Tag: Joe Moorhead

Where do new and former Oregon Ducks coaches rank nationally after wild coaching carousel?

USA TODAY ranked all 28 new head coaches in the FBS after their hires. Where did Mario Cristobal, Dan Lanning, and other former Oregon coaches land?

In an unprecedented season of college football, more than a fifth of all FBS schools saw a change at the head coaching position, and a number of storied programs will enter the 2022 year with a new man at the top of the organizational chart.

For the Oregon Ducks, this has been massively impactful, as former head coach Mario Cristobal left for his alma mater in Miami, which opened the door for Georgia Bulldogs defensive coordinator Dan Lanning to come in and accept his first career head coaching position. On top of that, Oregon also saw the likes of Joe Moorhead and Ken Wilson leave for HC jobs across the nation.

So what are we to make of each of these hirings, and where do they stand nationally? USA TODAY recently ranked all 28 of the head coaching hires, where they parsed out how excited each fanbase should be. Here are where the former or new Men of Oregon currently stand:

No. 1 — Mario Cristobal (Miami Hurricanes)

Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

It shouldn’t come as a major surprise that Cristobal is ranked No. 1 on this list. The Hurricanes got an absolute home run in the hiring of Cristobal, bringing back their native son who has found massive success at Oregon. Now he will look to turn around Miami and bring them back to the levels of success that Cristobal saw when he won two championships with The U as a player. Here’s what USA TODAY had to say:

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect fit. The former Oregon coach is from Miami, played for the Hurricanes and was a key assistant under Larry Coker before taking the job at Florida International. He was a winner at FIU and a winner with the Ducks, and is expected to do the same at Miami after refreshing a roster that should always have as much as if not more talent than every team in the ACC. He’s an absolute home run for the Hurricanes.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Report: Akron to hire Winston DeLattiboudere as D-Line coach

Former Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead is bringing a familiar face with him in Winston Delattiboudere to coach the d-line.

The Oregon Ducks are in the process of bringing a new offensive coordinator to Eugene alongside head coach Dan Lanning, but their old OC – Joe Moorhead – is creating another opening by reportedly hiring away graduate assistant Winston DeLattiboudere.

DeLattiboudere worked with the defensive line in his lone season with Oregon. He is now set to take over as the defensive line coach for the Zips, a nice promotion for a young man whose playing career just finished in 2019 with Minnesota.

While with the Golden Gophers, DeLattiboudere recorded 83 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, and five sacks across four seasons – while earning academic All-Big Ten honors as a senior and winning the Tony Dungy Award.

He spent one season as a graduate assistant at Charlotte before moving to Oregon, where he worked with an exceptional group of defensive linemen, including future first round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux as well as Brandon Dorlus, Bradyn Swinson, and Keyon Ware-Hudson.

Now, he’ll head to Akron to advance his career and reunite with Moorhead, while the Ducks have another hole to fill.

[listicle id=14663]

Joe Moorhead to help coach Oregon Ducks in Alamo Bowl vs. Oklahoma

Joe Moorhead has accepted the HC job with Akron, but he will reportedly stick around and help coach the Ducks in the Alamo Bowl.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=none image=https://duckswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Oregon Ducks interim head coach Bryan McClendon got a much-needed helping hand on Wednesday, with the news that former Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead will stick around and help coach the Ducks in the Alamo Bowl later this month.

The Ducks are scheduled to play the Oklahoma Sooners on December 29th, and with Mario Cristobal, Tim DeRuyter, Alex Mirabal, and Marcel Yates already out the door and on to other jobs, the coaching staff was expected to look pretty sparse down in San Antonio.

Until The Oregonian‘s John Canzano reported on Wednesday night that Moorhead plans to stick around in Eugene and offer a hand in the contest. Moorhead agreed to become the new head coach of the Akron Zips last Saturday after the Ducks fell to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship game on Friday.

What is most exciting about this development is the prospect of seeing a bit of what Moorhead can do without Cristobal next to him calling the offense. There has long been a feeling that Cristobal’s influence on playcalling at Oregon handcuffed Moorhead, and led to what was a mundane offense in 2021. Now we will hopefully get a chance to see the offense that we were promised when Moorhead was hired.

On top of that, we hope and pray that the Ducks will choose to play true freshman QB Ty Thompson rather than Anthony Brown in hopes of getting him some valuable reps ahead of next season. Moorhead and Thompson reportedly have a really good relationship, and seeing what they can do together would certainly be entertaining.

[listicle id=14099]

Former Penn State offensive cooridinator returning to Big Ten

Former Penn State OC is caught in the middle of an awkward coaching change between Minnesota and West Virginia

It’s been a busy offseason for former Penn State offensive coordinators. Joe Moorhead is getting settled in as the head coach at Akron, and his successor, Ricky Rahne, is preparing to coach Old Dominion in a bowl game this bowl season. As for the coach who came between Rahne and current offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, there really is no place like home for the holidays.

Kirk Ciarrocca has officially been welcomed back by the Minnesota Golden Gophers as the team’s offensive coordinator. Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck welcomed Ciarrocca back on Monday, and the return to familiarity for Ciarrocca and Fleck could rejuvenate the Minnesota offense a bit as he gets adjusted.

Penn State hired Ciarrocca to be the offensive coordinator after Rahne was hired to be the head coach at Old Dominion in 2020. Unfortunately for Ciarrocca and Penn State, the new offensive coordinator was never able to get fully ingrained with the roster as the COVID-19 pandemic took away Penn State’s entire spring football schedule and coaches worked via video for the majority of the year.

This is believed to play a part in Penn State’s disappointing 0-5 start to the 2020 season, as the offense was unable to work itself into much of a rhythm until later in the season. Ciarrocca’s one season at Penn State failed to live up to the expectations given the work he had done at Minnesota prior to his arrival.

Franklin moved on quickly from Ciarrocca and brought in Yurcich once Yurcich became available as a result of a head coaching change at Texas after the 2020 season. Yurcich experienced a few offensive concerns during the 2021 season as well, so perhaps Ciarrocca just never got a full shake to see what he could truly do at Penn State.

Ciarrocca spent the 2021 season working as an offensive analyst at West Virginia. In a unique twist to this situation, Minnesota is preparing to face West Virginia in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix. Through a mutual agreement between Fleck and West Virginia head coach Neal Brown, Ciarrocca will not coach in the game for Minnesota, as he started with the Gophers staff on Monday.

Either way, his return to Minnesota should give Gopher fans reason to be optimistic.

[listicle id=10557]

[lawrence-related id=2659,10959,10941]

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.

Former Penn State QB could be joining Joe Moorhead at Akron

A former Penn State quarterback could be continuing his coaching career with Joe Moorhead at Akron

Former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead is busy putting together his coaching staff for the Akron Zips, and a former Penn State player could be among those joining the staff. According to Yahoo’s Pete Thamel, via Twitter, Billy Fessler could join Moorhead’s coaching staff as a quarterbacks coach.

Fessler is currently a graduate assistant at Ohio State. Fessler is an offensive assistant for the Buckeyes and has plenty of experience with Moorhead already. Fessler was on the Penn State roster during Moorhead’s time at Penn State as an offensive coordinator.

When Moorhead left Penn State to become the head coach at Mississippi State, Fessler joined him as a graduate assistant in 2019. Fessler was a graduate assistant at Slippery Rock prior to that, working with the Division 2 powerhouse program in western Pennsylvania.

Fessler played quarterback at Penn State from 2014 through 2018, entirely as a backup reserve option. Fessler also played on special teams as the team’s primary holder for field goals and extra points.

Moorhead accepted the position of head coach at Akron after Oregon fell short in the Pac-12 championship game last week. Moorhead had been Oregon’s offensive coordinator after being removed as head coach by Mississippi State. Moorhead left Oregon before Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal left the program for an opportunity to return to Miami as the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. Miami removed Manny Diaz as head coach to pave the way for Cristobal.

At Penn State, the Nittany Lions could be about to lose its second co-defensive coordinator. Anthony Poindexter, who had been believed to be the top in-house option to carry on the role of defensive coordinator, has reportedly emerged as the leading candidate to be the next head coach at Virginia. Brent Pry, Penn State’s defensive coordinator, accepted an offer to become the head coach at Virginia Tech.

[lawrence-related id=10920,10916,10913,10905,10871,10862]

[listicle id=10782]

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.

5 candidates to replace Joe Moorhead as offensive coordinator for Oregon

It’s hard to think about Joe Moorhead replacements until we know the future for Mario Cristobal, but here are some candidates to take over at OC.

We got the expected news on Saturday morning that Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead would become the new head coach with the Akron Zips.

A report of this had come out earlier in the week but was finalized after Oregon’s loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday night.

In a normal world, we would immediately delve into the candidates and try to figure out who Mario Cristobal might hire to replace Moorhead. However, it is still pretty unclear whether or not Cristobal will remain the head coach at Oregon, with strong reports coming out that he will take the job at Miami instead.

So with that disclaimer in mind, this entire article needs to be taken with a grain of salt. We are going to look at some potential replacements for the OC position at Oregon, but should a new head coach be hired, there’s the likelihood that the entire staff is replaced. The list might look much different then.

With that being said, here are a few candidates to potentially take over as OC for Oregon next year:

Ducks’ OC Joe Moorhead hired as head coach of Akron Zips

Joe Moorhead is returning to the Akron Zips, this time as the head coach. Moorhead was an assistant at Akron from 2004-2008.

Even before the report of its potential came out on Sunday night, Oregon Duck fans knew that offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead was likely going to move on from Eugene this offseason.

Now, Moorhead has reportedly been hired as the new head coach of the Akron Zips, returning to a school where he coached as an assistant from 2004-2008.

The initial report surfaced on Sunday night, coming from Yahoo’s Pete Thamel. It was announced on Sunday morning that Moorhead was hired, though, following Oregon’s 38-10 loss to Utah in the Pac-12 title game.

 

It will be tough for Oregon to replace Moorhead going forward, who is thought of as one of the top offensive minds in college football. The Ducks averaged 33.2 points per game this regular season and ranked No. 3 nationally in 3rd down conversion rate.

Despite the loss of Moorhead, this is nothing new for Cristobal, who is now tasked with finding another new coordinator. Three of Cristobal’s four offensive and defensive coordinator hires have now gone on to become head coaches at new schools, with DC Tim DeRuyter being the lone one still standing, now completing his first season with the team.

[listicle id=13581]

Former Penn State OC Joe Moorhead about to Zip his way to the MAC

Joe Moorhead will reportedly be introduced as the new head coach of the Akron Zips.

Conference championship weekend in college football got underway Friday night with the Conference USA and Pac-12 championship games. And with conference championship weekend upon us, a few assistant coaches and coordinators could be coaching their final games with their respective programs before heading to new opportunities. One of those coaches is Oregon offensive coordinator, and former Penn State offensive coordinator, Joe Moorhead.

Moorhead may have coached his final game calling the offense for the Oregon Ducks on Friday night, a disappointing 38-10 loss to Utah just a few weeks after Oregon’s offense had no answers for the same Utah defense. As previously reported, Moorhead was being projected as the leading candidate to become the new head coach of the Akron Zips. And on Saturday morning, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo, a formal announcement from Akropn on the hiring of Moorhead as head coach could come as early as today.

This would be Moorhead’s second head coaching job at the FBS level, as he is now a couple of years removed from his short run as head coach at Mississippi State. Moorhead was also a head coach at Fordham before James Franklin hired him to be Penn State’s offensive coordinator in 2016.

Moorhead has previous experience with the Akron program. The Pittsburgh native was a wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for Akron in 2004 and added the role of passing game coordinator the following season. Moorhead served as Akron’s offensive coordinator from 2006 through 2008 before joining Randy Edsall at UConn in 2009.

Moorhead will be replacing Tom Arth, who lasted just three seasons as the head coach at Akron. Arth came to Akron from Chattanooga and went just 3-24 in his three seasons as the head coach (Akron fired Arth before the end of the 2021 season).

As Moorhead becomes the head coach at Akron, we will have to pay close attention to what coaches he has on his radar to add to his coaching staff. It could potentially include some assistants with previous or current Penn State ties. Moorhead did take a couple of assistants with him to Mississippi State a few years ago, but time will tell if anyone leaves Penn State for a chance to move up in position with the Akron staff.

In the meantime, Penn State is still looking to fill the vacancy at defensive coordinator after Brent Pry left the program to become a head coach at Virginia Tech.

[listicle id=10782]

[lawrence-related id=10847,10838,10830,10806,10768,10656]

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.

Oregon regular season awards: Recognizing Ducks’ best players ahead of bowl season

Before we get into the college postseason, we want to take a second to give out some regular-season awards at Ducks Wire.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=none image=https://duckswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

The regular season has now come to an end for the Oregon Ducks, and while they are still playing one more time on Friday night in the Pac-12 Championship Game with an opportunity to advance to the Rose Bowl, we wanted to take stock of the season thus far and see which players stand out the most.

We went through this exercise a couple of months ago in our Early Season Awards, where we gave attention to the overall MVP of the team, as well as the best offensive players, defensive players, and position groups. We also identified a most-improved player, and a best unform combination early in the season.

A lot has changed since then, and though the Ducks have continued to be successful, the landscape looks much different than it did at the end of September.

So without further ado, here are our regular season awards for the Ducks. We plan to reconvene after the bowl game and give a final batch of awards for the year as a whole.

Team MVP Award

Winner: RB Travis Dye

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

(Previous Winner: Verone McKinley III)

Zachary Neel: I have zero problems giving this award to Travis Dye. He has been fantastic this season, especially filling in for an injured CJ Verdell. To be honest, I would probably make Dye the Offensive MVP and put Anthony Brown up for the Team MVP Award, simply for what a QB means for the team as a whole in the leadership role. However, there is arguably no player more deserving of this award than Dye is. Well earned.

Don Smalley: Travis Dye. When CJ Verdell got hurt and was out for the season, no one knew how Dye would do at the No. 1 RB. Was he durable enough? Would the Ducks have to turn to the freshmen? Instead, he took the opportunity and quite literally, ran with it. Dye will probably get second-team all-conference running back with his 14 touchdowns.

Andy Patton: There is no way the team MVP award can go to anyone other than Travis Dye, who stepped up in a huge way when CJ Verdell went out for the season. With Anthony Brown having an up-and-down campaign, Dye was the sole reason the Ducks won some early-season games. He has elevated his NFL stock significantly and is a key cog for this Oregon squad.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7

Five candidates to replace Mike Bobo

Here are five candidates to replace Mike Bobo.

Bryan Harsin finally pulled the trigger.

Auburn has fired offensive coordinator Mike Bobo after a pathetic showing from his offense in the month of November. Auburn has scored a combined 15 second-half points in the last five games.

Bobo has bumped up Auburn’s averages by a small margin as opposed to 2020 (29.6 points per game in 2021 compared to 25.1 points per game in 2020), but the way the Tigers have fallen apart over this past month has been inexcusable. The offense has cost Auburn greatly in games where they should have won or had a legitimate chance to win.

Here are five candidates to replace former Auburn offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.