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Kirk Herbstreit: Praise for OC Enos, Gattis disrespects Locksley
Kirk Herbstreit says pump the brakes.
247sports.com
Mike Locksley (offensive coordinator), Dan Enos (quarterbacks coach) and Josh Gattis (co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach) all began last season on the Alabama Crimson Tide sideline. All three men will now enter the upcoming season with important positions at new schools.
Locksley is the Maryland head coach, while Enos (Miami Hurricanes) and Gattis (Michigan Wolverines) both secured offensive coordinator roles. Enos will be the first to make his debut, when the Hurricanes open the season against the Florida Gators on Saturday.
There has been optimism for Gattis and Enos to succeed due to the performance of Alabama in 2018, but ESPN college football pundit Kirk Herbstreit believes some of the expectations for the new coordinators have been overblown.
"I almost take more away from what he did at Arkansas than what he did at Alabama," Herbstreit said about Enos on the latest episode of The College Football Podcast. "I think it's been misguided over the summer with (new Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis) and Dan Enos at Miami as if they were the offensive coordinator and they were the guys that kind of produced the Alabama offense with (quarterback Tua Tagovailoa). I'm probably close as anybody to this Alabama team...
"I really feel people are disrespecting Mike Locksley by trying to celebrate Dan Enos, and trying to celebrate Gattis, I think they're really taking away from what Mike Locksley did. And he was the guy that was really pushing the buttons, so I think they were part of it but it'd be no different than hiring a position coach at some other school. So these guys were not calling plays."
Miami named former 247Sports Composite four-star recruit Jarren Williams the starting quarterback this week. The redshirt freshman has thrown just three passes in one career game for the Hurricanes.
"Dan Enos was (calling plays) in previous jobs," Herbstreit continued. "He was a head coach. He was an OC at Arkansas. So he has a great deal of experience. I'm not saying he's not a great mind, but I don't want to put the success of Tua and Alabama on his back. He'll bring that offense, probably that style, and try to make the most out of having a young quarterback. There's a big difference between having Jarren Williams, who's never taken a snap, and Tua and that group of wide receivers Alabama had a year ago.
"So I just want to caution people; don't assume, 'Here comes Dan Enos and they're going to run the Alabama offense and score 45 points a game.' It doesn't always work out that way. He's a talented coach, and he'll get an opportunity to prove himself. But we're going to learn a lot more about him now that he's kind of in that hot seat as the OC. And everyone is going to go to him Saturday after the game and ask, 'Why did this happen? What happened on that third down?' You know Locksley was answering those questions last year, and now Dan Enos will be able to do that at Miami."
