Assistant coaches the backbone of a program

Mississippi State's defense Dunn to perfection

Chow's plan simple, his offense is tough to stop

Mel Kiper's story archive


Tuesday, August 21

Keep an eye on these assistant coaches

Following is a list of assistant coaches you should know (in alphabetical order):

Mickey Andrews, defensive coordinator, Florida State
He has been the longtime coordinator under Bobby Bowden and has won two national titles.

Phil Bennett, defensive coordinator, Kansas State
Bennett has led the Wildcats' defense to top-five rankings in total defense the last two years. He has an outstanding reputation.

Rickey Bustle, offensive coordinator, Va. Tech
Bustle adjusted the Hokies' offense into one that allowed Michael Vick to become a multidimensional quarterback. They put up big numbers in the Vick era. Now Bustle's challenge is to continue that without Vick.

John Chavis, defensive coordinator, Tennessee
He has developed a lot of quality football players who have gone on to the NFL. Under Chavis, the Vols' talented defense has remained a cohesive unit.

Norm Chow, offensive coordinator, USC
He ran the offense under LaVell Edwards at BYU for 17 years before going to N.C. State last year, doing a great job developing Philip Rivers into an outstanding freshman quarterback. Now he's at USC under Pete Carroll.

Kevin Cosgrove, defensive coordinator, Wisconsin
He has worked with Barry Alvarez for 10 years, consistently producing a sound defensive unit every year.

Bill Cubit, offensive coordinator, Rutgers
He's in his first year as the offensive coordinator under Greg Schiano. Before that he was at Missouri last season and at Western Michigan the previous three years. Cubit has a great reputation and is an up-and-comer. His son, Ryan, is a highly regarded QB who is competing for the Rutgers starting job.

George DeLeone, offensive coordinator, Syracuse
He was the defensive coordinator under Paul Pasqualoni for one season, but DeLeone moved back to offensive coordinator two years ago, where he had served for nine years in a previous stint at Syracuse. He gets solid results with a balanced attack.

Joe Lee Dunn, defensive coordinator, Miss. State
He's one of the top assistants in the country, with his attacking, blitzing scheme. It's very tough to simulate in practice. The blitz packages are so diverse that it's difficult for teams to prepare for it.

Jimbo Fisher, offensive coordinator, LSU
A former QB coach under Terry Bowden at Auburn, Fisher did a great job with the Tigers last season, his first as offensive coordinator. Nick Saban speaks very highly of him.

Fran Ganter, offensive coordinator, Penn State
He has been in Happy Valley for 30 years, the last 17 as offensive coordinator. Some people may say the offense is outdated, but the bottom line is Ganter has won national championships and has maintained tremendous offensive continuity. He has stayed with Paterno, even though he could have become a head coach.

Jim Herrmann, defensive coordinator, Michigan
He has an excellent scheme, produces a lot of NFL players, and is very highly regarded as a coordinator.

Reggie Herring, defensive coordinator, Clemson
He's been the coordinator at Clemson since 1997 and does a great job for Tommy Bowden.

Mark Mangino, offensive coordinator, Oklahoma
Mike Leach was the coordinator during Bob Stoops' first year in Norman, but when Leach left to go Texas Tech, Mangino was elevated and led the Sooners' offense during their championship season.

Tim Rose, defensive coordinator, East Carolina
Rose has been around; he was the head coach at Miami (Ohio) and the defensive coordinator at Boston College and Minnesota. He has a solid reputation and has been successful wherever he's been.

Mike Stoops/Brent Venables, co-defensive coordinators, Oklahoma
Like Mangino, both served together under Bill Snyder at Kansas State and are outstanding coaches, directing the Sooner defense.

Jeff Tedford, offensive coordinator, Oregon
I like what Tedford has done. His system is multidimensional, allowing the Ducks to both run and pass effectively. Under the direction of Tedford and head coach Mike Bellotti, Oregon has done a good job of developing quarterbacks, including Akili Smith, A.J. Feeley and current quarterback Joey Harrington.

Carl Torbush, defensive coordinator, Alabama
He was a great defensive coordinator at North Carolina under Mack Brown. He was unsuccessful as the Tar Heels' head coach after Brown, but he's still a great coordinator and should get results for Dennis Franchione at Alabama.

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