Thank you for the update. I'm happy to see McCann, Braun and Creighton remain. They are great coaches and their respective groups showed promise last year. I'm expecting big things from this group in the next few years.
• Coming off one of the most successful offensive seasons in school history where NAU changed its offense to a pro style/no-huddle philosophy, Plough coached quarterback Case Cookus to FCS STATS Freshman Player of the Year honors, in addition to winning the Jerry Rice Award and other numerous All-American accolades. Cookus broke an 11-year old NCAA FCS freshman record for most touchdown passes in a season; including setting a new school record. He had the fewest interceptions in the FCS by any quarterback with 3,000 or more passing yards.
• During Plough’s first year as offensive coordinator, NAU had the 11th best offense in the FCS. The Lumberjacks ranked first in team passing efficiency (180.18), seventh in scoring offense (39.3), eighth in passing offense, and eighth in red zone offense (89.8).
This also means we will probably start hearing about offensive assistants soon. Who is getting let go and who will be brought in. This all has me excited for Aggie football again!
Here is a short video of Coach Plough at NAU, he mentions one of his mentors at UCD was Coach Stangs / Skangs ??? who went onto the NFL...??? Good clip, funny one liners.
“Going to NAU got me away from what I had known,” said Plough. “In the last few years, we have stumbled upon an offense that is new and that a lot of people don’t run. We’ve had some success with it. I used a lot of the things I learned at Davis and then grew into my own.”
Do you think he is making reference to the Fly offense in his statement?
His NAU bio page says they changed their offense to "a pro style/no-huddle philosophy" , This sounds like he has a variety of formations and reads, and plays derived therefrom.
Just watched the video. He certainly knows the big sky. As i watched it, i wondered about what kind of competition we are going to have for the QB position? Hawk is bringing in a combo of seasoned pros and youth. I think the players will easily identify with a guy like Plough. I like whast i see.
I'm glad he left Davis and used it as a growing opportunity. He absolutely sounds like he knows the Big Sky and that is going to be valuable. Not a lot of lost time trying to figure out what kind of defensive our conference opponents run since he has seen it the last few years.
As for who's starting, I would imagine that nobody starting job is written in stone.
@aggie6thman Didn't you confront Plough at his car after a game over play calling when he coached for the Ags? Have you seen enough of the NAU offense that makes you change your mind?
The cumulative years of experience we will have ... cumulative years as HCs... cumulative years as OCs or DCs ... it doesn't even compare to where we were 4 years ago... let's just say that was a youth movement. Increased salaries probably helped.
Plough himself said it was good for him to get away from Davis for awhile. He seems to have hit his stride at NAU developing a thriving offense there. If not for Cookus getting injured I think NAU would have been near the top of the Big Sky again this year. No way of telling if he can replicate his recent successes, but he seems to have grown a lot since his previous stint with the aggies.
And beyond that, he's going to have some high profile coaching colleauges on the field with him. If he was kicking field goals when we're down by 3 TDs, or running up the middle play after play when its being stopped repeatedly, there's going to be some discussion. Hawk does not accept mediocre performance. I dont think he will be befuddled :).
I remember that Plough was seen by Biggs and Moroski, offensive gurus themselves by almost all accounts, as having a ton of potential as a coach and offensive mind. I'm excited that he expanded his skillset at NAU and is coming back to Davis. Great hire, really good guy.
oldschool, you have to be happy with the quantum leap in experience level of our top coaches...
Lots to be excited about, it seems very strategic. Tucker had huge success and should have the Jucos wired in SoCial. Plough gained more experience and confidence, and he will get to collaborate with Speckman. Foster and Young add their grit. Huge. ... I saw Wulff favorite a tweet of Hawks so thought he may be in the running, but Plough put up some big numbers... I'm assuming that is not just sheer talent. HUGE!?
P.S. Dr. Blue some would consider being in California a 'structural advantage' for our program.
I'm definitely optimistic at this point. I'm really liking the moves we are making. Now I will give Hawk the same leniency I gave Gould. I'm not necessarily looking for us to go 9-2 out of the gate, but there needs to be improvement and growth from season to season which was something we didn't see with Gould. I think it could happen with the Hawk.