Rundown on new coaching staff

Here’s a bullet point rundown on the UB Staff and my overall thoughts on the group that coach Linguist put together

Shane Montgomery : Offensive Coordinator

• Loads experience as an offensive coordinator with positive results
• Very established ties in the Mid American Conference footprint and with schools in teh conference
• Helped mentor Big Ben during his time as the OC at Miami.

Montgomery’s claim to fame is “Big Ben”, who flourished when Montgomery served as the offensive coordinator for Terry Hoeppner. Montgomery was a 2003 finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top college football assistant coach.

He took over for Hoeppner for four years and twice finished first in the MAC East once losing a tie breaker and once winning it. But his other two seasons were 2-10 stinkers and he resigned as the head coach in 2008.

He coordinated a year at Akron then seven at Youngstown state before moving on to Charlotte and then James Madison. At JMU his offenses have been extremely successful.

Joe Cauthen : Defensive Coordinator

• Proven good working relationship with coach Linguist
• 30 years experience much of it in the role of defensive coordinator at the FBS level

Joe Cauthen and Maurice Linguist go back almost a dozen years. They were both on the staff at Valdosta State back in 2010. Before becoming a defensive coordinator his specialty was the defensive line.

His “breakout” role was with Arkansas State. While running the unit for the Red Wolves, Cauthen’s defenses were ferociously aggressive. In four years they piled up 146 sacks, A-State also posted 86 or more tackles for loss each of the last four seasons.

It’s a defensive style that will seem very familiar to UB fans. While the formations may differ (remains to be seen) the attitude will be very reminiscent of what UB fans have been seeing, perhaps a little more tilted towards generating the big play.

Chris White : Special Teams Coordinator

• Came over from Michigan with Coach Linguist
• Has been coaching for almost 30 years
• NFL coaching experience

Yes UB fans, we have a special teams coordinator. From now on when we say “cover a kick” we will know who to blame/praise when things go right or wrong. It’s the first time I can think of that UB has invested a dedicated resource to that phase of the game.

It’s not a deep relationship with Linguist, but the several months the two worked together at Michigan were enough to convince Chris White that coming to Buffalo with Linguist.

He has been managing special teams units since the mid 90’s and the trajectory of his career is evidence of his success. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, UNLV, Syracuse, Minnesota (NFL). Then Iowa, UConn, Detroit (NFL) and Michigan.

I’m excited to see a focus on this role. When the number of coaches allowed in the NCAA increased a few years back some teams decided to go the route of a devoted special teams coach, Buffalo was not one of them.

Mike Daniels : Running Back Coach

• Coached in Buffalo during the Quinn era, came over from Cincinnati (2010)
• Has an accomplished resume at nurturing the student part of “student athlete”

Daniels has has been coaching on offenses for a decade plus. Some coordinator experience and head coaching experience at the prep level. And he was very successful in those stints.

His resume as a “college running backs coach” is a little thin. Truth be known he spent more time coaching receivers at the collegiate level than running backs. In that role he has done well, Kennesaw State receivers were prone to make big plays, averaging almost 20 yards a reception in 2017.

He’s being handed an amazing back in Kevin Marks and a team that has a history of producing some of the best backs in the conference. Starks, Oliver, Patterson. So there is going to be a lot of pressure for this part of the UB offense to not fall off.

Rod Ojong : Safeties Coach

• First full-time position at the FBS level (Previous experience as support staff at North Carolina, Georgia, and Memphis)
• Coached cornerbacks at Furman in 2019 and at Austin Peay in 2018.

Not a lot here in terms of a relationship with the rest of the staff or FBS experience as a defensive coordinator. He did well in his support roles.

A defensive analyst (Georgia) to safeties coach in the G5 is not a huge jump and he did well with corners in the FCS.

Dallas Baker : Wide Receivers

• Experience as an NFL receiver
• Has a super bowl ring and a BCS championship ring
• Worked as a receivers coach at Marshall for several years

In his four seasons at Marshall He spent four seasons guiding the Thundering Herd receivers. In 2017 and 2018, he mentored two-time first-team All-Conference USA pick Tyre Brady, who became the first Herd player to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving since Tommy Shuler in 2014.

No real tie ins with the current staff but he was available because Marshall cleaned house after this season. It’s a solid pickup for a unit that lost some leaders and depth this season.

Deandre Thompson : Cornerbacks

• Previously worked with Linguist at Texas A&M
• Two sport athlete at Texas (Football / Track)

Another young gun that worked with Coach Linguist in the past. His experience, similar to Bakers, is on the light side but that’s to be expected when you’re looking for position coaches in a hurry, and at a very odd time of the year.

He’s spent a few seasonas as a grad assistant (Missouri / A&M) and two at the FCS level. A couple of seasons at Campbell in the role of assistant defensive coach. Last year Cambbell only played FBS teams and still managed one of the better pass defenses in the FCS.

Ron Whitcomb : Tight Ends

• Holdover from previous staff
• 10 years of division one coaching experience
• Western New York Native

Promoted from an analyst to a position coach, Whitcomb brings at least some continuity between last years staff and the new regime. He had also served as Buffalo’s recruiting coordinator, so many of the incoming players know him.

Before coming to Buffalo, Whitcomb spent 12 years at Old Dominion coaching quarterbacks and had a lot of success at it.

Cedric Douglas : Defensive Line

• Worked with Cauthen at Arkansas State
• Experience in the North East (Mass)

If Joe Cauthen is going to bring his defense to Buffalo he needs to work well with the guy managing the defensive line, fortunately he was able to pull Cedric Douglass into the role at Buffalo.

Douglas helped Cauthen as Arkansas State went to back-to-back bowl games in 2017 and 2018, during which he was a graduate assistant working with the defensive line.

Matt Stansfield - Offensive Line

I’m not seeing deep ties to this staff, and it’s a critical position. He’s spent been coaching since 2008 but his most significant offensive work goes back nine years

He spent the previous five seasons as run game coordinator and offensive line/tight ends coach at Duquesne and the four years prior to that he was an offensive coordinator at Waynesburg.