People have made a lot about how much better OSU's defense is this year. It is due in no small part to new defensive assistants Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison replacing Greg Schiano and Bill Davis.
However, occasionally I'll hear arguments about how maybe Urban Meyer leaving was good because Ryan Day is better at hiring assistants (I'm obviously generalizing some arguments). So I figured it's be a good exercise to look at some of the assistant coaches who have worked under Meyer.
This first group is guys who I think you can credit Meyer with "discovering". Guys who got their first big assistant job from Urban who went on to become HCs, or became attractive candidates working under Meyer.
Steve Addazio - Addazio was an assitant at Indiana when Urban hired him as OLine coach at Florida. He eventually became OC at Florida. He went 13-11 as HC at Temple and is currently in his 7th year at BC, with a 43-43 record.
Chris Ash - Ash was a secondary coach at Wisconsin and Arkansas before Meyer hired him as DC. He helped OSU win the 2014 CFP, before getting the job at Rutgers, where he...well, you know.
Ryan Day - Day was a grad assistant at Flordia under Urban. He bounced around alot, but was OC under Addazio at Temple and BC. Meyer hired him after a few years in the NFL and promoted him above Kevin Wilson. We all know where he is now.
Luke Fickell - Fickell was already "co-DC" under Tressell, but Jim Heacock really was the DC. After Urban was hired, he assumed DC duties. Had some rough patches, and was quasi-demoted when Ash was brought in. However, he's now 24-11 as HC at Cincinnati, and very well may be in line for a Power 6 job (*cough* Michigan State *cough*).
Tom Herman - Was OC at Iowa State when Meyer tagged him as OSU's OC in 2012. Was not well known, but very quickly became HC at Houston (22-4) and Texas (23-14).
Dan Mullen - Was a grad assistant at ND before joining Urban at Bowling Green, then followed him to Utah and Florida. Became OC once he came to Florida. Went 69-46 in 9 years at Mississippi State and is now 19-5 at Florida.
Charlie Strong - Strong had been a bunch of places, including DC at South Carolina and Florida when Urban arrived. However, didn't get his first HC job until 2010. Was 37-15 at Louisville, 16-21 at Texas, and currently is 21-14 in 2+ years at South Florida.
Kyle Wittingham - He was at Utah for almost a decade before Meyer showed up. Took over as HC after he left and is 129-62 in his 16th season.
That's a pretty impressive list. 8 guys who became Power 5 head coaches, 4 of whom are currently ranked in the CFP rankings. Ash had a terrible stint at Rutgers, but when they guy who couldn't win at a football grave yard is at best 8th on the list for a 17 year career, that's not a huge negative.
There are plenty of other guys who coached under Meyer and then went onto become head coaches including. These guys either had gotten big breaks elsewhere already or coached very little under Meyer:
Tim Beckman (Toledo and Illinois), Gary Anderson (Utah State, Wisconsin and Oregon St), Gregg Brandon (BG), Doc Holliday (Marshall), Everett Withers (James Madison), Mike Vrable (Titans) and DJ Durkin (Maryland).
On top of that, Meyer hired most of OSU's current staff, including Mattison (who was with Meyer at Florida), Kevin Wilson, Larry Johnson and Briant Hartline.
My point: While the Schiano and Davis hires were bad, Meyer's track record for hiring assistant is great. Eventually, guys like Mattison and Johnson will retire, and guys like Hartline or Halfley or Wilson will get coordinator or head jobs elsewhere. It will be interesting to see if Day can hire good assistants the way Meyer did.
INdiana loses by 7, at Penn State, and they drop out of the rankings.
Meanwhile, there sits 7-4 USC....oy.
It's always somewhat of an art to say which assistants a coach gets "credit" for.Great write up, however, bit of a stretch to say Fickell was a Meyer guy when the university trusted him as interim head coach pre-Meyer. He made his own meal ticket by having the humility to return as DC. Happy to see him succeed at Cincy and would rather he stay and build something but understand if he takes the bigger job elsewhere.
People have made a lot about how much better OSU's defense is this year. It is due in no small part to new defensive assistants Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison replacing Greg Schiano and Bill Davis.
However, occasionally I'll hear arguments about how maybe Urban Meyer leaving was good because Ryan Day is better at hiring assistants (I'm obviously generalizing some arguments). So I figured it's be a good exercise to look at some of the assistant coaches who have worked under Meyer.
This first group is guys who I think you can credit Meyer with "discovering". Guys who got their first big assistant job from Urban who went on to become HCs, or became attractive candidates working under Meyer.
Steve Addazio - Addazio was an assitant at Indiana when Urban hired him as OLine coach at Florida. He eventually became OC at Florida. He went 13-11 as HC at Temple and is currently in his 7th year at BC, with a 43-43 record.
Chris Ash - Ash was a secondary coach at Wisconsin and Arkansas before Meyer hired him as DC. He helped OSU win the 2014 CFP, before getting the job at Rutgers, where he...well, you know.
Ryan Day - Day was a grad assistant at Flordia under Urban. He bounced around alot, but was OC under Addazio at Temple and BC. Meyer hired him after a few years in the NFL and promoted him above Kevin Wilson. We all know where he is now.
Luke Fickell - Fickell was already "co-DC" under Tressell, but Jim Heacock really was the DC. After Urban was hired, he assumed DC duties. Had some rough patches, and was quasi-demoted when Ash was brought in. However, he's now 24-11 as HC at Cincinnati, and very well may be in line for a Power 6 job (*cough* Michigan State *cough*).
Tom Herman - Was OC at Iowa State when Meyer tagged him as OSU's OC in 2012. Was not well known, but very quickly became HC at Houston (22-4) and Texas (23-14).
Dan Mullen - Was a grad assistant at ND before joining Urban at Bowling Green, then followed him to Utah and Florida. Became OC once he came to Florida. Went 69-46 in 9 years at Mississippi State and is now 19-5 at Florida.
Charlie Strong - Strong had been a bunch of places, including DC at South Carolina and Florida when Urban arrived. However, didn't get his first HC job until 2010. Was 37-15 at Louisville, 16-21 at Texas, and currently is 21-14 in 2+ years at South Florida.
Kyle Wittingham - He was at Utah for almost a decade before Meyer showed up. Took over as HC after he left and is 129-62 in his 16th season.
That's a pretty impressive list. 8 guys who became Power 5 head coaches, 4 of whom are currently ranked in the CFP rankings. Ash had a terrible stint at Rutgers, but when they guy who couldn't win at a football grave yard is at best 8th on the list for a 17 year career, that's not a huge negative.
There are plenty of other guys who coached under Meyer and then went onto become head coaches including. These guys either had gotten big breaks elsewhere already or coached very little under Meyer:
Tim Beckman (Toledo and Illinois), Gary Anderson (Utah State, Wisconsin and Oregon St), Gregg Brandon (BG), Doc Holliday (Marshall), Everett Withers (James Madison), Mike Vrable (Titans) and DJ Durkin (Maryland).
On top of that, Meyer hired most of OSU's current staff, including Mattison (who was with Meyer at Florida), Kevin Wilson, Larry Johnson and Briant Hartline.
My point: While the Schiano and Davis hires were bad, Meyer's track record for hiring assistant is great. Eventually, guys like Mattison and Johnson will retire, and guys like Hartline or Halfley or Wilson will get coordinator or head jobs elsewhere. It will be interesting to see if Day can hire good assistants the way Meyer did.