Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop says he’s not looking to become a head coach again.
Not right now, anyway.
“Do I want to be a head coach again?” he asked when I asked him the same thing on Saturday.
“You know, I don’t know. There’s no blueprint in this profession. I love the job that I have now. I work hard at it on a daily basis.”
And that hard work certainly paid off in 2014.
First, in the Big Ten: Shoop and co-coordinator Brent Pry constructed a Nttany Lion defense that led the conference in rushing, pass efficiency, total, scoring and first down defense.
And then nationally, where Penn State is the only FBS team that is ranked in the Top 5 in rushing defense (first, 81.7 yards per game); total defense (third, 267 ypg), scoring defense (fourth, 16.2 ppg) and pass efficiency defense (third, 98.7).
For good measure, the Nittany Lions allowed less than 20 points in nine of their 12 games, and gave up only eight plays of 30 yards or more in 2014. That’s the lowest number in major college football, one fewer than Stanford.
You have to figure there’s a call for a guy with Shoop’s talents. It’s not like the major college football landscape is stable. Already, there have been 13 head coaching changes in major college football this year. There were 20 after the 2013 season and 31 after the 2012 season, according to CollegeFootballPoll.com. In all, that’s 64 changes out of 128 FBS schools. (A few schools made the list twice.)
That means if half the schools hiring a new head coach had half a brain, they’d consider Shoop. (Of course, they should also consider Pry and Penn State’s former defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who made a major impact at West Virginia in 2014 – Bradley, especially.)
LIONS’ SHARE OF LOSSES
Shoop already had one shot at being a head coach. It just wasn’t a fair one. It was at Columbia. Stop laughing. Yes, that Columbia. The one with one bowl game appearance (1934 Rose Bowl, a 7-0 win over Stanford), one conference title (Ivy, 1961) and a .376 all-time winning percentage since its first game in 1870 (a 6-3 loss to Rutgers under the direction of captain Stuyvesant Fish). That’s also a .624 losing percentage – as in, play three games, lose two of them.
Shoop did even worse, going 7-23 (a .233 winning percentage) from 2003-05. He took over as head coach at age 37, and in three seasons the Lions went from 4-6 to 1-9 to 2-8. And then Shoop went looking for a new job.
A multitude of his career-total 13 stops later, the Yalie from Pittsburgh ended up in Happy Valley. (Don’t look for his resume on LinkedIn; it’s not there. Probably because it’d bust the networking site’s servers.)
In 2007, Shoop landed at William & Mary. In his first season as defensive coordinator there, W&M ranked 111th in points allowed and 84th in total defense. Two years later, William & Mary’s defense was No. 1 in fewest points allowed and No. 2 in fewest yards allowed. The next year, W&M was ranked No. 6 and No. 30. By 2011, Shoop had joined James Franklin at Vanderbilt, where — with Shoop as coordinator — Vandy’s defense was ranked 18th, 19th and 23rd.
Nice resume, huh?
On Saturday, during pre-Pinstripe Bowl media activities at Beaver Stadium, Shoop didn’t rule out a second shot at running his own program. “Like any coach who is professionally motivated,” he said, “if it were the right opportunity and someone showed interest in me, I would listen.”
THE SCOOP ON SHOOP
Those potential employers would be especially smart if they checked out Shoop’s references. This is what some very veteran players have to say about Shoop, who also coaches Penn State’s safeties:
ADRIAN AMOS, senior safety: “He’s great at preparation and really particular about everything. You know what he says works, so everyone listens to him. I learned a lot about details, watching film, being vocal and doing things the right way. I see him doing whatever he wants to do. He’s prepared so much.”
MIKE HULL, senior linebacker and team co-captain: “I think Coach Shoop really loves this and wants to be a part of this as long as he can. But I think it’s always been part of his vision to take the step to the next level. He’s mentioned it once or twice, but no time soon. I think he’ll be really good at it from an X’s and O’s standpoint and definitely from a motivational standpoint. He gets us fired up every week to play. He’ll have his teams ready if he decides to make that jump.
“I can definitely see him being a head coach again. I think he’s learned a lot from Coach Franklin and the way he runs things. That’s going to help him if he chooses to become a head coach at some point. He’s very intelligent in what he does. He’s always going to have a good defense wherever he goes. Coach Shoop said that his biggest mistake when he was at Columbia was that he wanted to be the X’s and O’s guy all the time. Coach Franklin understands the relationship aspect of it, the marketing aspect of it. I think that can help him a lot.”
AUSTIN JOHNSON, junior defensive tackle: “Coach Shoop is a great defensive coordinator. He’s a genius of a coordinator. And outside of football he’s a great guy to just be around. He makes jokes. He’s funny here and there. At least he thinks he’s funny. Outside of football he’ll talk to us about other things – he’s definitely an interesting guy.”
JESSE DELLA VALLE, senior safety and team co-captain: “The thing that is so unique about Coach Shoop is that he really focuses in on the relationships with his players. He’s really interested in what we’re doing on the field, off the field – just building a friendship with the guys. He has the X’s and O’s down pat, too.
“He’s also a film junkie. He works his butt off when we’re not there – all hours, late hours watching film. As far as football, he gets down to business and that’s what you need, especially out of the defensive coordinator. But when we’re around he’s really interested in talking to us. It’s the best of both worlds.
“He does such a nice job at everything he does I’m sure whatever he chooses to do in the future he’ll be successful at it. I don’t think he’ll need to change very much – he’s doing a nice job at what he’s doing right now.”
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