Nick Howell: Bronco yes man w/ no football resume now BYU's defensive coordinator

[Surfah]

I actually agree with Ox.

[Shaka]

There is good cause to think his own players don't respect his knowledge of the game. He has no football resume that would give anyone else confidence in his knowledge of the game.

Other than that - no problems.

I've met former college player/coaches who are borderline clueless about the game as a whole and really aren't very good coaches. I've met high school coaches who are brilliant and could coach in the college ranks. While I agree that most college coaches will have played at that level there are exceptions. Howell's promotion really isn't giving me much heartburn.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Sorry if any of you are Nick's brother, sister, Mom or cousin but Bronco seems determined to one-up Whit when it comes to elevating untested talent.

Let's see if I have this down:
*He never played college football
*Before coming to BYU he never coached any college football
*He didn't go to BYU
*It's his stellar work at Ben Lomond (sp? does it really exist?) High School that brought him here
*He looks, talks and acts like Bronco
*Out of all the coach-caliber talent in the BYU family, Bronco elevates the guy who looks like the younger brother of some of the older guys on the team and has no football resume and no BYU resume

ALL of that might strike me as just fine if it wasn't for the fact that multiple reports from defensive players last year suggested that the players did not respect his knowledge of the game.

Hopefully five years from now this thread is a monument Bronco's foresight in uncovering a coaching genius and my own shortsightedness and ignorance for questioning the decision. But the Riley era has made me wary of Bronco's tendency to attach himself to a personality rather than to the merits and substance of the talent he's evaluating.

Meh, it is BM's defense and he promoted someone that he could mentor to be exactly like him. Seems like a harmless move other than potentially alienating other coaches on staff. If he did something like this on offense, it would be a huge mistake.

[creekster]

; keeping in mind that the status quo got BYU a #3 national defensive ranking last year.

The status quo and the november schedule. Credit where its due, eh?

[splitbamboo]

There is good cause to think his own players don't respect his knowledge of the game. He has no football resume that would give anyone else confidence in his knowledge of the game.

Other than that - no problems.

What's the Leach story? Isn't he known as a great football mind without the playing experience?

[Jacob]

Sorry if any of you are Nick's brother, sister, Mom or cousin but Bronco seems determined to one-up Whit when it comes to elevating untested talent.

Let's see if I have this down:
*He never played college football
*Before coming to BYU he never coached any college football
*He didn't go to BYU
*It's his stellar work at Ben Lomond (sp? does it really exist?) High School that brought him here
*He looks, talks and acts like Bronco
*Out of all the coach-caliber talent in the BYU family, Bronco elevates the guy who looks like the younger brother of some of the older guys on the team and has no football resume and no BYU resume

ALL of that might strike me as just fine if it wasn't for the fact that multiple reports from defensive players last year suggested that the players did not respect his knowledge of the game.

Hopefully five years from now this thread is a monument Bronco's foresight in uncovering a coaching genius and my own shortsightedness and ignorance for questioning the decision. But the Riley era has made me wary of Bronco's tendency to attach himself to a personality rather than to the merits and substance of the talent he's evaluating.

Most of those points seem irrelevant, and the relevant points seem to ignore the central question of his qualifications i.e. is he a good coach and has he proven so while at BYU these years?

[Surfah]

Most of those points seem irrelevant, and the relevant points seem to ignore the central question of his qualifications i.e. is he a good coach and has he proven so while at BYU these years?

He coached defensive backs and special teams so you tell me.

[The_Douger]

He coached defensive backs and special teams so you tell me.

I thought the kicking game was an unmitigated disaster. The punting was amazing though. Did we give up very many big kickoff or punt returns? I thought we did ok there.

I hate the scheme in general for DBs because we never go man on man and give too big of cushions.

[Indy Coug]

I hate the scheme in general for DBs because we never go man on man and give too big of cushions.

That's a Bronco issue though, not Howell.

[The_Douger]

That's a Bronco issue though, not Howell.

Yeah, I get that. I thought the DBs the last few seasons have been some of the better groups we've had at BYU. I thought Preston Hadley was one of the best guys we've ever had there. He rarely made mistakes, and I never thought he got enough credit last year.

[All-American]

I don't mind to the extent that the promotion was in fact a validation of the status quo. Otherwise, yeah, it makes me a little nervous.

[DapperDan]

I'm not sure what the problem is. Up to this point Bronco has done a stellar job picking coordinators, so why would you start worrying about Bronco's decision making now? I'm certain that he wouldn't choose anyone based on how much he likes the person, and how much that person reminds Bronco of himself. Bronco just isn't the type to do that. Bronco focuses on results. He's not going to make excuses for people that don't live up to expectations and will quickly correct problems as they appear.

I just don't see what there is to be worried about.

[Indy Coug]

I'm not sure what the problem is. Up to this point Bronco has done a stellar job picking coordinators, so why would you start worrying about Bronco's decision making now? I'm certain that he wouldn't choose anyone based on how much he likes the person, and how much that person reminds Bronco of himself. Bronco just isn't the type to do that. Bronco focuses on results. He's not going to make excuses for people that don't live up to expectations and will quickly correct problems as they appear.

I just don't see what there is to be worried about.

Especially when functionally nothing has changed from last season.

[All-American]

I'm not sure what the problem is. Up to this point Bronco has done a stellar job picking coordinators, so why would you start worrying about Bronco's decision making now? I'm certain that he wouldn't choose anyone based on how much he likes the person, and how much that person reminds Bronco of himself. Bronco just isn't the type to do that. Bronco focuses on results. He's not going to make excuses for people that don't live up to expectations and will quickly correct problems as they appear.

I just don't see what there is to be worried about.

I think the one thing you can't say about Bronco is that he's done a stellar job picking coordinators. If you believe the stories, then Holmoe, not Bronco, originally picked Anae as Offensive Coordinator. Bronco didn't pick a defensive coordinator until promoting Jaime Hill in 2008. The defense's performance declined noticeably and picked up noticeably when Hill was sacked. I guess Doman was a pretty good OC, though.

[Jacob]

Man, you guys can really miss some heavy sarcasm.