Posts Tagged ‘todd monken’

After four days of searching, Southern Miss has caught Monken Mania. 

Southern Miss went back to the well that produced Jeff Bower and Larry Fedora, this time plucking Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Todd Monken to be the next Golden Eagles head coach. 

Though this will be his first head coaching job, we've written previously that Monken is a guy who really gets his profession. Tuesday, Monken explained why. He comes from the coaching family to end all coaching family, with his dad, four uncles, a brother and a cousin all working as head coaches throughout the high school and college ranks. 

Moken said he has spent 46 years preparing to be a head coach, and he has a clear vision for how his team will play. 

"We're going to try like heck to put the fun back in football," Monken said. "The days of telling your players 'because I said so' are over. To get your guys over there, it's got to be fun. They're going to work their butts off, but it's going to be fun."

"On offense, we're going to be no-huddle. Obviously that's why I got the job, because we scored," Monken said to a round of applause. Southern Miss finished the 2012 season ranked 110th nationally in scoring offense, producing just 19.7 points per game. 

"On defense, I think people are going to have to get used to the fact that spread offenses are going to move the ball," Monken continued. "There's too much space. We've got to get stops, create turnovers and affect the quarterback and make him miserable. That's how you win games."

As for special teams, Monken said, "It's hard to say you're going to be good on special teams and not play your best players. Everybody says they want to play in the NFL, and the easiest way to make an NFL roster is to play special teams."

True to form, Monken dropped a few one-liners on the assembled crowd in Hattiesburg.

On engaging in the community: "You're going to see us out there. My family and I like to have fun. We're social butterflies. If we're going to ask you to invest, you're going to see us out there."

On missing out on Oklahoma State's bowl game: "It's sad that I won't be there for (Oklahoma State players) but I'm the head coach at Southern Miss now and that's where my butt belongs."

On the differences between he and Larry Fedora: "Well we both like visors. He's got longer, darker hair and needs a little bit more gel."

On being Southern Miss' first choice: "Don't they have to say that? They're not going to come in here and say you were the eighth choice, for God's sakes."

On what he will say to recruits after last season's 0-12 finish: "It sure as hell beats 18 years of losing and one winning season. I'll tell them, 18 years of winning and one year of losing, that's still damn impressive."

Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Todd Monken talked about the process of coordinators moving up one chair to the head coaching spot with the media yesterday. He had a lot to say. 

“It’s hard enough to get a head coaching job without being a head coach," Monken told The Oklahoman. "With all the money people are getting paid now, (school decision makers) don’t want to guess."

Monken is correct. As more and more money pours into college football, the amount of pressure on coaches equally rises. Administrators have a quick trigger finger and aren't afraid to use it (see: Bohn, Mike). 

“The next step is an offensive guy who’s scoring," said Monken. "Put some people in the stands, exciting offense and all that. And that’s becoming more and more common. You have to take a smaller job, if you can, and win.”

This was a line of thought that played out on the FootballScoop Twitter feed earlier today.

A FBS HC's right hand man said 2 me yesterday, "That's why sometimes hot OC's take a lower level HC job…just to prove they can be HC" #Gus

— FootballScoop Staff (@footballscoop) November 30, 2012

Being the head man is an entirely different world than serving as an offensive coordinator. Monken smartly realizes his best move may be to follow the steps of Larry Fedora, who jumped from the Oklahoma State offensive coordinator to the head coaching job at Southern Miss, and Gus Malzahn, who did the same when moving from Auburn to Arkansas State. 

At a reported salary of $600,000, Monken knows he can afford to be picky. In fact, he reportedly turned down the offer to become head coach at Tulane last year. 

“You’ve just got to be careful. It’s OK to wave at the neighbor lady, flirt a little bit. I don’t know if it’s across the street. Better be careful, might not want to go in the house. But it’s nice to be wanted. It’s nice to have someone tell you, ‘Hey, we want you. And here’s this amount of money. And a five-year deal. It’s your own program…

“Everybody likes to be smoothed. Everybody likes to be wanted. And if you’re not careful, you can make an emotional decision, even if you know it’s the wrong thing.

“How many coaches have done that, taken the job and said, ‘Can I get the old one back, I screwed up?’”

Monken isn't a fan of the timeline that most coaching changes operate on. Coaches have to juggle the interview and hiring process while simultaneously helping their current team finish their season. It's an awkward timeline, but it's the price of playing poker in this day and age. 

"That’s what’s screwed up about our profession, you can’t control that," explained Monken. "When opportunities come up, they don’t allow you to finish. You say, ‘Hey, can we wait?’ They say, ‘We don’t want to wait.’”

As one of four finalists for the FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year award, we already knew Monken understood the coaching aspect of his profession. After hearing his thoughts; it's clear to us that he has a very good understanding of the process. He'll be a good head coach one day.