Running 2015 College Football Coaching Carousel Thread

There is no way South Carolina goes for a Chapter II coach this time. SEC teams have had a lot of success hiring top coordinators from other programs. Without a "hot" coach from the Group of 5, it's the better way to go. It would be interesting to see John Chavis get a shot. The guy has been bumping around the SEC for 25 years.

 

For the life of me, I don't know why everyone thinks Georgia is hell-bent on Kirby Smart. If I've just fired a guy who averaged nine wins a season over 15 years in the SEC, I'm aiming a lot higher than Kirby Smart. Before I settle on Smart, I'm making a serious run at the likes of Gary Patterson, Mike Gundy or Kyle Whittingham, maybe a Tom Herman or whoever the guy is at North Dakota State. I'm looking for a head coach, minimum, who has led a consistent winning program, not the hot coordinator du jour. I'm no insider, especially at Georgia, but the seeming obsession with Kirby Smart just doesn't make any sense to me.

 

Yeah, that guy probably has a lot more going on than the defensive coordinator at Alabama.

Smart makes a lot of sense, he has the chops and knows the area. That's no small consideration as other schools have been carving up the state in recruiting of late.

 

And I also think there is something to be said for being under inarguably the best college coach in this generation for the better part of a decade. That kind of stuff rubs off.

 

Richt was basically 10-3 every season at Georgia for 15 seasons.

That kind of sustained excellence is hard to find and, arguably, we would have done better had he hadn't had a rash of key injuries at skill positions and the inexplicable suspension of A.J. Greene that likely cost UGA a national title.

Maybe Kirby Smart is the right guy but a top flight program hiring a guy who has never been a head coach even if he played there seems like an odd step.

 

I just threw the NDSU guy out there because they seem to win the FCS every year. I do think Smart will be a successful HC, because, like you said, he does know the area and recruits it well. But if I'm Georgia, my first look is going to be for a coach with proven success as a head coach. They're built to win big immediately and I'm not so sure they can afford to wait on a former assistant to get his feet wet as a head coach.

 

I don't think Patterson, Gundy or Whittingham think there are a whole lot of advantages to a Georgia job. They probably think they are closer and have a better shot at a national title where they are presently than going to Athens. Richt was at 4.1 mil, Gundy is at 3.6, Patterson is at 3.9, Whittingham is at 2.6 (though I could see him get extended again this off-season - he's only due 11 mil through 2018.
One place they might look though is at Jim Mora. UCLA can never live up to expectations and will always be the little brother to USC. He's in year four and might not be on many lists after another year without at least a division title.

 

The North Dakota State guy was Craig Bohl. Just finished his second year at Wyoming in what has been a very hard turnaround. He may not get enough time to do it.

Always thought the Gophers should have hired him or Bob Nielson from Minnesota-Duluth after the Brewster disaster.

 

With Richt out at Georgia, the new coach can gladly play all the flakes and crap character guys he wants. Richt wouldn't do it, and it ultimately burned him.

 

Fuente went to VT but kept some of the coaching staff? Yeah, not a good idea. Almost never a good idea. I don't care if Bud Foster is Bill Belichick - and he's not - he's either the HC at VT, a HC somewhere else, or a DC somewhere else. But I wouldn't have him there with the new HC. Not Beamer's kid, either. Because, see, when there's a disagreement, who's gonna win that debate with the local press, or with the boosters, or with the players? Beamer's kid and Foster will.

Arranged business marriages usually have a falling out.

 

He'll get the time. Young team.

 

I think the AD and President were as much a part of preserving the integrity of the team as Richt. So hopefully that kind of practice will continue regardless of who is coaching. But it might also make a coach think twice if he is going to be hamstrung about who he can play.