Staley, Mahe have faith in Doman

So, will Brandon Doman make a good college quarterback coach?

The jury remains out.

But there are plenty of believers in his case.

When BYU's new coach Bronco Mendenhall hired the former Cougar star right off his 49er season, it broke protocol. The model for hiring Division I coaches is pretty static. You look for a person whose paid his dues as a graduate assistant, a guy whose broken down films, looked at tendencies, worked the play boards, prepared a prep team, or worked at a junior college or high school as a coach a long the way.

Not so in the case of Doman. Why?

Well, it remains to be seen if it will work. He has to prove himself, although in other arenas, he has more than proven his wares.

In fact, his former teammates say he was a coach on the field. And a smart one. He was the axis of do and helped the success of NFL-bound Luke Staley, Reno Mahe, Doug Jolley to mention a few.

If Doman didn't do, they didn't do.

He is a man on fire. The napalm kind that whatever he does, it spreads.

The model Doman is now after, is similar to that of former Cougar Steve Sarkisian. You may remember Sarkisian led BYU to a 14-1 season in 1996. He then helped coach at El Camino Community College where Norm Chow added him to the USC staff. He is now coaching the Oakland Raiders.

Sarkisian. Little coaching experience, great mind.

Doman is one of those rare personalities who usually finds his way in the corporate world and on the fast track as a CEO. He's the kind of guy who idealists push into politics by virtue of his charisma and effectiveness in solving problems and converting others to his agenda. He's a man people have faith in because he exudes confidence with humility, a companion you'd want in a fox hole, a man you'd want your daughter to marry because you know she'd become more of what you gave her.

So, what's that all to do with football?

Well, sorry to disrespect the profession, but Xs and Os isn't rocket science. There are golden retrievers who can be taught to go to a certain place at a certain time.

In reversing the model, the football coaching community usually doesn't attract a man like Brandon Doman. The realm is usually more attuned to coaches who are driven by strong egos, haunted by ribbons of paranoia and driven to control or order around other people.