Montgomery Takes Over At Tulsa: A Brief Q&A With Our Daily Bears

Well, you know, bowl season and holidays, so on and so forth. Our apologies to Mark Seymour, one of the hardest working blog managers in show business, who rules the roost over at Our Daily Bears, the SB Nation Baylor blog. (It's good stuff, go check it out). I had a brief chat with him about his thoughts on Phillip Montgomery leaving Baylor to become the head coach at Tulsa.

Is this a hire that has been on the horizon for Montgomery, or are you surprised at all by it? For that matter, is the destination a surprise?

MS: I think most Baylor fans understood that Montgomery wouldn't be at Briles' side forever, particularly since his son (Kendal) is also on the staff and seems to be the Heir Apparent.

Montgomery's name has been mentioned in connection with various jobs over the last few years as Baylor's profile has risen nationwide, and it was probably a matter of time until he decided to take one.

The only thing that surprises me is that he didn't hold out longer for a job like Houston, where he coached under Briles and his Texas recruiting connections might be of slightly better use.

Baylor is known for their offense, and Tulsa used to be known for the same. Will Montgomery be able to bring back that flash to the Hurricane, and if so will there be immediate results?

You may be shocked to learn this, but I'm not familiar enough with Tulsa to be able to predict how they'll perform in the Baylor offense.  What I can tell you is that it will be the Baylor/Briles offense; Montgomery has been running it for the better part of two decades and knows it as well as anyone outside of Briles or his immediate family.  Maybe even better.

If Tulsa has an athletic QB with strong tangibles (like arm strength, accuracy, etc.), Montgomery will make it work.  And whatever they do, they'll do it quickly; Montgomery knows the value of pace as well as anyone.

What coaches, if any, do you think he will bring with him and what effect might that have on what Tulsa football could look like in 2015?

I'd be surprised if any of the offensive staff members (meaning actual assistant coaches) left for Tulsa, but you never know.  He's going to need a defensive coordinator, though, and that may be a great spot for Brian Norwood, the former Baylor DC who might feel ready to be a DC again in a new place.  Also, you might watch out for a couple of Baylor GAs to make the jump provided Montgomery gives them the opportunity.

Anything you'd like to say to Coach Montgomery's as he walks out the door?

Certainly nothing negative.

The work he's put in at Baylor has been nothing short of incredible, and we wish him only the best.  I'll be watching closely to see how he performs in Tulsa, particularly on defense where his experience is relatively limited.  Offense, if I'm any judge, won't be much of a problem with the Baylor/Briles system in place facing teams poorly equipped to stop it.

There may be growing pains for Tulsa just as there were for Bowling Green (where Dino Babers took over this year with the same system), but I think they'll be pleased with the end results.  Also, Briles has a bit of a history of steering kids that don't make it at Baylor to his cohorts elsewhere, so that's something Tulsa fans may want to watch for in the future.

Thanks again to Mark at Our Daily Bearsailybears.com/ for his time, and we hope to see all the new Baylor fan lookie-loos hanging around for some hot Tulsa action next season.