One of the names attached to Arizona State’s offensive coordinator vacancy since it came open roughly five weeks ago has indeed been given the job, the school announced this afternoon.
Longtime collegiate assistant Noel Mazzone has been selected by head coach Dennis Erickson to replace the dismissed Rich Olsen and run the Sun Devils’ offense.
“Noel possesses a dynamic personality, a smart, creative mind and brings a wealth of knowledge to our staff at ASU,” Erickson said in a statement. “What set him apart from a tremendous pool of candidates was a wealth of knowledge, a variety of experiences and the fact that he coached quarterbacks at almost every stop. He is a fantastic evaluator of talent and will be a fine addition to our recruiting efforts. Our search was extensive and it produced several top-flight candidates. That made the decision-making process very difficult because we had so many quality candidates. I am very pleased with how the process unfolded.”
Mazzone was out of football in 2009 after spending 2006-2008 on Eric Mangini’s New York Jets’ coaching staff. Prior to that, he had spent time at Colorado State, TCU, Minnesota, Ole Miss, North Carolina State and Auburn.
At the latter three schools, he served as coordinator.
“I’m excited to get back into college coaching and to work for Coach Erickson at Arizona State University,” Mazzone said in his statement. “I have a great respect for him and what he has been able to accomplish in his career. I’m excited to join the staff at a premier institution like ASU and to put together an exciting offense. I grew up in the West and I know the Pacific-10 Conference is at the top of the college football world. I want to play the game fast, get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands and spread the field. We will play a lot of no huddle and we will play at different tempos.”