New OL Coach- Joe Adam

[cuseinchina]

I wonder what McD is like to work for. He seems pretty sensitive to any hint of questioning his decision making coming from reporters...but plenty of coaches don't like reporters. but working for someone who is defensive and controlling can be rough if you aren't getting well compensated for doing it. Not saying that is the case here by any stretch I honestly have no idea...just wondering if its a possibility given that the departures came on the offensive side.

 

[GoSU96]

Believe it or not, Adam's resume is deeper and better than Hackett's when Nate was hired at Syracuse.

Hackett was not a QB coach in the NFL. His bio prior to Syracuse was some time as an offensive assistant at Stanford (no position or play calling responsibilities), then as a quality control assistant for the offense with Buffalo and Tampa. If you are not familiar with what a quality control assistant does -- google it. It ain't calling plays.

Hackett was brought in as a position coach, and that is what he did in 2010. The prior year he was the defacto QB coach when Van Pelt was made OC during the season. Hackett was transitioned to OC while he was here, he wasn't given the reins day one.

Again I'm not questioning Adam's ability to be a coach, the issue is having the first time he's coaching OL be at this level.

 

[Marroniac]

My attempt at summing this all up...If J. Adam was brought in to coach the DLine...great. Seems like our type of guy and he should fit in nicely. OLine? Cause for concern. Between Marrone and Perles, our development on the OLine has been outstanding. We want to keep the momentum going. This guy is a question mark and we're a little worried about it.

 

[sandman525]

I love all the posters on here who are upset about the hire because they looked at Adams' bio, and aren't impressed. Think about it, nobody on here knows a single thing about Adams' coaching or recruiting ability, yet they feel concerned because his resume isn't that impressive to them. Can we at least wait until we see the players he coaches perform on the field before we pan the hire? I feel like I'm reading syracuse.com

 

[Crusty]

I can't imagine that there are any concerns that have been expressed in this thread that Shafer has not considered and he choose Adams. The decision was made so quickly that it leads me to believe that he has had his freakin eye on this guy for awhile.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Hackett was brought in as a position coach, and that is what he did in 2010. The prior year he was the defacto QB coach when Van Pelt was made OC during the season. Hackett was transitioned to OC while he was here, he wasn't given the reins day one.

Again I'm not questioning Adam's ability to be a coach, the issue is having the first time he's coaching OL be at this level.

And the point is, there is no "transition" position for him to coach before he learns offensive line, like there was with Hackett.

 

[djorange1989]

I spoke to a vendor of mine here in Chitown, he played at Elmhurst for Lester and Adam. Adam was his coach on the defense, and coached his brother who was a running back. He couldn't say enough good things about Adam, great coach, fantastic motivator. He told me last summer how great Lester was going to be, and he was right, so hopefully he is right about Adam. FYI, he said the staff at Elmhurst has known about Adam coming to SU for about a month. Interesting.

 

[Crusty]

BTW our offense was pretty anemic last year so it is not all that surprising to me that we have coaching changes on that side of the ball. On the surface our O Line stats look pretty good. The run blocking stats and the pass protection appeared solid. However, we also showed that we can't yet play with the big boys.

Just wild speculation on my part but perhaps McDonald was not happy. He seems to be pretty solid with Lester but I don't know about anyone else. Maybe this is all crap but I wonder.

 

[creeker46]

Hackett was brought in as a position coach, and that is what he did in 2010. The prior year he was the defacto QB coach when Van Pelt was made OC during the season. Hackett was transitioned to OC while he was here, he wasn't given the reins day one.

Again I'm not questioning Adam's ability to be a coach, the issue is having the first time he's coaching OL be at this level.

are you qualified to determine who's a good oline coach and who isnt..... I see no problem with taking a head coach at a lower level and making him any position coach... head coach at a lower level is more intense than position coach at this level...

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

I spoke to a vendor of mine here in Chitown, he played at Elmhurst for Lester and Adam. Adam was his coach on the defense, and coached his brother who was a running back. He couldn't say enough good things about Adam, great coach, fantastic motivator. He told me last summer how great Lester was going to be, and he was right, so hopefully he is right about Adam. FYI, he said the staff at Elmhurst has known about Adam coming to SU for about a month. Interesting.

Thanks for this. If Adam coming along has been in the plans, this could say very much about the value Shafer places on Lester.

 

[Full_Rebar]

I think we can all agree that Shafer is no dummy. Most seem to think Lester is being groomed to be the OC when McDonald eventually departs, so it makes sense to have some of Lester's guys on staff (I know someone else mentioned this earlier in this thread).

It's also no surprise that this has been in the works. Lots of schools have held off on coaching moves until after Signing Day.

 

[CuseLegacy]

One of his main responsibilities is going to continue the growing trend of locking up Chicago and other parts of the Midwest. Shafer isn't a dummy, he knows what he's doing.

Rocco I don't think it is only Chicago/Midwest. Adam was the Recruiting Coordinator for Elmhurst and if you look at their roster there are a lot of Florida kids on the team. I think he will be recruiting the Midwest and Florida.. two of Shafers favorite areas.

 

[SUFan44]

It should appetize your palate in the meantime. No need to be critical of a coaching situation you don't really know anything about.

I'll be the first to say I don't have any insider information. And I do appreciate what you bring to the board.

But given the facts that we know - our offensive line has improved significantly since hiring two guys who had a wealth of experience in the area (Adkins and Perles) - and what has been reported - a Division III head coach from Illinois who has an entirely defensive background according to his bio was hired as our offensive line coach - I'm a little disappointed.

Not to say he can't be a very good recruiter. And can't be a good coach. Just on the surface not what I was hoping for.

 

[RMH44]

I'll be the first to say I don't have any insider information. And I do appreciate what you bring to the board.

But given the facts that we know - our offensive line has improved significantly since hiring two guys who had a wealth of experience in the area (Adkins and Perles) - and what has been reported - a Division III head coach from Illinois who has an entirely defensive background according to his bio was hired as our offensive line coach - I'm a little disappointed.

As of today, we don't know what his coaching assignment(s) will be. As a few have mentioned, maybe he ends up as the TE/Special teams coach. In the meantime, why worry about things you have zero control over and quite frankly, know little about.

 

[CousCuse]

From his picture , he sure as hell looks hardnosed.

 

[TheCusian]

I'll be the first to say I don't have any insider information. And I do appreciate what you bring to the board. But given the facts that we know - our offensive line has improved significantly since hiring two guys who had a wealth of experience in the area (Adkins and Perles) - and what has been reported - a Division III head coach from Illinois who has an entirely defensive background according to his bio was hired as our offensive line coach - I'm a little disappointed. Not to say he can't be a very good recruiter. And can't be a good coach. Just on the surface not what I was hoping for.

Was it ever determined that he was hired to be the OL coach?

I trust Shafer (and Lester) with this one. He has about 1,000% more info on this hire than any of us, except Rocco.

 

[Crusty]

My general impression is that everyone that Shafer is hiring has a strong recruiting background. Interesting change from the previous regime. I think it is fair to say that DM valued coaching ability more than recruiting ability. Maybe I am wrong but that is my impression.

 

[Marroniac]

Amidst all the speculation there is one thing I know as FACT. Joe Adam is going to LOVE Dinosaur BBQ.

 

[HeaterCuse22]

Correct. None of these moves, in or out, is driven by salary.

Let it be known, for the 5 or 6 other threads throughout these boards, this is "a nugget", "insider info", and how it should be done.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Looks like a young guy - probably about 33 yrs old, based on when he graduated college.

LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=35522415&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=aP5B&locale=en_US&srchid=60501141392161637535&srchindex=6&srchtotal=128&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId:60501141392161637535,VSRPtargetId:35522415,VSRPcmptrimary

It's not clear what role he served at WMU and GVSU.
This looks like his first stint as OL coach.

Everyone keeps saying that he has no O line coaching experience but as you point out know one here knows what he coached at GVSU. I have searched and have found nothing. I can tell you he graduated from both Harper and GVSU but nothing about what he coached while working for Kelly. Does anyone know?

 

[Marroniac]

Everyone keeps saying that he has no O line coaching experience but as you point out know one here knows what he coached at GVSU. I have searched and have found nothing. I can tell you he graduated from both Harper and GVSU but nothing about what he coached while working for Kelly. Does anyone know?

To that point, does anyone know what position he played? By the looks of him I'm guessing he wasn't a DB.

 

[upperdeck]

I think people over look coaching is not rocket science. its more about connecting with the kids to get them to work and learn. Look at how many good coaches jump around from O to D. SS was a quarterback, coached secondary, and corners and became a DC.

Kelly was a DB coach, became a DC, then head coach, but people consider him an offensive coach.

if you can coach you can coach most any position and SS has said that in many interviews. This is about motivating kids, the x-o's of the position are not something a good coach cant figure out.

 

[baggerbob]

Our offensive line were the same guys who in the Bowl Game, were still getting false start penalties, that shouldn't have been still happening that late in the season.

 

[shandeezy7]

Everyone keeps saying that he has no O line coaching experience but as you point out know one here knows what he coached at GVSU. I have searched and have found nothing. I can tell you he graduated from both Harper and GVSU but nothing about what he coached while working for Kelly. Does anyone know?

Ask and you shall receive - per the 2006 Western Michigan University media guide:

He was a Student Assistant at Grand Valley State from 2003 to 2005, working primarily with the defensive backs and defensive line. Prior to that, he was a defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator at Harper Junior College from 1997 to 2003.

 

[GoSU96]

I love all the posters on here who are upset about the hire because they looked at Adams' bio, and aren't impressed. Think about it, nobody on here knows a single thing about Adams' coaching or recruiting ability, yet they feel concerned because his resume isn't that impressive to them. Can we at least wait until we see the players he coaches perform on the field before we pan the hire? I feel like I'm reading syracuse.com

Who said it wasn't impressive, I have no way of knowing that. Obviously Lester thinks a lot of him. That's not the point. The point is the level of risk of putting this person, however good a teacher and coach he is in general, at this PARTICULAR job.

That's it.

People can bring up Chip Kelly, Gus Malzahn, Nate Hackett, Tim Lester all they want, but they all had relevant direct experience for the positions they were hired for.

Shafer is running the program, he knows the people involved, the guy could be another high potential hire and this was the first, best way to get him on the staff. That's all goes into a hiring decision, but he is also rolling the dice that this won't be too disruptive.

Two years ago there was decades worth of BCS and NFL experience coaching the OL, and I think it showed in the turn around in that group from where it was in 2009 and before. Proof that coaching matters. It took a couple of years but the last two years that group both pass protected and run blocked as well as any unit this school has had in a very long time.

This hire represents 0 years of experience at any level. That's why there is concern.