Tyler Walker New OC

[luckyirishguy25]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

I don't think he ever would have a shot at UW. What would be interesting, since the stars seem to be all aligning is old Pete chomping gum in Huskey stadium next season. Washington offered Deboer 8 million to stay, I bet Carroll might take 8 million to go back to CFB, its better than nothing.

[Cat Grad]

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

DeBoer is one well organized and connected coach. Just finished reading the article about Ash while at Drake versus Harbaugh while at San Diego and the one time Saban was let go from the staff at ohio state.

Just as MSU will continually attract great, personable young and great teachers as assistants, head coaches rarely rise with the exception of Graber who left after one year for Rutgers. Not even getting an interview at MSU served Dennis quite well as did firing Lubick greatly help his career (and also Arnold's for what it's worth).

Good on DeBoer. Getting to hell out of the northwest and their 425 days of rain and slush for Alabama! No brainer and I look forward to watching him and Billy for a couple years.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

[VimSince03]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

DeBoer literally was at Fresno State two years ago.

[Cat Grad]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

DeBoer literally was at Fresno State two years ago.

Lest we all forget, Chris Ault is the individual who transformed the old Army offense, the wing--t, to a three step drop with a tall quarterback. Hell, they even use the pistol formation at MSU now (albeit with a short quarterback for some unknown reason). Lots of history with football came out of Nevada.

[coloradocat]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

DeBoer literally was at Fresno State two years ago.

But January 2024 UW isn't the same team that January 2022 UW was.

[Cataholic]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

DeBoer literally was at Fresno State two years ago.

But January 2024 UW isn't the same team that January 2022 UW was.

Yes. Largely because they hired a coach from the Mountain West to right the ship.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

DeBoer literally was at Fresno State two years ago.

And DeBoer wasn’t getting the Alabama job two years ago.

I’m not saying Choate couldn’t succeed at Washington, I’m simply saying if people (as in AD’s) thought he was good enough for Washington, he wouldn’t have settled for Nevada.

[Bocephus]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

DeBoer literally was at Fresno State two years ago.

And DeBoer wasn’t getting the Alabama job two years ago.

I’m not saying Choate couldn’t succeed at Washington, I’m simply saying if people (as in AD’s) thought he was good enough for Washington, he wouldn’t have settled for Nevada.

Now… if he has Kalen Deboer-like success at Nevada, he’ll move up fast.

[BFcatfan]

Not sure what I was hoping for, but this is really not it. Just thinking where the program is at we could attract someone with some experience. I don’t know anything about Tyler I hope this works, I hate being in the wait and see mode!!!

I think tdub and another poster hit the nail on the head with their post. Someone who knows the kids, their strengths and weaknesses and as tdub stated knows the system. You don’t
Have don’t have to be proven somewhere else. You just
Need a really good football mind….take Josh McDaniel’s
In the NFL for example…proven in New England over and over… failure in his two attempts at HC. Maybe a ****** comparison. But my point is just because your successful and proven in one organization doesn’t mean you will be at the next…Tyler deserves the chance to Prove himself with the Cats and I also have a ton of respect and faith in Coach Vigen

[Cat4LifeHouseDivided]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

Bit of a BS take since Alabama, UW and others werent open when he took the Nevada jump. Maybe he tooka flier in Nevada but maybe he felt options were limited and didnt have any inkling as to what was coming.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

Bit of a BS take since Alabama, UW and others werent open when he took the Nevada jump. Maybe he tooka flier in Nevada but maybe he felt options were limited and didnt have any inkling as to what was coming.

He couldn’t get the Boise job, why would we think higher level schools would want him?

[lutecat]

Someone rwmind me what House did after the 21 brawl.

[Cat4LifeHouseDivided]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

Bit of a BS take since Alabama, UW and others werent open when he took the Nevada jump. Maybe he tooka flier in Nevada but maybe he felt options were limited and didnt have any inkling as to what was coming.

He couldn’t get the Boise job, why would we think higher level schools would want him?

Boise may have already had Danielson in mind when they let Avalos go. Pretty easy jump with an internal candidate. You're speculating on all of it with no actual knowledge of the inner workings.

[exppi]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

Bit of a BS take since Alabama, UW and others werent open when he took the Nevada jump. Maybe he tooka flier in Nevada but maybe he felt options were limited and didnt have any inkling as to what was coming.

He couldn’t get the Boise job, why would we think higher level schools would want him?

Boise may have already had Danielson in mind when they let Avalos go. Pretty easy jump with an internal candidate. You're speculating on all of it with no actual knowledge of the inner workings.

I am guessing he is referring to when Avalos was hired.

[onceacat]

If there was one way tried and true way to hire coaches we’d all know what that is and the coaches would always follow it.

If the offense or defense fails this year it won’t be because Vigen didn’t do his due diligence. He’s the most thorough coach I’ve been around.

It took Jeff three years to find the best fit at OC when he started at MSU. The only coach who figured out how to make our offensive personnel the best version of themselves was Matt Miller...who had zero playcalling experience. I still remember his first game against Idaho State. We lost but the offensive looked a little different in alignments/formations as well as personnel. We lost the game but offensively it looked like the version that fit Troy as a QB.

Housewright built an offensive around running the ball in various ways and getting your outside playmakers one-on-one opportunities in the pass game. Here were his final Big Sky ranks (I hate when they list FCS ranks because conferences are so drastically different):

2021:

Points: 5th (28.7/game)
YPG: 5th (402.0/game)
Rushing: 1st (220.9/game - 45 yards better than second)
Passing: 12th (181.1/game)
Passing Efficiency: 2nd (This means we were incredibly productive when we did throw the ball...means you have a good playcaller...and maybe Lance McCutcheon)

2022:

Points: 1st (42.9/game)
YPG: 2nd (494.8/game)
Rushing: 1st (310.8/game)
Passing: 12th (184.0/game - improved by 3 yards!)
Passing Efficiency: 3rd (Again...very effective when we did throw the ball despite the low yardage ranking)

2023:

Points: 1st (39.9/game)
YPG: 1st (473.4/game)
Rushing: 1st (292.4/game)
Passing: 9th (181.0/game - improved the ranking but fell back to 2021 number!)
Passing Efficiency: 1st

What's the takeaway here? Looking at it objectively, its hard to call the Housewright experience anything but a resounding success given he was a first year playcaller in 2021. Again, focus was on running the ball but taking your shot plays through the air when they're available. However, being a fan you micro-analyze every slip up and this year we just had too many in big situations. Hard to have a stat for that but if I go back to every big moment, the results are going to be less than average. Whether it be execution or a poor playcall, it just didn't work this year. Also, we put a lot on Tommy and Sean on the ground despite having a talented backfield. 2022 numbers are so impressive because we missed Tommy for parts of the year, our RB room was decimated, and Lance could bail us out through the air anymore. Sean, Elijah Elliot, Garrett Coon, Willie P, and the Oline were huge for us. Anyway, good luck to Taylor and hopefully he continues to mature. Players loved playing for him but he never quite embraced the MSU community...not that its a requirement to lead an offense.

Interesting tidbit: Despite being 1st in points, YPG, rushing (probably yards per carry, WAY more important than yards per game), the Cats were 17th in 3rd down conversion & #49 in 4th down conversion (30% points behind SDSU...a MASSIVE gap).

That tells me that similar to the Cramsey era, this was an offense that thrived on 1) Big plays and 2) putting up Madden type numbers against bad teams. Converting 3rds & 4ths against top notch defenses is a lot different than relying on TM & SC to bust open big plays.

[onceacat]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

DeBoer literally was at Fresno State two years ago.

And DeBoer wasn’t getting the Alabama job two years ago.

I’m not saying Choate couldn’t succeed at Washington, I’m simply saying if people (as in AD’s) thought he was good enough for Washington, he wouldn’t have settled for Nevada.

I have a hard time imagining that Choate had any insight into 1) Nick Sabin retiring and 2) Alabama hiring DeBoer from one of Choate old teams less than 48 hours later.

Remember, Choate took the Nevada job over a month ago (I think before either Texas or Washington were announced for the playoffs...or at least right at the same time).

No way DeBoer gets the job without the playoff win over Texas.

Jeff Choate jumps at new promotions, he not patiently waiting for the ideal situation to present itself.

[onceacat]

Someone rwmind me what House did after the 21 brawl.

He gave one of the worst press conferences in Bobcat football history. 1) His lack of charisma made Bobby Hauck look like the second coming of Jeff Choate 2) He threw a bunch of players under the bus & didnt take any accountability for the lack of preparation & poor play calling and 3) Showed up in Nike gear in violation of MSUs contract with UnderArmor.

1&2 arent really that big of a deal considering the success of the offense. But #3 is literally the sort of screw up that gets coaches fired 9 times out of 10. Coaches don't mess with contractual obligations that way.

Between that & the leaving the scene of an accident, I'm glad to see him go. But other than the inconsistency on 3rd & 4th down, I'll miss the creativity & game design he brought to the offense.

[GoldstoneCat]

Chuck Morrell is about to go from being the Montana Tech head coach as of 2019 to being a Co-DC at Alabama in 2024 (assuming DeBoer takes all his staff...coordinators usually follow). Coaches can rise fast!

I don't think UW looks at Vigen, but it's moves like this that open doors elsewhere that make our coaching stability not as stable.

I wonder if Choate would’ve had a chance at UW if he hadn’t gone to Reno? He coached there before MSU.

Coaches who can get the UW job aren’t settling for Nevada.

DeBoer literally was at Fresno State two years ago.

And DeBoer wasn’t getting the Alabama job two years ago.

I’m not saying Choate couldn’t succeed at Washington, I’m simply saying if people (as in AD’s) thought he was good enough for Washington, he wouldn’t have settled for Nevada.

I have a hard time imagining that Choate had any insight into 1) Nick Sabin retiring and 2) Alabama hiring DeBoer from one of Choate old teams less than 48 hours later.

Remember, Choate took the Nevada job over a month ago (I think before either Texas or Washington were announced for the playoffs...or at least right at the same time).

No way DeBoer gets the job without the playoff win over Texas.

Jeff Choate jumps at new promotions, he not patiently waiting for the ideal situation to present itself.

He's not getting that job. Zero chance. If the guy they hire fails like Jimmy lake did and Choate gets it going at Nevada, he'll have a good shot next time. He and DeBoer weren't that dissimilar to a certain point in their career. Choate took an FCS head job and Deboer went the G5 coordinator route. That's where their paths diverged. I wonder if Choate would say the 4 years here didn't advance his career. I would think given his association with Kwiatkowski he gets the same job at Texas regardless of where he was at the time. Interesting how one decision can shape the next 10 years for a coach.

[TomCat88]

If there was one way tried and true way to hire coaches we’d all know what that is and the coaches would always follow it.

If the offense or defense fails this year it won’t be because Vigen didn’t do his due diligence. He’s the most thorough coach I’ve been around.

It took Jeff three years to find the best fit at OC when he started at MSU. The only coach who figured out how to make our offensive personnel the best version of themselves was Matt Miller...who had zero playcalling experience. I still remember his first game against Idaho State. We lost but the offensive looked a little different in alignments/formations as well as personnel. We lost the game but offensively it looked like the version that fit Troy as a QB.

Housewright built an offensive around running the ball in various ways and getting your outside playmakers one-on-one opportunities in the pass game. Here were his final Big Sky ranks (I hate when they list FCS ranks because conferences are so drastically different):

2021:

Points: 5th (28.7/game)
YPG: 5th (402.0/game)
Rushing: 1st (220.9/game - 45 yards better than second)
Passing: 12th (181.1/game)
Passing Efficiency: 2nd (This means we were incredibly productive when we did throw the ball...means you have a good playcaller...and maybe Lance McCutcheon)

2022:

Points: 1st (42.9/game)
YPG: 2nd (494.8/game)
Rushing: 1st (310.8/game)
Passing: 12th (184.0/game - improved by 3 yards!)
Passing Efficiency: 3rd (Again...very effective when we did throw the ball despite the low yardage ranking)

2023:

Points: 1st (39.9/game)
YPG: 1st (473.4/game)
Rushing: 1st (292.4/game)
Passing: 9th (181.0/game - improved the ranking but fell back to 2021 number!)
Passing Efficiency: 1st

What's the takeaway here? Looking at it objectively, its hard to call the Housewright experience anything but a resounding success given he was a first year playcaller in 2021. Again, focus was on running the ball but taking your shot plays through the air when they're available. However, being a fan you micro-analyze every slip up and this year we just had too many in big situations. Hard to have a stat for that but if I go back to every big moment, the results are going to be less than average. Whether it be execution or a poor playcall, it just didn't work this year. Also, we put a lot on Tommy and Sean on the ground despite having a talented backfield. 2022 numbers are so impressive because we missed Tommy for parts of the year, our RB room was decimated, and Lance could bail us out through the air anymore. Sean, Elijah Elliot, Garrett Coon, Willie P, and the Oline were huge for us. Anyway, good luck to Taylor and hopefully he continues to mature. Players loved playing for him but he never quite embraced the MSU community...not that its a requirement to lead an offense.

Interesting tidbit: Despite being 1st in points, YPG, rushing (probably yards per carry, WAY more important than yards per game), the Cats were 17th in 3rd down conversion & #49 in 4th down conversion (30% points behind SDSU...a MASSIVE gap).

That tells me that similar to the Cramsey era, this was an offense that thrived on 1) Big plays and 2) putting up Madden type numbers against bad teams. Converting 3rds & 4ths against top notch defenses is a lot different than relying on TM & SC to bust open big plays.

Interesting

This team put up madden numbers against really good teams though.