Give Weist the Kevin Ollie Deal

[whaler11]

So absolutely no mention of TJ. Now I know your trolling.

Yeah it's trolling to not think TJ Weist is a candidate - but yes I'd interview him since he is already here if that makes you feel better.

6 decent quarters against two bad teams. That's now enough around here I guess to not even consider something better.

 

[metsfan2323]

Glad you are so excited to get your hands on it. I'm throwing out Mullen and any employed P5 head coach or major SEC coordinator to keep the list realistic.

Pete Lembo, Ball State
Pat Narduzzi, Michigan State
Dave Clawson, Bowling Green
Mark Hudspeth, ULL
Really in no order of preference yet

Longer shots I'd interview in no order
Rob Ambrose, Towson
Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion
Rod Carey, Northern Illinois
Joey Jones, South Alabama
Craig Bohl, North Dakota State
Jeff Quinn, Buffalo

Guy I'd interview to just pick his brain
Joe Moglia, Coastal Carolina

That's a good list of candidates.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

That's a good list of candidates.

I like his list as well but would add Herman, possibly Cristobal and I will continue to hold onto the pipe dream of Richt until it becomes official that we won't land him.

 

[minidarren]

You aren't hurting my feelings by not including TJ.

I would love to know how the players feel about TJ. Have they rallied around him? Will not considering him for the position create disdain in the locker room? Will the players not respond to a new coach feeling betrayed by the administration?

I don't claim to know the answer to any of these questions. But I assume they are all possibilities.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I think you need to give the players a bit more credit for being mature and realistic than that.

 

[whaler11]

I like his list as well but would add Herman, possibly Cristobal and I will continue to hold onto the pipe dream of Richt until it becomes official that we won't land him.

I almost added Cristobal. I'd certainly talk to Herman. I'd probably talk to dozens of other folks - I'm sure Warde has fielded calls on a dozen guys we've never even thrown out.

You want 90 minutes to build a case and maybe get further in the process? Why not.

 

[whaler11]

Ok Waylon let me know now if I can put you down for Weist or Brown - you've got my list let's get you on the record.

 

[storrsroars]

I do not feel qualified to say whether or not Weist has the chops to lead UConn from the abyss. However, seeing your HC on the sidelines in 30F weather wearing just a polo shirt has got to be inspirational.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So......your list is Narduzzi....and a "maybe" to Weist, Ambrose, and Moorhead. Well done, Nelson. Well done. You are aware of the fact that you technically can't have a list with just 1 item, right?

The funny thing is that my list and yours and Whalers is not that different, but you guys just like to argue.

 

[whaler11]

The funny thing is that my list and yours and Whalers is not that different, but you guys just like to argue.

A: you are the one who picked the fight
B: you don't have a list there. You have one guy and what reads as ambivalence towards all the others.

 

[UConnDan97]

The funny thing is that my list and yours and Whalers is not that different, but you guys just like to argue.

Actually, I don't complain about lists, since I think there are many good candidates. I just like arguing with people who like to argue...people such as yourself. You don't get to pester someone for not posting a list if you don't have one yourself.

For the record, I think Narduzzi, Lembo, Clawson, and Herman are all good candidates. I think there are other good names that have been mentioned as well, and I think that TJW will get an opportunity to interview. I guess I have just had enough of your stupidity on multiple threads this morning to let any nonsense that you say go unchecked...

 

[Chin Diesel]

What is better this go around for a new coach is that the school isn't caught flat-footed the first week of January.
Much better position time wise and quantity of candidates.

 

[UConn07]

Are you going to argue Brown or Weist is a better coach than Edsall?

Glad you are so excited to get your hands on it. I'm throwing out Mullen and any employed P5 head coach or major SEC coordinator to keep the list realistic.

Pete Lembo, Ball State
Pat Narduzzi, Michigan State
Dave Clawson, Bowling Green
Mark Hudspeth, ULL
Really in no order of preference yet

Longer shots I'd interview in no order
Rob Ambrose, Towson
Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion
Rod Carey, Northern Illinois
Joey Jones, South Alabama
Craig Bohl, North Dakota State
Jeff Quinn, Buffalo

Guy I'd interview to just pick his brain
Joe Moglia, Coastal Carolina

Just got back from my game this morning - man the roads sucked early. Guess the state dropped the ball on sanding roads during ice...

Now for this list. I'll pass on the MAC foursome I see. Bohl will probably stay at North Dakota State. I asso don't want Ambrose who's only successful season has really just been this year. He also definitely irked more than 50% of the fanbase when he was here as OC (kind of like how many here viewed GDL).

My list:

Mark Richt (if canned)
Scott Frost
TJ Weist

I don't want to go to a MAC candidate when we already have that level of coach here in house.

 

[cohenzone]

This might be the most inane thread ever. TJ should not be excluded as a candidate, but this needs to be a comprehensive search. No matter what, unless the new hire is an overwhelming success (8+ wins every year) nobody will ever know what anyone else might have done. None of the speculated candidates is mentioned in the same breath as Knute Rockne, Bear Bryant or Bo Shembechler. When Kevin Ollie was pushed on Warde, I thought that UConn was being denied the chance to do the sort of national search a top program should do. It wasn't that I thought Ollie was bad, it was that he had never been a head coach before, and had been an assistant for a short time. If he had been the choice after a full search, at least the program would have done itself a service. That it seems to be turning out ok is great, but it still was not the greatest way to bring in a new head coach. For that matter, it's not as if the basketball team is blowing teams away, so a full season will tell us a lot more. The most obvious need for football is to get interviews done very soon and a a selection if possible by the end of the year. If the AD and the search committee decides TJ is the guy, we won't know until the season starts if it is a bad hire. A marginal winning record won't tell us if someone else could have done better. That's the reality of the unknowable.

 

[whaler11]

Just remember folks all MAC coaches are exactly the same quality.

 

[auggie22]

I want Mangini, Narduzzi or Lembo. Whoever articulates the best plan to make us competitive gets the job.

I talked myself into Mangini last night.

 

[minidarren]

Here is a fact:
WM could give a ef less who any of us, even you whaler, think the next coach should be.

The university and Bob Burton will make the decision.

 

[Srqhusky]

Glad you are so excited to get your hands on it. I'm throwing out Mullen and any employed P5 head coach or major SEC coordinator to keep the list realistic.

Pete Lembo, Ball State
Pat Narduzzi, Michigan State
Dave Clawson, Bowling Green
Mark Hudspeth, ULL
Really in no order of preference yet

Longer shots I'd interview in no order
Rob Ambrose, Towson
Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion
Rod Carey, Northern Illinois
Joey Jones, South Alabama
Craig Bohl, North Dakota State
Jeff Quinn, Buffalo

Guy I'd interview to just pick his brain
Joe Moglia, Coastal Carolina

Problem with the list first four guys wont come here. Lembo looks like rick moranis too much. The ucla oc is not on it and he may help us the most.

 

[Dooley]

I agree with whaler, 6 quarters of good football against VERY BAD opponents should not give Weist an immediate and automatic contract extension. But I do think Weist has earned an interview and should be considered if Warde's top options decline. My list of interviews in no particular order (I too will leave out currently employed P5 head coaches like Mullen, even though I think Mullen would jump to the top of the list if he were to become available and I'm including everyone, regardless of whether I think they'd be interested in our job or not):

Pat Narduzzi
Pete Lembo
Dave Clauson
Tom Herman
Josh McDaniels
Scott Frost
Robert Anae
Jim Tressel
James Coley
Mark Hudspeth
Greg Roman
Eric Mangini
Rob Ambrose
Kirby Smart
Jeremy Pruitt
TJ Weist
Jeff Tedford

Some of these names excite me much more than others and some don't excite me much at all but are worth an interview if only to gather information/ideas and set up our fall-back options if contract negotiations with our preferred candidates hit an immovable wall. Obviously, if Pelini, Muschamp or Mullen become available, I'd definitely interview them as well.

 

[Srqhusky]

Everyone is saying against bad opponents. What are our records vs temple and rutgers. The team is improving regardless.

 

[Dooley]

Everyone is saying against bad opponents. What are our records vs temple and rutgers. The team is improving regardless.

I agree, I am enjoying seeing the improvement. But before the Temple game, or more specifically before the 2nd half of the Temple game, you couldn't find one person who was advocating for TJW to be given a contract extension. If we were more competitive against Cincinnati, UCF and Louisville then that would have been a better barometer. We didn't even belong on the same field as any of those three teams and you can't blame it on Boyle being under center because all three phases of our game were completely awful.

 

[metsfan2323]

Everyone is saying against bad opponents. What are our records vs temple and rutgers. The team is improving regardless.

I agree, Temple has been playing well of late with their Freshman QB, they almost beat UCF, and Rutgers wanted that game bad yesterday and played hard. Rutgers beat Arkansas earlier in the year and they have a lot of talent on their team. Those are both good wins and should not just be written off as "bad teams".

 

[whaler11]

Everyone is saying against bad opponents. What are our records vs temple and rutgers. The team is improving regardless.

Rutgers has lost 5 of 6 all by double digits. While beating them is nice because it's better to win than to lose... just because you happen upon someone who is actually worse doesn't mean you've improved much. Every team with a pulse blew UConn out since TJ took over.

The only way you could term Rutgers a good win would be if you completely ignored them since September and have no idea just how stank they are.

Since the SMU win: 1-5 with the win being by 3 over Temple. Lost to UConn by 11. Cinci by 35. UCF by 24. Louisville by 14. Houston by 35.

They beat a winless SEC team, SMU, Eastern Michigan, Norfolk State and Temple. A whopping 9 combined FBS wins between the 5 of them - and I don't think the 5 of them plus Rutgers have a single win over a bowl eligible team.

It's a win. But it's a win over a bad team.

 

[Srqhusky]

Rutgers has lost 5 of 6 all by double digits. While beating them is nice because it's better to win than to lose... just because you happen upon someone who is actually worse doesn't mean you've improved much. Every team with a pulse blew UConn out since TJ took over.

The only way you could term Rutgers a good win would be if you completely ignored them since September and have no idea just how stank they are.

Since the SMU win: 1-5 with the win being by 3 over Temple. Lost to UConn by 11. Cinci by 35. UCF by 24. Louisville by 14. Houston by 35.

They beat a winless SEC team, SMU, Eastern Michigan, Norfolk State and Temple. A whopping 9 combined FBS wins between the 5 of them - and I don't think the 5 of them plus Rutgers have a single win over a bowl eligible team.

It's a win. But it's a win over a bad team.

Firs of all. Miracles dont happen overnight. The team is improving. Before he took over we were beating ourselves more than other teams beating us. I agree i wish we were playing a better team to end the season to guage our progress because there is progress

 

[minidarren]

Whaler, Coach Flood is gone. You can stop going out of your way to make Rutgers look worse than they are.