As a WR coach.

Wouldn't preclude him from coming to Mizzou as the OC. Much higher paying and prestige job.

I guess I watched Joker too much over the last couple of years to consider him a good candidate for OC.

Fantastic news!

I like the offense he ran at UT. Sounds good to me.

Finally that gimick offense will go away!

Be careful what you wish for...

In my view, the spread is Missouri's best long-term offensive option. It's also beyond the point where you can call it a gimmick offense, considering that several national title winners have done so running the spread (Auburn, Florida x 2), the success Oregon has with it, etc.

Missouri is going to have a hard time recruiting the pure OL talent and depth needed to run the pro-style offense effectively. And yes, the OL was bad this season, but it was a strange, injury-riddled season.

And anyway...

Tony Franklin, Jim Chaney and Joker Phillips are probably the three leading (and most likely, IMO) candidates.

Franklin is one of the originators of the modern spread, going back to his days at Kentucky with Hal Mumme. He would definitely run the spread.

Phillips has a lot of spread experience as well, and - while he was a bad HC, as mosbonian points out - he was a very successful OC. Again, at Kentucky. His offense would have some pro-style elements but be heavily spread-oriented.

Chaney ran a pro-style offense at Tennessee, but a few things to remember on him:

1) His pro-style O at Tenn was WORSE at running the football than Missouri's spread
2) He has spread roots, going back to Joe Tiller and basketball on grass at Purdue.

I'm fine with an OC who wants to include some more traditional elements in the offense and be a little more multiple. But I don't believe Missouri can succeed running a true pro-style offense as its primary set. There's just not enough local, high quality OL talent to do that consistently.

Joker Phillips just took a job with UF as WR coach and recruiting coordinator.

It wouldn't shock me in the least if Pinkel promotes Hill or Henson.

Read down the thread for Duncan's thoughts.

I think we've reached the point where the spread no longer has the ability to "even the odds" against more talented teams, as most defensive schemes now expect the spread, and can "bend but not break" to mitigate the damage and capitalize on mistakes.

Look at the teams you mentioned who have had tremendous success with the spread... it's all about talent. It doesn't much matter what your offensive philosophy is, it's whether you can recruit and sign the prototypical players for that offense. That is, and will be, the way Missouri butters its bread. We've got to get a top-notch recruiter on this staff.

I'm thinking about offensive line talent, specifically.

Oregon's OL talent has been very similar to Mizzou's throughout this run, but that offense works because of the tremendous skill players (and the great approach of the coaching staff).

I don't think Missouri can/will recruit the OL well enough to run a pro-style scheme over the long haul. That's why I prefer the spread, which focuses on getting the ball out quickly, keeping the defense out of the box, running using zone blocking schemes, etc.

All things that neutralize a disadvantage in OL vs. Front 7 (which Missouri is going to have, a ton, in the SEC).

Missouri lost a couple huge commits in Andy Bauer (2014 OT) (at the beginning of the year), and 2013 OT Jake Campos (this past weekend), who would've been huge for our OL play. We really need to step up our battle for the trenches talent.

Updated with two commits from weekend (DEs Marcus Loud and Dimarya Mixon), key recruits.

The book isn't closed on Bauer. He's getting a lot of attention from big schools and is really interested in that, but apparently distance from family is a very large concern.

Campos, though? He gone. The Iowa State roots sucked him back in.

Oh great - back to 2005.

3-star recruits can't be 'key recruits' anymore. We've lost literally every single bit of momentum from the SEC move. We're right back to classes full of leftovers in Texas and 3-star recruits.

Nicely done, fellas. Really nicely !@#$ing done. And hey, lets see if you can wait 3 or 4 months before hiring an OC, because that's going to also help matters a great deal.

I don't even like opening this thread anymore.