and experience explain part of BC’s success and part of NC State’s failures, but not all of it. Coaching style and use of your players is as important.

First let’s poke a few holes in the cupboard is full theory and TOB won because of strict roster development. Jags inherited a very good team, but not all the starters are 23-year old Seniors. Take a look at the starters for the Bowling Green game. You have two true freshman and a Sophomore on the offense and three Sophomores (two of them true) starting on the defense. There are also numerous underclassmen scattered throughout the depth chart. To say the 2003 class was all by design doesn’t jibe with TOB’s actions before and after. He played seven true freshmen last season. He played four true freshmen in his very first year at BC. Redshirting is a good policy but never a mandate.

Jags is also working around TOB’s inability to find a dominant pass rushing after Kiwi, a very thin backfield and an overrated offensive line unit. Next year Jags will have to deal with TOB misfires in the 2005 and 2006 QB recruiting. Every staff in the country deals with holes. The new staff has done a good job of finding their own talent (true freshmen and Jags recruits Castanzo, Momah, Gause and Newman) and coaching up guys who weren’t starting for TOB (Tennant, Ramsey).

TOB can whine about injuries, but Jags lost Brian Toal, B.J. Raji and Jeff Smith all before the season even started.

The second part of the success is giving players schemes and gameplans in which they can succeed. Jags first good move: keeping on Spaz. The continuity on defense has been obvious and made the transition much easier. He then went out and found a good teacher and play caller in Steve Logan. As much as the defense looks the same, the difference in how BC approaches offense is obvious to even the most casual viewer.

BC is 5-0 and in position to do something big in part because of the players but also because Jags has been very shrewd in what he changed and what he didn’t change. You will find very few BC fans that believe we would be 5-0 now under TOB.

I don’t know as much about the NC State roster or even the game to game decisions that may be hindering the Wolfpack. I do know from reading that TOB is blaming the lack of talent and the adjustment to his system. This wouldn’t be the first time he wasted talent in order to move to a system. It may pay off in Raleigh and Jags may not be able to duplicate TOB’s long-term success, but the wins and losses of the 2007 season can be attributed to the current coaches of both schools and no one else.

How I feel about TOB’s return

Let me get this out of the way early in the week. I don’t hate TOB. But I am glad he’s someone else coach now. The media and other fans often wonder why some BC fans weren’t more upset when the old Marine left Chestnut Hill. Like any long relationship, there are a million things you could point to: coming up short in big games and the endless list of excuses and lowering of expectations in the media. Those aren’t my biggest gripes or the reason I was glad he moved on. My problem with TOB is that he never embraced BC publicly. You always got the feeling he never wanted to be here. I think he took the job as a stepping stone to get the UVA gig when Welsh retired. As we know that didn’t turn out his way. He was also the bridesmaid for jobs at Georgia Tech and Washington. This desire to move on started to show in how he interacted with fans, recruits and many of his players.

Instead of saying “we are BC” and we can win here, TOB always used what BC is and was as a reason for coming up short or to make his efforts look more heroic. He’s still doing it. Check out this quote in the Herald.

Asked if he felt at all underappreciated toward the end of his stay at BC, O’Brien paused ever so briefly before answering.

“I know this,” he said. “I know anyone in my profession and all my peers, every time I see them, quite frankly, they say how amazed they were at how things happened, the way that we played and what our staff accomplished. That’s all I care about. The people in this profession that know football know what was accomplished there in the last 10 years.”

Yet as I’ve shown, BC is a winning program. TOB did well, but he was not a miracle worker. But that mindset, whether he is spinning or really believes it, is the heart of the problem. He feels like he did great work and was never appreciated. Just look at what he said to his mouthpiece at the Sporting News.

Boston College fans won't soon forget O'Brien's departure after 10 years on The Heights. BC will get an up-close look at O'Brien on September 8, when the Wolfpack visits Boston College. So, Tom: How do you think fans will react?

"I know what they should do," he says. "But I don't know what they will do."

TOB doesn’t get it and never will. The losses were part of the problem, but TOB’s inability to open up to the fans and embrace BC was as big a problem as coming up short. How could he ever win championships at BC when he never believed BC could win it all?

Jags may never be as successful on the field as TOB, but his attitude and approach are welcome. He uses everything BC is as a selling point not a hindrance.

I don’t begrudge those BC fans who’ll give TOB a polite applause. That’s their right. In ten or so years, I am sure we’ll bring him back to honor his accomplishments in Boston. When that time comes and we’ve all moved on, I’ll give TOB the credit and applause his accomplishments earned. This Saturday I’ll boo.

[For those who don't think I am balanced on the subject of TOB, check out this series. I think it is pretty fair. Ten years or TOB: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.]

The Sporting News pro-TOB bias continues

In the past I've questioned The Sporting News' Tom Dienhart's love affair with TOB. Well now he has come out with his ACC coaches ranking. Guess who he ranked last? This is how he gushed about TOB: "...O'Brien is a great coach. He worked for too long in anonymity at Boston College, where he never was fully appreciated." Something is up here.

Every writer (including this one) has biases and agendas. Mine are pretty obvious. I want to see BC win and will lean pro BC in most of my work. I don't know anything about Dienhart's relationship with TOB, but there is an angle. Take this article. First, you could argue that putting Shannon and Jags (two new coaches) at the bottom is unfair. But why is Shannon ahead of Jags? Jags was a coordinator in a BCS conference a decade ago. He just left a coordinator position in the NFL. Shannon has been on hand as Miami self destructed. What makes him a better coach than Jags? Then Dienhart closes with this little jab: "...But can he run the whole show? The jury is out. But know this: Jags inherited a loaded deck and needs to win big this fall. And if he tastes success, will he bolt back to the NFL." In those few sentences he raised expectation for Jags, set him up for a fall and then hedged by saying (paraphrasing) "if he wins, he's gone." TOB couldn't have said it better himself.

Why do I care? I guess I shouldn't. Tom Dienhart doesn't matter. He is a no-name columnist for a struggling brand. What bothers me is that I anticipate more shilling for TOB in the future and a few more digs at Jags.

One day Jags will give us plenty to rank, grade and discuss. In the meantime give the guy a chance to do something on the field and ignore this TOB mouthpiece.

Thanks to BCDee for finding this gem.

Talking points part 3

Another talking point. The third in the series. Listen for it on Dec. 30 on ESPN 2.

• Talking Point: “Tom O’Brien and staff have a disciplined team.”
• Reality: It all depends on how you define discipline. If you mean doling out punishment for bad behavior, then yes, TOB does have a disciplined team. But if you define it by lack of penalties and fundamental football, then the discipline is sorely lacking.
  

  Being a Marine and gameday stoic, the TV announcers usually buy the disciplinarian line. And yes, TOB does graduate his players (future talking point) and will suspend or kick players (regardless of ability) off the team for indiscretions. However, when I think of discipline I broaden the definition to include mistake free football – an area that has been in the decline of late. While a holding call here or there is understood, the number of unsportsmanlikes, personal fouls and late hits is maddening. Heading into the Tire Bowl, BC is the 32nd most penalized team in DIA. Last season they were the 16th in most penalized team in DIA. If you look at the other teams near the top you’ll see there is no direct correlation between penalties and wins and losses. However, I think BC could have beaten Pitt and Wake with fewer mistakes. And if you include poor tackling and dropped passes as lack of discipline, then the Syracuse game was Exhibit 1 in the problem. (Readers can tell I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the Orange debacle.)

Talking points part 2.

This is the second is the Talking Points series. As I said, this is my response to the things the announcers are sure to mention.

• Talking Point: "Boston College has the longest bowl winning streak in the nation" or some variation there of "Boston College winner of four straight bowl games."
• Reality: While we have won four straight, the reality is that these games were not the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange Bowls. Yes, it is an accomplishment to win a bowl game. But not the Herculean feat it is and will be portrayed to be. As any fan of college football knows there are too many bowl games. This has allowed BC to get into third and fourth tier games. Of the four victories, only the 2002 Music City Bowl provided a worthwhile opponent -- Georgia. As further proof of these overrated accomplishments, only once in those four years has BC finished in the final Top 25 rankings.

  
  There is something to be said for big game preparation. But I don't attribute BC's bowl success to TOB and staff firing up the troops and providing unbeatable gameplans. Sure that is part of it, but I also think the bowl wins have been a cases of underachieving BC teams finally playing to their potential against flawed mid-major teams ('02-'03 Toledo and '03-'04 CSU) or weak BCS teams ('00-01 ASU and '01-'02 UGA). This year's Tire Bowl is more of the same. BC lost its shot at a real bowl game by getting pounded at home against Syracuse (underachieving: check). Our poor travel record led to a Gator Bowl snub and a trip to the Tire Bowl (third tier bowl: check). Where we will face UNC (weak BCS squad: check). If formula holds BC should win. I'll give my prediction closer to kick off.
  

Breaking down the talking points

The unfortunate thing about rooting for a team with a limited following is that every time you watch a game on national TV you usually know more about the team than the announcers. Sure, they have access that I don't have, but most read the Sports Information talking points and have pat interviews with the coaches. Like any profession, some announcers work harder than others and some are spread thin on other assignments (other games, local sports, etc.). I remember when I was at BC, former radio play-by-play man Sean Grande used to watch tapes of all the opponents games. While Gary Thorne (who I usually like) was really unprepared for the BC-WVU game this season. So for anyone watching the Continental Tire Bowl on Dec. 30 at 1 PM ET on ESPN 2, I will breakdown the predictable talking points in a series of posts as we lead up to the bowl game.

• Talking point: "BC Head Coach Tom O'Brien rebuilt this program after it was 'rocked' by a gambling scandal."
• Reality: The gambling scandal was bad. A major black eye and the second one to hit the school (the hoops squad was involved in a point shaving scheme in the early '80s). BUT, the actual damage to the football team was minimal. There were 13 players suspended and all the suspensions took place in 1996. No loss of scholarships. No TV penalties. And as a bonus it was the final nail in the coffin for unpopular coach Dan Henning. This also came at a time when our President Father Leahy was in his first year on the job. He along with some important alums forced out unpopular AD Chet Gladchuk. The uncertainty led to a series of people turning their nose up at the job (many of whom are now out of jobs -- I'll address this in later TOB posts). There was also confusion as Chet was offering the job to people without authority. Regardless, BC ended up hiring Virginia Offensive Coordinator Tom O'Brien. O'Brien came in totally under the radar to most at BC. He was a long-time assistant to George Welsh. But he connected with Leahy and seemed to provide the disciplinarian, steady ship background that BC needed. Now outsiders might say the scenario I just described constitutes 'rocked.' However, Tom O'Brien (TOB for short) inherited many advantages when taking over including: a premium of talent and future NFLers like both Hasselbecks, Mike Cloud, Damien Woody, Frank Chamberlain, Chris Hovan, and others; as mentioned before -- no NCAA penalties; Miami on probation; and after Henning, the scandal and the new administration -- he had lower expectations. There was no pressure on Tom O'Brien to win when he arrived. Many schools would gladly be 'rocked' like BC was when TOB took over.