J.ROSS: Why are we so hung up on the age of coaches?
Jan 17, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:23 am
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Last week Jon Gruden was hired by the Oakland Raiders. A lot was made of his 100 million dollar 10 year deal. Not so much about his age, this time. Last time the Raiders hired him he was just 34 years old. When he won the Super Bowl with Tampa Bay he was the youngest coach at the time to ever win a Super Bowl at 39. Now he comes in at the age of 54 and that isn’t a big deal. We actually wonder if being away from the sidelines for so long will be a factor.
When an older coach is hired you often here the statement…”can they relate to today’s players”. If you can coach, you can coach. You teach, you adapt, you try and relate and make people and teams better. Wednesday Florida Atlantic announced that Lane Kiffin has hired 24- year old Charlie Weis Jr. to be its new offensive coordinator. Weis becomes the youngest offensive coordinator in college football. What does that mean? Just that, and not much else in my opinion. He is young but has a ton of experience and connections with Kiffin. He is the son of former Notre Dame coach and longtime NFL assistant Charlie Weis. He was hired after the Falcons loss this past weekend. Weis Jr. was an offensive assistant for the Falcons and worked for Kiffin before at Alabama.
“He’s way ahead of his time in how he sees the game, his football IQ and just his overall intelligence,” Kiffin told ESPN. “He’s been around the game with his dad being a coach, a lot like I was when I was growing up, and has a bright future.”
So the point is he can coach. He will get even more experience and probably be a hot commodity before long. I hope someday we can just report the hirings without getting caught up in age, young or old.
