re: Auburn football head coach search thread?

If Harsin is calling plays, then the goal should be to hire the best QB coach possible...one that can "become" the play-caller. It's the most important position on the field, and the idea that you'll hire a "recruiter" and treat QB coaching as some sort of afterthought that you scrap together is utterly stupid. Really really stupid.

The "talk" on Dell McGee is that he wants to call plays. He already has fancy/pointless job-titles at Georgia. So this isn't an either/or situation with Davis vs. McGee if Harsin is actually looking to call plays, because I don't think that McGee is interested in leaving his comfy job to be an "in title only" OC here. McGee also obviously adds much more complexity to the layout of the staff because now you have to dance guys around to somehow get a QB coach while also considering that both McGee and Caddy are RB-only coaches at this point. Kiseau could coach QB's, but I doubt he's anywhere near Austin Davis in that regard, and in that scenario do you move McGee to WR's?

I can see why Austin Davis is the target because it would be a seamless transition and checks a lot of boxes. You get an NFL-caliber QB coach who will draw heads at that position, and he can "grow" into being the full OC here. I'd be willing to bet that Austin Davis has a much higher ceiling and likelihood of success as a potential play-caller than McGee does (by way of coaching a considerably more translative position at a higher level and while also being a former QB himself), so even if you're comparing two guys who have never called plays, it's not the same comparison because the upside doesn't seem comparable.

In terms of recruiting, McGee has a clear and obvious advantage, but I can tell you right away that Harsin isn't going to treat the OC role (which is extremely important regardless of how much play-calling Harsin plans on doing himself) as a sit-in role for a paid recruiter. Furthermore, I would be surprised if Davis didn't even up being a strong recruiter himself. Obviously not to the degree of McGee's connections to Georgia, but for QB recruiting alone he would be a huge sell, and he's young and personable enough with that NFL pedigree to move kids. The big thing with him is that he hasn't been coaching long enough in the NFL to develop the typical "doesn't like to recruit" NFL-coach trademark that ends up being the big drawback with most NFL coaches.

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Dell comes to Auburn, Cadillac is gone. Y'all cool with that?

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I’d much rather have someone that can develop and call plays at OC than fricking dell mcgee

It’s possible you could see some shuffling.

We could put McGee at WR and hire a QB Coach only

Trovon

Wouldn't trovon need a different role once an OC is hired to be able and allowed to recruit? I thought he was now because we were down a coach after bobo got canned

I don't think Trovon's role has changed, he's not an on-field coach. You're correct, he's only going on visits because we're down a coach. Once we have a coach in place he'll be back to his regular jobs.

I could be mistaken but I thought I read somewhere that Trovon wasn't interested in an on-field role.

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What do you do with Kiesau?

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IMO, WR play improved a lot when he took over.

I don't get all of the Dell love. Yes, he is a great recruiter, but I don't think sacrificing either Caddy or Kiesau is worth it.

From the outside looking in, Kiesau isn't the guy or he's at the bottom of the list.

Auburn beat writers: Dilly turns down Auburn for the new Duck Man