Confirmed Assistant Coaches News and Discussion

[Ricky the Bull]

Just to be clear, Snyder was the LB coach, not DC, when OSU were national champs.  A great pickup, nonetheless!

[hbryan]

Anyone notice that our only offensive line coach right now is Larry Scott (Simmonds not retained and no one is listed to take his place)?  Does anyone else think that this may be an issue?

[BULLfreak]

according to Wikipedia  ;D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Snyder#Resignation_from_Marshall

IMO I think he's the DC with Smith as the assistant HC

[BULLfreak]

Rick Smith

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Smith_(American_football)

[SRQ]

nice get

[SRQ]

Scott will either get better or get gone

[Guest nybullsfan]

While watching this Jenkins video, I had a thought listening to Coach Douglas talk about him.

I hope our new coaches will be excellent at talking up our players to get them more honors and drafted higher.

BJ Daniels for 2012 Heisman Trophy campaign begins now!

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[Bull-Hornz]

http://www.ecupirates.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/fitch_todd00.html

Todd Fitch is in his third year on the Pirate staff after accepting a position as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at East Carolina in February, 2007.

It certainly did not take long for Fitch to significantly impact East Carolina's offensive unit as the Pirates broke a pair of school single-season records for most points (403) and touchdowns (52) scored that had previously stood for 28 years. Despite coordinating a dual quarterbacking system with first-year starters Patrick Pinkney and Rob Kass throughout the 2007 campaign, ECU turned in its second-highest scoring average since 1991 and tallied 35 or more points in six of eight Conference USA contests before closing the year with a 41-point performance against No. 24 Boise State in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

Perhaps more impressive than Fitch's explosive play-calling abilities that season, which produced a national No. 1 rank for most scoring drives under one minute (23) and a No. 7 standing in most scoring plays 25 yards or longer (18), was his coaching emphasis on fundamentals and ball protection. The Pirates surrendered only five lost fumbles and committed just 14 overall turnovers all season - both school records - while utilizing a signal-caller corps that had appeared in just six combined games during their respective young careers.

A year later in 2008, Fitch sidestepped numerous injuries and obstacles which resulted in a total of 24 different starters on the offensive side of the ball throughout the course of the season. Although the losses included five first-team skill performers at the running back and wide receiver positions, he simply converted the game plan into a ball possession version that produced six single-season individual and team school records, including the highest reception yard total by a tight end in program history.

In addition, his ball protection philosophy in the passing game surrendered less than 10 interceptions for the second straight year - a first for East Carolina since the 1979 and 1980 campaigns.

Fitch's second season at ECU also marked the 12th overall year that he and head coach Skip Holtz worked alongside each other, dating back to a pair of five-year stays at Connecticut and South Carolina beginning in 1994. A veteran with over 21 years of coaching experience, Fitch has also worked under legendary head coaches Don Nehlen, Earle Bruce and Lou Holtz during his career which spans back to 1986 and included stops at alma mater Ohio Wesleyan, Bowling Green, West Virginia and Colorado State.

Before arriving at ECU, Fitch spent three seasons as a member of the Iowa State staff as quarterbacks coach where he tutored All-America performer Bret Meyer, who blossomed into ISU's most prolific signal-caller under his guidance. Meyer set school career marks in passing yards (7,348), total offense (7,929), touchdown passes (41) and completions (587) in just three seasons and included a 1,926-yard passing effort in 2004 which ranked as the top freshman mark in school history.

Prior to his move to the Big 12 Conference, Fitch was South Carolina's quarterbacks coach in 2003 after a year as running backs coach and three seasons as wide receivers coach - all under head coach Lou Holtz and offensive coordinator Skip Holtz - where he helped lead the Gamecocks to consecutive Outback Bowl victories in 2001 and 2002.

Fitch came to the South Carolina program from Connecticut, where he worked under head coach Skip Holtz during his five-year tenure from 1994 to 1998. He coordinated the Huskies' offense in his final three years, playing a key role in UConn's high-powered and prolific offensive attack in 1998 that resulted in a school-record 10-win season and quarterfinal round appearance in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. Connecticut quarterbacks set school records for passing yardage, touchdown passes and passing efficiency under Fitch's guidance and the Huskies enjoyed a spot in the Top 25 polls during four of the five seasons.

Fitch, an Ohio native, is a 1986 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan, where he was a three-year starter at defensive back and an all-league performer in 1985. Following his playing career, Fitch moved on to an assistant coaching position at Ohio Wesleyan from 1986-87 before accepting a graduate assistant position at Bowling Green for one year in 1988 and a volunteer coaching position at West Virginia in 1989. He returned to BGSU to serve as the Falcons' wide receivers coach during the 1990 and 1991 seasons where two of his wide receivers were drafted in the NFL.

He moved on to Colorado State in 1992 where he worked as the running backs coach and special teams coordinator for two seasons where his starting fullback played in the NFL and his starting tailback was selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game.

Fitch (45) and wife Julie have two children - Curtis and Peyton.