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It's Looking Like Doug Nussmeier Comment Count

Brian

doug-nussmeier[1]

Sam Webb is a connected person, and it appears that the Michigan OC choice is a barely-hidden secret amongst the connected, so when he posts an article titled

Michigan's Ideal Candidate

With a picture of Doug Nussmeier and long discussion of Doug Nussmeier, who you'd think would be untouchable at Alabama, this is… unlikely to be a guess. And since it's followed quickly by Bruce Feldman confirming, it seems to be done. Informative update to follow.

INFORMATIVE UPDATE. So who is this dude? He started his coaching career in the CFL with a couple of years as a QB coach, then moved on to Michigan State in the same capacity for three years (Jeff Smoker as a senior and then two years of Drew Stanton), then the Rams for two years. Marc Bulger was an All-Pro in year 1, which was an 8-8 season, and then the Rams went 3-13 and everyone got fired.

Nussmeier landed at Fresno State as OC for one season, was immediately hired away by Washington, and after three years was hired by Saban. His numbers as an offensive coordinator:

YEAR TEAM RUN% YPC YPA YPP TOTAL O FEI
2008 Fresno State 56% 5 7.2 5.9 (28th) 387 (43rd) 59th
2009 Washington 49% 4.3 7.1 5.7 (48th) 376 (62nd) 41st
2010 Washington 56% 4.7 6.6 5.5 (67th) 362 (76th) 63rd
2011 Washington 53% 4.4 8.2 6.2 (24th) 410 (38th) 24th
2012 Alabama 63% 5.6 9.3 7.0 (5th) 446 (31st) 5th
2013 Alabama 56% 5.8 8.8 7.2 (5th) 454 (33rd) 9th

It should be noted that the Washington job was massive reclamation project after Ty Willingham cratered the Huskies to 0-12. The year before Nussmeier showed up the Huskies were 118th of 120 in total yardage at 263, and their other stats were basically the same. With Jake Locker, Nussmeier popped the Huskies up to average and when Keith Price took over in 2011 they were legit. The caveat there is that Steve Sarkisian, an offensive guy, was his head coach.

Then he was hired by Alabama and everything got very shiny indeed. However, it is Alabama, and make no mistake: Nussmeier was not some pirate coup with Alabama desperately defending as Michigan thrusted and parried. Alabama boards have been buzzing for weeks about who their new OC would be. Saban told Nussmeier to look around for a nice landing spot and Michigan provided one. For whatever reason, Nussmeier was just not process-y enough for Dear Robot.

Nussmeier's got a pretty good resume both as an OC and a QB coach, what with Smoker/Stanton/Bulger/Price/Locker/McCarron on his resume, and quickly climbed the ladder. He's got a good rep as a recruiter and at 43 is relatively young for a BCS offensive coordinator; his Washington offenses were spread/pro mish-mash amalgams and then he seemed to do just fine with Alabama's pro-style attack. It's possible Michigan was going to ride with Borges for another year before the rarest commodity of all appeared: a proven college offensive coordinator with pro-style genes.

Comments

Ron Utah

January 9th, 2014 at 1:15 AM ^

Webb said it perfectly: The Ideal Candidate

Brandon and Hoke clearly had the replacement locked-up before they fired Borges; this was handled perfectly, and they both deserve credit.

I feel like a kid that just got the perfect Christmas present that wasn't even on his list becuase he didn't believe he could get it.

Joined: 02/28/2012

MGoPoints: 8375

alum96

January 8th, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^

Yes please...

 

Under Nussmeier's guidance, Bama set records for offensive touchdowns scored (68), total points (542), total offense (6,237) and passing touchdowns (31) in the 2012 season--his first with the Crimson Tide. Despite a rebuilt offensive line, Bama ranked No. 6 in the nation this season in yards per play (7.15) and were ranked third in the nation in that stat in games against ranked opponents (7.59).

Prior to coaching at Alabama, Nussmeier ran the offense at Washington and established himself as one of the sharpest offensive coordinators in the country. In 2011, even though UW had to replace a first-round pick at quarterback (Jake Locker), Nussmeier's offense scored 57 touchdowns and 434 points, the second-highest totals in school history (behind only the Huskies' 1991 national championship team). And in his three seasons at UW, his offenses got statistically better each year.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82513

74 ZRide

January 8th, 2014 at 11:24 PM ^

Their anger is just icing on the cake!!

 

EDIT: The second picture didn't show up well. I managed to take a pic of the wiki article. The first line temporarily read:

Douglas Keith "Doug" Nussmeier (born December 11, 1970) is a college football coach, currently the offensive coordinator at Michigan under Fatass head coach Brady Hoke.

Upon hitting refresh it was corrected with the "Fatass" removed. 2014 should be a lot of fun! GO BLUE!

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 315

Blue in Yarmouth

January 9th, 2014 at 8:27 AM ^

So did Al Borges...Just sayin'. 

 

I know as fans it's hard for us to look at anything without some bias, but from the things I have read what the Bama fans are saying is legit, he was going to be canned from Bama. I remember the same sort of excitment with the GMATT hire, only to find out that Harbaugh didn't mind him leaving (you don't do that when you really value a person's contributions). Let's remember, it wasn't only the offense that underwhelmed people this year.

My point is this guy could be great for UM, but it is just as likely that we are looking at this through rose coloured glasses. Only time will tell and I surely hope that this is the answer to our problems, but those who think otherwise (the bama fans) could just as easily be right.

Joined: 02/18/2009

MGoPoints: 6527

befuggled

January 9th, 2014 at 9:14 AM ^

Nussmeier might have been on the way out. That doesn't make him a bad coach. It may mean he butted heads with Saban, or that Saban felt he needed a sacrifice to placate the highly demanding Alabama fan base. It may mean that Saban didn't agree philosophically with his approach and wanted to go in a different direction.

Assistant coaches tend to change jobs frequently. That's just how it is. 

Mattison may have been on his way out the door at Baltimore, but so what? Look at the turnaround in the Michigan defense between 2010 and 2011. It's true they struggled this year, particularly at the end, but keep in mind that this defensive unit was very young, without a lot of talent on the defensive line and without its best player at full strength. I think it's a little early to give up on the man.

This isn't to say I see Nussmeier as the savior of the program. I think he's going to benefit from reversion to the mean next year. But he's young, he can recruit and I think he has a lot of potential upside (more so than Borges did).

Joined: 07/01/2008

MGoPoints: 9955

MI Expat NY

January 9th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^

Blaming the second loss (at least) on the offense seemps pretty strange, though, doesn't it?

He seems like he could be a good coach, but I can't say it's a slam dunk.  I'm not really sure there's enough information on him to judge.  His offenses at Alabama held pretty steady from his predecessor and I'm tempted to just outright dismiss those years.  Who wouldn't have success with all the talent they've been accumulating?  Washington had a pretty similar performance after he left, if not outright better.  Of course, being years 4 and 5 out of the Willingham mess couldn't hurt.  And as Brian pointed out, he was operating under an offensive coach.

I don't know what we're getting with him.  What is clear is that Sark and Saban both were impressed enough with him to hire him, so I take that as a good sign.  But, I worry that either as a directive from Hoke or personal preference, he's going to come in and try and run Alabama's offense without Alabama's players.  I'd prefer more of the Washington hybrid than straight up Alabama, at least with Gardner at QB.  But we shall see.  Either way, I think this is a better situation than continuing with Borges, and I think it will buy Hoke another year no matter what.  

Joined: 07/24/2008

MGoPoints: 8641

CompleteLunacy

January 9th, 2014 at 10:34 AM ^

Even if you blame the 4 turnovers on Nussmeier, maybe supposedly one of the best defenses in the country shouldn't give up 4 touchdowns off those turnovers, no? Maybe one of the best defenses in the country doesn't give up 31 points in one half?

Also it's somewhat of an accomplishment that they got to 30 points even with all those turnovers.

But in Alabamaland, the defense is untouchable. IF they lose, surely it's the offense's fault, which means someone needs to go. 

Joined: 11/13/2010

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