Orangebloods is reporting that Steve Addazio is the new OL coach for Texas.
Florida fans are generally very positive on Addazio as a position coach and recruiter, but considered him a major bust as a coordinator and play caller. Perhaps he is their Duane Akina? He has coached a lot of football, though he does lack NFL experience - one of the preferred requisites in the UT job posting.
Similarly, he made his splash working for Urban Meyer in the run-spread offense though he has certainly coached other systems.
My initial concern is this: it's bizarre to think we may have hired an OL coach without identifying the coordinator first. If your offensive coordinator and offensive line coach aren't on the exact same page philosophically and conceptually, your offense isn't going to go and internal tensions will eventually show up in the product on the field. See McWhorter and Davis. If you listen to the recent Dana Holgorsen interview we posted, he makes the same point - you can differ with a WR coach or RB coach and it can be worked through, but if you and the OL coach aren't simpatico, your offense is sunk before it starts.
I've heard concerns about age with Addazio (he's 51), but that doesn't hold water. I want an OL coach who has seen a lot of football and I value development, technical proficiency, and evaluation above all. OL coach is the most important position coach in football because you're responsible for the most bodies (5 of 22 starters) and there is no position, save QB, more dependent on teaching, development, and system integration.
Three possibilities spring to mind:
1. If Addazio is indeed the hire, this lends credence to the idea of an Applewhite - Passing Game Coordinator, Addazio - Running Game Coordinator job share with Major calling the plays.
2. If there will be an external hire offensive coordinator we've not yet identified and we hired Addazio first, that's a pretty strange move.
3. The other possibility is that our OC is identified, we're not announcing until after the bowl, and Addazio got his stamp of approval.
Thoughts?