Joel Filani WR Coach

UNTLifer · December 10, 2015

I just want results. The one problem I could see occurring with a young staff is the players not having the proper level of respect, because the younger coaches become friends to the players. I think this has hurt Kingsbury at Tech and now he spends every off-season replacing a few assistants.

Cr1028 · December 10, 2015

One whole year of coaching experience is all this guy has? And, it's "Offensive Quality Control?"
I like the hire of Seth Littrell and all, but...let's hope the other hires have a longer resume in actual coaching, not just bouncing around in NFL and Arena League training camps before getting cut, then disappearing for four years.

He did a couple years as a grad assistant at Boise primarily working with wide receivers. That's gotta count for something.

aztecskin · December 10, 2015

Given that Filani was a WR under Mike Leach, and has basically interned as a coach in the same system, I have full confidence he'll be able to coach our guys in 1) WR play at the college level 2) coach them on the finer points of the system we'll run. I mean, even if he parrots what was coached to him, he'll be doing a 45% job of decent coaching. That he was hired, means they believe he can do the job.

NorthTexan95 · December 10, 2015

Given that Filani was a WR under Mike Leach, and has basically interned as a coach in the same system, I have full confidence he'll be able to coach our guys in 1) WR play at the college level 2) coach them on the finer points of the system we'll run. I mean, even if he parrots what was coached to him, he'll be doing a 45% job of decent coaching. That he was hired, means they believe he can do the job.

Yep. Unless you're a big P5 school you're not going to afford to have all position coaches with 10 years of experience. I believe with his experience playing in this system ... his NFL experience ... his years of college coaching ... he is more than qualified to coach our receivers.

Graddean · December 10, 2015

Leach hired him with no experience.

MeanGreenTexan · December 10, 2015

Given that Filani was a WR under Mike Leach, and has basically interned as a coach in the same system, I have full confidence he'll be able to coach our guys in 1) WR play at the college level 2) coach them on the finer points of the system we'll run. I mean, even if he parrots what was coached to him, he'll be doing a 45% job of decent coaching. That he was hired, means they believe he can do the job.

Agree.

On the offensive side of the ball, we can take these kinds of risks... several of them... especially if they're in the form of anyone related to the Leach system. We can look for guys on an upward trend similar to Littrell. Young guys who will be here for 1-3 yrs, do well, and move on to a P5 job like coaches Bowen, Joseph & Walters a few years ago.

Defensively, we can't make a bunch of hires like this. Littrell is offense, offense, offense. He's going to need an anchor he can trust running the defense, and he's going to need to give that person alot of freedom because he's probably going to be busy installing/running his offense early on.

The DC and several of the defensive position coaches must be more experienced than guys like Harrell & Filani. Sounds like we'll have KP on the D-line. Hopefully the DL results will be different next year under a new DC's scheme.

aztecskin · December 10, 2015

Agree.
On the offensive side of the ball, we can take these kinds of risks... several of them... especially if they're in the form of anyone related to the Leach system. We can look for guys on an upward trend similar to Littrell. Young guys who will be here for 1-3 yrs, do well, and move on to a P5 job like coaches Bowen, Joseph & Walters a few years ago.
Defensively, we can't make a bunch of hires like this. Littrell is offense, offense, offense. He's going to need an anchor he can trust running the defense, and he's going to need to give that person alot of freedom because he's probably going to be busy installing/running his offense early on.
The DC and several of the defensive position coaches must be more experienced than guys like Harrell & Filani. Sounds like we'll have KP on the D-line. Hopefully the DL results will be different next year under a new DC's scheme.

Agree on all of this. One note however:

The thing about the offensive install is that you can put in the Air Raid in 3 days.

I'll have a more comprehensive explanation on MGN but for right now the thing to remember about his offense is that -- whatever his own personal philosophical additions or subtractions -- the underlying basis of this line of O is that it is based on repetition and the precision execution that comes from it.

So the positions coaches will be focusing on technique in general, and then within the system. So hand placement, foot placement, press-coverage technique (no swim moves!), followed by route running and play calling quirks (the basic install and the tag additions [mesh, flip, follow, etc]).

Harry · December 10, 2015

We've proven we can play good defense here at times. I think a young DC looking to move up or even an older Skladany type would be interested. So long as he can teach and is willing to recruit I am good with it.

Dr. Seuss · December 10, 2015

I was actually talking to Jesse Holley about this on twitter, I went on a little tangent but the principle is the same, especially under Leech guys.

Leech guys have skipped the whole GA process and started out as a QA/QC specialist. Kliff was first at UH under Dana, Harrell and Filani did the same. From what I was seeing, its only with Leech guys but there are others who went straight to a position coach after NFL/HS but its really rare.

JJ Johnson was a QA during first year at Rice, I believe they already filled out their GA position for that year. He then went to be a GA the year after.

UNTcrazy727 · December 10, 2015

I was actually talking to Jesse Holley about this on twitter, I went on a little tangent but the principle is the same, especially under Leech guys.
Leech guys have skipped the whole GA process and started out as a QA/QC specialist. Kliff was first at UH under Dana, Harrell and Filani did the same. From what I was seeing, its only with Leech guys but there are others who went straight to a position coach after NFL/HS but its really rare.
JJ Johnson was a QA during first year at Rice, I believe they already filled out their GA position for that year. He then went to be a GA the year after.

Joel was a GA at Boise State for two years

I'd say he's qualified to be our WRs coach

MCMLXXX · December 10, 2015

Need I remind everyone that Washington State lost to FCS powerhouse Portland State this year.

Eagle-96 · December 10, 2015

Another thing to remember is how important the Offensive Line is to the air raid system. Mike leach called it the most important position on the field in his system. We will need athletic lineman who work well in space as the splits are night and day different from what Mac was doing.

Cr1028 · December 10, 2015

JJ Johnson was a QA during first year at Rice, I believe they already filled out their GA position for that year. He then went to be a GA the year after.

I didn't realize Joe was with Rice. Thanks for the heads up.

GOMG2013 · December 10, 2015

Need I remind everyone that Washington State lost to FCS powerhouse Portland State this year.

they also played the rest of their season beating oregon, Oregon state, ucla, Arizona state and went bowling.

LongJim · December 10, 2015

Defensively, we can't make a bunch of hires like this. Littrell is offense, offense, offense. He's going to need an anchor he can trust running the defense, and he's going to need to give that person alot of freedom because he's probably going to be busy installing/running his offense early on.
The DC and several of the defensive position coaches must be more experienced than guys like Harrell & Filani.

Agree 100%. Defense will need someone who has seen and done it all on defense and can coach. Somebody like The Skeleton a couple years ago.

AndersonUNT · December 10, 2015

Leach as Co-OC!

Dr. Seuss · December 10, 2015

Joel was a GA at Boise State for two years
I'd say he's qualified to be our WRs coach

Well, that proves my point that most coaches were a GA at some point. Yeah, I have no doubt about his ability and experience. I mean, I've been licensed for 4 years but I know more about option trading than most financial advisers will ever know. Just because you have little experience doesn't mean that you're not qualified. I feel with a lot of older people on the board, they dont trust the youth.

I didn't realize Joe was with Rice. Thanks for the heads up.

Yep, he's a good guy. He was one of the smartest player during the Dodge era.

UNT90 · December 10, 2015

That's what we hope. Wonder why Filani would leak but Harrell wouldn't though...

Edit: Possibly because he's going to coach through the Sun Bowl? Dec.26th.

I would hope not. He needs to be recruiting.

HarringtonFishSmeller · December 10, 2015

We're not really pretending that opposing coaches haven't seen this offense again are we? I mean, so much so that we just think any mouth-breather will do as position coaches. I remember this same conversation when Dodge was hired: "We're doing something revolutionary on offense!"...completely looking past the fact that no one on his coaching staff knew what the hell they were doing.

Every college coach in America had already seen the spread and its variants for more than half a decade. Most now are running some form of it themselves, so the defenses see it in practice every day.

It's 2015, not 1999. Wishbone was new in 1969, not so much in 1985 or 1995.

My concern isn't that we'll score more points because it would be extremely difficult to score less than we did this year...even with the same personnel. My concern is the coaches recognizing what is happening on the field during the game so that adjustments can be made against the opposing defenses.

Our 2014 coaching staff seemed to either: (1) lack the ability to recognize what was happening, (2) recognize what was happening, but lacking the personnel to do anything about it, or (3) a mixture of both.

My opinion is we had more of (2) than (1). So, I'm not looking into dumbing down either side of the coaching staff with less experienced coaches.

I know that in the Bible, Jesus went with 12 inexperienced guys. But, Littrell's name is Seth, not Jesus...at least not yet.

eulessismore · December 11, 2015

We're not really pretending that opposing coaches haven't seen this offense again are we? I mean, so much so that we just think any mouth-breather will do as position coaches. I remember this same conversation when Dodge was hired: "We're doing something revolutionary on offense!"...completely looking past the fact that no one on his coaching staff knew what the hell they were doing.
Every college coach in America had already seen the spread and its variants for more than half a decade. Most now are running some form of it themselves, so the defenses see it in practice every day.
It's 2015, not 1999. Wishbone was new in 1969, not so much in 1985 or 1995.
My concern isn't that we'll score more points because it would be extremely difficult to score less than we did this year...even with the same personnel. My concern is the coaches recognizing what is happening on the field during the game so that adjustments can be made against the opposing defenses.
Our 2014 coaching staff seemed to either: (1) lack the ability to recognize what was happening, (2) recognize what was happening, but lacking the personnel to do anything about it, or (3) a mixture of both.
My opinion is we had more of (2) than (1). So, I'm not looking into dumbing down either side of the coaching staff with less experienced coaches.
I know that in the Bible, Jesus went with 12 inexperienced guys. But, Littrell's name is Seth, not Jesus...at least not yet.

According to some scholars, Seth was the ancestor of Noah, and thus the patriarch of all mankind, and Jesus was of his lineage:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth

Just saying.

MeanGreenTexan · December 11, 2015

We're not really pretending that opposing coaches haven't seen this offense again are we? I mean, so much so that we just think any mouth-breather will do as position coaches. I remember this same conversation when Dodge was hired: "We're doing something revolutionary on offense!"...completely looking past the fact that no one on his coaching staff knew what the hell they were doing.
Every college coach in America had already seen the spread and its variants for more than half a decade. Most now are running some form of it themselves, so the defenses see it in practice every day.
It's 2015, not 1999. Wishbone was new in 1969, not so much in 1985 or 1995.
My concern isn't that we'll score more points because it would be extremely difficult to score less than we did this year...even with the same personnel. My concern is the coaches recognizing what is happening on the field during the game so that adjustments can be made against the opposing defenses.
Our 2014 coaching staff seemed to either: (1) lack the ability to recognize what was happening, (2) recognize what was happening, but lacking the personnel to do anything about it, or (3) a mixture of both.
My opinion is we had more of (2) than (1). So, I'm not looking into dumbing down either side of the coaching staff with less experienced coaches.
I know that in the Bible, Jesus went with 12 inexperienced guys. But, Littrell's name is Seth, not Jesus...at least not yet.

Take some time to look at Littrell's track record. His offenses have performed at the P5 level everywhere he's been. I expect the same offense to do very well in C-USA. And again, Dodge's offense was very prolific, even with his H.S. staff. His defenses were atrocious though.

If you want to direct your concern anywhere, look at the defense. That is where our concerns should lie, for now.

UNTLifer · December 11, 2015

According to some scholars, Seth was the ancestor of Noah, and thus the patriarch of all mankind, and Jesus was of his lineage:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth
Just saying.

This should be a sign against Southern Meth.

aztecskin · December 11, 2015

We're not really pretending that opposing coaches haven't seen this offense again are we? I mean, so much so that we just think any mouth-breather will do as position coaches. 1. I remember this same conversation when Dodge was hired: "We're doing something revolutionary on offense!"...completely looking past the fact that no one on his coaching staff knew what the hell they were doing.
Every college coach in America had already seen the spread and its variants for more than half a decade. 2. Most now are running some form of it themselves, so the defenses see it in practice every day.
It's 2015, not 1999. Wishbone was new in 1969, not so much in 1985 or 1995.
My concern isn't that we'll score more points because it would be extremely difficult to score less than we did this year...even with the same personnel. My concern is the coaches recognizing what is happening on the field during the game so that adjustments can be made against the opposing defenses.
Our 2014 coaching staff seemed to either: (1) lack the ability to recognize what was happening, (2) recognize what was happening, but lacking the personnel to do anything about it, or (3) a mixture of both.
My opinion is we had more of (2) than (1). So, I'm not looking into dumbing down either side of the coaching staff with less experienced coaches.
I know that in the Bible, Jesus went with 12 inexperienced guys. But, Littrell's name is Seth, not Jesus...at least not yet.

1. Generally speaking, it was more revolutionary than it wasn't. In 2007 throwing the ball at that rate was fairly novel. But this argument is a bit of a straw man. The similarities between the two are that in both cases we hired a guy with success at running a modern offensive scheme. Whereas Dodge was an unmitigated disaster as a head football coach, as an offensive recruiter and coordinator he wasn't as bad. We had some of the biggest offensive games in North Texas history under his regime.

2. The rest of this argument rests on the fact that you think Seth Littrell's success or failure depends on the how original the formation is, as if offensive football is solely about trickery and surprise. This is mostly false. It is about execution and helped by surprise. Everyone knows Alabama will line up an run Henry at them. Alabama out executes them (meaning they run it anyway with success). That isn't to say they don't spring a surprise flea-flicker or something here and there.

A lot of modern offensive philosophy is based around executing a relatively small number of plays at a fast pace, with very high precision. You might recognize this philosophy as one the Golden State Warriors, Seven Second Or Less Suns, Chip Kelly's Oregon and other successful teams have had.

So, Seth Littrell won't necessarily spring surprising formations we've never seen. But our teams should be able to execute because that's what this Air Raid is all about. I mean, you can install it in 3 days. It isn't the plays but the execution of the plays.

Edited December 11, 2015 by aztecskin

MGNation92 · December 11, 2015

1. Generally speaking, it was more revolutionary than it wasn't. In 2007 throwing the ball at that rate was fairly novel. But this argument is a bit of a straw man. The similarities between the two are that in both cases we hired a guy with success at running a modern offensive scheme. Whereas Dodge was an unmitigated disaster as a head football coach, as an offensive recruiter and coordinator he wasn't as bad. We had some of the biggest offensive games in North Texas history under his regime.
2. The rest of this argument rests on the fact that you think Seth Littrell's success or failure depends on the how original the formation is, as if offensive football is solely about trickery and surprise. This is mostly false. It is about execution and helped by surprise. Everyone knows Alabama will line up an run Henry at them. Alabama out executes them (meaning they run it anyway with success). That isn't to say they don't spring a surprise flea-flicker or something here and there.
A lot of modern offensive philosophy is based around executing a relatively small number of plays at a fast pace, with very high precision. You might recognize this philosophy as one the Golden State Warriors, Seven Second Or Less Suns, Chip Kelly's Oregon and other successful teams have had.
So, Seth Littrell won't necessarily spring surprising formations we've never seen. But our teams should be able to execute because that's what this Air Raid is all about. I mean, you can install it in 3 days. It isn't the plays but the execution of the plays.

Always cracked me up seeing other playcallers with these massive play sheets and complex calls, while Leach would be on the sideline with a notecard that had 15 plays scribbled on it

Mean_Green09 · December 11, 2015

Always cracked me up seeing other playcallers with these massive play sheets and complex calls, while Leach would be on the sideline with a notecard that had 15 plays scribbled on it

Sometimes they have those large play call sheets because they have a large number of formations like Stanford and David Shaw. So same draw up of a play, but just in a different formation.