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I think its a horrible idea because there will be no consistency with the coaches in the seperate areas and makes it seem like it is an afterthought. IMO.

No comfort zone found at BGSU
Brandon opens up all positions
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Brandon

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By RYAN AUTULLO
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

BOWLING GREEN - Gregg Brandon turned on some soothing tunes and plopped down on a deeply cushioned chair in his office, crossing his legs to complete the ultimate scene in comfort.

Brandon's team, assuredly, will not feel this at ease when Bowling Green State University begins its spring football practice schedule this morning. That's because Brandon, who is entering his fifth season at the helm, made it known that every starting position is for the taking heading into the fall.

"I've opened up every job," Brandon said.

Granted, coaches say these things every year to avoid complacency among their players, but after the Falcons finished just 4-8 in 2006, one would be foolish to dismiss Brandon's message.

"Right now, no one has a for-sure spot; that's what keeps everything exciting," said Jahmal Brown, a sophomore defensive back from Cleveland. "You're always competing. That's what I'm looking forward to."

Brown is among several sophomores who saw extensive game action as true freshmen but have yet to participate in spring ball. Five assistant coaches hired in recent months will also be getting acclimated to a new system and approach.

"I hope I don't have to coach my coaches too much," Brandon said, jokingly. "There will always be glitches as you get through the spring, but I think with the experience this staff has at the Division I level, I'm looking for a smooth transition."

The new faces on Brandon's staff are: Adam Gonzaga (defensive backs, Northwood) Matt Campbell (offensive line, Mount Union), Stephen Bird (wide receivers, Eastern Kentucky), Vernon Hargreaves (linebackers, Florida International) and Doug Phillips (defensive line, Ohio State).

"It's an opportunity for five positions to impress a coach," Brandon said.

Longtime BGSU assistants Mick McCall and Mike Ward were promoted to offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively. Brandon did not fill the special teams coordinator position, previously held by D.J. Durkin who is now on Stanford's staff. Instead Brandon is taking a rare approach, assigning a staff member to each facet of special teams.

Arguably the team's biggest woes last year were punting and kickoff. Bird will oversee the former and Gonzaga the latter. Hargreaves will be responsible for punt return, while Campbell and running backs coach John Hunter will coach the field goal team.

Phillips will focus on field goal block, and tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Troy Rothenbuhler will be responsible for kickoff return.

"That coach can use any player he wants on the team and any coach he wants to help him coach his units," Brandon said.

"As far as naming a coordinator, we don't have a coordinator. My philosophy is you get a coach to handle a unit and be responsible for it."

Two new players will fill the kicking and punting roles after freshmen kicker Sean Ellis and punter Alonso Rojas, both from Florida, left the team. Brandon said junior college transfers Nick Iovinelli (punter) and Sinisa Vrvilo (kicker) will attempt to rescue units that were downright gnarly at times in 2006. Iovinelli and Vrvilo, who are already enrolled at BGSU, will compete with each other for kickoff duties.

"I feel a lot better this spring because my kicker and punter are here and have already participated in winter conditioning and have kicked indoors," Brandon said. "We rolled the dice when we signed those two freshmen last year, thinking they were going to come in and do the job. We took a chance and it didn't work out."

NOTES: Brandon said he expects former Falcon offensive lineman Derrick Markray to earn an NFL roster spot as an undrafted free agent. Brandon won't be surprised if Devon Parks, a defensive end, also gets a contract offer. … Kory Lichtensteiger (center), Nick Davis (defensive line), Joe Schaefer (defensive line), Matt Emans (wide receiver) and Eugene Fells (linebacker) will miss most or all of spring practice while recovering from injuries or surgeries. … Brandon said multi-purpose offensive player Freddie Barnes is fully recovered from a broken foot, though no one is sure whether the break occurred during the Toledo game or earlier in the season. … The annual spring game will be held at 1 p.m. April 21.

Contact Ryan Autullo at:
[email protected].

We'll see if it works. I think it's a bad idea as well.

even if they wanted to arrange the staff with those particular duties, i feel there needs to be one person, below Brandon, who is ultimately accountable for special teams as a whole. they should have hired one more coach, given him one of the particular duties (most likely a kicking specialist to help with the field goals issues), and also made him responsible for ST as a whole.

just my two cents...what the heck do i know?

[J4H] Maybe Brandon is trying to save money by not hiring a coach so it can be applied to his buyout at the end of the season? [/J4H]

Bleeding Orange wrote:[J4H] Maybe Brandon is trying to save money by not hiring a coach so it can be applied to his buyout at the end of the season? [/J4H]

In that case, great idea!

I had on a sports talk station the other day and there was a blurb from Tressel about Ohio St starting spring practice. He talked about players and coaches he would have to replace. He mentioned Beckman getting a good promotion to be the D coordinator at Okla St. So Tressel mentions that they have a new guy coaching CBs, but will also need to find a replacement to coach punt return as that was Beckman's responsibility as well. My point is that is sounds like Tressel must do something like what Brandon is doing.

Now I am not condoning this by any means and am skeptical myself. But I wanted to point out that it looks like other coaches (a successful coach at that) are doing this as well.

Bleeding Orange wrote:[J4H] Maybe Brandon is trying to save money by not hiring a coach so it can be applied to his buyout at the end of the season? [/J4H]

hilaroios

Personally, as bad as it looks, this could prove to be successful for us. Seeing as how there are apparently two different coaches, one for field goals and one for kick offs (or so it seems) this could prove to be a good move. But as the rest of you have said, this could also end up being just as bad as what we witnessed last year. Only time will tell.

When I first read it I thought it sounded like some kind of a joke.

In the end though, I asked myself, can the STs really be any WORSE than they were last year? I'm really not sure they can, so we'll see.

hammb wrote:When I first read it I thought it sounded like some kind of a joke.

In the end though, I asked myself, can the STs really be any WORSE than they were last year? I'm really not sure they can, so we'll see.

Remember when Rudy runs on the field at the end of the movie and does not no where to go. I picture this happening the exact same way. They will look to the sidelines for help and 3 or 4 coaches will be yelling different things.

Remember when Rudy runs on the field at the end of the movie and does not no where to go. I picture this happening the exact same way. They will look to the sidelines for help and 3 or 4 coaches will be yelling different things.

Didn't that happen for the last two years?

Globetrotter wrote:hilaroios

hilaroios?

1987alum wrote:

Globetrotter wrote:hilaroios

hilaroios?

Swahili for hilarious.