UF pilfers FAU to hire Kerry Dixon II as WR coach

[NCOGator]

So on a scale from1 to 10, with 1 being horrible hire and 10 being wonderful hire, what would you rate this hire?

I would say a 4.5. The reason is because I was promised to be "Thrilled"....I am not. If you wanted to "Thrill" Gator Nation, you go out and get a name people have heard of. Someone that has NFL or SEC play under their belt would have been a hire that "thrilled" me.

 

[deuce]

But, how do you really feel?

 

[Fishon]

We must have drastically different understandings of what Ochocinco's reputation is.

I guess the theory being, UF isn't recruiting 40 year old white lawyers to play here

 

[TLB]

I'd rate this guy a 3 at this point, with room to show himself and top out as a 5 or a 6 at the end of this next season. Maybe a light turns on and he can work magic with the WRs, but based on what I see with the resume, and the 'oh my gosh, I think I'm being punked' picture on the gatorsports article, I'm not thinking he comes in running. I believe he's going to come in and know the general direction, but have to get a lot of oversight from Mac & Nuss. While Mac-Nuss likely had a competent WR coach at AL, they were the OCs and therefore had oversight and could help coach up the WRs and WR Coach as well, nothing new there other than having a younger, more raw coach to work with.

I pray hes a good recruiter at least, but one wonders why scUm didnt figure that out.

There is a lot scUm can't figure out. All the better for us.

​

So it's OJT for the no name RBs coach?

Tell me why Leak couldn't have done that also? Other than Leak refusing to work for 12.75/hr?

Leak had a year and proved it wasn't a good fit. The only other lingering thought I have on Leak and Dixon is that maybe after all the other coaching moves, we couldn't afford to pay Dixon that much nor could we afford Leak's buyout? #sarcasm

 

[JohnCoctostan]

Leak will probably be a very good coach one day. However, 10 years of coaching experience and a reputation as a great recruiter is a definite upgrade. From reports of people who know this guy, he is seen as a good up and coming coach. Napier didn't coach receivers when he went to Bama. That turned out okay. If you can coach, you can coach. Not the slam dunk we expected but not the disaster some are making this out to be. Especially with Mac's resume coaching up WRs.

 

[LongTooth]

So on a scale from1 to 10, with 1 being horrible hire and 10 being wonderful hire, what would you rate this hire?

a 5 which will move up or down when the receivers start showing what they are getting from Dixon and the staff. at this point, this would be the one position coach slot that didn't need an immediate homerun hire. remember, our past coaches have had an area of specialty that they continually paid extra attention to and took responsibility for. Steve of course micromanaged the QBs, Meyer's baby was Special Teams, and Mac's resume suggests he will be giving the extra love to the WRs. heck, even Muschamp was all about the DBs. and in each prior case, those areas of the teams were a strength. i don't see why it won't be the same for the forseeable future with Mac giving extra consideration to the WR corps. Dixon didn't have to be a homerun the way someone like Rumph did, and he has room and opportunity to grow into the role under Mac's tutelage.

 

[Gator Fever]

This is the only plausible explanation.

Huge kudos for Rumph. Not sure what the hell is going on with this hire. We must have been turned down by every Wr coach east of Denver and got all they way down the list to FIU on the "anyone else who has coached offense" list.

I pray hes a good recruiter at least, but one wonders why scUm didnt figure that out.

I think we got lucky with Rumph because he wanted to move to Florida and work with McElwain. Texas supposedly would match anything we offered and he came anyway. I doubt Rumph is making much more than the 415K he did at Texas here.

 

[Alagator]

...remember, our past coaches have had an area of specialty that they continually paid extra attention to and took responsibility for. Steve of course micromanaged the QBs, Meyer's baby was Special Teams, and Mac's resume suggests he will be giving the extra love to the WRs. heck, even Muschamp was all about the DBs. and in each prior case, those areas of the teams were a strength. i don't see why it won't be the same for the forseeable future with Mac giving extra consideration to the WR corps...

Good points! Makes me feel a lot better about the hire.

 

[oxrageous]

right now, that's Mac's job. he can tell them all about guys like deion branch, zek parker, arnold jackson, deandra cobb, and matt trannon - his NFLers from his time coaching WRs and STs at Louisville and MSU.

I know who Deion Branch is. I have never heard of the other people on that list.

 

[PatDooleySucks]

So on a scale from1 to 10, with 1 being horrible hire and 10 being wonderful hire, what would you rate this hire?

Remains to be seen. This guy was hired to coach WRs by title for the most part. Coach Mac can handle the coaching in conjunction with Dixon. Dixon was hired to partition out south Florida to our coaching staff. Shannon is taking Miami. Rumph is taking West Palm and Dixon is taking Ft. Lauderdale. Mac wants to lock down south Florida with a presence UF has never had before. You have to understand something about our staff. We may have an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator who in theory would be the second and third ranked members of our coaching staff, but Shannon is the second in command. This guy was hired because Shannon wants him recruiting in south Florida. With Miami on life support, we are going in for the kill to barricade south Florida. That is what this hire is for. It's not for his WR coaching expertise.

 

[GMDGator]

Remains to be seen. This guy was hired to coach WRs by title for the most part. Coach Mac can handle the coaching in conjunction with Dixon. Dixon was hired to partition out south Florida to our coaching staff. Shannon is taking Miami. Rumph is taking West Palm and Dixon is taking Ft. Lauderdale. Mac wants to lock down south Florida with a presence UF has never had before. You have to understand something about our staff. We may have an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator who in theory would be the second and third ranked members of our coaching staff, but Shannon is the second in command. This guy was hired because Shannon wants him recruiting in south Florida. With Miami on life support, we are going in for the kill to barricade south Florida. That is what this hire is for. It's not for his WR coaching expertise.

This sounds good to me!!!

 

[NCOGator]

It could have been worse. We could have gotten a Chinese coach. The Chinese will work for $2/hr and we don't have to follow labor laws or give them any benefits. We could force him to work 70 hrs a week and give him a cage to live in. We would have saved an extra $23K per year.

 

[oxrageous]

Wrong one.

 

[I Have No Friends :(]

WRs aren't hard to coach, so this hire doesn't phase me one way or the other. It's obvious to me that Coach Mac is going to spend his time on the practice field with the receivers. He has a good track record with receivers, I think we'll be fine.

 

[Gator Fever]

I know who Deion Branch is. I have never heard of the other people on that list.

You never heard of Arnold Jackson?

http://www.nfl.com/player/arnoldjackson/2504441/profile

 

[oxrageous]

You never heard of Arnold Jackson?

http://www.nfl.com/player/arnoldjackson/2504441/profile

A guy who played for the Cardinals for 2 seasons 13 years ago and caught a total of 14 balls in his career? No, can't say that I have.

Throwing his name around during recruiting sessions may not do much good.

 

[PatDooleySucks]

A guy who played for the Cardinals for 2 seasons 13 years ago and caught a total of 14 balls in his career? No, can't say that I have.

Throwing his name around during recruiting sessions may not do much good.

He didn't lose either of his two fumbles

 

[LongTooth]

I know who Deion Branch is. I have never heard of the other people on that list.

my response with the list of WRs was to Law's original post regarding the fact that Dixon hasn't sent anyone to the NFL. well, Mac has. all those guys got into the league after having been coached by him. now, becoming an established player once you get there is another matter, but that wasn't the point i was addressing. Mac can at least claim to have gotten a number of guys under his tutelage to the next level, and in Branch he groomed a very notable player.

 

[oxrageous]

my response with the list of WRs was to Law's original post regarding the fact that Dixon hasn't sent anyone to the NFL. well, Mac has. all those guys got into the league after having been coached by him. now, becoming an established player once you get there is another matter, but that wasn't the point i was addressing. Mac can at least claim to have gotten a number of guys under his tutelage to the next level, and in Branch he groomed a very notable player.

So one notable player in all those years?