Monken’s Big Gamble

[3seconddelay]

My macro view and opinion…Monken is rolling the dice big time on this single back shotgun “option” scheme to counter the NIL/Xfer Portal overnight disruption to any level of parity there was and the systematic dismantling of cut blocking. The two knocks against him getting a P5 job are his TO lineage and not having a signature win against a P5 school. If the new scheme and coaching changes work, he has the opportunity to kill both those birds with one stone over the next two years. Meanwhile his succession plan is already in place. Mike Viti becomes head coach and Monken takes one of the Co-OCs with him. The other stays.

[ArmyRoadFan7]

It might not be that big of a gamble. If it doesn’t work Monken just switches back to some form of the triple option and stays at Army. If it works like you said he could potentially land a P5 job.

[wpgrad]

Huge gamble. My sources tell me this has been an idea brewing for a few years. He’s developed relationships and schemes and ideas with key folks like Drinkall, and this offense we’ll see is “the next evolution.”

Will it work? I think monken is an elite coach, just like i thought PJ was a top 5 guy at Navy. Trust in monken

[PrideandDream]

Mike Viti as the next head coach would be a huge mistake. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

Viti's best move is to leverage this experience at Army to go to another school and build a deeper network, coach other positions, and see how other programs and top level coaches operate. In fact it would likely serve him well even to step back to a GA or Analyst Role at a big time school like OSU, UGA, Alabama, Clemson, and see from the bottom up how these programs operate. On top of that I would also say that getting a head job at another school is almost at least a prerequisite for Army. Viti hasn't even been a sole coordinator that has put a system in place that is signature to him. Coaching fullbacks in the triple isn't the most complicated role. particularly the way we've run them the last several years. And his tenure as the O line coach is already suspect.

I know Monken loves him and he certainly brings a ton of things to the table that most coaches don't have like experience at Army and leadership and those are no small things that are hard to find. But when it comes to running a program as a head coach you need to have a good amount of varied experiences and a deep network to draw and pull from to bring in other coaches. And especially at Army.

I say all this because I would love to see a grad come back and coach. I look at the AF staff and it's loaded with former players and that benefits their system greatly. And it's been that way for years. We need guys like that at Army but it's going to take someone with a proven background to run the whole thing and I fear that if we go the grad route one time and it fails then we will never go back to it or at least will avoid it for a long long time. Look at Calhoun, he started at Air Force for 5 years, then went to Ohio worked to be the OC, then to Wake, then to the NFL for several years and two teams before becoming the head coach at AF. You know that time away served him well. Look at Monken, he's been all over the place, Hawaii, Arizona St, Buffalo, High school, GA Southern, Navy, GA Tech, GA Southern, then Army. And this is his 2nd Head Coaching Job. You are hard pressed to find successful Head Coaches who haven't been around and coached different spots, proven themselves as coordinators, and built deep recruiting networks for future players and coaches.

Just my two cents. It just kills me that we often throw out names for our HC job with little rigor. That's how we've wound up with lots of folks that weren't qualified to run the program. For all the boxes that Viti ticks off there are a ton of boxes that he doesn't tick. Just like Todd Berry or Bobby Ross. Both guys ticked a ton of the boxes I've listed below but neither tick the boxes Viti brings. So we have to be thoughtful about who we project as future coaches.

PD

[gabn92]

I concur with PD. If we think Viti might eventually be the right guy to come back and be the head coach, he needs some broadening experiences at other programs. The experience plus networking would be invaluable later.

[wpgrad]

Mike Viti just basically got fired from his job at OL, replaced by drinkall. I highly doubt he is anywhere near the top of a replace monken list. And, as noted, if you list 5 jobs that would be "monken" jobs they would be vandy, illinois, kansas, ga tech type places and they have all had openings and monken can't get a sniff. Even if this offense works the "option" stigma stays with monken. Look at AF--calhoun has had seasons where his offense looks nothing like army or navy, but if you read writeups on him, they call him a triple option guy.

[ArmyRoadFan7]

I am generally opposed to hiring a guy as head coach who still feels the need to head butt a player.

[I can't]

Mike Viti is the head Oline coach, Drinkall is the assistant

[wpgrad]

Mike Viti is the head Oline coach, Drinkall is the assistant

Yeah, cause we need two offensive line coaches.

[WrekDivr]

The current coaching staff list (link below) shows Viti coaching the O line (Assistant Head Coach - Offense/Offensive Line) and Drinkall focusing on Tight Ends (Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends).

I have to admit that I was hoping someone else was going to coach the O-line given our challenges last year, but it looks like it is Viti’s show still.


https://goarmywestpoint.com/sports/football/coaches