UCF Knights Address Needs with Iowa State Transfer T.J. Mutcherson

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/8/11/9001175/ucf-knights-address-needs-with-iowa-state-transfer-tj-mutcherson

As reported recently by 247Sports($) -- and echoed by T.J. Mutcherson's himself on Twitter -- the former Iowa State safety is transferring to UCF. As a graduate student, Mutcherson will be eligible to play immediately.

This is a great addition for the Knights, for whom the depleted secondary is a major area of need. UCF's entire starting secondary resets this year as a result of graduation (including Clayton Geathers, who went in the fourth round of the NFL draft to the Indianapolis Colts) and Jacoby Glenn's early departure for the NFL (he would ultimately go undrafted but catch on as a free agent).

Mutcherson has an excellent opportunity to earn a starting role. He walks in with the most game experience of any UCF defensive back. At Iowa State last season, Mutcherson started ten games (he was suspended for the final two), made 76 tackles (good for second on the team) and had two interceptions.  He also played in eight games in 2013.

Not bad at all. Especially when you compare Mutcherson to the other defensive backs on UCF's roster, only one of whom by my count has a start:

• Shaquill Griffin (One start in 2013! And has been productive in games played in)
• Drico Johnson (played in all 13 games last year)
• Shaquem Griffin (played in one game last year)
• Jared Henry (played in ten games last year)
• DJ Killings (played in eight games last year, does have an ideal name for a safety . . . )
• Stanley Sylverain (played in 11 games last year, made one tackle)
• Michael Willet (played in 12 games, special teams guy)
• Brendin Straubel (redshirt senior, saw time in six games last year)
• Jordan Franks (played in all 13 games last season, though in various spots)
• Kyle Gibson (redshirt freshman, was a four star recruit)
• Tre Neal (redshirt freshman)
• Chris Johnson (hasn't played)
• Rashard Causey (well-regarded freshman)
  
• Nevelle Clarke (freshman)
  
• Mike Rogers (freshman)
• Chris Williams (promising, but got shot and will not play this season)

It's not that the cupboard is bare in the secondary. But there's little track record to point to and no one is much of a proven quantity.

Other than, perhaps, Mutcherson.

The AAC Has The Most Interesting Coaches in College Football: Part 4

www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/8/10/9002091/the-aac-has-the-most-interesting-coaches-in-college-football-part-4

We conclude our look at the coaches of the American Athletic Conference with the new head coaches of the West Division: Tom Herman, Chad Morris, and Philip Montgomery. All three new hires have proven track records of success on offense and have energized their respective fan bases.

Parts one through three of this series are here, here, and here.

Tom Herman (Houston)

Scott Stone: Tom Herman is an interesting coach because he comes to a program that has underachieved of late, but is still only a quality coach away from being very, very good. Herman is last year's Broyles Award winner and National Championship winning offensive coordinator.

In 2014, Herman had just two weeks to get J.T. Barrett ready after his Heisman Trophy contending QB1 went down for the season. Then he had  one week to get his third string quarterback ready for the Big 10 title game against Wisconsin, and ultimately a National Championship run against Alabama and Oregon. At Houston, Herman will have a quarterback in Greg Ward that is only a tweak or two from being as elite of a QB as we've seen at the University of Houston.

His hiring at Houston has largely been viewed as a coup. Already Herman has made huge strides in recruiting, including with the commitment of five star defensive lineman Ed Oliver. There will be a lot of eyes on him this fall to see whether the Cougars can live up to expectations.

Plus, he chained and locked the locker room and made the team earn its way back in. Pretty cool.

Chas Short: Tom Herman stole the show at West division coaches panel at AAC Media Day. It started when Tulsa's Phillip Montgomery was asked what the first thing Montgomery did as head coach was. He answered, "Kiss my wife." The question went down the line, with Chad Morris and Tom Herman offering their own riffs on this theme. Morris said that he "Kissed his family good bye" because he left them in Clemson.

Tom Herman said, "I kissed Philip's wife."

Chad Morris (SMU)

Chas Short: Make no mistake -- the Mustangs will continue to be terrible this season (though improvement is nearly a given after last year's 1-11 campaign). But with offensive guru Chad Morris at the helm, SMU should at least be interesting to watch.

The former highest-paid assistant coach in college football, Morris and his up-tempo spread attack had tremendous success at Clemson. The Tigers went from 7.3 to 10.5 wins per year with Morris as their offensive coordinator with a "basketball on grass" approach:

The modern elements added by Morris [to the Malzahn school of the spread offense] include spread alignments, the forward pass, motion, and tempo. The brilliance of the triple option is that it's a self-contained concept with built-in answers for any potential problem. Morris doesn't have any single concepts quite that simple or elegant, but in general he emphasizes a similar level of soundness in his offense.

Morris could try to have a million concepts to answer a million problems. But he would rather contain multiple answers within the same concepts. He can still use diversity -- of formations, personnel groupings, or options within a play -- but focuses on fully mastering a few versatile plans of attack.

The description "basketball on grass" is apt, but in a literal sense. It captures how the offense becomes more about getting the ideal matchups and executing options, as in basketball, rather than out-guessing the opponent. The lightning tempo utilized by Malzahn and Morris further allows for this simplicity.

Last year, the Mustangs' offense was a disaster. SMU averaged a paltry 11.08 points per game and was shutout twice. They had less than 300 yards of offense in five games. It of course remains to be seen whether Morris can bring back "Pony Express" levels of excitement to SMU, but he is already re-vitalizing a cratered program (not coincidentally, Bill C's excellent SMU preview is subtitled "Chad Morris and Way More Fun.").

Philip Montgomery (Tulsa)

Chas Short: Philip Montgomery comes to Tulsa from Baylor, where the Bears excelled with Montgomery as their offensive coordinator. Baylor just won back-to-back Big 12 Championships and had at least ten wins in three of the last four seasons. Baylor's explosive offense obviously played a huge role in this success. Baylor led the nation in total offense in 2013 and ranked second in 2012 and 2011. In the 12 games in which Montgomery called plays in 2014, the Bears averaged 581.3 yards and 48.8 points (Montgomery was out the door to Tulsa before last season's Cotton Bowl).

Montgomery steps into a situation at Tulsa where there's a real chance for an exciting leap forward on offense. Last year, Tulsa had a better than conference average 413 yards of total offense per game. Tulsa now returns a remarkable ten offensive starters, including excellent WRs in Keevan Lucas (who led the AAC in receiving touchdowns last year) and Keyarris Garrett.

It will be interesting to see whether QB Dane Evans can step up and find success in Montgomery's system. Fortunately for Tulsa fans, Montgomery has a track record of mentoring great QBs, stretching back from Baylor to his time as an assistant at Houston: Bryce Petty, Robert Griffin III, Nick Florence, Kevin Kolb, and Case Keenum.

As an Art Briles disciple, Montgomery and his offensive schemes meant this was an exciting hire for Tulsa. And given the question marks on defense, especially in the secondary, the Montgomery-led Golden Hurricane might well be the AAC team most likely to find itself in shoot-outs. Win or lose, Tulsa ought to be a fun team to watch this season.

The AAC Has The Most Interesting Coaches in College Football: Part 3

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/8/7/8891853/the-aac-has-the-most-interesting-coaches-in-college-football-part-3

In our prior two posts here and here, we discussed why the AAC has the most interesting coaches in college football. There's little doubt that those in the East Division have intriguing stories. The West is also home to exciting coaches. We start here with:

Ken Niumatalolo (Navy)

Justin Mears: You could certainly make an argument for Coach Ken as the most interesting coach in the AAC.  For starters, there is this:

That should be reason enough to convince you that Coach Ken is the most interesting coach in the AAC. (I definitely think a ride with the Blue Angels is better than a tandem jump with the Army Golden Knights parachute team, but I could be slightly biased)

If that wasn't enough to convince some of you, here are a few other tidbits that add to the intrigue that is Coach Niumatalolo:

• Coach Niumatalolo is now the all-time winningest coach in Navy Football history.
• Coach Niumatalolo is the second Polynesian head coach in FBS history.
• Coach Niumatalolo is the first Samoan collegiate head coach at any level.
• Coach Niumatalolo was inducted into the initial class of the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
• Coach Niumatalolo was featured in the documentary Meet the Mormons which was released in theaters in October, 2014.

Coach Ken is unique.  Coach Ken is certainly interesting.  Coach Ken wins.

What more can I say?

Justin Fuente (Memphis)

Chris James: When speaking of interesting coaches in the AAC it seems as if Justin Fuente is in a class of his own.  It's apparent in how he has changed the perception of the Tigers.  Mind you, the Tiger program was in shambles when Fuente took the helm.  In just a few short years you can tell that Fuente has turned a Pinto in to what appears to be a muscle car.  A team that was once the laughing stock of not only its league, but college football itself, has turned a major corner.  One distant observer may look at a 10-3 record and think it's a fluke.  However, if you watch "product on the field" you can see Fuente's impact from a mile away.  The AAC has fine coaches but none have the draw of Fuente.  He doesn't need prior controversy (looking at you, O'Leary) or prior big time experience (hello Tuberville).  The thing that makes Fuente so interesting is that he couldn't care less if he is interesting or not.  He is almost like "The Most Interesting Man in the World."  Fuente lays back and just becomes awesome.

But lets talk on the field for a moment.  When Memphis let go Larry Porter and began their coaching search the program was in shambles.  There were typical names of coaches being thrown out in to the mix among fans.  Of course every now and then you have some yahoo on a message board that will believe in unrealistic expectations (ahem, Jon Gruden).  Memphis even, at one time, had a legitimate chance with Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze.  As it turns out the Tigers ended up hiring a OC from TCU, Justin Fuente.  Many Tiger fans didn't know who he was and many TCU fans wept over his departure. 

Fuente's first couple seasons were "successful failures."  The goal is always a bowl birth but the successes were product on the field and not records.  It was apparent that the product on the field, Larry Porter's players, were a better product behind Fuentes.  In Fuente's first two seasons he didn't even win 9 games total, but you could tell that his kids would run through walls for him.  The corner was being turned for something special, but nobody expected 2014 to be the year.  After only two seasons and only 7 wins under his belt, Fuente would lead his team to a 10-3 finish.  A star was realized.

Curtis Johnson (Tulane):

Chas Short: Curtis Johnson is notable for his profoundly deep connections to the New Orleans community where he coaches. Johnson is a New Orleans native, grew up in nearby St. Rose, Louisiana, and graduated from St. Charles High School. And he came to the Green Wave after six seasons with the New Orleans Saints coaching wide receivers.

Recruiting in the New Orleans area has also been a priority for Johnson. At his introductory press conference back in 2011, Johnson proclaimed a "State of Tulane":

Louisiana recruits, we are coming to get you. This doesn't mean that we are going to stop searching all over the country, but look out, because you are on our radar already. This is now the state of Tulane.

This of course was meant to evoke memories of the Canes' "State of Miami" recruiting (Johnson coached wide receivers at UM from 1996-2005). And true to his pledge, Johnson's recruiting classes have indeed been filled with players from Louisiana in general and New Orleans in particular. Pre-Tulane, Johnson (who was known for his excellent recruiting) also had success recruiting the New Orleans area, notably NFL Hall of Famer and fellow New Orleans native Marshall Faulk, whom Johnson recruited to San Diego State.

O'Leary and Diaco Talk Civil Conflict at AAC Media Day

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/american-athletic-conference/2015/8/4/9095599/civil-conflict-at-aac-media-day-well-let-the-most-offended-person

"Civil Conflict" at AAC Media Day: "We'll Let The Most Offended Person Design The Trophy"

By Chas Short on Aug 4, 2015, 10:33a      

        

 

UConn's Bob Diaco and UCF's George O'Leary discussed the "Civil Conflict" during AAC Media Day in a conversation that included both a (maybe) half-serious proposal for an alternate name and an offer to "Let the most offended person design the trophy."

         

We at Underdog Dynasty are huge fans of the Civil Conflict that Bob Diaco unilaterally declared with UCF. A coach proclaiming a rivalry after two games, for geographically distant fan bases, and with no cultural stakes, is an absolute absurdity.

And we love absurdity. Especially when it creates interest in a game where little enthusiasm excited before. Give credit to Diaco who has succeeded in making the UCF-UConn game a "thing" (even if we can't call it a rivalry).

It's not surprising that the Civil Conflict came up at AAC Media Day in what was the most entertaining exchange in the East division coaches Q&A. Asked about the Civil Conflict, Diaco started by praising UCF, calling it "one of the best football programs in America" and asking, "Who better for us to emulate ourselves after [...] than the best?"

Diaco then acknowledged criticism that the "Civil Conflict" name and the trophy had missed the boat (including by listing only the most recent game -- a UConn victory -- on the trophy's plaque). But what's clear is that what the game is called and what the trophy is are just window dressing to Diaco, who joked, "We'll let the most offended person design the trophy." Diaco even threw out an alternative name for the UCF-UConn game: "The ConFLiCT."

Uh, maybe we should stick with "Civil Conflict."

George O'Leary explained that he understood what Diaco was trying to do in declaring the Civil Conflict. And he gamely threw out a few barbs, saying, "A trophy with a clock on it, I really like. I don't have one of them" and telling Diaco he should "Make sure it is on the plane."

All of this is great for a nascent conference (which has had a different membership every year of its existence) looking to build its history. We think Diaco's comments from some time ago are apt:

If you embrace it, you embrace it. If you don't, you don't. There was nothing before, so if you don't embrace it there would still be nothing. And if you do, even a little bit, it's more energetic and exciting.

The AAC Has the Most Interesting Coaches in College Football: Part 2

The AAC Has The Most Interesting Coaches in College Football: Part 2

 

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/8/5/9002071/the-aac-has-the-most-interesting-coaches-in-college-football-part-2

 

By Chas Short and Jake Hyman on Aug 5, 2015, 4:30a + Edit Entry

           

Part two of a four part series arguing that the American Athletic Conference has the most interesting coaches of any college football conference.

 Tweet Share on Twitter (2) Share Share on Facebook (2) Pin Pinterest + Comments

There's definitely a case to be made that the coaches of the AAC are the most intriguing bunch in college football. We discussed George O'Leary, Willie Taggart, and Bob Diaco over here in Part 1. Below, we finish our rundown on the east:

Ruffin McNeill (ECU)

Chas Short: Ruffin McNeill stands out for a few reasons. First, he is one of only a handful of guys at the FBS level who head coaches his alma mater (which subjectively increases his "good guy" rating in our eyes).

Also, this is what Ruffin McNeil looks like:

       

Photo credit: Marvin Gentry/USA TODAY Sports

And this is what Ruffin McNeil used to look like:

       

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images

McNeill used to be, uh, quite large. He weighed as much as 388 pounds at his peak. Now he's almost-sort-of-maybe-middle-age svelte. McNeill is surely notable as one of the gastric bypass success stories among the college football coaching ranks (contrast that with, say, the saga of fellow gastric bypass patient Charlie Weis).

Finally, there's some added conference intrigue here with both McNeill and Tommy Tuberville coaching in the same division. Back in 2009, McNeill was Texas Tech's defensive coordinator under Mike Leach. Leach got fired. McNeill was elevated into the interim head coach role and led TTU to a bowl win over Michigan State. Tuberville was then hired as head coach. Tubs replaced McNeill with James Willis as the new DC. And now McNeil and Tubs get to coach against each other every year.

The AAC is special, huh?

Tommy Tuberville (Cincinnati)

Chas Short: Speaking of Tommy Tuberville . . . if you prefer to cast someone other than O'Leary as the heel of the AAC, how about Tubs? His reputation as a mercenary is not entirely undeserved.

Before Cincinnati, Tubs was the head coach at Texas Tech. His exit was messy and drama-filled. A 247Sports affiliate quoted a TTU recruit who claimed that Tuberville simply walked out of a dinner at the 50-Yard Line Steakhouse before the food came:

"The waitress brought out food out, and we thought (Tuberville) went to the bathroom, but he never came back to dinner. The next thing I know, the next day, he made an announcement that he's going to Cincinnati." [. . .]

"Everybody was going crazy [the next day] [. . .] The players were shocked, too. We still had a good time at night, but it was crazy how he just got up and left out of nowhere and left people in the dark and shadow.

For their parts, Tommy Tuberville and the University of Cincinnati denied the story. SB Nation readers would later fax Tuberville the 50-Yard Line Steakhouse menu which is, obviously, awesome.

Tubs was no stranger to messy departures for new jobs. Back in 1998, he was the head coach at Ole Miss, where he infamously proclaimed, "They'll have to carry me out of here in a pine box." Just two days later, he was gone. And, uh, not in a coffin. He was out the door to Auburn. Tubs reportedly "never told his [Ole Miss] players so much as good-bye." Ouch.

Matt Rhule (Temple)

Jake Hyman: Like McNeill, Matt Rhule's generally a positive leader on and off the field. Rhule's favorite day of the week outside of Saturday is Tuesday. He lines up on the podium with a smile on his face every week ready and willing to answer questions. He knows the media by name and is one for jokes and witty remarks. What makes Rhule a personable head coach is his approachability and charisma which showcases his humbleness. With a new contract, Rhule should have more confidence and will take more risks. It's cliché to say don't judge a book by it's cover, but Rhule has really won me over from his first season and is respected by many. Add to this the fact that he's coached over 20 NFL players since 2008 and draws rave reviews from coaches and players about the passion he exudes for the game of football.

This will be a year to watch Rhule and the Temple program. Currently "building his brand" of football at Temple (and certainly improving its image), it's apparent that Rhule's philosophy starts with the defense. What remains to be seen is whether the offense will come around and get Rhule to his first bowl game as a head coach.

Rhule also gets to face his alma mater opening week in Penn State where he played Linebacker. He's hoping OLB Tyler Matekevich and the rest of the Owls are laying the hurt this time around.

The AAC Has The Most Interesting Coaches in College Football: Part 1

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/8/3/8891835/the-aac-has-the-most-interesting-coaches-in-college-football-east

The American Athletic Conference is a gestalt of Big East leftovers and schools that have climbed up and out of Conference USA. And now Navy. It's a young conference and its membership has been different in each of the three years it has existed.

The AAC is a strange conference -- no doubt -- but certainly an interesting one. We here at Underdog Dynasty think there's a case to be made that the AAC has the most intriguing collection of coaches of any conference in college football. Some of them for the excitement that they bring to the field. Others for their bizarre professional histories. We start our review here with:

George O'Leary (UCF)

Chas Short: If you like college football as much for the stories off the field as the stories on, George O'Leary should be on your radar. When a coach lands at a school because he made a false statement on his resume and had to resign five days after being hired elsewhere, it's pretty much guaranteed he'll wind up being the conference heel (and as fodder for less successful rivals looking to score cheap points). "Heel" is a role that UCF's marketing embraced in O'Leary's first year on campus:

His on-field success and program building at UCF has been undeniable despite his rocky start. O'Leary's first year saw the Knights go winless, prompting the moniker ‘Oh and 11 O'Leary.' Embarrassingly, UCF's marketing that year was very focused on look-at-this-big-name-coach-we-got-here. The 2004 UCF poster featured a close up of a shouting O'Leary and the unfortunate phrase, "Change is nothing to FEAR. The Coach, now that's another story." Seriously, that's what it said in a year the Knights would ultimately go 0-11.

GOL now fills the rare role of being both UCF's interim athletic director and its head football coach.

Willie Taggart (USF)

Ryan Smith: Here's the thing with Willie Taggart: The fact that he's still one of college football's most engaging personalities despite going 6-18 in his first two seasons at USF speaks to how entertaining he really is. At 38 years of age, he's one of the youngest head coaches in college football, and he reeks of youthful enthusiasm. He burst onto the scene in his opening press conference with his famous "Get On the Bus" slogan and song and hasn't stopped since, making literal blue-collar shirts for his team during summer practices, singing Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" after his first win against Cincinnati, and bringing rapper Plies to practice to give a message to the team. "This is the coolest coach in Division I football," Plies said afterward. You'd be hard-pressed to disagree.

Taggart's antics have diminished as his team has been treading the waters of mediocrity-- and that's putting it politely-- for the last two seasons, but he's still a press conference wonder, frequently tossing out nuggets like his signature catchphrase #DoSomething, or the Harbaugh-aping chant of "Who's got it better than us?" He enters the 2015 season on a very toasty seat, but cross your fingers that he finds a way to turn things around this year-- college football is a much more exciting place with Willie Taggart in it.

Bob Diaco (UConn)

Chas Short: When you're the kind of coach who unilaterally proclaims a non-existent and nonsensical rivalry, you're pretty much going to qualify as interesting. That's exactly what Bob Diaco did earlier this summer when UConn announced a rivalry with UCF, complete with the unveiling on Twitter of a countdown clock and trophy (the trophy lists only the most recent meeting between the teams). It's a rivalry in which the opposing fan bases have "literally no overlap in interests or cultural stakes." But it is pretty funny. And it creates interest around a yearly match-up that would otherwise be utterly unremarkable.

No, Bob Diaco hasn't done much on the field so far. But he's energized fans and created interest among recuits. Diaco's brought a level of excitement to a moribund UConn football program. His comments with regard to the "Civil Conflict" seem more broadly applicable to his time at UConn thus far:

For us it's exciting and I think it's fun. If you embrace it, you embrace it. If you don't, you don't. There was nothing before, so if you don't embrace it there would still be nothing. And if you do, even a little bit, it's more energetic and exciting.