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Who\'s Hot?

Leading the cast of likely suspects for coaching positions after the 2000 season are Clemson\'s Rich Rodriguez\'s and New Mexico State\'s Tony Samuels
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When Clemson offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez thinks about the right quarterback to run his offense, he can't help but compare him to a point guard. The ideal QB for Rodriguez's offense is someone who can distribute the ball, step back and hit the 3-point shot, but most importantly, is someone who's on the ball.

Rodriguez, the second-year offensive coordinator for the Tigers, is known throughout college football for his "On the Ball" offense, a no-huddle, two-minute drill-type system that has been his trademark since serving as head coach of Glenville State in the 1990s. As the coach of the Division II Pioneers from 1990-96, Rodriguez knew he wouldn't be blessed with the type of quick, strong and athletic Division I-A players he now has to work with at Clemson.

So the former West Virginia defensive back decided the best way to win games was to try and take defenses by surprise. By speeding up the pace of his offense, he forced opposing defenses to speed up their substitutions and defensive play calling.

"We were overmatched physically to some extent at Glenville, so we decided to do work at a two-minute drill pace and try to get the ball snapped as fast as we can," said Rodriguez, who guided Glenville state to four consecutive West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships.

"I used to coach defense and when you watch a game, you can sometimes see a team not do much offensively for a half and then the last two minutes or so, they go to their no huddle offense and move the ball, you wonder why that isn't happening more. If it gives them problems then why not call it the whole game? It puts pressure on the defense and limits what they can call and what substitutions they can make and it pressures the defensive line to line up and make plays."

Rodriguez's offensive success and accolades at Glenville State did not go unnoticed and he soon found himself moving into the penthouse of college coaching, Division I-A. The two-time NAIA Coach of the Year hooked up with Tommy Bowden at Tulane in 1997 thanks to a long-standing relationship with the Bowden family.

"I had known Tom and Terry [Bowden] for about 10 years and had gone to quarterback and wide receiver camps to work with them, but Tommy and I never really talked about working together," Rodriguez said. "I was comfortable at Glenville State as the head coach and I wasn't planning on leaving to go to Tulane.

"But Tommy agreed to let me work my offense there at Tulane and he took a chance on me without ever really having coached with me. I didn't know his style and he didn't really know mine, but we had a friendship and we managed to make it work out. It was one of those cases of not only who you know, but who knows you."

At Tulane, the public quickly became familiar with the Green Wave offensive fireworks. Behind former Tulane quarterback Shaun King, the Green Wave were able to shed a history of losing that included 17 consecutive losing seasons, 18 seasons without a bowl game and 25 seasons without a national ranking. A superb senior season helped King go on to become a second round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Bucs and eventually take over the Bucs' offense in mid-season last year.

The Green Wave's 7-4 team in 1997 set 26 school records, scored 375 points and collected almost 4,700-yards of total offense. 1998 saw even more success as the Green Wave rolled to a 12-0 season, a Liberty Bowl win, a No. 7 ranking and was the only team to average more than 300-yards passing and 200-yards rushing each game. The Green Wave scored 40 or more points nine times that year and had the second highest scoring offense in the country, averaging 45.4 points a game.

Rodriguez says having a skilled quarterback like King made running his offense easy, but he added that a King-type QB is not needed to make the Clemson offense hum.

"The quarterback for us can't just distribute the ball, he has to be able to make the plays we need him to make too," Rodriguez said. "Having a guy like King helps, but you have to have a guy who can execute the plays and be able to take the pressure situations and make something happen. We take a lot of the pressure off with our offense by getting rid of audibles with the on the ball scheme.

"For us, the quarterback has got to know what we want to do and what we want to accomplish on each play."

Running a high-paced offense like Clemson's can wear down an offensive line, but thanks to last season, Rodriguez expects the Tigers' O-line to succeed this season.

"With our offense, we try to score every play. We have only two goals on offense and those are to win the game and score points," he said. "We just kind of go sometimes. The players like the system, but they know it takes a tremendous amount of understanding and being in great shape to make it work.

"For this offense to be a success, we have to be in much better shape than our opponents. Coming into last year, we lost all five starters on the offensive line, but they were big 300-pound guys. The guys we had last season were younger, smaller kids, who were at times overmatched physically and didn't have the experience."

Rodriguez says he is happy working as a Division I-A assistant coach, but adds that his long-term goal of coaching his own Division I-A team is something he stays mindful of. Rodriguez's fireworks on offense at the D-IA level has gotten him noticed quickly, as he last year found himself among the contenders to possibly make a move to Lubbock, Tex., to coach Texas Tech.

On a positive note for Clemson fans, Rodriguez is glad Mike Leach has the privilege of coaching Tech this fall. Rodriguez says he's not planning on leaving his new home in Death Valley until the right I-A coaching job comes along.

"I was ready to coach I-A three years ago, but schools like to see that assistant coaching time on your resume," he said. "I thought I was ready for [the Texas Tech job] and I have the experience, but in a lot of ways it was a good thing I didn't get the job, especially heading into my second year here at Clemson.

"The first year, you are getting your systems in place, but it's the second year where you see things start to take off. That's when you start to see what you've been working at for all those months start to take shape."

Rodriguez says the tradition-laced history of Clemson, along with a rabid fan base and the excitement of the future should keep him occupied for a while. In addition to a supportive fan base, Rodriguez has the challenge of matching scoring wits with some of the best offensive coordinators in the country by playing in one of the stronger offensive conferences in I-A, the ACC.

Last season, Georgia Tech and defending national champion Florida State made headlines for the offensive showdown they staged in Tallahassee, with FSU winning 41-35. In Rodriguez's debut as an offensive coordinator against Florida State, a team considered the favorite to repeat as national champs this year, he managed to score 14 points in a narrow 17-14 loss.

It is that high level of competition coupled with a die-hard fan base that will keep Rodriguez challenged at Clemson for a while.

"The biggest difference between here and Tulane is there are 85,000 people at every single game," Rodriguez said, laughing. "We started to get big crowds at Tulane the last year there when we were 12-0, but here you always get 80,000. The term rabid fan really applies up here.

"As a head coach at a small school, there was more pressure there than there is here. Here, I'm an assistant coach and I feel the pressure in big games and game situations with big crowds. But at the same time it's been relaxing to know I'm just in charge of the offense and doing the best I can with that and not having to worry about the whole thing."

After suffering through more than 30 years without back-to-back winning seasons, the New Mexico State football team had reason to be in the dark. As loss after loss turned into losing season after losing season, the Aggies had gotten to the point of almost giving up hope for a bright future. That was until a Husker with a plan got the Aggies looking up again.

When NMSU coach Tony Samuels was hired in 1997 to revive the struggling Aggies, he didn't flaunt his three years experience playing for Nebraska or two National Championship rings as a coach at Nebraska from the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Samuels came ready to rebuild the NMSU program and the city of Las Cruces, N.M..

"I didn't get caught up in the history of this program or what had been done," Samuels said. "I went in with a mindset of improving them as much as I could right away."

As part of his plan, Samuels figured that bringing successful people to a downtrodden program would help speed up a turnaround. Of his current 11 assistant and graduate assistant coaches, only running backs coach Michael Garrison and defensive line coach Rich Glover did not spend time at Nebraska as coaches. In that same group, only three coaches ­ tight ends coach Kendall Blackburn, secondary coach Bill Busch and receivers/special teams coach Clayton Carlton ­ did not play or coach at Nebraska.

Samuels says while he is fashioning the Aggie program in his own vision, by adding assistant coaches he had either worked or played with at Nebraska, it made getting things started at New Mexico State easier.

"What we did wasn't just bring in Nebraska guys, but we brought in a whole system we were used to," Samuels said. "It wasn't a type of deal where we all came in there without a plan of some type. We all had a plan in mind."

Along with the plan for what was to happen on the field was also a plan for what happened off of it. After enduring only one winning season in the 1990s prior to his arrival, many people associated with the program, from players to members of the community, were indifferent at best about New Mexico State's chances for football success.

"Like anything, you take so many beatings for so long, you start to lose faith and the inspiration to go out there and compete," Samuels said. "This is a tough game to play and you have to have that fire. You don't have the fire to compete because your training habits go down because you don't see any results and everything else starts to follow.

"Since I've been here attitude and the ability to work hard has been a big change since about the end of my first season. We had to find the right leaders as far as coaches and players are concerned.

"I'm intense and competitive and we prepare for everyone we play and don't lay down for anyone. We get after you every game now and that's a given for us now."

The focus that Samuels is able to get across to his Aggies is the result of a nearly blue-blood line of coaches that have mentored him. In his first season at Nebraska as a player, Samuels was a member of the first Tom Osborne coached team. Samuels starred at Nebraska from 1975-77, where he was an All-Big Eight honorable mention in 1977, before serving as the defensive line coach at Western Michigan (1982-83) and Stanford (1984-85).

Samuels joined the Husker staff and served as its rush ends and strongside linebackers coach from 1986-96. In that time, Samuels tutored 1993 Butkus Award winner Trev Alberts and saw Mike Croel, Donta Jones, David White and Tony Dumas move on to the NFL.

Samuel says his time with Osborne helped fashion him as a coach, but also credits former Husker coach and current Tampa Bay Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and current NU assistants George Darlington and Charlie McBride in making him into the coach he is today.

"[Coach Osborne] and I share a lot in common as far as philosophies go," says Samuels, who recently signed a four-year contract extension at New Mexico State. "I'm not a rah-rah guy, but he wasn't either. We get the point across. I'm not the kind to jump up and down to get a point across, but I'll be intense and compete at anything."

Osborne said that Samuels was one of the hardest working members of his Nebraska staff and said he is not surprised the former Husker is enjoying success as a head coach.

"He does a good job relating to his players, he's a good recruiter and has good organization," Osborne said. "He took a school that was probably near the bottom of Division I-A in terms of perception of the program when he started and has done well.

"He's done a good job of instilling confidence, a work ethic, a good weight program and some academic discipline and I think he's got a great staff. He did a great job for us at Nebraska and I think he's on the verge of doing great things."

Samuels' competitiveness and never-say-die attitude has allowed New Mexico State football put itself on the cusp of greatness. After watching the Aggies go 6-5 in 1999, Samuels said fans and the community are taking more of a following to New Mexico State.

Last year, a 3-0 start with wins against Arizona State, New Mexico and New Mexico-Highlands was the first sign of Samuels' plan at work.

"Over the last two years, we've had more close games than you can shake a stick at," Samuels said. "We're in a lot of games down to the wire and last year with a winning season, including a victory against Arizona State, we came down the stretch close to the conference championship (a Big West title would have put New Mexico State in a bowl game via the conference title)."

"It's great because there used to be total apathy about this team from everyone. In my last home game in my first year, we had only 6,425 fans in the stadium (which seats 30,343). Since then we've had the largest crowd ever to attend a home game. Those wins last year put us on the map; we were on ESPN, CNN and everything. Those two wins (against ASU and New Mexico) did more for us than anything here in 20 years."

McBride, has been at Nebraska since 1977, said Samuels' personality has allowed NMSU's football program to improve.

"His personality got the university to probably push harder to develop the program and try things than anyone else," McBride said. "He's extremely poised and very intelligent and has a knowledge of the whole game. He can communicate with the players without getting all out of shape. There are a lot of crises in football, but he's probably the best at handling all of that. That's why he's so good in game situations and why he'll be a top coach someday."

To help get Las Cruces a permanent spot on the football map, Samuels isn't lightening the schedule anytime soon. Next year, the Aggies will play an improved South Carolina squad and a likely Top 10-caliber team in Georgia while hosting New Mexico, Tulsa and Army. Throw in Big West Conference contenders Boise State, Idaho and North Texas and Samuels has plenty of challenges for next year.

"Winning breeds winning and preparation breeds preparation. There is a formula to winning and that's what's brought me as far as W's go," Samuels said. "I was a part of [Nebraska] from the ground up and helped build it into what it is today. I know what it takes to build a winner because I've helped build one before."

The pressure is on to provide Aggie fans with the first back-to-back winning seasons since the 1966 and '67 seasons, but Samuels said he welcomes the challenge.

"To be honest, I'm not thinking about anything else but South Carolina. We really stick to that, preparing for one game at a time and then going on to the next one, that's our philosophy," he said. "We respect everybody, but we don't fear anybody. I think that's the biggest mistake you can make is to do that."






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