Durkin hires Someone Not Named Fisch to be OC

Submitted by alum96 on

Durkin is making an interesting hire in 31 year old Walt Bell current OC at Arkansas State who turned down an offer from LA-Monroe to be the youngest head coach in FBS.

For UM fan this might help keep Fisch around although we wont know 100% until the NFL is done doing its annual coaching carousel.  Fisch has been a relentless recruiter so I hope we can keep him a 2nd year. 

Bell sounds very much like a Kevin Wilson type so with the OC hires at PSU and Maryland this offseason, offense in the Big 10 East is going to have a very diff look in 2016+.  I guess good practice for our D for OSU.

If you want a preview of the offense, Arkansas State plays in a bowl game tonite.

In his first season at Arkansas State, the team broke school records for total offense (6,194 yards), total plays (1,024), points scored (477) and touchdowns (65). His fast-paced, spread offense helped quarterback Fredi Knighten throw for 3,277 yards, 24 touchdowns and just seven interceptions during his junior year. He was named first-team all-Sun Belt last year.

p.s. I imagine Bell will please the MgoLadies.... but remember he has a brain and is not just a piece of meat. 

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evenyoubrutus

December 19th, 2015 at 6:36 PM ^

Heh yeah I have an Acer laptop. It literally never turns off. I mean if I shut it down it pretends like it's off but the fan still runs and the keys are lit up so the battery dies within 2 hours. And if I'm more than 15 ft from my wireless access point it barely connects to the wifi. Pos. /reads SRK's post; /feels bad for complaining about such trivial problems

Joined: 11/04/2008

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CoachBP6

December 19th, 2015 at 7:07 PM ^

Success is about execution & putting players in the best positions to make plays. In football, good coaches are tough to come by. For a kid to be barely over 30 and selected to be an OC at a power 5 school is somethings special, the dude is no joke. I was lucky enough to attend a coaching clinic with this guy and I can promise you, he knows his shit and has very unique philosophies in regards to how he likes to run his spread.



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Danwillhor

December 19th, 2015 at 7:24 PM ^

but that doesn't change the fact that the offense he runs is inherently built to utilize every advantage and rule that favors offense. Nothing wrong with that despite my personal dislike of the zone read spread. It just doesn't take much to be an "offensive genius" these days. He's running what he's seen work for most of his adult life. He didn't create a new system or revolutionize an older one. He runs what many teams do now and it will depend on his ability to do what you said - be a coach. I just find that a good number of guys successful at lower levels turn out to be nothing special. I think he's a solid hire but no different than most modern offensive coaches.

Joined: 12/02/2008

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turd ferguson

December 19th, 2015 at 6:19 PM ^

Fisch hasn't just been a relentless recruiter (#9 in the country according to 247).  His position group (WRs) probably exceeded expectations on the field more than any other position group, the QBs/WRs showed clear signs of growth over the course of the season, and our passing game seemed very well designed.  There was some silly griping about his hiring, but you can easily make the case that he's been the best assistant coach hire.  The guy's been great.

Joined: 12/09/2009

MGoPoints: 26493

alum96

December 19th, 2015 at 6:25 PM ^

Yes I like what he has done.  No word on a contract extension though so I am wondering if he wants to wait to see what the NFL offers.  I believe he was the only coach on a 1 year contract.  But he is giving it his all in the meantime.

Guy seems to have put on the most miles of the entire staff - one day in FL... next day in CA... all over the damn place.

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getsome

December 19th, 2015 at 7:28 PM ^

yep fisch and zordich were both underrated hires (and jimbos spawn as well).  theyve done great work so far and certainly know their stuff.  harbaugh obviously assembled the best possible talent (and hes the expert) and its paying off.

many raved about the hires of the coordinators and baxter (and the entire staff) but those 3 seemed to generate the least amount of excitement - and id say all 3 have been excellent pickups and seem like great fits.  theyve no doubt got an exciting group of coaches in that building

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Victor Hale II

December 19th, 2015 at 6:40 PM ^

No offense, alum96, but my biggest takeaway from your post is that the Arkansas St. QB's name is Fredi Knighten. I can't help but wonder if that's pronounced like "Jedi". I sure hope it is.

Joined: 12/28/2011

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Bleedmaizeblue

December 19th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^

We had a lot of drops this yr from our WRs. Even at the end of the year. Honestly I'd really like a better WR coach than Fisch (one of his many responsibilities) I watched Houston play in their bowl game and their even young WRs were catching everything that came near their hands. That's a first year system down there too. I was kind of hoping Fisch would leave so we could hire an actual WR coach

Joined: 07/11/2013

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getsome

December 19th, 2015 at 7:54 PM ^

one of the more foolish posts in a while.  drops are not on the coach.  fisch can drill perfect technique into his guys but they must execute.  

chesson made strides this year and while fisch has been an excellent coach, its mostly due to chessons hard work, ability and finding his groove as well as his QB (after like 2.5 years of struggles) finally throwing some accurate balls within his catch radius.

are drevno and mattison responsible for their OL / DL jumping offsides?  pretty sure they instruct players to fire on the ball, not before its snapped.  should wheatley be blamed for his RBs average to poor performance despite the limited talent in his room?

i could see disagreeing with some of fischs passing concepts (though i think he mostly did fine) but dropped balls?  id love to see harbaugh install / run a mostly spread to run offense but dont think harbaugh should be fired for not doing so.

x's and o's are huge but it comes down to jimmys and joes

Joined: 09/07/2013

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SD Larry

December 19th, 2015 at 7:12 PM ^

Coach Fisch has been great for us.  Was  hoping he wouldn't go to Maryland and hope he stays.  Hopefully Durkin looks elsewhere for the rest of his staff as well.  Really like the staff we have now.

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Danwillhor

December 19th, 2015 at 8:51 PM ^

I've never understood straight men that are so terrified to admit when another man is handsome or likely does well with women. I know dudes that refuse to even think about admitting it and I think they think it makes them gay (?!) when all it does it make them look closet gay. I've never had issue with admitting when another dude very likely does or could slay women. I simply do not see the issue. For a football coach that dude is awfully dapper (haha). A certified "hunk", as Steve Bruhl would say.

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VauntedD

December 19th, 2015 at 10:51 PM ^

Fisch is an outstanding coach glad to have him and all the assitance on this team. I knew Maryland would go after an OC from an explosive offense since the goal is to be the Oregon of the East.

Joined: 02/11/2015

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Brodie

December 20th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^

My sense is that Durkin will be a three and out guy at Maryland who will ride a couple of 8 win seasons to a job like Tennessee or North Carolina (if Fedora were to end up at LSU post-Les say). Maryland is playing below par, they could easily be a 7-5, 8-4 team annually. 

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