First, a glance at the newly remodeled football staff:
Head Coach - David Bailiff
Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks - David Beaty
Run game coordinator/tight ends/offensive tackles - John Reagan
Receivers - Larry Edmondson
Offensive line - Ronnie Vinklarek
Running backs/recruiting coordinator - Rick LaFavers
Co-defensive coordinator/safeties - Chuck Driesbach
Co-defensive coordinator/defensive line/special teams - Craig Naivar
Linebackers - Darrell Patterson
Cornerbacks - Jason Washington
Quality control - Chase Clement
Offensive GA - David Sloan
Defensive GA - Michael Slater
When former Owls defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator Darin Eliot opted to leave South Main for Tallahassee, the move opened the door for Bailiff to revamp his offensive staff. The previous configuration was flawed, and with two staff positions vacated (Ed Zaunbrecher left to pursue other opportunities following his lone season as the Owls' offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach) Bailiff added Beaty, Reagan and Sloan. His shifting of responsibilities on defense started with the relocation of Patterson to linebackers and concluded with Driesbach and Naivar tackling new positions where they coached previously.
"When Coach Eliot left, that allowed me some flexibility to hire some guys offensively that I thought the program would really benefit from," Bailiff said. "To be able to hire David Beaty back and also John Reagan, who has been the run game coordinator at Kansas, I thought that would really accelerate us offensively to get back in the direction that I want to go where we were two years ago. That was something that I needed to do."
Bailiff on Reagan and Sloan: "Bringing John in and being able to get David Sloan - we've always had a graduate assistant that was an offensive line graduate assistant. Well this time we could go out and get a guy that wants to be a college football coach and that would volunteer a year, and get a guy like David Sloan. So that's what led to our GA no longer (being an offensive line coach); he's a tight end coach that's going to learn things that open the door for John Reagan to be a tackle/tight end coach. With John being the run game coordinator and the tackle/tight end, he's going to be the tight end coach in the run game; Dave is going to be the tight end coach working with the guys in the passing game. If you think back in the past at practice, what Ronnie would do - or (former Owls offensive line coach) Blake (Miller) - is always give the tackles to the graduate assistant. So it's really a lot of the same structure over there, except I think we've upgraded bringing in a run game coordinator from Kansas and bringing in David Sloan to help those guys."
Bailiff on the shuffling of responsibilities on defense: "Darrell ... was an NFL linebacker, a CFL linebacker - the majority of the time he had been a linebacker coach. I know that his passion was defensively. And making Craig, who had been the special teams coordinator at Sam Houston, with his personality with the special teams (made sense). So everybody I moved had coached those positions before. Craig had been the D-line coach at Sam Houston and the special teams coordinator there, and the D-line coach and special teams coordinator at Southern Illinois. Chuck was the safety coach at Ole Miss, so it's been in the same defense.
It gives these kids clean slates with coaches to where there is excitement. The slate is wiped clean on everybody. When I made that announcement to the team they were extremely excited. All the moves help us win football games."
Bailiff on selecting LaFavers as the recruiting coordinator: "When D.J. left, he was also our recruiting coordinator. To be a recruiting coordinator you have to be one of the most organized men on the planet to keep up with all the moving parts. That's why I moved Rick - it wasn't that I'm upset with him, it's that he is so organized that he helps us win in that capacity."
Head Coach - David Bailiff
Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks - David Beaty
Run game coordinator/tight ends/offensive tackles - John Reagan
Receivers - Larry Edmondson
Offensive line - Ronnie Vinklarek
Running backs/recruiting coordinator - Rick LaFavers
Co-defensive coordinator/safeties - Chuck Driesbach
Co-defensive coordinator/defensive line/special teams - Craig Naivar
Linebackers - Darrell Patterson
Cornerbacks - Jason Washington
Quality control - Chase Clement
Offensive GA - David Sloan
Defensive GA - Michael Slater
When former Owls defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator Darin Eliot opted to leave South Main for Tallahassee, the move opened the door for Bailiff to revamp his offensive staff. The previous configuration was flawed, and with two staff positions vacated (Ed Zaunbrecher left to pursue other opportunities following his lone season as the Owls' offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach) Bailiff added Beaty, Reagan and Sloan. His shifting of responsibilities on defense started with the relocation of Patterson to linebackers and concluded with Driesbach and Naivar tackling new positions where they coached previously.
"When Coach Eliot left, that allowed me some flexibility to hire some guys offensively that I thought the program would really benefit from," Bailiff said. "To be able to hire David Beaty back and also John Reagan, who has been the run game coordinator at Kansas, I thought that would really accelerate us offensively to get back in the direction that I want to go where we were two years ago. That was something that I needed to do."
Bailiff on Reagan and Sloan: "Bringing John in and being able to get David Sloan - we've always had a graduate assistant that was an offensive line graduate assistant. Well this time we could go out and get a guy that wants to be a college football coach and that would volunteer a year, and get a guy like David Sloan. So that's what led to our GA no longer (being an offensive line coach); he's a tight end coach that's going to learn things that open the door for John Reagan to be a tackle/tight end coach. With John being the run game coordinator and the tackle/tight end, he's going to be the tight end coach in the run game; Dave is going to be the tight end coach working with the guys in the passing game. If you think back in the past at practice, what Ronnie would do - or (former Owls offensive line coach) Blake (Miller) - is always give the tackles to the graduate assistant. So it's really a lot of the same structure over there, except I think we've upgraded bringing in a run game coordinator from Kansas and bringing in David Sloan to help those guys."
Bailiff on the shuffling of responsibilities on defense: "Darrell ... was an NFL linebacker, a CFL linebacker - the majority of the time he had been a linebacker coach. I know that his passion was defensively. And making Craig, who had been the special teams coordinator at Sam Houston, with his personality with the special teams (made sense). So everybody I moved had coached those positions before. Craig had been the D-line coach at Sam Houston and the special teams coordinator there, and the D-line coach and special teams coordinator at Southern Illinois. Chuck was the safety coach at Ole Miss, so it's been in the same defense.
It gives these kids clean slates with coaches to where there is excitement. The slate is wiped clean on everybody. When I made that announcement to the team they were extremely excited. All the moves help us win football games."
Bailiff on selecting LaFavers as the recruiting coordinator: "When D.J. left, he was also our recruiting coordinator. To be a recruiting coordinator you have to be one of the most organized men on the planet to keep up with all the moving parts. That's why I moved Rick - it wasn't that I'm upset with him, it's that he is so organized that he helps us win in that capacity."
Looks like a better mix on the offensive side of the ball and I like the idea of Patterson moving to coach the linebackers since his coaching career has been on the D side of the ball.
The one thing that is disturbing about this is the notion that Bailiff might not have made these changes had Eliot not been hired away. These were absolutely necessary changes, and they needed to happen regardless. There's no doubting the staff is stronger now than it was a month ago.
Talon: I get the feeling that Beaty was going to be here regardless. Eliot leaving made room for Reagan to join the staff and Patterson to move to the defensive side. - MK
I'm really happy with the offensive coaching changes. As for the defense, the moves look like they make sense, but there is such a drastic need for improvement that I'll withhold judgement for the time being.
Is there a special teams coach? As many have pointed out, Rice special teams (with notably few exceptions) have been bad to atrocious for the last 20 years. It would seem a dedicated (both meanings of the word) special teams coach could benefit this squad greatly. I would especially like to see emphasis on the return game (both ways).
Owl91: Naivar is the special teams coach. His myriad duties are listed above. - MK
According to riceowls.com, we also have two new staff members under the guise of high school relations in Wayne Hooks and Ray Ward. Hooks I think was briefly at Rice before and is a long-time coach in the Cy-Fair district (?). I don't know Ward - where is he from?
Mark: Hooks did coach at Rice under Goldsmith. He, like Ward, coached four decades in the Greater Houston area, lastly at Cy Falls HS. Ward finished his career at Pasadena HS. I will have a story on the two additions in the coming days. - MK