Robbie Caldwell's Actual Official First Order of Business: Hiring Herb Hand

by KingJamesIV on Aug 6, 2010 2:33 PM EDT in Vanderbilt Commodores Football

UPDATE 3: Here is the official press release from VUCommodores.com.

UPDATE 2: It's official. Welcome aboard, Coach Hand!

UPDATE 1: Vanderbilt has scheduled a 1pm CT press conference to "announce an addition to the offensive coaching staff." (H/T BarcaBlog).

As you are no doubt aware (since you've surely been following AOG's scintillating coverage of SEC Media Days), Robbie Caldwell's first order of business was not to reinstate profanities (thanks to Spencer @ EDSBS for displaying brazen testicular fortitude in asking my question). While that has apparently been tabled for the time being, something far more pressing needed to be addressed: filling the offensive line coaching vacancy.

As is expected to be formally announced, Herb Hand, offensive line coach for Tulsa and co-offensive coordinator, will be Robbie Caldwell's replacement.

There are myriad reasons why Commodore fans should be excited. Hand arrived in Tulsa in 2007 as their offensive line coach and their co-offensive coordinator:

Hand shared offensive coordinator duties with Gus Malzahn in his first two seasons with the Golden Hurricane. In 2009, he was listed as the offensive coordinator, but playcalling was shifted among different parties, including head coach Todd Graham.

As you may or may not know, in 2007 Tulsa led the nation in Total Offense with 7,832 yards gained. That year, they were 2nd in Passing Yards, 32nd in Rushing Yards, 2nd in Points Scored, and 7th in Points Scored Per Game. Similarly, in 2008 Tulsa again led the nation in Total Offense with 7,978 yards gained. They were 6th in Passing Yards, 7th in Rushing Yards, 2nd in Points Scored, and 2nd in Points Scored Per Game. 2009 saw the Golden Hurricanes put up more modest numbers, though it appears Hand had less control over the offense on gamedays than he did in the two years prior.

Those are all well and good. The kicker? This ringing endorsement: Herb Hand Will Eat Your Babies. Must read, obvi.

Sounds like Coach Caldwell has hit two homeruns in his first two at bats as Head Coach. One has to think that the future of the Commodores offense will have Coach Hand's fingerprints all over it (see what I did there?). Maybe not this season, but certainly in the future.

Edit: Youtube is being stupid. Instead of embedding the video, here's the link.

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Looks like a very good hire

I read in his U Tulsa bio that he was the recruiting coordinator for West Virginia. They have been known to bring in highly ranked, athletic recruiting classes. Can we find out what his future recruiting responsibilities will be. Also, he comes from a spread offense background. Please pardon my ignorance (First Year Vandy follower), but how will this mesh with Vanderbilt’s offense?

by Nolegrad89 on Jul 24, 2010 8:04 AM EDT reply actions

Introducing a more diverse offense

Could end up paying dividends, but the overshadowing question will be whether or not the team has the personnel to pull it off. Larry Smith’s accuracy, the team’s o-line troubles, and their general lack of talent at WR seem to suggest that the spread would struggle mightily in year one at Vanderbilt. The ’Dores were not a fun team to watch on offense in 2009, and receivers often had trouble getting open downfield against single coverage and dropped passes were tragically common.

Hand will have to bring in the athletes he did at WVU and to a lesser extent Tulsa to make his offense work, though a few of the pieces are in place now. If we can keep Larry in the pocket and off his back for more than 2 seconds at a time, he’ll be much better. The team has a stellar athlete in Jamie Graham that they still can’t figure out how to use (hopefully Hand can ignite him offensively, because he’s a DJ Moore-esque threat), and will have 3 very solid running backs to make use of. The chance for success exists, though it’s slim with the current roster.

http://www.anchorofgold.com - For all 27 Vanderbilt fans out there.

by Train Island on Jul 26, 2010 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh holy flying god.

Herb Hand in the SEC. Vandy just got much, much scarier.
As a UT fan, this hire legitimately frightens me.
Your offense is going to be scary, next year if not this.

If I hit a hole-in-one on this grand slam the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.

by jasonkylebates on Jul 27, 2010 2:35 PM EDT reply actions

I don't know

Our OL depth is shallow and questionable. I’d love for this to be the case, but as a Vandy fan it’s hard not to instinctually temper my expectations and hopes…

Anchor of Gold

by KingJamesIV on Jul 27, 2010 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions