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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Class of 2001

by: Steve Silverman
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When Ralph Friedgen met the press during hype week at Super Bowl XXIX in January of 1995, he faced an important question. "Wouldn't you like to be a head coach some day?" the media asked.

At the time, Friedgen was the offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers. His team was getting ready to battle the 49ers in a contest that would become one of the most devastating offensive performances in Super Bowl history. The Chargers would be on the wrong end of those offensive fireworks.

Friedgen had already put in his time, having started off as a graduate assistant at Maryland in 1972 and worked his way steadily up the ranks. Nobody would have said that he was not ready. But Friedgen was patient - or at least he knew how to give the patient answer to the media horde at the Super Bowl. "Sure, I'd like to be a head coach and I'm sure my time will come," Friedgen said. "But for right now, I'm only concerned with winning this game."

Friedgen's time has finally come. When Maryland decided to part company with Ron Vanderlinden after another disappointing season in 2000, Friedgen became the Terps' man. The same team that he had played for in his collegiate career would also be his first head coaching stint.

Friedgen has earned the right to be a head coach in large part because of his offensive expertise. In 1998 his Georgia Tech offense averaged 35.5 points per game. As an offensive coordinator, his hallmark has been a balanced attack. He'll try to do just the same this year at Maryland.

Welcome to the NCAA Class of 2001 for Division 1 and Division 1-AA - a class that has 36 members. In 1999, there were 32 coaches in that class and 27 the year before. It's been a busy year indeed for hiring head coaches.

Twenty-four of this year's members are from the major schools in Division 1. Their backgrounds are as varied and diverse as possible. Some, like 57-year-old John Mackovic have been in the business for years, while others like Lehigh's Pete Lembo are relative youngsters at 31.

In between those two are men who have devoted their lives to football. Dirk Koetter has been an offensive guru — and a salesman. He takes over the Arizona State program after leading the Boise State Broncos for the past three years. Before that, he had been the offensive coordinator for five other programs.

Dennis Franchione takes over the storied Alabama program and will try to restore the luster to the Crimson Tide's program. Pete Carroll returns to college football after a long run in the NFL. He will try to bring discipline and passion to a USC program that has stumbled badly in recent years.

The retirement of Brigham Young legend LaVell Edwards means the pressure is squarely on the shoulders of one of its alums in Gary Crowton. The former Louisiana Tech head coach and Chicago Bear offensive coordinator brings a flair to gameplanning but he has huge shoes to fill.

Tim Pendergast moves from tiny Hamilton College to Cornell University. Mike Toop was the defensive coordinator at Connecticut the last two years - now he's the head man at Davidson in Division 1-AA.

The backgrounds are different - but the goals remain the same for each man. To bring glory, honor and victories to their respective programs.

Inside the numbers

44.8 - The average age of the 36 new coaches in the class of 2001 is 44.8 - 1.0 years older than last year's class.

4 - Four of this year's coaching class are replacing head coaches who entered the 2000 season on the list of winningest active Division 1 coaches. They are Brigham Young's Gary Crowton who replaces No. 3 LaVell Edwards; West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez who replaces No. 5 Don Nehlen; Arizona's John Mackovic who replaces Dick Tomey and Ohio State's Jim Tressel who replaces No. 6 John Cooper.

1 - One member of this year's class has less than 10 years overall experience as a coach at any level. Pete Lembo, the 31-year-old leader of Lehigh, takes over the Engineer program with less than a decade of experience and just nine years after graduation from Georgetown.

23 - Of the 24 hires in Division 1, 23 are white males. Only 37-year-old Fitz Hill of San Jose State is an African-American male.

3 - This year's class features three former NFL head coaches. John Mackovic of Arizona once led the Kansas City Chiefs; Pete Carroll of USC served as head coach for the N.Y. Jets and the New England Patriots and Al Groh of Virginia was the head coach for the N.Y. Jets last year.

2 - John Bunting of North Carolina and Guy Morriss of Kentucky both were former NFL players.

8 - There are eight members of this year's class who are taking over programs that appeared in bowl games last year. They are Arizona State's Dirk Koetter, Boise State's Dan Hawkins, Georgia's Mark Richt, Miami's (Fla.) Larry Coker, Ohio State's Jim Tressel, Texas Christian's Gary Patterson, Virginia's Al Groh and West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez.



Division1 and 1-A coaching changes
School

Alabama
Arizona
Arizona St
Boise St
Bowling Green
BYU
Buffalo
Cal Poly
Central Conn. St.
Citadel
Cornell
Davidson
Fairfield
Georgia
Iona
Kentucky
Lehigh
Maryland
Memphis
Miami (Fla.)
Missouri
North Carolina
Northern Iowa
Ohio
Ohio St
Oklahoma St
Rutgers
San Jose St
Southern California
Southern Ill
TCU
Toledo
Virginia
Wake Forest
West Virginia
Youngstown St.Former Coach

Mike DuBose
Dick Tomey
Bruce Snyder
Dirk Koetter
Gary Blackney
LaVell Edwards
Craig Cirbus
Larry Welsh
Sal Cintorino
Don Powers
Pete Mangurian
Joe Susan
Kevin Kiesel
Jim Donnan
Jim Pisegna
Hal Mumme
Kevin Higgins
Ron Vanderlinden
Rip Scherer
Butch Davis
Larry Smith
Carl Torbush
Mike Dunbar
Jim Grobe
John Cooper
Bob Simmons
Terry Shea
Dave Baldwin
Paul Hackett
Jan Quarless
Dennis Franchione
Gary Pinkel
George Welsh
Jim Caldwell
Don Nehlen
Jim Tressel New Coach

Dennis Franchione
John Mackovic
Dirk Koetter
Dan Hawkins
Urban Meyer
Gary Crowton
Jim Hofher
Rich Ellerson
Paul Schudel
Ellis Johnson
Tim Pendergast
Michael Toop
Joe Bernard
Mark Richt
Fred Mariani
Guy Morriss
Pete Lembo
Ralph Friedgen
Tommy West
Larry Coker
Gary Pinkel
John Bunting
Mark Farley
Brian Knorr
Jim Tressel
Les Miles
Greg Schiano
Fitz Hill
Pete Carroll
Jerry Kill
Gary Patterson
Tom Anstutz
Al Groh
Jim Grobe
Rich Rodriguez
Jon Heacock

Pro

Who says the old guard is dead?

In the NFL, the old soldiers are making a comeback.

Dick Vermeil and Marty Schottenheimer are no longer content to bask in their achievements past. Instead, they want to put new highlights on their resume.

Vermeil was last seen dancing on the sidelines of the Georgia Dome when his Rams emerged victorious in Super Bowl XXXIV. After that victory, Vermeil strangely - and tearily - walked off into the sunset.

His decision to leave the game seemed awkward because his Ram team had not only won the NFL title, but it also was loaded with offensive weapons and seemed to be in a good position to defend the title. At the age of 62, Vermeil had the right credentials to retire, but he was never one to follow the norm or be a slave to a chronological number.

His inner fire had not burned out and Kansas City Chief president Carl Peterson was smart enough to keep pursuing his old friend. When Vermeil finally decided to come back, the Chiefs had upgraded their coaching staff significantly. Chief fans and Kleenex executives were equally happy with the decision.

Schottenheimer had been waiting patiently for his opportunity since parting company with the Chiefs after the 1998 season. Many thought the call would never come again, but Washington owner Daniel Snyder was willing to take a chance on the former Kansas City boss, even though Schottenheimer had said on national TV that he could never envision himself working for Snyder. Somehow, Schottenheimer found a way to get along with Snyder and rejoined the NFL coaching ranks.

The other NFL head coaching hires are all first timers. When Al Groh decided to leave the N.Y. Jets and head back to college coaching at Virginia, Herman Edwards got the call to replace him. Edwards had been the assistant head coach and the secondary coach with the Tampa Bay Bucs and had been an assistant with the Chiefs prior to his assignment in Tampa Bay. Edwards was a standout defensive back in the NFL for 10 seasons - nine as a starter for the Philadelphia Eagles under Vermeil.

The Bills decided to part company with Wade Phillips at the end of the season and it was widely expected that Raven defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis would have first crack at the job. However, the Bills were blown away by Tennessee defensive coordinator Gregg Williams in an interview and decided to offer him the job. Williams developed a reputation for an outstanding work ethic and moved up the chain from quality control assistant to reach his current position with the Bills.

Butch Davis came of age with the Miami Hurricanes. Dignity, discipline and success were the hallmarks of Davis' six year-run at Miami. The Cleveland Browns took notice of Davis' accomplishments and courted him actively. The effort proved worthwhile when Davis chose to accept their coaching offer. His charge is to lead Cleveland toward respectability. While the Browns carry the name of a venerable NFL franchise, they are basically a third-year expansion team. There are weapons to work with - such as QB Tim Couch and DE Courtney Brown - but there is much work to do.

Lion GM Matt Millen did not step out of the CBS radio booth just to go with the status quo in Detroit. He did not like the direction of the franchise and wanted some fresh ideas about how to put a high-powered offense on the field. As a result, he hired Marty Mornhinweg. As the offensive coordinator for the 49ers during the last four years, Mornhinweg had demonstrated both the fire and the creativity that led Millen to make his bold move.

By the numbers

49.2 - The average age of the six new NFL hires. Dick Vermeil is the oldest of the bunch at 63, while Marty Mornhinweg is the youngest at 38

20.3 - The six head coaches in the class of 2001 have an average of 20.3 years of experience. Vermeil has the most experience and started his career in 1959 (26 years total), while Herman Edwards had a long career as a player before starting his coaching career in 1987 (14 years).

2 - The number in this year's class who played in the NFL. Edwards was a star defensive back or the Eagles, while Schottenheimer played linebacker with the Bills, Patriots and Steelers.

1 - There is one Super Bowl-winning head coach in this year's class. Vermeil won Super Bowl XXXIV with the Rams.

2 - Butch Davis won two Super Bowl rings as a defensive coach with the Dallas Cowboys.

5 - Are white men. Only Edwards is an African-American.

1 - Played in the Arena Football League. Marty Mornhinweg played briefly with the Denver Dynamite in 1986.

2.3 - Average number of children. Mornhinweg has four.

11 - Number of grandchildren for Vermeil.

2002 - The year the Houston Texans and coach Dom Capers join the league.



NFL coaching changes
Team

N.Y. Jets
Buffalo
Cleveland
Kansas City
Washington
Detroit Old coach

Al Groh
Wade Phillips
Chris Palmer
Gunther Cunningham
Norv Turner/Terry Robiskie*
Gary MoellerNew Coach

Herman Edwards
Gregg Williams
Butch Davis
Dick Vermeil
Marty Schottenheimer
Marty Mornhinweg

* Robiskie was named Washington's interim coach after Turner was fired late in the season.






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