Ron Crook and the 2021 Miracle in Cincinnati
I asked for a teacher, and dadgum if Brent Pry didn't just go out and hire one to coach the offensive line
Recruiting rankings, as well as heights and weights coming out of high school, are sourced from the repository at collegefootballdata.com that I accessed via the cfbfastr API connection. Offensive plays and all grades are sourced from PFF.
The 2021 Cincinnati Bearcats reminded me of 2010 Boise St. Coming off an undefeated regular season and last second loss to Georgia in a New Year’s Six game, the Bearcats began the season ranked in the AP Top 10 and with a realistic chance of making the playoff. If, that is, they could get through another regular season undefeated. At times the pressure seamed to get to them, but unlike Boise, they never cracked, and were rewarded with a semi-final game against defending National Champion Alabama.
Cincinnati lost that game 27-6, and the outcome was never really in doubt, but the Bearcats did not embarrass themselves. They limited big plays and forced the Crimson Tide to drive the length of the field in order to score. They also did not do anything stupid. They just got outplayed because Alabama had better players.
What really stood out to me in that game was the difference in the trenches. Cincy’s offensive line could not block Alabama’s defensive line. No shame there - few teams can block those guys. But with the Hokies hiring the man who coached that Cincinnati line, I was really curious what the story was, from a numbers perspective.
Can this guy recruit?
How good was the line play under his tutelage in 2021 (that unit was supposedly a strength of the team)?
What does all this tell us about Crook as a coach and the impact he might have in Blacksburg?
A couple weeks ago, I posited that the Hokies could likely get a good teacher or a good recruiter, but not both. I closed that article with my definition of a successful hire:
There is enough talent in the offensive line room to field a unit that grades out in the Top 5 of the ACC in 2023. Reaching that level depends firmly on coaching and development. The ten players from the ‘22 and ‘23 classes will play a big role in determining the success or failure of Brent Pry’s tenure as head coach. Therefore, if I were him, I would go in search of the best on-field coach from the Joe Morehead coaching tree that $750k can buy. If he is someone from FCS that no one has heard of before, so be it. As long as he can simplify his teachings (I don’t want to see heads tying up feet this fall!), elicit consistent effort, and get his guys to execute the plays Tyler Bowen calls, I think he’ll do the trick.
The 2021 unit at Cincinnati was not necessarily Crook’s best, but it was his highest profile, and it was just a couple years ago. I think it is an excellent place to mine some data in order to quantify the quality of this hire.
On the Recruiting Trail
At first blush with Cincinnati’s offensive line recruiting numbers under Crook, well, I blushed. How on earth did Cincinnati make the playoff with those sorts of recruits blocking for Desmond Ridder and Jerome Ford? Did Virginia Tech just hire the second coming of Curt Newsome?
To get a sense of Crook’s work at Cincinnati, I compared his four recruiting classes to the four that preceded him. Crook was at Cincy from 2017-21, but I assigned only the 2018-21 classes to him, since his impact on the 2017 class was likely minimal at most.
When I frame it like that, ole Crooksy looks like a hotshot recruiter. The average national ranking of all players recruited to Cincinnati as linemen improved by 182 places with Crook as the offensive line coach. The average player rating and stars both increased by more than 0.2, and Crook brought in players who were one inch taller and 18 pounds heavier on average. That’s yeoman’s work right there!
If Crook can match that progress over the next four years in Blacksburg (admittedly, those are some huge ifs, but work with me here people), the numbers would look like this (in italics):
If the average Virginia Tech high school offensive line recruit over the next four cycles is a 6’6”, 311 lb. borderline 4-star recruit, Crook could achieve some measure of folk hero status. But before we commission a statue of the man, let’s do our due diligence with regard to the on-field performance of his players.
On the Field
Out of the five guys on that 2021 Cincinnati team that played more than 500 snaps, four committed to the Bearcats out of high school, while one was a transfer from UConn. Interestingly, this starting five featured a lot of afterthoughts on the recruiting trail.
Can you imagine trying to block Will Anderson and friends in the playoff with this bunch? There’s a reason the Bearcats only gained 218 total yards in that game (and 74 rushing). Crook is a good coach, but there is only so much a coach can do.
Over the course of that undefeated season, though, Crook coaxed some solid performances from a bunch of unheralded guys. Here are their PFF grades as a unit for the season:
At the individual level, only Dylan O’Quinn had a below average season (per PFF; he was actually a First Team All Conference selection), and as shown above, he was a probably an FCS-level player coming out of high school:
Remember, the baseline grade is 60, so in sum, Crook produced an above average unit with below average players. And Cincinnati won a whole bunch of games.
The Takeaway
Brent Pry nabbed a sneaky good offensive line coach in Ron Crook. His comments about the Crook hire, I think, are instructive (emphasis added):
"I am thrilled to add a coach of Ron Crook's caliber to our staff," said Virginia Tech Head Coach Brent Pry. "He brings a wealth of experience coaching offensive line across the Power Five level and in major bowl games. Coach Crook is a great teacher and has a reputation for building tough, physical offensive lines. Ron's time and ties to small college football in West Virginia and Pennsylvania means a lot to me. I know what he is about and what he will bring to our program."
There are not many coaches who have stints at Harvard (eight years), Stanford (two years), and West Virginia (four years) on their resume. The numbers suggest he is a good teacher and on-field coach, as well as someone who is capable of improving recruiting. In addition, he has coached in the following major bowl games:
2021 Cotton Bowl (CFP Semi-Final)
2020 Peach Bowl (New Years Six)
2012 Rose Bowl (BCS)
2011 Fiesta Bowl (BCS)
I doubt he will get Joe Rudolph-type money, but his track record definitely merits something north of $500k per year.
If you look at the staff in its totality, there is at least one coach with deep ties to just about every state in the six-hour driving radius. In this case, Crook is a direct replacement Rudolph.
On paper, the fit appears better between the various coaches, as well. I would not, in the least, be surprised if this staff performs at a level greater than the sum of its parts.
Of course, the 800 lb. gorilla in the room is Tyler Bowen as the quarterbacks coach. If I had to guess, I would say that trading Rudolph and Glenn for Crook and Elijah Brooks would save the Hokies some money. If I am right about that, perhaps they will hire some sort of quarterback guru to join the support staff and work solely on mechanics with the quarterbacks. It is a critical part of coaching QBs, but it is also not the the sort of thing that is done in-game, so it does not necessarily require an assistant coach (analysts are not supposed to actively coach during games, but that rule seems loosely enforced at best). I am very curious to see if there is a pre-2022 Pierson Prioleau-type guy who will come on board - a great coach who is not up for the rigors of in-person recruiting right now, possibly due to family obligations.
The QB coach part of the equation is really the only question mark outstanding. The Brooks hire has, deservedly, gotten lots of positive press, but as demonstrated, Ron Crook is also an excellent hire. On the whole, I am suddenly feeling much better about Tech’s chances in 2023.