Oklahoma Co-DC/DL coach Jerry Montgomery leaving for an NFL job

Submitted by Leaders And Best on

Oklahoma announced today that Co-DC/DL coach (and former Michigan DL coach) Jerry Montgomery is leaving for an NFL job. Another post-Signing Day move, but this one seems pretty surprising.

This will now make the 4th assistant coaching change for Oklahoma this year. A lot of staff turnover and changes for Bob Stoops this year.

 

Tough loss for OU: #Oklahoma Co-DC/DL coach Jerry Montgomery expected to head to the NFL, per Stoops: http://t.co/9xmt10oX1Y

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 10, 2015

Jerry Montgomery's departure to the NFL means the only positions at #OU that won't have new coaches from 2014 are O-line & ILBs.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 10, 2015

Space Coyote

February 10th, 2015 at 5:02 PM ^

I believe they just promoted him to Co-DC this offseason, likely in an effort to keep him at OU. So this certainly wasn't something they were expecting. Montgomery's career seems to be on a good path, though.

Cope

February 10th, 2015 at 5:38 PM ^

If you remember that first year, we were all so impressed that Mattison would make half time adjustments that would drastically change each game that season. We would effectively shut down whatever offensive strategy was working for our opponents in the first half. This came to be an expected thing and one of the reasons we were all really high on Mattison that first year.

Then, strangely after that year it all stopped. The half time adjustments that would shut down teams and control games, which we came to expect, never really happened again. I was disappointed each of the following years with our inability to have a half time change that made any significant difference. The X factor?

Quite possibly Montgomery. He was the only coaching variable around that time. Who knows if he wasn't whispering important observations in Mattison's ear that led to that defensive strategic edge?

I think it's a strong possibility. Either way, I'm confident Montgomery was one of our hottest coaches and a big loss when he took off for Oklahoma.

Leaders And Best

February 10th, 2015 at 5:51 PM ^

I think the success of 2011 had more to do with the upperclassmen we had on defense in 2011. Mike Martin is by far the best player we had on defense in the Brady Hoke era. I also don't think the 2012 defense was as bad as you make it out to be. We were extremely fortunate with turnover margin in 2011, and we were much more unlucky with TOs (and injuries) in 2012 against a much more difficult schedule.

Cope

February 10th, 2015 at 6:04 PM ^

I'm not referring to our talent level. I'm fully aware of Martin's impact. I'm not talking about either how well we played overall or turnover margin, but how well we adjusted at half time. There was a clear difference in our adjustments the first year from the later ones. Now, maybe Martin was the one who came up with some ideas we needed to adjust, but I have to think it wasn't Mattison.

The adjustments weren't consistent after that year.

Leaders And Best

February 10th, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^

Because I don't remember any magical halftime adjustments from 2011 with our defense. I think your memory of that season may be biased by the success on the field. The defense overall was slightly better than 2012 by most metrics, but I don't think we were appreciably better in the second half versus the first half.

Torgoman

February 11th, 2015 at 3:52 AM ^

I can't believe people can forget the halftime adjustments on the defense that season.  It was unlike anything we had seen under Rich Rod or anything since for that matter...

http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/michigan-defensive-coordinat…

Not that I'm arguing it wasn't the senior leadership and experience on that year's DLine.  Or the presence of Coach Montgomery.  It might have also just been luck.

Leaders And Best

February 10th, 2015 at 5:24 PM ^

Oklahoma fired Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell to revamp their anemic offense. Oklahoma hired two Mike Leach Air Raid disciples with OC Lincoln Riley from East Carolina and WR coach Dennis Simmons from Washington State. Both have been lauded as rising stars, but a lot of new assistants get tagged this every year. This may end up being a net positive for them, but we also thought the same with Doug Nussmeier coming in this year.

One interesting part in their staff changes is that Texas hired Jay Norvell as their WR coach about two weeks after Oklahoma let him go.

Yooper

February 10th, 2015 at 5:29 PM ^

Does anyone know if the number of college coaches moving to the pros this year is typical or a new phenomenom?  It feels unusually high but maybe because because of the high profile moves impacting Michigan recruits.

mgoblue0970

February 10th, 2015 at 6:02 PM ^

Maybe they are starting to see what us fans have been saying -- the money is becoming comparable and the bullshit is a lot less in the college ranks.  

The shelf life of a coach is greater in the college ranks.  You win for 20 years in college and they name a building after you (or in State College, if you hide rape, they erect a statue of you).  In the pros, you win for 20 years, your name is John Fox and you're on your tenth gig.

not TOM BRADY

February 10th, 2015 at 5:45 PM ^

Anyone see Harbaugh's last tweet. Pretty funny. Dropped the "Thought of the day" line just like the OSU coach did after he tweeted the deception tweet.

@CoachJim4UM: Thought of the day - As my esteemed associate and Friend The Great Frank Gore has taught me & tells me "These haters can't hold me back"

MichiganMan14

February 10th, 2015 at 6:08 PM ^

...are really tough on the kids that just signed their NLIs. This new trend is going to become problematic. I think they need to push signing day back personally. Let all these college coaches make their decisions after the Super Bowl and then kids know who their going to be coached by. It's getting out of hanD honestly. Nevin Gallimore has to be dissapointed.

alum96

February 10th, 2015 at 6:29 PM ^

Isn't this the part where we yell at him for duping recruits on the DL for Oklahoma, leaving that quickly after signing day?  Or does that only work for coaches who did not work at UM.

#GlassHouses

MichiganMan14

February 10th, 2015 at 6:36 PM ^

A large part of it is the fact that signing day comes on the heels of the end of the NFL season when there is very heavy turnover. I don't think it would be an issue if signing day was pushed back 2 or 3 weeks. Montgomery is obviously a great coach and has every right to move on to the highest level. It just sucks to be sitting in kids living rooms 2 weeks ago talking about coaching someone's son for 3 or 4 years, just to be packing your bags less than a week after signing day. The timing of it all needs to be addressed in my opinion. Move signing day back and it will alleviate a lot of this.

m1817

February 10th, 2015 at 9:34 PM ^

February is a dead period for the NFL.  If NSD is pushed back a week or even a month, it's probably not going to make much of a difference in college coaches taking NFL jobs.

Whatever NSD you choose, college coaches can push back the day of their departure annoucement to that NSD + 1.

Recruits, their parents, and their HS coaches need to be made aware that college coaches change jobs and that they need to make their college choice accordingly; also, that they do not have to sign an LOI on NSD.

Blue Balls Afire

February 10th, 2015 at 7:52 PM ^

Yes, this is where we yell at him, but if and only if it is determined that he in fact duped his recruits--not because he's leaving relatively soon after signing day. The timing of the OSU, UCLA, Fla coaches' departures gives one the strong indication that they lied to their recruits about their status, which was later confirmed by Weber in the OSU instance.  Leaving for another job and leaving right after NLI day is perfectly fine so long as these coaches were candid about the whole thing with the kids they were recruiting.  Otherwise, these coaches deserve the opprobrium heaped upon them, whether it be a UM coach or not.

Leaders And Best

February 11th, 2015 at 12:32 AM ^

If it is true, that would seem to be a big step down careerwise. It will be interesting to hear the story behind this move. The timing is strange too. He had just got promoted to Co-DC 5 weeks ago, and this move comes one day after Oklahoma had made their official announcement on their staff changes for 2015.

UMgradMSUdad

February 11th, 2015 at 8:24 AM ^

It sounds like he may be doing more than that, most likely working as an assistand D-line coach.  And if it's his dream to work in the NFL, what better place to start than a team with a lot of talent that has a good shot at the Super Bowl in the next few years?

"I have been offered an unbelievable opportunity to pursue my dream of coaching in the National Football League," Montgomery said in a statement. "There are very few jobs that I would have even considered."

http://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/insidersblog/2015/02/10/packers-reportedly-add-jerry-montgomery-to-staff/23195097/