New RB coach from Cincy

Submitted by jerseyblue on

Per Brandon Justice : University of Cincinnati DL coach Al Washington is coming to Michigan to coach RB's.

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MacMarauder

January 4th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^

I found this quote from the Boston College SBNation fan site "BC Interruption" after he left for Cinci last year:

 

This is... pretty bad. Al Washington is one of BC football’s most important coaches, in particular with his ability to sell the school and bring in some of the Eagles’ best recruits. 

Joined: 01/22/2016

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LSAClassOf2000

January 4th, 2018 at 1:44 PM ^

This aspect is what intrigues me about the hire - all that experience on defense but coaching the running backs, and at Boston College no less, seems like a plus on paper to me. I like the idea personally. Plus, as someone quoted above, he was thought of quite well at BC as a recruiter. 

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CHUKA

January 5th, 2018 at 9:00 AM ^

I agree with you to an extent, but I feel like having a defensive coaching past would be more beneficial to an OC, than a RB coach, as they’d be better at reading the D. Personally I’d rather have a former All-American RB, and Michigan great to coach that position (Mike Hart).

Joined: 10/22/2016

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Toby Flenderson

January 4th, 2018 at 11:53 AM ^

Good hire. As talented as the RB's were, all three of the running backs last year had fumbling issues and were terrible in pass protections. Hoping for an improvement in both areas in 2018.

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Red is Blue

January 4th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^

So, he was a RB coach/Special Teams coordinator at BC, his alma mater, and he left to coach DL at Cincinnati.  Hopefully, it isn’t that he wanted to get away from coaching RB to coach the DL.   Maybe I don't understand the hierarchy, but BC and Cincy seem to be about at the same level and it seems like he lost responsibility (ie, no longer the Special Teams Coordinator).  Maybe he got more $.  If so, I don’t understand his previous move unless it is just a different stamp on his coaching passport.

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NittanyFan

January 4th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^

Washington grew up in Columbus, played at BC under Tom O'Brien and also got his coaching start under O'Brien as a grad assistant at NC State.  O'Brien grew up in Cincinnati and attended St Xavier High School, a huge football school there.

O'Brien set up a HUGE pipeline from the Cinci privates to Boston College.  Luke Kuechley the biggest name.  That pipeline has continued even after O'Brien left for NC State.

Anyway, UC under Tommy Tuberville completely ignored the Cinci privates.  Tuberville did this because he is an idiot.  For UC to be successful, they need to have a good relationship and get at least some kids out of those schools.  O'Brien probably recommended Washington to Fickell, and Washington, already having prior relationships, would definitely have helped Fickell in terms of strengthening relationships with those Cincinnati private-school powerhouses.

That's my theory.

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Youngharbaugh4

January 4th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^

I’m getting tired of the coaching connections bullshit. I do fully realize he coached a doak walker winner, but cmon can we just get someone a little better. We have the money to go after some pretty stellar coaches but it somehow doesn't matter. I was thinking why not go after SDSU's RB coach, there backs have been amazing for the last 4 years. Why not even go after Thomas Welcher, we need to get back instate recruiting, why not him. So I’m getting a bit frustrated with this coaching search lately. It seems we value connections more than we value anything else. Also, I’m getting kind of uneasy about the OC and other coaching search prospects, looks sadly underwhelming. I like other fans on here are just so frustrated, I love this team to death and it’s killing me to see we are not using the money we have to get someone who can be a major spark for us. Why not use that money and go after some top 20 offenses OC and track down the best positional group coaches that we can. All the money we have been paying has been disappointing.

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Piston Blue

January 4th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^

he coached a doak walker winner, something that is more impressive than anything Welcher has ever done at the college level. The fact is that none of us can name 3-5 elite running backs coaches, so your assertion of 'we should get someone better that has never coached in college before' doesn't make a ton of sense to me. The reality is Don Brown is a one of a kind coach, there aren't many non-spread OCs/position coaches who just happen to produce top 5 offenses with lackluster talent in major conferences.

Joined: 11/28/2012

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Youngharbaugh4

January 4th, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^

but if your hanging your hat on one guy who was a freak of nature, then its not saying much. Earlier in this thread I read that the rushing production from his backs was up one year and then it slid nearly in half the next. All I am trying to say that if you hang your hat on one award winner then its not saying much. Art briles can hang his hat on coaching a Heisman trophy winner, but look what type of coach he was. And wilcher was jim harbaughs running back in his time at michigan, he was also an all-american in track for michigan, he has coached elite level talent at cass tech, and his roots in detroit have even more added value. So to suggest he couldn't be an upgrade would be an understatement. I'm not saying to hire him, I would think that he would be pretty good in that position.

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KC Wolve

January 4th, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^

Any insight as to the holdups on the other rumored changes? There is too much smoke for some of them to not be true. If Drevno and Pep already have other jobs lined up, why haven’t they left or the destinations leaked yet?

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Squeezebox

January 4th, 2018 at 7:00 PM ^

so when Don Brown retires, he'll be aound the same age as when Brown came here. 

Seems more like a Mattison inurance policy.  Spend a year or two to learn the schème, then slide in when Matty moves on to collect his SS checks.

 

EDIT:  My bad.  Our Al Washington seems to be lost in Google's equivalent of Siberia.  Took about 5 minutes and several search topics to finally find his bio.

Our Al Washington is in his mid 30s. 

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BeatOSU52

January 4th, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^

Umbig11 has been hinting at this hire the last few days on here . I only ask that Al can teach these guys how to pass block properly . There’s a reason why DeVeon Smith played a ton in 2016 .

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maddogcody

January 4th, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^

Coach Mattison will not be around forever. This might be some foreshadowing of just how long he has left in the tank, or maybe not. If Washington can recruit Ohio, this is a good move just for that reason.

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Jimmyisgod

January 4th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^

Andre Williams was a mid 3 star RB recruit, he ran for 2155 yards under Washington at BC.  He now plays in the NFL.  Safe to say this guy knows something about coaching RBs.

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