Harbaugh to Rams rumors?

[ShakyTheMohel]

OK....so I had heard rumors about this and just read this article about the Rams needing a high profile coach. I didn't know that Harbaugh wants to go back to the NFL. I thought the Michigan move was a long term thing. They are paying him more than what Saban gets...which is insane.

If this happens...this may cause more coaching disarray in college. Unless...they just plug in Les Miles.

I would hate to see him leave Michigan...I love the fact that Urban Meyer has tough competition in B1G.

Why the Rams need to go all-in on Jim Harbaugh

 

[Dooley]

I sure hope that Bob Diaco is still Warde Manuel's "guy". If Harbaugh leaves, maybe Warde can use his Michigan stacks and hire Diaco as a new $5M waterboy. If Diaco puts fish oil in the water, designate him to towel boy.

Warde makes amends for his role in upping Diaco's buyout, UConn can move on in the process of hiring an actual FBS quality head coach and staff, Michigan has the freshest water (or cleanest jocks) in all of college football, Diaco gets paid and has an entirely new audience to say ridiculous things to. To me, that's a win-win-win-win-win.

 

[Waquoit]

Diaco is Benedict's guy now. And UConn is so far in Warde's RVM, I doubt he remembers how to spell Storrs.

 

[Dooley]

Diaco is Benedict's guy now. And UConn is so far in Warde's RVM, I doubt he remembers how to spell Storrs.

Agree and agree. Our Diaco problem is turning into a Benedict problem. Benedict's tenure will be defined by how long he takes to get rid of Diaco and who he brings in as a replacement. Nothing else matters.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Agree and agree. Our Diaco problem is turning into a Benedict problem. Benedict's tenure will be defined by how long he takes to get rid of Diaco and who he brings in as a replacement. Nothing else matters.

If Benedict's hands are tied by the buyout of Diaco, then Diaco is not yet Benedict's guy.

 

[Waquoit]

If Benedict's hands are tied by the buyout of Diaco, then Diaco is not yet Benedict's guy.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Ref: Benedict's First Big Move At UConn: Extending Diaco's Contract Through 2020. He bought it, he owns it.

 

[Dooley]

If Benedict's hands are tied by the buyout of Diaco, then Diaco is not yet Benedict's guy.

I understand your point. Benedict is responsible for...

1. can Benedict raise the funds and do the politicking necessary to execute the buyout before or after 1/1/17? - I think everyone who follows UConn understands that football is our only G5 anchor. At least, I hope they do.

2. if he can't fire Diaco, what is Benedict's backup plan? Will he double the assistant coach pool? - we still have an opening at offensive coordinator. Our entire staff needs a thorough examination, top to bottom. OL coach, ST coach, DB coach, DL coach...heck, I want to hire a clock management coach. Every last one of 'em needs to be studied and replaced if we can find better (we can if the assistant pool is increased).

3. is there an action plan in place for when we start next year 0-4? How quick will we turn to the Interim guy? Who will be the Interim guy? And will we be over-aggressive and willing to overpay for a coach next offseason knowing that another year tacks on another year to the post-Diaco rebuilding project?

4. how in the world are we going to sell tickets to the Rent next year with Diaco back? The casual crowd has moved on to pumpkin patches and leaf peeping. The diehards have moved on to scotch and moonshine. The Aspire Group couldn't have picked a more difficult job to sell tickets. Why pay these people when we literally can't give away football tickets?

Obviously, not all of these can be answered right now. But if Diaco is back, this all falls to Benedict.

 

[freescooter]

If you were a Michigan guy and saw what Warde did here how confident would you be in his hire?

Harbaugh to the NFL has been around for a bit. Supposedly he doesn't love recruiting nor having to dumb down his concepts for college kids. He does both well don't get me wrong. He just woul rather not have to.

 

[Dooley]

I wouldn't let Warde anywhere near the next coach hire...unless he wants to hire Diaco. Then, by all means!

 

[sportsart]

Has anyone seen the thread for Harbaugh to the Rams? Can't seem to find it.

 

[Waquoit]

Has anyone seen the thread for Harbaugh to the Rams? Can't seem to find it.

The only Harbaugh to the Rams talk I heard was on Around the Horn yesterday. And he was pimping John Harbaugh.

 

[Walker11]

I will distrust any story that originated from Colin Cowherd.

 

[Dooley]

Who knows what the Rams are going to do. I've seen as much Josh McDaniels speculation as I have Jim Harbaugh. These are the Rams we're talking about though.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I understand your point. Benedict is responsible for...

1. can Benedict raise the funds and do the politicking necessary to execute the buyout before or after 1/1/17? - I think everyone who follows UConn understands that football is our only G5 anchor. At least, I hope they do.

2. if he can't fire Diaco, what is Benedict's backup plan? Will he double the assistant coach pool? - we still have an opening at offensive coordinator. Our entire staff needs a thorough examination, top to bottom. OL coach, ST coach, DB coach, DL coach...heck, I want to hire a clock management coach. Every last one of 'em needs to be studied and replaced if we can find better (we can if the assistant pool is increased).

3. is there an action plan in place for when we start next year 0-4? How quick will we turn to the Interim guy? Who will be the Interim guy? And will we be over-aggressive and willing to overpay for a coach next offseason knowing that another year tacks on another year to the post-Diaco rebuilding project?

4. how in the world are we going to sell tickets to the Rent next year with Diaco back? The casual crowd has moved on to pumpkin patches and leaf peeping. The diehards have moved on to scotch and moonshine. The Aspire Group couldn't have picked a more difficult job to sell tickets. Why pay these people when we literally can't give away football tickets?

Obviously, not all of these can be answered right now. But if Diaco is back, this all falls to Benedict.

You're right on these points. To Waquoit, yes Benedict was here when the extension was given, but he had just assumed the role, was in a situation where Diaco was garnering interest from a P5 team, had just taken us to a bowl, and was considered a hot young coach. It was not unreasonable and likely had been in the works before he even showed up. I'd be shocked if discussions weren't started when Warde was still the AD.

 

[WestHartHusk]

You're right on these points. To Waquoit, yes Benedict was here when the extension was given, but he had just assumed the role, was in a situation where Diaco was garnering interest from a P5 team, had just taken us to a bowl, and was considered a hot young coach. It was not unreasonable and likely had been in the works before he even showed up. I'd be shocked if discussions weren't started when Warde was still the AD.

What P5 team?

 

[FDNY99]

What P5 team?

Rutgers...it came down to him and Ash. It's been mentioned a few times here on The Boneyard already.

You're right on these points. To Waquoit, yes Benedict was here when the extension was given, but he had just assumed the role, was in a situation where Diaco was garnering interest from a P5 team, had just taken us to a bowl, and was considered a hot young coach. It was not unreasonable and likely had been in the works before he even showed up. I'd be shocked if discussions weren't started when Warde was still the AD.

Warde had that pretty much done before he left. All that needed to be done was to dot the i's cross the t's and have lawyers/agents double check it.

 

[freescooter]

I heard Harbaugh to the NFL, not necessarily the Rams, back a few weeks ago. Actually a couple of times. Once on a sports talk station in North Carolina, in Boston (or maybe Providence not 100% sure which) and again from Gresh one night on tic. So I the rumors have been out there. The fact that LA is the first job open leads everyone to speculate that he will get that one.

 

[06029]

1. can Benedict raise the funds and do the politicking necessary to execute the buyout before or after 1/1/17? - I think everyone who follows UConn understands that football is our only G5 anchor. At least, I hope they do.

3. is there an action plan in place for when we start next year 0-4? How quick will we turn to the Interim guy? Who will be the Interim guy? And will we be over-aggressive and willing to overpay for a coach next offseason knowing that another year tacks on another year to the post-Diaco rebuilding project?

Obviously, not all of these can be answered right now. But if Diaco is back, this all falls to Benedict.

If there are insufficient funds 1/1/17, if he starts next season 0-4, there will be insufficient funds then too. If economics drives this decision 1/1/17 and he is retained (the 99.99% probability), then the earliest he will be fired if next season is abysmal is 1/1/18 when the buyout drops again.

 

[freescooter]

If there are insufficient funds 1/1/17, if he starts next season 0-4, there will be insufficient funds then too. If economics drives this decision 1/1/17 and he is retained (the 99.99% probability), then the earliest he will be fired if next season is abysmal is 1/1/18 when the buyout drops again.

Not necessarily. The decision to keep him is not just a financial one. Other factors come into play too. Like consistency in recruiting and the ability to hire a new guy after firing 2 coaches in 3 years or less when the "industry standard " is 4 in most places that are not in the very elite range. You might disagree with that thinking but it is part of the equation as is the Bowl in 2015. If he goes 3-9!again they will negotiate an earlier severance since it is in nobody's interest for him to be there as a lame duck until 1/1/18. Or they will pay the buyout. But either way he will be gone. The question will be what if he pulls an Addazio and finishes an uninspiring 6-6 with a very minor bowl. I'd hope he hits the road but I don't know for sure.

 

[huskyinfl]

Wouldn't a Harbaugh buyout be complex and expensive? I remember hearing M gave him personal loans of millions / life insurance etc.

 

[UConnNick]

Not necessarily. The decision to keep him is not just a financial one. Other factors come into play too. Like consistency in recruiting and the ability to hire a new guy after firing 2 coaches in 3 years or less when the "industry standard " is 4 in most places that are not in the very elite range. You might disagree with that thinking but it is part of the equation as is the Bowl in 2015. If he goes 3-9!again they will negotiate an earlier severance since it is in nobody's interest for him to be there as a lame duck until 1/1/18. Or they will pay the buyout. But either way he will be gone. The question will be what if he pulls an Addazio and finishes an uninspiring 6-6 with a very minor bowl. I'd hope he hits the road but I don't know for sure.

So we keep him for another year, watching him drag the program even further down a bottomless pit, and then pay him the same buyout he gets as of 1/1/17 to get rid of him right after the season ends? And we do all of it because we are adhering to some arbitrary "industry standard" so that other coaches don't think ill of our program? That's a really brilliant strategy.

We either get rid of this clown ASAP or we are destined to become the Columbia of the FBS.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

What P5 team?

What FDNY said. Some here seem to think Diaco to Rutgers wasn't a real thing, but when you're in Benedict's position your first act as AD can't be letting your rising young coach get scooped up by your old rival after you didn't give him an extension because you didn't think there was legitimate interest from that school. Just google "Bob Diaco Rutgers" and there are at least a few articles and posts from legitimate sources discussing the possibility of Diaco's interest in RU. Not to mention he grew up in NJ so it's not some asinine possibility. DB came into a situation where the previous AD had likely begun discussions of an extension, his coach was garnering some interest from a B1G school, he turned a 2-win team into a bowl team and beat an otherwise undefeated school, and had a roster and schedule heading into the fall of '16 that could very well be an 8 or 9-win team. Offering that coach an extension was not a bad move. I'll concede that the terms of the new buyout were very unfavorable to UConn and should've been negotiated differently from a calendar/$ perspective, but the notion of giving BD an extension last year was not the wrong move.

 

[Palatine]

"There were a few things that still needed to be worked through, but most of the major stuff had been agreed to," Benedict said. "I did have, call it six weeks, to get to know Coach Diaco and his staff a little bit. From everything I can evaluate in a short period of time, which is not a lot, I'm very excited about everything I see. I think he's done a great job and I think he's going to do great things at UConn, and I just hope he's going to be with us for a long time."

 

[Stainmaster]

"There were a few things that still needed to be worked through, but most of the major stuff had been agreed to," Benedict said. "I did have, call it six weeks, to get to know Coach Diaco and his staff a little bit. From everything I can evaluate in a short period of time, which is not a lot, I'm very excited about everything I see. I think he's done a great job and I think he's going to do great things at UConn, and I just hope he's going to be with us for a long time."

Let's engage in a little gedanken here:

Which posters felt the same way about Diaco post-2015 as they do now? I don't even recall Whaler beating his current drum back then.

 

[Waquoit]

I remember when Emile Francis took over the Whale. The previous regime was all hot to pick legendary stiff Sylvain Turgeon over actual legend Pat LaFontaine. He went ahead with Turgeon knowing that if it didn't pan out he could blame who came before. Like DB apologists are doing here. The Cat's decision probably cost the Whalers the Stanley Cup. And Benedict's decision is costing us here. It's all on him, no one else. I just hope he's using this silent time scaring up the cash it will take to make Diaco go away. If he can't, he should resign.