New Head Coach Criteria | Page 3 | The Boneyard

New Head Coach Criteria

Names...

  1. Bob Chesney (gotta ask him, make the call. Would be a huge payday for him)
  2. Mike Gundy (at least call him)
  3. Pat Fitzgerald (he's been vindicated from the issues at Northwestern. Wants to coach in college again)
 
SonsOfNutmeg said:
Names...

  1. Bob Chesney (gotta ask him, make the call. Would be a huge payday for him)
  2. Mike Gundy (at least call him)
  3. Pat Fitzgerald (he's been vindicated from the issues at Northwestern. Wants to coach in college again)
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1 - Make the call. Worst case scenario is he says no. Same outcome as not making the call.

2 - We could do worse. Not sure if he should be second on the list but if that's who we land we could do well. He's also quite entertaining.

3 - Whatever school lands him will end up with exceptional coach. I'd celebrate for months if he's who we hire.
 
SonsOfNutmeg said:
Names...

  1. Bob Chesney (gotta ask him, make the call. Would be a huge payday for him)
  2. Mike Gundy (at least call him)
  3. Pat Fitzgerald (he's been vindicated from the issues at Northwestern. Wants to coach in college again)
Expand ...

1. Can't hurt. We can pay him more.
2. Hell no. The guy was lost and distracted. NIL confused him.
3. A good idea. Wouldn't surprise me if his name comes up.
 
FfldCntyFan said:
1 - Make the call. Worst case scenario is he says no. Same outcome as not making the call.

2 - We could do worse. Not sure if he should be second on the list but if that's who we land we could do well. He's also quite entertaining.

3 - Whatever school lands him will end up with exceptional coach. I'd celebrate for months if he's who we hire.
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I mean when you get a chance to hire an ex Okie State coach who failed with far more resources than he would get here then why not.
 
Nameless said:
No, not remotely. It isn't one game that makes me not want him. They lost 7 games this year, including to FIU who we beat by over 40. I'm sorry he just has absolutely no track record of success as a head coach.

I understand what you're saying about not overpaying and buying hype. That's why I'm kind of confused as to why you even brought him up. He's the epitome of a hype hire, what he's done well is coach high scoring offenses as a coordinator. He's done nothing as a head coach. But people see the high scoring offenses for teams he has coordinated and for some reason start salivating over his prospects as a head coach. What has he done as a HC to make you think he is a solid coach?
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If you dig a little deeper, you'll notice several positives about Kittlley

1. FAU player and team stats improved dramatically

QB Veltkamp and WR Messer's stats are in the top of the AAC stats and offensively much improved over last years team

2. Zach deploys an aggressive passing attack that involves multiple receiving threats

3. His offensive philosophy at previous stops in his coaching career have resulted in impressive numbers. At Houston Christian in his first season, the team doubled its offensive production, increasing total yards by 46% and touchdowns by 56% with QB Bailey Zappe leading the nation in passing touchdowns in 2019

At Western Kentucky: Kittley's offense experienced a 115% increase in total yards and a 192% increase in touchdowns from the previous year, with the team leading the FBS in passing yards per game (433.7) in 2021.

In Zack's final season as offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, his offense ranked 10th nationally in total yards per game, 9th in passing yards per game, and 8th in points per game.

Texas Tech's offense averaged 459.8 total yards per game in 2024 and scored 38.6 points per game.

That's not a correlation, that's a trend and exactly what you're looking for in a new coach hiring search. Any questions?
 
.-.
These are the guys I'd reach out to. Some have connections to the Northeast, some are coaches that have had success at smaller schools.
Mendenhall
Matt Patricia
Freeze
Chip Kelly
Tony Reno
Paul Chryst
Chesney (but we missed our chance years ago)
 
The problem for me is that sometimes a coordinator is really good at being a coordinator, but not so good at being a head coach. It’s a gamble and one we really can’t afford to lose right now. I would prefer UConn hires someone who already has experience at being a head coach and has been at least moderately successful.
 
ZooCougar said:
The guy literally complained about NIL which is perhaps our single greatest recruiting tool. And you wanted him here?
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i already agreed with you.
 
ZooCougar said:
I mean when you get a chance to hire an ex Okie State coach who failed with far more resources than he would get here then why not.
Expand ...
He did very well for quite a while before he imploded.

He wouldn't be on my short list, nor would he be on my backup list but as I initially responded, we could do worse.

I really like the Fitzgerald idea. The only downside there would be that I don't believe we could keep him once he starts winning here. I can live with that.
 
.-.
FfldCntyFan said:
He did very well for quite a while before he imploded.

He wouldn't be on my short list, nor would he be on my backup list but as I initially responded, we could do worse.

I really like the Fitzgerald idea. The only downside there would be that I don't believe we could keep him once he starts winning here. I can live with that.
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I think so too on Fitzgerald. This is our lot in life.

If Ole Miss can’t keep a coach then who are we to complain. I really do belief that Mora leaving was more of a lifestyle one as opposed to not having the resources.
 
B1GEast said:
If you dig a little deeper, you'll notice several positives about Kittlley

1. FAU player and team stats improved dramatically

QB Veltkamp and WR Messer's stats are in the top of the AAC stats and offensively much improved over last years team

2. Zach deploys an aggressive passing attack that involves multiple receiving threats

3. His offensive philosophy at previous stops in his coaching career have resulted in impressive numbers. At Houston Christian in his first season, the team doubled its offensive production, increasing total yards by 46% and touchdowns by 56% with QB Bailey Zappe leading the nation in passing touchdowns in 2019

At Western Kentucky: Kittley's offense experienced a 115% increase in total yards and a 192% increase in touchdowns from the previous year, with the team leading the FBS in passing yards per game (433.7) in 2021.

In Zack's final season as offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, his offense ranked 10th nationally in total yards per game, 9th in passing yards per game, and 8th in points per game.

Texas Tech's offense averaged 459.8 total yards per game in 2024 and scored 38.6 points per game.

That's not a correlation, that's a trend and exactly what you're looking for in a new coach hiring search. Any questions?
Expand ...
If he brings Veltkamp and Messer, I’m all in.
 
B1GEast said:
If you dig a little deeper, you'll notice several positives about Kittlley

1. FAU player and team stats improved dramatically

QB Veltkamp and WR Messer's stats are in the top of the AAC stats and offensively much improved over last years team

2. Zach deploys an aggressive passing attack that involves multiple receiving threats

3. His offensive philosophy at previous stops in his coaching career have resulted in impressive numbers. At Houston Christian in his first season, the team doubled its offensive production, increasing total yards by 46% and touchdowns by 56% with QB Bailey Zappe leading the nation in passing touchdowns in 2019

At Western Kentucky: Kittley's offense experienced a 115% increase in total yards and a 192% increase in touchdowns from the previous year, with the team leading the FBS in passing yards per game (433.7) in 2021.

In Zack's final season as offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, his offense ranked 10th nationally in total yards per game, 9th in passing yards per game, and 8th in points per game.

Texas Tech's offense averaged 459.8 total yards per game in 2024 and scored 38.6 points per game.

That's not a correlation, that's a trend and exactly what you're looking for in a new coach hiring search. Any questions?
Expand ...
No, that's not "exactly what I'm looking for in a new coach hiring search." I've stated what I'm looking for multiple times on here and a coordinator with no track record of success as a HC is NOT it. Everything you just listed was done as an OC, with the exception of Veltkamp and Messer this past season.

I acknowledged he can put together a good offense. The point I made is he's a proven coordinator, not a proven HC. They're different roles, with different responsibilities. You can succeed in one and not the other. It's a fact he is yet to have a successful season as a HC. He will finish this season either 4-8, or 5-7, below .500.

You said you didn't want to hire a coach based on hype, yet you keep hyping what he's done as an OC. Do you talk to any FAU fans? I do, their team sucked this year and they know it. None of them are worried about losing their HC. No one in the national media is talking about him for HC vacancies. There is a reason for that...

Look, he's young and clearly knows how to design a passing attack. Perhaps he will be a good HC in 5 years. But the last thing we need to do is take a massive gamble on someone because we think they have potential. We need a head coach, that's proven he knows how to succeed as a head coach. If you want a young up and comer, look to the head coaching ranks. There's a reason many are high on Reno
 
UConn2SF said:
These are the guys I'd reach out to. Some have connections to the Northeast, some are coaches that have had success at smaller schools.
Mendenhall
Matt Patricia
Freeze
Chip Kelly
Tony Reno
Paul Chryst
Chesney (but we missed our chance years ago)
Expand ...

We can pay Chesney more.
 
.-.
ZooCougar said:
Here’s mine:

1. Must be a head coach or was one at a high level.

2. Will bring coaches and talent with him. The great ones always do.

3. Must be able to thrive and win in the NIL/Rev Share environment and not cry about its complexity and ambiguity.

Straightforward enough?
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Why only at a high level? Unless you consider JMU a high level. Their coach has done pretty well at Indiana.
 
Here are a few interesting names that probably are non starters but seems like future head coaches.

Tyler Bowen - OL Ohio St. Has collegiate and NFL coaching experience
Kodi Burns - Assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator & wide receivers coach. Has collegiate and NFL coaching experience
Nick Sheridan - Alabama Co-OC/QB. Has SEC and B1G experience
Charlie Weis Jr. - Ole Miss OC/QB
Ra'Shaad Samples - Oregon Asst. HC/RB
Zac Alley - WVU AHC/DC/LB

Too soon
Vince Kehres - Toledo DC/LB. Formerly Mount Union HC
 
.-.
ZooCougar said:
I think so too on Fitzgerald. This is our lot in life.

If Ole Miss can’t keep a coach then who are we to complain. I really do belief that Mora leaving was more of a lifestyle one as opposed to not having the resources.
Expand ...
It seems extremely likely it was a lifestyle decision. I figured he would coach here a couple more years and then retire to the mountains and rivers.
 
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