HC Candidates

[whaler11]

Someone else mentioned in the last few days, but Mark Hudspeth would be on my list.

I'd talk to Ambrose before most of the names I've seen today. He turned nothing into something.

Just as long as nobody mentions Larry Coker, and remember he beat Bob Davie this week.

 

[metsfan2323]

Any one from this list outside of a MAC guy and the flag saying football is being droped to the FCS level has been raised and is flying high!

North Dakota State and Old Dominion could probably win the MAC and Stony Brook and Towson could compete in the MAC so i'm not sure why you would feel that way.

and Mangini would make more headlines then all of the coaches I listed, his hire would be viewed as a bold statement move. A Belichick protege who is known to be a detailed oriented tactician of the game and probably would relate better to college kids then the pros, some pros didn't like him because he was too controlling, but college kids need to be controlled.

BTW Mangini had more success in the pros then Nick Saban did. He took the Jets to the playoffs in his first year and the Jets were the best team in the league in his third year until Favre tore is bicep and couldn't throw anymore.

 

[FDNY99]

for pro names ... San Fran OC Greg Roman has been mentioned as a college HC candidate.

 

[Kgun7]

I named Fleck as being my #1 off the top of my head. Campbell from Toledo is another legitimate candidate.

Cristobal... Back then I would have agreed, with more time probably not.
Thinking about KC Keeler makes me laugh about how bad Des got burned by his agent.

I just read one of the articles from the newark post about kc keeler getting fired ... little to no sympathy there. But I'm all about second chances ... I think head coaches usually learn from their initial mistakes. Like Weis at Kansas.

 

[whaler11]

North Dakota State and Old Dominion could probably win the MAC and Stony Brook and Towson could compete in the MAC so i'm not sure why you would feel that way.

and Mangini would make more headlines then all of the coaches I listed, his hire would be viewed as a risky but bold statement move.

Yeah buddy Old Dominion is better than Northern Illinois. Someone beat Iowa on the road and someone got pasted by East Carolina - let me know which is which.

 

[FDNY99]

North Dakota State and Old Dominion could probably win the MAC and Stony Brook and Towson could compete in the MAC so i'm not sure why you would feel that way.

and Mangini would make more headlines then all of the coaches I listed, his hire would be viewed as a risky but bold statement move.

I just don't think there is enough time for a FCS guy to come in here and win right away, be able to recruit the caliber of player we need. You take that transfer element away from these guys (FBS guys can transfer to an FCS school and not have to sit a year) and it makes a HUGE difference in my mind. Ambrose was no knock out recruiter when he was here first as qb coach then OC/qb coach. If we want to win and build a "big time" program then we need to think that way. When Calhoun was hired he was able to build his program in his own time frame...the next football coach here won't have that luxury. A P5 OC/DC or a guy like Petrino will bring a staff here (as long as they pay what I have previously posted salary wise for coaches) that can hit the ground running. Whether you like this point or not a guy like TJ Weist has a LOT more pull/influence than a guy like Towson OC Jared Ambrose when he calls a HS coach about a player. That P5 OC/DC will fill his staff with guys like a TJ Weist. If we as a fan base want this program to move to the next level we need to hire a coach who has been at that level and knows what it takes to get there.

 

[metsfan2323]

Yeah buddy Old Dominion is better than Northern Illinois. Someone beat Iowa on the road and someone got pasted by East Carolina - let me know which is which.

Old Dominion was within 4 going into the 4th quarter, they were not pasted. For all we know East Carolina could beat Iowa, let the season play out. Regardless I stand by my opinion that Bobby Wilder should be on our target list.

 

[whaler11]

Old Dominion was within in 4 going into the 4th quarter, they were not pasted. For all we know East Carolina could beat Iowa, let the season play out. Regardless I stand by my opinion that Bobby Wilder should be on our target list.

Old Dominion is better than Northern Illinois. This is an actual stance of yours?

Bobby Wilder is 10000000000x a better candidate than Mangini.

 

[UConnDan97]

If the school hired fulmer or bellotti I would be done. These are two dreadful choices for the situation at hand.

You'd be "done"???

There isn't a name you could fill into the blank that would make me "done". You could name Roseanne Barr as the head coach of UConn, and I would still hang around to see if she got us into a bowl game. To each their own, I guess...

 

[FDNY99]

Every time I hear a FCS coach mentioned here I think of former MD coach Mark Duffner..a star in the making at Holy Cross (back when they had a legit 1AA team) who came crashing down to earth in a heap at MD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Duffner

 

[metsfan2323]

Old Dominion is better than Northern Illinois. This is an actual stance of yours?

Bobby Wilder is 10000000000x a better candidate than Mangini.

I know next to nothing about Northern Illinois, I do know Old Dominion has a good team and a great coach.

I'm glad we agree on Wilder. BTW ODU plays Maryland this week on ESPNnews.

Mangini had more success in the pros than Nick Saban. Mangini's problem was that he treated pros like college kids, I don't think we would mind that at UCONN.

 

[huskymedic]

You'd be "done"???

There isn't a name you could fill into the blank that would make me "done". You could name Roseanne Barr as the head coach of UConn, and I would still hang around to see if she got us into a bowl game. To each their own, I guess...

As long as she doesn't sing the National Anthem before each game...

 

[ZooCougar]

I think Rob Ambrose should get a serious look.

 

[FDNY99]

Add Brent Venables to the OC/DC list...with his experience as DC at both OU (Venables was DC when OU beat us in the Fiesta Bowl) and Clemson he would be a good fit...same with Chad Morris who was already mentioned.

 

[uconnbill]

Tony Franklin from Cal who has coached in the south most of his career and been an excellent quarterback coach during his years. He knows offenses and just would need a defensive guy.
Bryan Harsin head coach at Arkansas state who was at Boise St and Texas and is young at only 36 years old. He has good ties to Texas in recruiting which would be a plus.
Kyle Shanahan OC on the Washington. This is a long shot as I think he will be a head coach in the NFL before he goes to any College team.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

A few years back Shanahan may have been a possibility at some school (not necessarily here). I believe that his father has a Lou Holtz agreement with the Skins however that he is basically grooming his lid to take over on a few years.

Beyond the numerous candidates (both quality and questionable) that we've mentioned, there has to be at least an equal number of quality candidates that we haven't mentioned (likely due to not having enough inside information on collegiate football coaching) who may well end up on the short list.

The more time goes by the more angry I get with the fact the JH saw P & Whip as the entire talent pool when Edsall left.

 

[uconNYC]

I want a snake oil salesman who makes me feel like we're on the verge of a national title even when we suck bigtime (e.g. Greg Schiano type)

 

[hungry husky]

My point exactly... He wouldn't.

There is a distinct difference between a wish list and viable candidates.

Let's add the Bear and Nick Saban to our wish list.

 

[Excalibur]

I would like Gene Chizik. The guy won a National Championship as HC and was DC for another undefeated team. He has name recognition and is disliked enough down south that we might be able to hold on to him for awhile if he has success.

That being said, I will take anyone who can bring a high octane offense to UCONN and can stop the decrease in the number of my friends who are season ticket holders (down to me, wifey, and one other friend from a peak of 8 a few years ago).

No, no, no and no. If he doesn't find someone to shell out $100 grand to Cecil Newton, his record as a head coach is approximately 10 wins and 50 million losses.

 

[tduconn]

Tough call.

It would be GREAT if UConn was as lucky as Cincinatti to land a recognizable and respected name like Tuberville.......but don't see it happening. The Bearcats had a couple of things going for them that UConn doesn't.......a highly recognizeable, successful and respected football program, and they were still in a BCS league at the time of Tuberville's hiring.

I don't think we'll entice any up and coming coach (at any level) in a major Power 5 program to "step down" to a poor BCS program (UConn), in an environment with the "second worse" college football fanbase (UConn per USA Today) in a league (AAC) that really enhanced its national image last weekend.

I agree with some posters who have suggested it would most likely be an "east coast" guy that already has name recognition and relationships in the recruiting area. Hopefully it could be someone from an ACC school with east coast ties from Maine to Florida, but even that may be a stretch.

It will be a really tough "get" for Ward Manual and maybe he surprises us all and pulls off a gem. But I won't blame him if he doesn't......UConn FB is a tough sell for top recruits......even harder for top coaches.

If it was an internal hire, and wouldn't be surprised if this was the outcome of a search........I'd give Weist the first opportunity based on his history of successes at previous stops. It would be great to have a Weist-Brown team on board......But.........

I'm afraid our reaction after a new coach is named will be "Who ????!!!!!"

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Take a page from NC State. They brought in a dinosaur who underperformed.

They didn't go out and find another reject. They went out and hired the best coach in the MAC and their fans are fired up and the program has more energy since Philip Rivers graduated.

I tend to agree with your line of thinking on this.....but the only retread name that intrigues me is Belotti. I'd have to look into some things with him that I have no desire to do the research without him being a candidate, but I wouldn't summarily dismiss him from the pool like you have. Fulmer.....yeah, no thank you.

The pool of candidates will come from head coaches in the MAC, Sun Belt, FCS or hot coordinator at a mid tier BCS program. People are dreaming if they think Petrino or some hot shot coordinator like Chad Morris making about $2 million a year are going to take this job.

 

[Excalibur]

Were you saying the same thing about "someone with a bigger paycheck" when Cincinnati got Tuberville from Texas Tech??? Tuberville gets the same amount at Cincy that Kingsbury gets at TT (2.3mil.). By the way, Tuberville is only 4 years younger than Fulmer or Bellotti. HOWEVER, Cincy looks like the smartest school on the block after making that move. They destroyed Purdue, and they look like they are headed to the top of the conference again (and perhaps a bigger conference).

So age...other school's money...these aren't reasons for me to turn down highly skilled, highly respected people for the head job...

Tuberville was a very unique situation. He was really unhappy at Tech and hated the administration there. He fell in Cincy's lap, and reached out to them -- not the other way around.

 

[Excalibur]

I believe it was a rhetorical question. When UMass won Whip was HC. Brown was promoted from DC to HC after Whip left.

No, he left for Northeastern, and managed to win 10 games there before heading back to UMass to become head coach. They went to the 1-AA finals under Brown in 2006.

 

[Excalibur]

Every time I hear a FCS coach mentioned here I think of former MD coach Mark Duffner..a star in the making at Holy Cross (back when they had a legit 1AA team) who came crashing down to earth in a heap at MD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Duffner

Stop cherry picking. You did this when we were hiring after Edsall left as well.

 

[NorwalkHusky]

I would love to be able to get Coach Eric Taylor, I don't know if we'll be able to get him to leave East Dillon though....