Matt Luke made a splash hire last week by signing Rich Rodriguez as offensive coordinator. Now it looks like Rich Rod’s right-hand man will be joining him in Oxford.
FootballScoop is reporting that Calvin Magee, who’s coached on Rodriguez’ staff for 12 of the last 13 years, is expected to join the Ole Miss staff, potentially as a replacement for tight ends coach Maurice Harris. Magee was Rich Rod’s offensive coordinator at each of his P5 head coaching stops (West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona) and spent last year running the offense at New Mexico.
Whatever role Magee ends up filling in Oxford, he’ll play a key role in implementing Rich Rod’s patented read-option spread attack. Our own Will Gates took a deep statistical dive into how that offense performed under Rodriguez at Arizona.
What’s perhaps most unique about Rodriguez’s offense is just how much its explosiveness was reliant on the ground game — at least in some years — given that big plays tend to happen more through the air for most teams. Of the top 10 offenses in IsoPPP from 2017, Arizona’s was the only one to have an adjusted run rate of more than 60 percent. Essentially, they were able to mitigate turnover risk by sticking to the ground more without sacrificing big play potential. Tate led all FBS players with 10.7 yards per carry (excluding sacks) that year, and the Wildcats ranked third in rushing IsoPPP.
Learn more about how Magee’s hiring could affect the Ole Miss offense by tuning in to the most recent episode of Podcast Rebellion. We also talk College Football Playoff and answer a few of your mailbag questions.
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