Small Moves in College Football Could Create Big Results

While head coaches in college football seem to be the face and name of their team, sometimes it’s there assistant coaching staff that makes some teams better than the rest. Here’s what we think are the top three moves made during the offseason:

Notre Dame and Head Coach Brian Kelly need an offensive revamp after going 4-8 last season and losing starting quarter back DeShone Kizer to the NFL Draft. Kelly will hand over the play calling duties to new hire Chip Long from Memphis. Big changes will be made by the program’s new offensive coordinator in hopes of a turnaround season for the Fighting Irish.

Alabama’s former offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, made it to two National Championship games with two quarterbacks starting in their first full season. Kiffin’s abrupt departure from the Crimson Tide made way for Steve Sarkisian to step up as the interim offensive coordinator and bring home another national title with a first-year quarterback. This was not the case for Sarkisian as Alabama’s sole loss last season was in the title game. Will Sarkisian be able to change this L to a W next season?

With Alabama making the move to Sarkisian in 2017 it was imperative that LSU got this one right when deciding on their offensive coordinator. We think they did with the hire of Matt Canada, the former Pitt offensive coordinator. LSU has always struggled on the offensive side of the ball – especially during the second half of the season. Canada’s 2016 offensive averaged 40.9 points a game, a truly impressive feat.

—
Photo credit: Rob Hainer / Shutterstock.com