More please... (Photo: Mike/BSD)
The first reports of an assistant coach being named after Bill O'Brien surrounded Charles London, the 36-year old former quality control coach with the Tennessee Titans. London will coach the running backs at Penn State, a position he played at Duke before coaching them at Duke for a year in 2006. Again, a word of warning: be careful not to swap the first and last name when researching Charles London.
Playing Experience. Not too much to brag about, outside of a 51-yard scoring scamper against Florida State in 1995. He was recruited by Ted Roof to Duke and will reunite with Roof on the Penn State coaching staff, as Peter outlined earlier this week. London lettered in both football and track while at Duke, running in the 4x100 relay.
After school, London bounced around a couple of different sports related jobs before entering the coaching realm, including a stint with Disney's Wide World of Sports.
Coaching Experience. In 2004, London got his break at his alma mater, becoming a graduate assistant under head coach Ted Roof for two years at Duke before a one year assignment as running backs coach. In 2007, London was hired as a quality control assistant for the Chicago Bears. London spent a lot of his time in Chicago working with the wide receivers. There are some questions as to whether performance (or lack thereof) issues contributed to his departure from Chicago in 2010, but the Bears official position was that London was simply not renewed. Finally, London spent the last year as an offensive assistant/quality control coach with the Tennessee Titans. He received Titans head coach, and former Penn Stater, Mike Munchak's blessing before heading to State College.
Errata. There isn't much else known about London. He's a young, up-and-coming African-American coach who walks into a great, yet tenuous, spot at Penn State. He'll be the position coach for one of the better running backs we've seen in some time, but he'll also have a pretty shallow depth chart. Having spent more than a few years in a film room for both college and professional teams, London will be an asset in game prep for Coach O'Brien.
Outlook. Much like George Godsey, we're forced into a wait-and-see approach. London's career path is still much too short to make any real judgments. He has been around the block in the NFL and college, and has seen the growth of some pretty good running backs (Matt Forte, Chris Johnson). Hopefully he learned some valuable lessons and can coach Silas Redd to the next level (Note to self: purchase Silas4Heisman.com domain name).
0 recs | 116 comments
more of the same
cautious optimism infused with strands of doubt.
smh244 - January 19, 2012
I gave the hire the first A
Only time will tell. I really liked his background. Young, nice looking, good education. Still limited football experience, but I think you need a mixture of very experienced guys (LJ, Vandy), some middle experienced guys and some younger guys on a staff.
Beyond his football experience, I like he won several academic/athletic awards while at Duke and a best teammate award. I also like the fact, he has a few years of non-football experience. Working for Disney (unless he played the character Dopey!) can’t be all bad. Maybe that will give him some different credibility when recruiting as opposed to an all-football type guy. Don’t know. Kind of like professors. Those that never worked in business or industry never had as much credibility with me as those who worked outside academia for awhile.
If he is motivated, I just look at him as potentially a goood teacher and good recruiter. I liked that he was O’Briens first hire. We’ll have to wait and see.
PaJoe - January 19, 2012
according to the internet
and his Duke bio…..he was the Events Manager for Disney Wide World of Sports
:)
The Mustard Tiger - January 19, 2012
What in the wide, wide world of sports is a-goin’ on here?!?!
icavalera - January 19, 2012
how can you give him an A?
He coached with Ted Roof, he cant possibly be good.
swiggy04 - January 19, 2012
Nice looking?
How is that relevant?
ChillBillinChina - January 19, 2012
Nobody wants a sideline full of uglos!
WorldBFat - January 19, 2012
Based on what I'm seeing on google
I would disagree with the nice looking assessment. Unless that happens to be your particular fetish.
PSU Mudder - January 19, 2012
Well, he's certainly no John Butler
but, he has a nice smile and seems personable
but, yeah, the ears, not so much
PSUgirl - January 19, 2012
And the tranny look and the badonkadonk
Or, do I have the wrong person?
PSU Mudder - January 19, 2012
I'm guessing
You probably googled “London Charles” instead of “Charles London.”
Gopher Broke - January 19, 2012
Gotta impress the recruit's momma.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
Also (sneak preview for tomorrow's recruiting article)
London is the point man for one of our top remaining targets, NY RB Akeel Lynch. So there’s that.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
If he helps to land Lynch...
…I’ll give him an “A+”, but an “F” is he doesn’t. ;-)
LowcountryLion - January 19, 2012
Yeah I heard
Lynch decommited from BC and is visiting this weekend. That would be an unexcepted surprise
ReddWhitenBlue - January 19, 2012
Yup.
Lynch and a few others…stay tuned.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
Please say happy things
rahpsu92 - January 19, 2012
I think you'll be happy with how this weekend unfolds.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
maybe its because i'm new
but these teasers seem almost unfair. I feel like a kid at christmas, and I almost never follow the recruiting trail this closely.
smh244 - January 19, 2012
Hey everybody, we're all gonna get laid!
WorldBFat - January 19, 2012
How is this not green?
CvilleLion - January 19, 2012
Mr. Lomax disagrees
swiggy04 - January 19, 2012
Apparently they are going after a top QB who is already committed to Clemson
Ben retweeted, but it was from the kid’s on tweet mentioning that PSU is coming after him and really wants him in SC.
GMac14 - January 19, 2012
Chad Kelly, Jim's nephew.
Committed to Clemson, but reportedly has a bit of an attitude. They’ve reached out to a number of QBs, which could be good (they’re looking for another QB) or bad (they’re looking to replace Skyler).
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
Are they going to make..
him a linebacker?
Esteban d' Amur - January 19, 2012
How does Skylar's...
dad’s potential new jobs influence his choice?
Esteban d' Amur - January 19, 2012
If his dad takes a job in Oakland, there is a chance Skyler will opt for a school closer to new home.
PSU is great now location-wise. But if his parents are 3000 miles away, suddenly it’s not so attractive.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
Then he goes graveling back to Stanford and we start hoping for a McGloin Redux as our best option
nuker77 - January 19, 2012
I dont know how Oakland could be attractive. Ever.
Unless you like those whistle tips. Go WHOOO WHOOOOO!
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
Yikes....
so that means there could be no incoming QB in this class? Is there a realistic chance they bring anybody else in? I gotta think if they wait until signing day and Skyler doesn’t commit, that’s a huge huge hit for the team.
And they better be recruiting about 10 QB’s for next year and getting out early on it.
GMac14 - January 19, 2012
Everybody gets a C
Except for LJ, Vandy, and maybe the WR coach, since he’s shown he can produce talent. Otherwise, we have no clue as to what most of these assistant coaches can really do.
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
The Offensive Line Coach?
ReddWhitenBlue - January 19, 2012
yes him too
I knew I was forgetting someone. And I’d give BoB a solid B at this point. B+ for keeping LJ and Vandy, B- for Roof.
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
Big knock against London...
is the performance of the RBs at Duke while he was their position coach. 2.9 yards per carry. That’s awful, no matter where you coach. I’m definitely hoping he’s improved since then.
LionInTheWeeds - January 19, 2012
Well, what kind of talent did they have at Duke during his tenure (not just at RB, but on the O-Line)?
DrewRusse - January 19, 2012
Did Munchak give his blessing
for London to seek another job and look for a promotion or was it more of a recommendation. If it was more of a “he’ll do a fantastic job,” I’d be a little more comfortable with this one. Munchak has pretty much been the consumate Penn Stater and I find it hard to believe he’d recommend him if London were a poor performer.
smh244 - January 19, 2012
I forget the exact wording,
but I remember Munchak being very praise-worthy of London, especially given where London was heading.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
thanks
I know it’s a game of semantics. However, I’ve had employees come to me that I’ve given my blessing to seek other employment. Were they all superstars or solid performers? No. Rarely have I given out a personal recommendation in the same respect. In the grand scheme of things, however, it only makes us feel better. It changes nothing about his hire or his ability to perform the task at hand. On a lighter note, feeling better after your foray into New Orleans style debauchery?
smh244 - January 19, 2012
Not back to 100% yet.
Three days in NOLA was bad enough, but I came home and immediately caught a cold, which I’m still battling. Been a rough week.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
Wuss
jman07 - January 19, 2012
If a cold is the only thing you caught, I'd say the trip was a success.
Bob Sacamano - January 19, 2012
Damn servers.
Bob Sacamano - January 19, 2012
Sounds like he sat in his room
watching Golden Girls repeats.
rahpsu92 - January 19, 2012
its NOLA
they probably have a club that specializes in “Golden Girls”
smh244 - January 19, 2012
Interested
PSU Mudder - January 19, 2012
Does that come with a shower?
rahpsu92 - January 19, 2012
i think the showers cost extra
smh244 - January 19, 2012
What color are they?
Pete the Streak - January 19, 2012
Yeah..
they swing out of the windows wearing nothing but Depends.
GoodOleDays - January 19, 2012
Recruiting might be a bonus with him,
but he is still a step down from Galen Hall in terms of coaching RB’s. Galen had quite a resume in terms of RB’s produced (Emmit Smith, LJ jr, Royster, Hunt, etc.)
nuker77 - January 19, 2012
As I alluded to above
I doubt he had Smith-level talent to work with at Duke.
DrewRusse - January 19, 2012
He also had quite the resume in terms of apathy, disconnectedness and indifference.
Of course that is just personal opinion (and a bit of Internet snark), but of all of the coaches that are leaving, I was most happy to see Galen go. I have absolutely nothing to back this up with, but my gut feeling was that Galen checked out a long time ago and was just content with cashing a paycheck in a state of semi-retirement for the past couple of years.
Bob Sacamano - January 19, 2012
I don't necessarily disagree
We certainly have an upgrade in terms of offensive coordinator, but I would argue Galen was probably more effective in his role of RB coach just in terms of experience in teaching fundamentals.
nuker77 - January 19, 2012
I would say the same
the areas that probably showed apathy were in in OC and recruiting roles. As a position coach, he seemed to get the most out of the talent that we had. And I dont think I ever once heard a RB say one bad thing about the guy.
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
BranDon Snow
had some nasty things to say on the way out, but it sounded like sour grapes from a guy who couldn’t stay out of trouble.
PSU Mudder - January 19, 2012
Specifically about Galen or the coaching staff as a whole?
and yeah, probably sour grapes.
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
Specifically about Galen
My memory on this is quite hazy, but I think he (and maybe his sister?) referred to Galen as a mean old man, or something to that effect. I think Snow was upset about not getting some playing time that he thought he deserved.
PSU Mudder - January 19, 2012
Well I was thinking more along the lines of him criticizing his coaching
In Snow’s defense though, Galen totally does look like the guy who gives out bags of pennies to kids on halloween.
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
Wasn't Snow the one that Levi Brown had to put in his place on the sideline during a game?
BMAN13 - January 19, 2012
yup
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
Video Evidence
Brown vs. Snow
psu2007 - January 19, 2012
Love and miss Levi
jtothep - January 19, 2012
Love that clip!
Paige2PSU - January 19, 2012
Galen Hall might be a lot of things
but a mean old man isn’t one of them.
hbeach08 - January 19, 2012
I'd say that settles it :)
Cari Greene - January 19, 2012
PSU's running backs were better before pre-Galen Hall,
as opposed to Galen Hall’s tenure.
IMO, we actually regressed in that area. Blair Thomas, Richie Anderson, KJ Carter, Mike Archie, Curtis Enis…I’ll take that group over Royster, Hunt, LJ any day of the week.
rodney20 - January 19, 2012
Where does Mike Gasparato fit into your analysis?
WorldBFat - January 19, 2012
gasparato
watch you rip through defenses
PSUgirl - January 19, 2012
Also, recent RB's showed development
(unlike a certain other critical offensive position)
nuker77 - January 19, 2012
Reply fail to sub thread above
nuker77 - January 19, 2012
Not to be a Debbie Downer
But as a Bears fan I can tell you he had very little to do with Matt Forte. Tim Spencer has been RB coach in Chicago since before this guy even became a coach. On the upside, he was let go by the Bears at the same time they cleaned house of Ron Turner and like 4 other offensive coaches. And he definitely wasnt let go cause he was a bad coach, just not one Mike Martz wanted. I mean Luke Butkus was the other QC Assistant, and he was let go. And a Butkus cannot be fired by the Bears… I believe it is a felony.
swiggy04 - January 19, 2012
It just wait and see now
Joyner et al were afraid to bring in the Harvard coach, couldn’t get the NW coach, so they settled on the Duke Mafia. Personally I am not expecting very much from this group. They have very little experience at this level and quite frankly very little success. If the talent at Duke was subpar whose fault is that? Stanford seems to be able to deal with high academic standards and succeed at the highest levels of competition. I do not want to be the Duke of the B1G (EXCEPT IN BASKETBALL).
bluebellgolfer - January 19, 2012
Stanford has been categorically awful in football for most of the last 100 years.
Please do not mistake Harboughs recent success as something Stanford does. They had something like 3 winning seasons since 94 before he showed up in 2008. Is it possible to win in a place like Stanford, Duke, NW or PSU? Sure.
But for consistency, there’s only one school that has done it nearly year in, year out.
mvrck - January 19, 2012
You are correct
My point is that a high academic school can have a successful football program, but it requires top notch recruiting, The question is can the new staff recruit against MSU, MU, OSU & Wis. Their record say not.
bluebellgolfer - January 19, 2012
Nick Saban couldn't outrecruit UM when he was at MSU
sometimes it has to do with the program resources and tradition that you’re given to work with.
PSU Mudder - January 19, 2012
I'm not trying to be a blind cheerleader for the new staff
But are you seriously estimating the new staff’s recruiting ability as PSU coaches solely based on the recruiting some them did as DUKE FOOTBALL coaches? That’s kind of like using the raw sales numbers from an iPod salesman at an Apple store and the same figures for a guy working at a Best Buy selling Zune players and concluding, “This Best Buy schmuck can’t sell an MP3 player to save his life! But this Apple guy, boy, he’s a sales genius.”
Actually, my analogy is not ridiculous enough. The difference between PSU football and Duke football is an order of magnitude greater than the difference between iPods and Zunes.
PSUCharmas - January 19, 2012
just ask Kyle
he can tell you all about zunes.
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
If nothing else, the fact that he graduated from Duke suggests he's smart and
gets the honor part of success with honor, if not the success part.
spakajewia - January 19, 2012
lawls!
Success with honor. Hold the success.
jtothep - January 19, 2012
Young, smart, energetic with some experience.
I could be wrong, but it seems like RB coach is a good place to groom a young coach. There’s plenty to teach, but that’s a position that can rely on natural ability in many ways. I imagine he’s going to be a good recruiter if he’s as excited as people say he is.
Adam Collyer - January 19, 2012
Did he play Lacrosse?
nuker77 - January 19, 2012
He must have tons of friends in the Duke lacrosse program.
On the field, Duke lacrosse is ELITE. Ergo, London should poach lacrosse recruits for RBs! It’s bulletproof, after all did you know Evan Royster played lacrosse?
dbl5030 - January 19, 2012
duke lacrosse is about as elite
as virgina tech football.
swiggy04 - January 19, 2012
Ummm...
They won the men’s national title in 2010. Not elite or anything. Just made three final fours in the four years prior. And if you’re referring to the scandal, Mike Nifong served six months in prison and was disbarred for prosecutorial misconduct. Read Mike Pressler’s book on the subject. It actually has a lot of parallels to the PSU situation, especially given the trustees’ article in this morning’s NYT.
LionInTheWeeds - January 19, 2012
not talking about Nilfong
the program is far from elite at this point. In the last ten years or so its one of the top 5-8 programs, but this is relatively new ground for them. Im not saying they are bad, im saying that elite, at this stage, is a stretch. before 2005 they were in 1 final four. they went 50+ years between ACC titles. They can get there, but 5 years of recent success does not make you elite
Nothing against them as a program or in the last 5-10 years, but dont confuse them with Syracuse or JohnsHopkins or Princeton or Maryland just yet.
swiggy04 - January 19, 2012
Hence my use of the all caps ELITE.
I thought that was understood sarcasm, in fact it’s used to make fun of VT. Sorry.
Duke Lacrosse is ELITE.Better?
dbl5030 - January 19, 2012
perfect.
swiggy04 - January 19, 2012
I was going to make a similar point about the Duke media/school/prosecution miscarriage of justice
and how it has some analogies to the PSU situation. But you beat me to it.
To get back at you, I will literally demonstrate on TV (Nancy Grace of course) to the public the exact choke hold you used on your victim, knowing full well that a bank surveillance camera recorded you at an ATM at the same time as the alleged crime, affirmatively exonerating you.
PSUCharmas - January 19, 2012
Nancy Grace is my fantasy.
I fantasize about firing her dumb ass, blacklisting her from ever showing her face on TV again, and tying her to a chair and making her watch twenty straight hours of Nifong’s trial testimony. And then firing her dumb ass again, just to be a prick about it.
CvilleLion - January 19, 2012
This is a meme on this site.
One guy once said we weren’t as elite in football as Virginia Tech, so now we say that VA Tech is the epitome of elite. They weren’t referring to the Duke lacrosse scandal.
Paige2PSU - January 19, 2012
something something Evan Royster something something
Bob Sacamano - January 19, 2012
I like his attitude
(as displayed in the “meet the coaches” video on gopsu) – He seems like a good salesman – which is basically what a recruiter is
plus, I’ll bet his meetings will have the BEST snacks and sandwiches
PSUgirl - January 19, 2012
Should know alot about lowering the center of gravity
That London Charles has what appears to be a very solid low center of gravity.
BMAN13 - January 19, 2012
Told you.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
please
BMan didnt “accidentally” search that
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
always considered myself a butt man but that was a butt.
BMAN13 - January 19, 2012
So THAT'S what your screen name means.
dbl5030 - January 20, 2012
I'm not sure what to think
The WRs in Chicago and Tennessee are terrible (quick, name 1 Titans WR…I love the NFL and couldn’t do it), but is that a product of crap talent or crap teaching of London’s? He’s definitely a positive on the recruiting front though, being a young, smart, relatable black man, so I’m glad to see that.
TheWrathofQBEagles - January 19, 2012
Kenny Britt!
WorldBFat - January 19, 2012
he didnt coach WRs in Chicago
Darryl Drake did, and still does. From what I recall, QC assistants in the NFL work on a year to year basis, and i think he just wasnt renewed when Mike Martz came to town. So in summary, I dont know what to expect. I do know that, according to wikipedia which i thankfully back up and running, his best season at Duke as a RB garnered him 290 yards rushing. So theres that.
swiggy04 - January 19, 2012
Nate Washington
Come on dude, I don’t watch a lot of NFL, but anyone who
sucks atplays fantasy football ends up playing The Most Dangerous Game by mid season (a.k.a. picking up one of the Titans reject receivers because he happened to catch two TDs in one game)PSUCharmas - January 19, 2012
He's not coaching the WRs here soooooooo
I dont get it.
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
I'm well aware he's not coaching WRs here
I’m just looking at his previous track record, that’s all.
TheWrathofQBEagles - January 20, 2012
C
My logic puts somebody we don’t really know much about, good or bad, at a C, if they’re in a low-level position at least (I wouldn’t accept that in a more major role).
M1EK - January 19, 2012
I dont know if it has been said
but FOS has an interview with BOB about recruiting, and in it BOB says that Charles London will be the recruiting coordinator
swiggy04 - January 19, 2012
I guess it depends on what he actually does
but if its the same thing as MM was doing, I would have really preferred LJ in that role. Sit down with him one-on-one and I dont know how you could say no. London is a bit too unknown for my liking.
skarocksoi - January 19, 2012
MM was more of an overseer, though.
If LJ becomes RC, he’d likely have to cut back on his actual field time, and that’s just wrong.
Jeff Junstrom - January 19, 2012
once again
i expect there will be some great sandwiches – and maybe a cheese plate.
PSUgirl - January 19, 2012
Or you can google London Charles if you're bored
ICEICETHATGUY13 - January 19, 2012
I've been told our new running backs coach has quite the ass.
I’ve also heard something about an up and coming lacrosse player, Evan something?
WorldBFat - January 19, 2012
Duke
What’s with the fascination with ex-Duke coaches?
spudoe - January 19, 2012
They bang ex-Duchesses.
Duchessi? Duchessen?
What’s they proper plural here?
Pete the Streak - January 19, 2012
Duchesses
wonderlin - January 19, 2012
duh
they went 1-22 in 2 years.
tlrpsu - January 19, 2012
Duke
Penn ST hiring ex-Duke football coaches is like Duke hiring Ed Dechellis and his staff.
spudoe - January 19, 2012
SO FUNNY
Cari Greene - January 20, 2012
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