Over the years I have read, with amusement, stories from college football publications naming the nation's assistant coach of the year. I call these stories amusing because I believe that most of these "best of" coaches were given that honor for political reasons rather than accomplishments.
| |  | | As Purdue's offensive coordinator, Jim Chaney has helped turn QB Drew Brees (above) into a Heisman candidate. |
For that reason, I've decided to write about college football assistant coaches who have gone above and beyond the call of duty as not only great coaches but also tremendous recruiters. The first coach who comes to mind -- and one who I believe is well-deserving of head coach consideration -- is Purdue's offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator, Jim Chaney.
Chaney's name was first brought to my attention four years ago by another outstanding Purdue assistant coach, Danny Hope, who praised Chaney for his proficient and enthusiastic approach to recruiting. The next year both Chaney and Hope left Wyoming and joined Joe Tiller in West Lafayette, Ind.
There's no set formula for making a successful head coach, but after 20 years of watching and studying several of the best, I've come to the conclusion that some of the more successful head coaches were average football players in high school and college who outworked and outhustled their more talented teammates and opponents. These overachievers continued that same approach when starting their coaching careers, most often first as graduate assistants and then as assistant coaches at smaller colleges, before moving up to bigger Division I schools.
That's usually the path taken by successful coaches, and Chaney took a similar route. It started in 1984 when he earned All-Conference honors as a noseguard at Central Missouri State. He then got the coaching bug and became a graduate assistant before being hired as a full-time assistant coach at Cal State-Fullerton from 1984 to 1987. He then spent a year at Western Michigan before returning to Fullerton as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. During that time Chaney coached quarterbacks, receivers and offensive linemen and became known as one of the more innovative offensive minds on the West Coast.
He then took a step back to join the Wyoming Cowboys as a graduate assistant for the chance to work with Joe Tiller. That move paid off in a big way, as Chaney became well-known throughout the WAC as the league's best recruiter. In '97 Chaney coached the offensive line for Purdue and called most of the plays. The offense that year set three school records and led the Big Ten in total offense (459.2 ypg, seventh nationally) and passing (285.2 ypg, 13th nationally). Chaney is now calling all of the offensive plays for the high-powered Purdue offense and has been one of the main reasons for the success of Heisman hopeful Drew Brees.
I've been around several successful assistant coaches over the past 20 years who have moved on to become extremely successful head coaches and the majority of them did not have the résumé that Chaney has. He's not only one of the country's most successful offensive coordinators, but also is one of the nation's premier recruiting coordinators. Over the past three years, Purdue has been able to find blue-chip athletes earlier than just about any other school in the country. I begin my yearly recruiting road-trip travels in early March and am always shocked to find that no matter which player I interview and in what part of the country, he has already received a questionnaire from the Purdue Boilermakers.
Finding blue-chippers and then mailing out questionnaires to those players is the responsibility of the recruiting coordinator, and few do it better than Jim Chaney. A major reason why the Boilermakers have become so successful in such a short time is the evaluating skills of the assistant coaches. I've mentioned a couple of them in past reports -- for example, Danny Hope and Brock Spack -- but the majority of the credit should go to the recruiting coordinator, since he gives direction to the entire staff.
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ABOUT TOM LEMMING
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Tom Lemming is editor of Prep Football Report. For information on how to subscribe to Prep Football Report's three yearly magazines and five newsletters, fax your request to 847-842-1313 or write to P.O. Box 59113, Schaumburg, Ill. 60159. For year-round recruiting updates, call Tom Lemming's Prep Football Hotline at 900-860-9888. Calls are $1.79 per minute, and callers must be 18 years old or have parents' permission. |
The college game is different from the NFL game in that recruiting is just as important as coaching ability, and in my opinion recruiting may just be a little bit more important. Every now and then I receive a call from an athletic director or a selection committee asking about the recruiting ability of a particular assistant coach. This year, when those calls come, Jim Chaney will be at the top of my list as not only a great recruiter, but also as a tremendous evaluator, coach, play-caller and sports personality.
I recently received a call from a former high school football teammate, John Olmstead, whose son Tim plays for the Boilermakers. During our conversation John mentioned to me how much his son enjoys playing for Joe Tiller and Jim Chaney and the rapport Chaney has with not only the offensive players but also the entire team.
It's my opinion that Chaney is long overdue for consideration for a Division I head coach position. Over the past few years several of these positions were offered for political reasons and that could be the reason why several of the recently named head coaches have stumbled badly. A coach may have great "people skills," particularly in front of the camera, but he may have no idea how to run a big-time program. Jim Chaney earns A-plusses in just about every category, including speaking ability, and should make the transition easily from offensive coordinator to head coach.
Over the next couple of months I will round out a top 10 of the nation's premier assistant coaches and keep you informed on which ones could have a shot at landing head coaching jobs in December. I will also give you my choices for the nation's premier recruiting coordinator and graduate assistant.
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