Excellent advice on how to land that offensive coordinator position
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By the end of last season, Walt Bell had become one of the hottest offensive coordinators in the land. After working with Blake Anderson at Southern Miss and North Carolina, then serving as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks caoch at Arkansas State for the past two seasons, word had emerged that Bell's star was too bright to remain in Jonesboro forever. He had that hard to describe, yet so important to have, ability to win the players over, produce results on the field, work well with others and please the boosters, the collection of attributes we refer to simply as "it."
When Michigan defensive coordinator DJ Durkin landed the head coaching position at Maryland, Durkin new his offensive coordinator hire was critical. As Durkin relayed to Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated:
"That was a big search for me. My background is defense and special teams. I talked to a lot of guys. My first conversation [with Bell] was on the phone. We spoke for a couple of hours. What impressed me was he didn't go right into scheme. A lot of guys start there. He wanted to build the offense around effort and toughness and being physical. We spoke for a few hours and he moved himself to the top of the list after that conversation."
At FootballScoop we advise guys the same all the time: don't lead with your playbook, don't lead with your binder, lead with who you are. Listen to the interviewer. Answer his questions and speak from the heart. Show them who you really are, show them your passion for the position. You will get to Xs & Os; but don't lead with that.
Thamel's article has a number of other good nuggets coaches will enjoy. Have a look.
