New Head Coach Criteria/Wishes

[uconnbill]

I would love a coach who has coached at the NFL level, or someone who can recruit portal and high school players. I know it is a lot to ask. There is someone who can do that with UConn.

 

[mauconnfan]

Here are my ideas for the head coaching search:

Former NFL coaches:
Jon Gruden: Resurrect his career?
Brian Daboll: Resurrect his career?

Former FBS coaches:
Pat Fitzgerald: Resurrect his career?

Current FBS Head Coaches:
Bob Chesney - JMU: Probably not happening
Jason Candle - Toledo: Hasn't left yet, so maybe
Charles Huff - Southern Miss: Lots of FBS assistant coach experience. Did well at Marshall and turned around Southern Miss on year 1. Only 42 and from Maryland.
Jason Eck - New Mexico: Won at Idaho and turned around New Mexico in year 1.

FCS Coaches:
Kevin Cahill - Lehigh: Turned around Lehigh. Coached at Yale and Maine. From New York and played at Springfield.
Andrew Aurich - Harvard: Played at Princeton. Was at Rutgers for 6 years, 1 year at Tampa Bay. 17-3 at Harvard. 42 years old.

FBS Assistants:
Gordon Sammis - OC UConn: Great OC!
Cory Hetherman - DC Miami: Grew up in Massachusetts. Coached at many New England schools.
Collin Klein - OC Texas A&M: Probably a long shot, but ready for his first head coaching job.
Shannon Dawson - OC Miami: Southern ties, but coached at WVU for 4 years.
Brian Hartline - OC Ohio St." Ready for a head coaching job, but has only coached at Ohio St.
Ra-Shaad Samples - AHC Oregon: Top recruiter. Strong Texas ties, so probably not a good fit.
Will Stein - OC Oregon: Played QB at Louisville and played against UConn. Probably a long shot.
Andy Kotelnicki - OC Penn St.: Will need a new job and Probably wants a head coaching job. Could bring some Penn St. players with him.
Glenn Schumann - DC Georgia: Experience at Alabama and Georgia. Ready for his first head coaching job. Strong southern ties so probably a long shot.

Pat Fitzgerald in a second!

 

[CTSooner]

As a long time Raiders fan having already gone through 2 rounds of Gruden, I'll pass. I've still not forgiven him for leaving the team then beating them the next year in the Super Bowl.😭

On the flip side, we moved to Tampa Bay in '97 and were there when Gruden came to the team and won the Super Bowl. To say we would be ecstatic in this household is an understatement. (I already have Baker at the Bucs now as an OU fan. If Gruden came here, I think my bucket list would be complete.) The way he got an already good Bucs team under Dungy believing in themselves and that they could do anything ("POUND THE ROCK"), plus had men like John Lynch and Derrick Brooks ready to walk through concrete walls for him, was something to behold. It was glorious. I love watching his current unboxing videos and the absolute love, hype, and sheer joy he has for the Bucs - and the sport itself - still. I'm really happy he got a shot at redemption and was put back in the Ring of Honor. Do I think he'll come here? No. Do I make every 11:11 wish for it? YES.

 

[Hskies4Ever]

I agree. There is a good chance Sammis looks like Brock between 2024 to 2025 seasons (Sammis 2025 to 2026). Everybody is now asking for Brock’s head. Next year it will be Sammis.

Next year? Where were you a few weeks ago?

Look, a Sammis retention, whether as HC or OC would ultimately retain a lot of the offense - especially the linemen, which would be key.

I agree it wouldn’t be my first choice. It feels like it would be us playing it safe at a time where we need to be aggressive.

That said, I have much more faith in AD DB than I had in Warde or Jeff Hathaway. He has shown a great eye for coaching talent (let’s remember that RE 2.0 was NOT his man).

 

[Fatroony5]

I don’t understand why people keep suggesting Matt Patricia. I’ve been a patriots fan my entire life, he is not head coach material. He can scheme up good defenses, but no way we want him as the head man; time & time again people keep dipping into Bill’s coaching tree & they flop, hard no. Sammis is not a serious candidate, if we ended up with him we’re in a bad spot.

I’ve said it for a few days now I’m all in on Pat Fitzgerald. It’d signify to our own players, portal players, & the rest of CFB that were fully invested in football, perception matters. I want them to go big at this point. If not Fitz, I’d be looking at P4 assistants or lower G5 coaches that can immediately hit the ground running. Maybe Cahill can smash it here, I’d just be more nervous going after a FCS coach than a P4 assistant with really good connections that can bring players with him right now. Hopefully we get this hire right.

 

[JwittersPAC]

I don’t understand why people keep suggesting Matt Patricia. I’ve been a patriots fan my entire life, he is not head coach material. He can scheme up good defenses, but no way we want him as the head man; time & time again people keep dipping into Bill’s coaching tree & they flop, hard no. Sammis is not a serious candidate, if we ended up with him we’re in a bad spot.

I’ve said it for a few days now I’m all in on Pat Fitzgerald. It’d signify to our own players, portal players, & the rest of CFB that were fully invested in football, perception matters. I want them to go big at this point. If not Fitz, I’d be looking at P4 assistants or lower G5 coaches that can immediately hit the ground running. Maybe Cahill can smash it here, I’d just be more nervous going after a FCS coach than a P4 assistant with really good connections that can bring players with him right now. Hopefully we get this hire right.

I can find nothing on the internet that Pat Fitzgerald would have any interest in the UConn head coaching job. Are people getting indications or is this just wishful thinking.

 

[noeynox]

Sounds perfect!
From NY and spent entire career in the Northeast or mid-west so he won't puss out about the location
51 years old is perfect
Tons of NFL experience which JM used to sell the program
Ohio State is a factory though so he could be very successful there and then land a much bigger job

Mora had success as an NFL HC. Patricia was a disaster of one.

Like most Patriot coaches, he had no success without TB12. Charlie Weiss, Josh McDaniel, Joe Judge, Brian Daboll, heck even Belichick.

Vrabel, BOB, and Romeo were the best of the bunch.

 

[JwittersPAC]

Mora had success as an NFL HC. Patricia was a disaster of one.

Like most Patriot coaches, he had no success without TB12. Charlie Weiss, Josh McDaniel, Joe Judge, Brian Daboll, heck even Belichick.

Vrabel, BOB, and Romeo were the best of the bunch.

Jim Mora was 31-33 as a head NFL coach over 4 seasons. I guess we have a difference of opinion if under 500 record could be considered successful. But again Jim’s nepo baby whole football career has been quite similar. lol

 

[CCSUblue]

Mora had success as an NFL HC. Patricia was a disaster of one.

Like most Patriot coaches, he had no success without TB12. Charlie Weiss, Josh McDaniel, Joe Judge, Brian Daboll, heck even Belichick.

Vrabel, BOB, and Romeo were the best of the bunch.

Going off topic, but Jr is having a pretty good career so far. OC at Ole Miss. Seems like a future head coach.

 

[Bongo Fury]

I’m sorry to all you Sammis lovers but if he ends up our next HC, it’s not a good sign for this program. To me that shows that they couldn’t get any candidate to take this job. It would be a completely uninspiring hire for the fans and I’m sure it would do next to nothing for keeping or getting players. Seems like a nice job and did ok as an OC but I’d be very concerned if we ended up with him as our HC. We’ve also not seen him without having Bell and Edwards in his offense so like Brock, we don’t know if he’s good or if he has good players that make him look good. We found out this year that Brock had great players last year that made him look good because this year he was exposed.

I think Sammis is great and likely has a great future. I’m thinking Morehead or Lashlee when they were here. Too much of a gamble at this time.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Next year? Where were you a few weeks ago?

Look, a Sammis retention, whether as HC or OC would ultimately retain a lot of the offense - especially the linemen, which would be key.

I agree it wouldn’t be my first choice. It feels like it would be us playing it safe at a time where we need to be aggressive.

That said, I have much more faith in AD DB than I had in Warde or Jeff Hathaway. He has shown a great eye for coaching talent (let’s remember that RE 2.0 was NOT his man).

I think it will be a quite different team as far as players. Maybe Sammis goes to a bigger program to continue is career trajectory.

 

[Fatroony5]

I can find nothing on the internet that Pat Fitzgerald would have any interest in the UConn head coaching job. Are people getting indications or is this just wishful thinking.

Probably wishful thinking, but one that seems “feasible.” Thats the type of guy I’d be targeting, someone hungry to get back into coaching & has a huge chip on his shoulder to prove he can still coach at a high level.

 

[metsfan2323]

Cahill would be a great hire. What he did at Leigh has been amazing.

Lehigh football finds new identity under Coach Cahill - The Brown and White Lehigh football finds new identity under Coach Cahill - The Brown and White

I know nothing about Cahill, but his short resume is impressive, maybe another Chesney. Sign me up.

 

[noeynox]

Jim Mora was 31-33 as a head NFL coach over 4 seasons. I guess we have a difference of opinion if under 500 record could be considered successful. But again Jim’s nepo baby whole football career has been quite similar. lol

He coached a team to an NFC championship game. Mora can flat out coach. He's not perfect but he's the best we've had here by a lot. But he is NOT IRREPLACEABLE.

Patricia on the other hand was 13-29-1, as an NFL headcoach. Nothing short of an unmitigated disaster and his players hated him. Not only does he suck he is a jerk with media by extension fans.

Im a long time Pats fan. Brady got all those guys head jobs and they almost all flopped spectacularly!

 

[JwittersPAC]

He coached a team to an NFC championship game. Mora can flat out coach. He's not perfect but he's the best we've had here by a lot. But he is NOT IRREPLACEABLE.

Patricia on the other hand was 13-29-1, as an NFL headcoach. Nothing short of an unmitigated disaster and his players hated him. Not only does he suck he is a jerk with media by extension fans.

Im a long time Pats fan. Brady got all those guys head jobs and they almost all flopped spectacularly!

Never said Patricia was any good as a head coach. Just questioned calling Jim Mora a “successful” head NFL coach when he had a lifetime record below 500 (31-33).

 

[noeynox]

Never said Patricia was any good as a head coach. Just questioned calling Jim Mora a “successful” head NFL coach when he had a lifetime record below 500 (31-33).

He made the playoffs and took a team to the NFC championship game. He achieved success in the NFL even if he was 2 games under .500

 

[JwittersPAC]

He made the playoffs and took a team to the NFC championship game. He achieved success in the NFL even if he was 2 games under .500

Again I would not consider him a successful head NFL coach and most people would agree with me.

 

[Stevep34]

Regarding the Chip Kelly name, didn’t he get tired of being a college head coach (being a CEO and dealing with NIL and portal etc) at UCLA? I thought he rather just coach the players and focus on Xs and Os.

 

[noeynox]

Again I would not consider him a successful head NFL coach and most people would agree with me.

You think they would. You act like getting to an NFL conference championship game is easy. I don't see what point you're trying to make. Was he a failure?

My point was I see people throw Patricia's name around as someone they would want here and point to him being good enough to coach in the NFL but not at UConn. When given the chance he wasn't anywhere near good enough. Mora on the other hand did have success as a HC prior to coming here both in the NFL and college.

So let me be clear, I want no part of Matt Patricia here.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Regarding the Chip Kelly name, didn’t he get tired of being a college head coach (being a CEO and dealing with NIL and portal etc) at UCLA? I thought he rather just coach the players and focus on Xs and Os.

Burnout, something to keep in mind for coaches with prior success

 

[Devland]

Mora had success as an NFL HC. Patricia was a disaster of one.

Like most Patriot coaches, he had no success without TB12. Charlie Weiss, Josh McDaniel, Joe Judge, Brian Daboll, heck even Belichick.

Vrabel, BOB, and Romeo were the best of the bunch.

Patricia is an MIT grad. He would probably have the same problems as Belichick in college. I heard one analyst comparing Belichick to a College professor trying to teach PHD level engineering to a freshman science class and not understanding why he is just getting blank stares.

 

[noeynox]

Patricia is an MIT grad. He would probably have the same problems as Belichick in college. I heard one analyst comparing Belichick to a College professor trying to teach PHD level engineering to a freshman science class and not understanding why he is just getting blank stares.

MIT grad you say. Brady made a lot of coaches in New England look like geniuses. Charlie Weiss arrived at ND and declared that ND would have "schematic advantages" every Saturday. How did that work out? Belichick without Brady is 83-104 as head coach. Pats have been my team since long before Brady and Bill. I know what I saw. A once in a lifetime player at the most important position that made a lot of people look smarter than they were.

 

[Kolumbo]

Patricia is an MIT grad. He would probably have the same problems as Belichick in college. I heard one analyst comparing Belichick to a College professor trying to teach PHD level engineering to a freshman science class and not understanding why he is just getting blank stares.

Hold on a second. Interesting going to get such a scientific degree and then going into coaching. Brainiacs
RPI

"Patricia is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI, located in Troy, N.Y.) and its School of Engineering’s Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering Department. He was a four-year football letterman for the Engineers as an offensive lineman from 1992-95. He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at RPI in 1996 and then spent three seasons at Syracuse University as a GA for three seasons before joining the Patriots in 2004."

 

[ScottVib]

Frank Reich? Interim Stanford coach did not get the job. East coast guy, same age as Mora.

Reportedly Reich only accepted the job under the condition that he'd only stay for this year. He wasn't looking to stay on.

 

[pj]

To me, the rules have changed so completely that having won in college in the past is less important. Coordinators and assistants will coach. You need someone who can figure out how to allocate the salary pool among potential recruits, potential transfers and returning players. That's job #1, and I'm not even sure how you evaluate that other than from interviews as the rules are changing so materially so consistently.

Yes. Fundraising is becoming 50% of the job and strategizing/directing the spending the other 50%. Your staff has to do all the coaching work.