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Pep Hamilton: NFL's Hottest HC Candidate? (Merge)


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Not sure he's even HC material. He didn't do much at Stanford once Luck left. They ended up winning the Rosebowl right after Pep. Plus he is good with Luck, that's the key. That's all he's really ever been good at. When Harbough was there, his job title was something like " Andrew Luck director of offense".

 

I like Pep as our OC, but I don't think he could cut it as a HC

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I think he would be in over his head as a HC.  Does not seem to have a tough enough personality to command the respect of players when things aren't going well.  I see him a lot like Caldwell.  Smart enough to be a coordinator, but just not HC material.

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I think he would be in over his head as a HC.  Does not seem to have a tough enough personality to command the respect of players when things aren't going well.  I see him a lot like Caldwell.  Smart enough to be a coordinator, but just not HC material.

Caldwell is the HC of a 6 and 2 team despite Calvin Johnson missing 3 games, Reggie Bush missing 2 games, James Ihedigbo missing 3 games

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It's a tricky thing to determine how much credit the coordinator should get in a situation like this. I only mean to say that I think our offense was destined to be good this year, so long as we stayed healthy and the coaching wasn't ridiculously stupid. Hot young QB in Year 3, returning offensive weapons, improving offensive line... this was the year of the jump. If Pep was calling plays the way he did for about six weeks in the middle of the season last year, then we wouldn't be as good as we are, but he's calling common sense plays that work well with our offense. 

 

He deserves credit for that, absolutely. Often I see coaches doing stupid things that don't make sense for their personnel, so it's worth recognizing when a coach uses his personnel properly. And for the most part, I think Pep is doing just that. 

 

I just think Pep is replaceable, I guess is my point. 

 

 

 

I've done some careful research on the odds of Pep getting a HC job next year. While going over the data i compiled , I discovered an amazing factor in the dynamics of this. 

 

1) Andrew Luck's rookie year.  A guy named Bruce Arians at the age of 59 years , 3 months is pulled off a garbage heap by the Colts and hired as the OC. One year later , he signs a HC job with the professional Cardinals from Arizona. I follow football very closely and I never recall hearing his name linked to a HC job in his previous 24 years in the NFL.

 

2) Following Luck 2nd and midway into his 3rd year , we start reading that the new OC hire of the Colts , Pep Hamilton , is a top consideration for a HC job for the upcoming 2015 season. Pep coached 3 years in the NFL , two as a QB coach and one as a WR coach. He coached in the college ranks at Howard  and finally 3 years at Stanford. One as a WR coach and 2 as the OC. He never held a head coaching job in college. At 40 years old , this doesn't seem to be an overwhelming resume.

 

So I'm thinking that the above data strongly suggest that it really Andrew Luck that is the main factor in elevating the stock of these two guys. 

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I've done some careful research on the odds of Pep getting a HC job next year. While going over the data i compiled , I discovered an amazing factor in the dynamics of this.

1) Andrew Luck's rookie year. A guy named Bruce Arians at the age of 59 years , 3 months is pulled off a garbage heap by the Colts and hired as the OC. One year later , he signs a HC job with the professional Cardinals from Arizona. I follow football very closely and I never recall hearing his name linked to a HC job in his previous 24 years in the NFL.

2) Following Luck 2nd and midway into his 3rd year , we start reading that the new OC hire of the Colts , Pep Hamilton , is a top consideration for a HC job for the upcoming 2015 season. Pep coached 3 years in the NFL , two as a QB coach and one as a WR coach. He coached in the college ranks at Howard and finally 3 years at Stanford. One as a WR coach and 2 as the OC. He never held a head coaching job in college. At 40 years old , this doesn't seem to be an overwhelming resume.

So I'm thinking that the above data strongly suggest that it really Andrew Luck that is the main factor in elevating the stock of these two guys.

I think that's very true in Pep's case.

Arians benefited greatly from Luck's rookie year also, but he would still be here as the OC if Pagano didn't get sick. Like you said, he was never closely linked to any head coaching job, but he did a great job running the show for us, proving that he was a legitimate candidate. And since then, he's done a pretty good job with the Cardinals. I think Arians would have been Luck's Tom Moore, otherwise.

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I think that's very true in Pep's case.

Arians benefited greatly from Luck's rookie year also, but he would still be here as the OC if Pagano didn't get sick. Like you said, he was never closely linked to any head coaching job, but he did a great job running the show for us, proving that he was a legitimate candidate. And since then, he's done a pretty good job with the Cardinals. I think Arians would have been Luck's Tom Moore, otherwise.

 

 

Yeah , agree and I was just messing around

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I think he would be in over his head as a HC.  Does not seem to have a tough enough personality to command the respect of players when things aren't going well.  I see him a lot like Caldwell.  Smart enough to be a coordinator, but just not HC material.

 

 

Have you seen what Jim Caldwell is doing in Detroit?

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Not sure he's even HC material. He didn't do much at Stanford once Luck left. They ended up winning the Rosebowl right after Pep. Plus he is good with Luck, that's the key. That's all he's really ever been good at. When Harbough was there, his job title was something like " Andrew Luck director of offense".

 

I like Pep as our OC, but I don't think he could cut it as a HC

 

Pep only had one season (2012) after Luck left Stanford.    And Stanford won the Rose Bowl.   Beat Wisconsin.   And the Cardinal did so by switching from their 1st string QB to their 3rd string QB in mid-season.    

 

A drop-off after Luck left is expected.   They lost the Rose Bowl we played after Pep left to Michigan State.

 

Just wanted to clear all this up..........

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Pep is a smart guy - smart enough to know that Andrew or any great quarterback - is ultimately in charge. It's a peytonism to me. Pep's an idea man. He draws it up and throws out the concepts and it's up to Andrew to pick and choose and execute those concepts.

 

Pep has one of the top five jobs in the football universe. His job has to be even more fun than Grigs or Pags or anyone else in the organization - or most of those in the league. Are you kidding me? Drawing up plays for Andrew Luck? Any offensive minded coach's wet dream, fantasy job. Forget about his fee as a co-ordinator, which will go WAY UP if we continue to exhibit the most potent offense in the league. Additionally, the book rights alone on being that close to Andrew should net him millions some day - it's a feather in his cap.

 

Pep would be a fool to leave period, regardless of the offers. Really? He wants to be a college recruiter? I hope so because that is a HUGE part of the college Head Coaching job. Really? He wants to move to another NFL team? I am sure that will be a lot of fun. Teams only change Head Coaches when they frankly really suck.

 

This job right here could be the best job he will ever have, and if he doesn't realize it - I will be happy to load his luggage and close the car door for him on his way to the airport.

 

Clyde and/or Chud will pick up the reigns without skipping a beat. No big changes in playbook, no big changes in anything that matters.

 

Just my opinion and, as always, I could be wrong.

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Pep is a smart guy - smart enough to know that Andrew or any great quarterback - is ultimately in charge. It's a peytonism to me. Pep's an idea man. He draws it up and throws out the concepts and it's up to Andrew to pick and choose and execute those concepts.

Pep has one of the top five jobs in the football universe. His job has to be even more fun than Grigs or Pags or anyone else in the organization - or most of those in the league. Are you kidding me? Drawing up plays for Andrew Luck? Any offensive minded coach's wet dream, fantasy job. Forget about his fee as a co-ordinator, which will go WAY UP if we continue to exhibit the most potent offense in the league. Additionally, the book rights alone on being that close to Andrew should net him millions some day - it's a feather in his cap.

Pep would be a fool to leave period, regardless of the offers. Really? He wants to be a college recruiter? I hope so because that is a HUGE part of the college Head Coaching job. Really? He wants to move to another NFL team? I am sure that will be a lot of fun. Teams only change Head Coaches when they frankly really suck.

This job right here could be the best job he will ever have, and if he doesn't realize it - I will be happy to load his luggage and close the car door for him on his way to the airport.

Clyde and/or Chud will pick up the reigns without skipping a beat. No big changes in playbook, no big changes in anything that matters.

Just my opinion and, as always, I could be wrong.

So...was bruce Arians a fool?
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He wants to move to another NFL team? I am sure that will be a lot of fun. Teams only change Head Coaches when they frankly really suck.

This job right here could be the best job he will ever have, and if he doesn't realize it - I will be happy to load his luggage and close the car door for him on his way to the airport. .

Your previous post didn't say anything about pep staying for x amount of time to gain experience, you said he would be a fool to leave luck...period.

This is exactly what bruce did. He left Luck and the fairy tail job of coaching luck. So he must have been a fool too, even though he's having pretty good success in arizona.

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Your previous post didn't say anything about pep staying for x amount of time to gain experience, you said he would be a fool to leave luck...period.

This is exactly what bruce did. He left Luck and the fairy tail job of coaching luck. So he must have been a fool too, even though he's having pretty good success in arizona.

 

Let's see - last I looked this thread was about Pep and YES I think he would be a fool to leave Luck period.

 

Last I looked the topic was:

 

Pep Hamilton: NFL's Hottest HC Candidate? (Merge)

 

I don't see Bruce's name anywhere.  NO, I don't think Bruce was a fool. 

 

I would appreciate it if you would not speak for me or put words in my mouth. Speak for yourself.

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Let's see - last I looked this thread was about Pep and YES I think he would be a fool to leave Luck period.

Last I looked the topic was:

Pep Hamilton: NFL's Hottest HC Candidate? (Merge)

I don't see Bruce's name anywhere. NO, I don't think Bruce was a fool.

I would appreciate it if you would not speak for me or put words in my mouth. Speak for yourself.

I never spoke for you or put words in your mouth. I was asking a question. What I don't understand is why bruce was not a fool to leave the exact same position that pep WOULD be a fool to leave.

If pep has any aspirations of being a head coach, and the fact he interviewed for the vandy job last year would suggest he does, then he would be a fool to turn down an opportunity to do that just to stay with luck.

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I never spoke for you or put words in your mouth. I was asking a question. What I don't understand is why bruce was not a fool to leave the exact same position that pep WOULD be a fool to leave.

If pep has any aspirations of being a head coach, and the fact he interviewed for the vandy job last year would suggest he does, then he would be a fool to turn down an opportunity to do that just to stay with luck.

Depends....Does Pep want to win now or try to build a team that can win in college consistently long term......We also all know that Pep while he has gotten much better at playcalling there are still questionable route concepts at times, So the question would be does he still want to call plays as well as be a HC?...Can he do both?

 

Can he get another QB that can handle being a starter and producing and a reasonably high level or hopefully being that franchise QB(if were talking NFL)? Because if he cant then Pep does not have a snowballs chance in hell at being a HC longterm, Bad QB's are a massive reason of HC killers....

 

He has Luck now...perhaps he should just bide his time till Coach Pagano retires (Pagano is 54) and stick around and be a HC here in 6-8-10 years instead of getting himself into a situation where he has to rely on some bum QB to keep Peps job secure

 

Also Arians situation and Peps is  different from 1 aspect alone.......age...Pep is 40...Arians is 62 and to be quite honest there was a bit of Luck that happened in Arians landing the HC job...There are not of QB's out there that would have been able to handle all that Luck had to go through his rookie year...especially that trash O Line....(Yes obviously Arians did a good job coaching in Paganos absence of course)....Had Pagano not got cancer Bruce would not have been in the position to be that interim HC once you consider he decided to retire after the Steelers did not retain him and also contemplated it before that

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I think it's incredibly myopic to suggest that any assistant coach should rebuff opportunities to be a head coach just because he's coaching a good QB at the moment. NFL coaches are competitive and hard working, and being a head coach in the NFL is pretty much the top of the mountain. Maybe you don't run off to coach the Jaguars or the Raiders (although Dennis Allen and Gus Bradley left jobs with contenders to do just that), but the fact remains that most assistants never get a shot at the top gig. You don't just turn up your nose at it when you have the chance. And there are dozens of examples of assistants leaving good situations to be a head coach.

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Depends....Does Pep want to win now or try to build a team that can win in college consistently long term......We also all know that Pep while he has gotten much better at playcalling there are still questionable route concepts at times, So the question would be does he still want to call plays as well as be a HC?...Can he do both?

 

Can he get another QB that can handle being a starter and producing and a reasonably high level or hopefully being that franchise QB(if were talking NFL)? Because if he cant then Pep does not have a snowballs chance in hell at being a HC longterm, Bad QB's are a massive reason of HC killers....

 

He has Luck now...perhaps he should just bide his time till Coach Pagano retires (Pagano is 54) and stick around and be a HC here in 6-8-10 years instead of getting himself into a situation where he has to rely on some bum QB to keep Peps job secure

 

Also Arians situation and Peps is  different from 1 aspect alone.......age...Pep is 40...Arians is 62 and to be quite honest there was a bit of Luck that happened in Arians landing the HC job...There are not of QB's out there that would have been able to handle all that Luck had to go through his rookie year...especially that trash O Line....(Yes obviously Arians did a good job coaching in Paganos absence of course)....Had Pagano not got cancer Bruce would not have been in the position to be that interim HC once you consider he decided to retire after the Steelers did not retain him and also contemplated it before that

 

Pagano likely won't retire for 8-10 more years.

 

You expect Pep Hamilton to stay around and bide his time for that long?

 

Not me.

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Mike Freeman is no reporting slouch/blogger. The "I don't trust Bleacher Report" crowd needs to realize that BR has brought on legitimate journalists over the last couple of years, Freeman being one of them in the sense that he actually has real contact with NFL players, coaches, and front office people. 

 

I really don't want Pep to leave for another couple of years, but I do think it is inevitable. 

 

Most people won't believe you, because there are still quite a few hacks on board at B/R.  But they do have many writers respected and in high regard.  It's easy to Google the writer and find out who is who.

 

And Pep may indeed get offers for an NFL HC job.  Is he young enough in his career to forgo that for a while and stick with Luck?  Arians was on his last NFL legs when opportunity knocked.  Situation is a little different with Pep. But HC jobs don't grow on trees either.

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Pagano likely won't retire for 8-10 more years.

 

You expect Pep Hamilton to stay around and bide his time for that long?

 

Not me.

I would in his situation unless it was a very lucrative deal or the team involved had a steady QB already there and the team just needed some talent at other positions....Much easier to find then a good/great QB

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I think it's incredibly myopic to suggest that any assistant coach should rebuff opportunities to be a head coach just because he's coaching a good QB at the moment. NFL coaches are competitive and hard working, and being a head coach in the NFL is pretty much the top of the mountain. Maybe you don't run off to coach the Jaguars or the Raiders (although Dennis Allen and Gus Bradley left jobs with contenders to do just that), but the fact remains that most assistants never get a shot at the top gig. You don't just turn up your nose at it when you have the chance. And there are dozens of examples of assistants leaving good situations to be a head coach.

 

I liked this for the excellent use of myopic. That and the cold shower of reality, people aren't going to turn down a Head Coaching gig. 

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Not sure he's even HC material. He didn't do much at Stanford once Luck left. They ended up winning the Rosebowl right after Pep. Plus he is good with Luck, that's the key. That's all he's really ever been good at. When Harbough was there, his job title was something like " Andrew Luck director of offense".

 

I like Pep as our OC, but I don't think he could cut it as a HC

 

In exchange for a major donation to the university (possibly to the athletic dept.) the University agreed to offically change the name of the offensive coordinator of the Stanford football team forever to "The Andrew Luck Director of Offense".  That had nothing to do with Pep and who ever is offensive coordinator there now is officially considered "The Andrew Luck Director of Offense."

 

Although I think it would be hilarious if maybe in 20 years or something Andrew Luck after retiring from professional football got that job.  

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Most people won't believe you, because there are still quite a few hacks on board at B/R.  But they do have many writers respected and in high regard.  It's easy to Google the writer and find out who is who.

 

And Pep may indeed get offers for an NFL HC job.  Is he young enough in his career to forgo that for a while and stick with Luck?  Arians was on his last NFL legs when opportunity knocked.  Situation is a little different with Pep. But HC jobs don't grow on trees either.

 

I don't think anyone would ever turn it down.  

 

I think NFL coordinators probably make in the mid to high 6 figures, so they are making some pretty good money.  But an NFL Head Coaching job is a 7 figure job.  The lowest paid head coach this year at the start of the year was Dennis Allen (now fired) and he was making 3 million a year, the median is 5 million.  That's enough money to retire after just one year if you had to do that.  

 

No one turns that down unless they already have that kind of money in the bank and they still typically don't turn it down.

 

If you are offered a HC job, even one that is pretty much an impossible situation such as being the head coach of the Raiders you take it if for no other reason then the money.

 

No Pep isn't staying if he gets offered a HC job from an NFL team or even a decently high level FBS team.

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Depends....Does Pep want to win now or try to build a team that can win in college consistently long term......We also all know that Pep while he has gotten much better at playcalling there are still questionable route concepts at times, So the question would be does he still want to call plays as well as be a HC?...Can he do both?

 

 

 

It's not a matter of ".Does Pep want to win now or try to build a team that can win in college consistently long term".  It's a matter of does he want to just be in charge of the offense or the whole show?  And why does it have to be "build a team that can win in COLLEGE"?  Are you just assuming he has no shot at an NFL HC job?

 

And just curious, can you provide any examples of the questionable route concepts?  Sometimes you explain yourself well, others it frankly sounds like you're just repeating buzz words you've read on other scouting sites.  just curious as to which one this is ;)

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I don't think anyone would ever turn it down.  

 

I think NFL coordinators probably make in the mid to high 6 figures, so they are making some pretty good money.  But an NFL Head Coaching job is a 7 figure job.  The lowest paid head coach this year at the start of the year was Dennis Allen (now fired) and he was making 3 million a year, the median is 5 million.  That's enough money to retire after just one year if you had to do that.  

 

No one turns that down unless they already have that kind of money in the bank and they still typically don't turn it down.

 

If you are offered a HC job, even one that is pretty much an impossible situation such as being the head coach of the Raiders you take it if for no other reason then the money.

 

No Pep isn't staying if he gets offered a HC job from an NFL team or even a decently high level FBS team.

 

No question that is true.  On the other hand, if it doesn't work out, it is nice to have a good history of success as an OC or DC so you can at least fall back on that.  (IE: Jack Del Rio, etc...)  Does Pep have enough on his resume to get an OC job if he doesn't succeed as a HC?  Or would he be looking at college opportunities from there on out?

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No question that is true.  On the other hand, if it doesn't work out, it is nice to have a good history of success as an OC or DC so you can at least fall back on that.  (IE: Jack Del Rio, etc...)  Does Pep have enough on his resume to get an OC job if he doesn't succeed as a HC?  Or would he be looking at college opportunities from there on out?

 

Meh, I'm sure he'd get another NFL gig of some sort but depending on the offer might drop down to college to get HC job. I'm not sure it's always entirely what's on your resume but more who do you know. 

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I would in his situation unless it was a very lucrative deal or the team involved had a steady QB already there and the team just needed some talent at other positions....Much easier to find then a good/great QB

 

Even the lowest paid head coach probably makes four times as much as Pep Hamilton, so it's definitely going to be a lucrative deal.

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No question that is true.  On the other hand, if it doesn't work out, it is nice to have a good history of success as an OC or DC so you can at least fall back on that.  (IE: Jack Del Rio, etc...)  Does Pep have enough on his resume to get an OC job if he doesn't succeed as a HC?  Or would he be looking at college opportunities from there on out?

 

Even college opportunities arn't that bad though.  In terms of coaching a FBS head coach at a high level program and a NFL head coach it's pretty much a lateral move.  Maybe not quite as much media attention but still a lot of attention, similar pay.  In fact I could argue that depending on your preferences coaching an FBS program is better then coaching an NFL team.  They don't pull the trigger on firing coaches as quick as NFL teams do and you get to recruit your own team rather then just try to coach a team that the GM gives you.  Also the college game isn't as QB centric.  Landing in an NFL program without a franchise QB is death sentence unless you can find a franchise QB and quick.  In the college game not having a high level starter isn't a death sentence. 

 

I don't know that it would make sense to be scared of having to go back to college coaching again.  

 

Right now I would say the perfect HC Job for Pep would be in Atlanta.  They've got a QB, they've got weapons, I don't know if the defense is struggling or what but they just can't seem to put it all together anymore.  

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Even college opportunities arn't that bad though.  In terms of coaching a FBS head coach at a high level program and a NFL head coach it's pretty much a lateral move.  Maybe not quite as much media attention but still a lot of attention, similar pay.  In fact I could argue that depending on your preferences coaching an FBS program is better then coaching an NFL team.  They don't pull the trigger on firing coaches as quick as NFL teams do and you get to recruit your own team rather then just try to coach a team that the GM gives you.  Also the college game isn't as QB centric.  Landing in an NFL program without a franchise QB is death sentence unless you can find a franchise QB and quick.  In the college game not having a high level starter isn't a death sentence. 

 

I don't know that it would make sense to be scared of having to go back to college coaching again.  

 

Right now I would say the perfect HC Job for Pep would be in Atlanta.  They've got a QB, they've got weapons, I don't know if the defense is struggling or what but they just can't seem to put it all together anymore.

Atlanta has a QB and some weapons......and that's about it.

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