HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[jgtengineer]

Thank you for the Paul Johnson commentary

Several ACC championship games? 3 in 11 years.
Two Orange Bowls? One with Gailey's recruits, one after being ACC runnerup because FSU went to the playoff and the Orange Bowl had to take us because of tie in.
Finished 1st or 2d in what? You didn't say. 1st or 2d in the weakest of the P5 divisions?
He averaged less than 6 FBS wins from 2010-2018 when relying on his recruits. (He had 3 top 25 AP poll finishes in 11 years--2 of them were his first 2 years with Gailey's recruits)

Just adding facts to clarfy your post. Thank you.

Should have had another top 25 finish in 2016 as well. We got hosed in the polls.

 

[wrmathis]

Thank you for the Paul Johnson commentary

Several ACC championship games? 3 in 11 years.
Two Orange Bowls? One with Gailey's recruits, one after being ACC runnerup because FSU went to the playoff and the Orange Bowl had to take us because of tie in.
Finished 1st or 2d in what? You didn't say. 1st or 2d in the weakest of the P5 divisions?
He averaged less than 6 FBS wins from 2010-2018 when relying on his recruits. (He had 3 top 25 AP poll finishes in 11 years--2 of them were his first 2 years with Gailey's recruits)

Just adding facts to clarfy your post. Thank you.

man for someone who hates and puts down anything Tech accomplished over the last 14 years, why even be a fan?

 

[lv20gt]

Thanks. I appreciate the response. I don't know him from Adam's house cat but I am leery of this guy. I guess (imo) failing to win enough at Florida with what they have is analagous (if you will humor me) to a guy who can't break 80 at his local municipal course hoping to do so at Augusta National. Moreover, he did not budge that program 1 inch from the previous coach McElwain and even was worse than him against conference opponents. Moreover, his worst year was his last (4th) not his first or second. Some have spoken to issues around QB recruitment and development. Can you speak to why he did not move the programs forwards when he took over? Or was it all in his inattention to recruiting and the QB issue. And, fwiw, I totally understand why some/most people would not like to recruit. I am confident that I would find it repulsive.

People bring up this point of "he didn't win enough at x with their resources so why would we hire him here with less?" fairly often. The problem is winning enough at UF and winning enough here are two different things. Mullen won nearly 70% of his games at UF. In a 13 game season, so including bowls, that's averaging 9 wins. That got him fired at UF. It'd get a statue built of him here. He won't have the same resources here as UF, but what it means to win enough will also not be the same. That's why I look at his time at MSU as being more telling. He was there longer, meaning he had a chance to build it more, but also it was a closer situation to what we have. He won less at MSU than he did at UF, but I think he'd be remembered as an extremely successful coach there while a disappointing one at UF.

Also, his worst year was his fourth and his best two were his first and second. While that could be concerning, it also is pretty analogous to Johnson here who won 19 games in his first two years and then went 6-7 in year 3. Mullen wasn't given a chance to show if that 4th year was the new normal or if he'd bounce back. Either way, Florida came to the conclusion, likely correctly, that even if he bounced back, it'd be bouncing back to 10 wins, not 13, and so it wouldn't be what they wanted. But there is a reason UF is on their 4th HC since Meyer left after 2010. They don't really give coaches time to settle in. Better win now and win a lot or they'll try again shortly.

As far as not moving the program forward, he won 70% of his games and that's after a 5-6 year that brought him down. His first three years he won 76% of his games. I'd argue he didn't move the program forward because when you get to the point where 10 wins is pedestrian, there is no guarantee that any coach will move it forward, and even if they are capable of doing it, it may not happen immediately. It took Dabo until his 7th full year before they competed for a national title and won only one conference title during that time period. In general, there is a principle that it is harder to make gains the closer you are to the max. To put it with numbers. It's easier to improve by 2 games when you are starting at 6 than when you're starting at 10. As far as the specifics go, I think his biggest mistake at UF was in regards to the defense, and in particular him sticking with underperforming assistants.

 

[Techster]

Thank you for the Paul Johnson commentary

Several ACC championship games? 3 in 11 years.
Two Orange Bowls? One with Gailey's recruits, one after being ACC runnerup because FSU went to the playoff and the Orange Bowl had to take us because of tie in.
Finished 1st or 2d in what? You didn't say. 1st or 2d in the weakest of the P5 divisions?
He averaged less than 6 FBS wins from 2010-2018 when relying on his recruits. (He had 3 top 25 AP poll finishes in 11 years--2 of them were his first 2 years with Gailey's recruits)

Just adding facts to clarfy your post. Thank you.

Thanks for the clarification Mike Bobinski. Glad you're still checking in from Purdue.

 

[iceeater1969]

Fans need to keep in mind, it isn't about who they think GT should hire - it is about who is interested in being hired by GT. Those are generally 2 very different things for most fanbases.

If GT makes a 'ho-hum' hire, it may not be because that is who GT targeted, it may be that is who GT can get.

A gt player can portal to almost any college where the football team wants him. What about the reverse.?

Say a head coach has a great qb who has aversge grades in sports managment .

With the recent track record of limited support by institute and donors , i doubt a fire ball coach is coming.

Can gt guarantee a new coach any flexibikity in the portal, limited courses, highest academics, etc .

In Angel we trust.

 

[Longestday]

One thing is for sure. Most of the coaches mentioned have better data than a Temple coach in his second year. But none of the coaches mentioned have the record CPJ had coming into GT ( doing more with less).

BOB’s NFL experience looks to be the highest point of achievement among the group, but GT is another species than the NFL.

Mullen’s first two years at Florida look really good. But Florida is resource rich (Bet the Miss job had more resources too)

Chadwell is only in year 4 or 5, but is working in a resource poor environment. I see promise, but no crown.

Key, he took over a bad show and made it interesting. He has the least data, but may be the cheapest option given our debt and income.

Deon, looks to be doing great. He is very interesting with name recognition and ability to connect with players. He is winning and turned a program around. Very few years of experience though. Connection with players and getting them through a GT degree is not going to be easy (or the same as where he is currently).


Given the API changes, it will be interesting to see if anyone can get GT going again. But, for the love of all things dear, stop picking people on the basis they were alums with fond memories.

 

[orientalnc]

One thing is for sure. Most of the coaches mentioned have better data than a Temple coach in his second year. But none of the coaches mentioned have the record CPJ had coming into GT ( doing more with less).

BOB’s NFL experience looks to be the highest point of achievement among the group, but GT is another species than the NFL.

Mullen’s first two years at Florida look really good. But Florida is resource rich (Bet the Miss job had more resources too)

Chadwell is only in year 4 or 5, but is working in a resource poor environment. I see promise, but no crown.

Key, he took over a bad show and made it interesting. He has the least data, but may be the cheapest option given our debt and income.

Given the API changes, it will be interesting to see if anyone can get GT going again. But, for the love of all things dear, stop picking people on the basis they where alums with fond memories.

I respect your POV on this.

The more I think about it, the more I am leaning toward Mullen as my favorite. He is sitting on a nice income stream from UF, so hiring him with what we can afford plus incentives might be possible.

 

[MWBATL]

I respect your POV on this.

The more I think about it, the more I am leaning toward Mullen as my favorite. He is sitting on a nice income stream from UF, so hiring him with what we can afford plus incentives might be possible.

My concern with Mullen was the arc of his career at UF. He started out great, then results got worse...and worse..in his last two years. He was fired from a place that is far more resource rich than GT. Maybe expectations were just too high there. BUT his record was declining. I'm not the decision maker (thankfully) but the record raises concerns for me.

As much as I respect CPJ, he was a very unusual coach. He was a GREAT offensive coordinator. The long time debate about CPJ on this message board often revolves around whether he was a good head coach...he never was able to hire a solid defensive coordinator who solved our woes on that side of the ball, recruiting wasn't great under him, etc. So, simply hiring someone who has demonstrated they are a schematic genius anywhere without proving their head coaching chops is a risk.

ANY coach from a G5 environment is subject to the challenge that whatever they did there doesn't necessarily translate to a P5 environment where the resource pool is very different from the G5 situation where most G5 schools have similar limited resources.

I can go on and on, but one can find risks and concerns for ANY of the names bandied about thusfar. There's probably only one coach out there who would be perfect for us, but he's gone and even in his own time people crucified him (literally...with apologies to the atheists amongst us).

I will let J Batt handle this issue and root for whomever he chooses.

 

[orientalnc]

My concern with Mullen was the arc of his career at UF. He started out great, then results got worse...and worse..in his last two years. He was fired from a place that is far more resource rich than GT. Maybe expectations were just too high there. BUT his record was declining. I'm not the decision maker (thankfully) but the record raises concerns for me.

As much as I respect CPJ, he was a very unusual coach. He was a GREAT offensive coordinator. The long time debate about CPJ on this message board often revolves around whether he was a good head coach...he never was able to hire a solid defensive coordinator who solved our woes on that side of the ball, recruiting wasn't great under him, etc. So, simply hiring someone who has demonstrated they are a schematic genius anywhere without proving their head coaching chops is a risk.

ANY coach from a G5 environment is subject to the challenge that whatever they did there doesn't necessarily translate to a P5 environment where the resource pool is very different from the G5 situation where most G5 schools have similar limited resources.

I can go on and on, but one can find risks and concerns for ANY of the names bandied about thusfar. There's probably only one coach out there who would be perfect for us, but he's gone and even in his own time people crucified him (literally...with apologies to the atheists amongst us).

I will let J Batt handle this issue and root for whomever he chooses.

I was not following UF closely enough last year to know what happened, but all the losses while Mullen was head coach came on the road: to #1 Alabama by 2 points, undefeated (at the time) Kentucky by 7, LSU by 7 in a game where UF had four passes intercepted, #1 uGA in an ugly loss in Jacksonville, then the game that cost Mullen his job at South Carolina, followed two weeks later by the loss by 1 point at Missouri.

There is not much to defend right there, but that one year is just about the nadir for his time as a head coach. And, that year would be our best record since 2018.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

I think far too many fonts want to hire someone who is a guarantee in some manner. Some like Key because he is guaranteed to love Tech. Others like Deion because he will bring notoriety and (hopefully) recruiting to Tech. Some like McGee for his ties to GA high school football. Some like Chadwell. Riley or Mullen for their offense and BOB or Clark for their experience. They focus on the negative aspects of the coaches they do not want and the singular positive of their choice. Since everyone has some negative, they use those negatives as a hammer to rail against the rest of the field.

There is no perfect coach ready to be hired. As such, we need to find the best one who can help rebuild a program and staff into a winning organization. I think there are several candidates available (Chadwell, BOB, Mullen, Clark), while flawed, can get us there with a relatively low floor. There are others (McGee, Riley, Deion) that are more high risk and potentially higher reward. I am not sure which ADJB will pick, but I am not sure I would take such a huge risk on my first hire. Just one idiot's opinion.

 

[stech81]

I don't have a pick any could be good or bad. I just really to name a new coach. I understand that unless they ain't working now it would be after the season is over, any good coach would finish the season out where they are now.

 

[JacketFan137]

My concern with Mullen was the arc of his career at UF. He started out great, then results got worse...and worse..in his last two years. He was fired from a place that is far more resource rich than GT. Maybe expectations were just too high there. BUT his record was declining. I'm not the decision maker (thankfully) but the record raises concerns for me.

As much as I respect CPJ, he was a very unusual coach. He was a GREAT offensive coordinator. The long time debate about CPJ on this message board often revolves around whether he was a good head coach...he never was able to hire a solid defensive coordinator who solved our woes on that side of the ball, recruiting wasn't great under him, etc. So, simply hiring someone who has demonstrated they are a schematic genius anywhere without proving their head coaching chops is a risk.

ANY coach from a G5 environment is subject to the challenge that whatever they did there doesn't necessarily translate to a P5 environment where the resource pool is very different from the G5 situation where most G5 schools have similar limited resources.

I can go on and on, but one can find risks and concerns for ANY of the names bandied about thusfar. There's probably only one coach out there who would be perfect for us, but he's gone and even in his own time people crucified him (literally...with apologies to the atheists amongst us).

I will let J Batt handle this issue and root for whomever he chooses.

gonna be all about calculated risk. like as been mentioned before scott frost at nebraska was universally praised and seen as such an obvious hire and the dude blew it arguably worse than collins considering the expectations.

no one is guaranteed to be successful and someone could get here and all the sudden it all clicks and they’re incredible and it’s the best stop of their career.

i just want to go ahead and hire them so we can stop going at each other’s throats and we can salvage the recruiting class

 

[Vespidae]

I was not following UF closely enough last year to know what happened, but all the losses while Mullen was head coach came on the road: to #1 Alabama by 2 points, undefeated (at the time) Kentucky by 7, LSU by 7 in a game where UF had four passes intercepted, #1 uGA in an ugly loss in Jacksonville, then the game that cost Mullen his job at South Carolina, followed two weeks later by the loss by 1 point at Missouri.

There is not much to defend right there, but that one year is just about the nadir for his time as a head coach. And, that year would be our best record since 2018.

Florida is a very tough place to coach ... the expectations are sky high and the patience is very low. Mullen was seen as someone who wasted talent while skidding the last games of the season and Steve Spurrier may have engineered his firing. Mullen is not a very likable guy and UF overlooked a lot of Mullen's issues when winning, but the knives came out when they didn't.

Mullen would probably do a decent job if hired at Tech, but his reputation is not good with his personal relationships. He may not do well with our boosters and that's part of the job. The AJC is going to love cutting him to ribbons in the press but the Dawgs will eat it up. (Dan has a terrible reputation with the media.) Culture fit is a big part of any hire and I don't see Dan M as a good fit to Tech. Can he coach? Yes. Is he a good fit with Tech? Probably not.

 

[Richard7125]

Florida is a very tough place to coach ... the expectations are sky high and the patience is very low. Mullen was seen as someone who wasted talent while skidding the last games of the season and Steve Spurrier may have engineered his firing. Mullen is not a very likable guy and UF overlooked a lot of Mullen's issues when winning, but the knives came out when they didn't.

Mullen would probably do a decent job if hired at Tech, but his reputation is not good with his personal relationships. He may not do well with our boosters and that's part of the job. The AJC is going to love cutting him to ribbons in the press but the Dawgs will eat it up. (Dan has a terrible reputation with the media.) Culture fit is a big part of any hire and I don't see Dan M as a good fit to Tech. Can he coach? Yes. Is he a good fit with Tech? Probably not.

I find it interesting Mullin has a terrible relationship with the media, but the only time i have seen him in the last year is on pregame/halftime/postgame TV shows.

 

[Vespidae]

I find it interesting Mullin has a terrible relationship with the media, but the only time i have seen him in the last year is on pregame/halftime/postgame TV shows.

When he was a coach, he was responding to criticism of HIM. Now that he's on the program shows, he IS media and he is the one doing the criticizing (analysis).

 

[jacketup]

Old, but interesting article about coaching trees. Number 10 is George O'Leary.

College Football's Best Coaching Trees

Hayden begat Bill who begat Bob who begat Mike, Kevin, Kevin, Mark and Mike.Or something like that.College football is full of borrowed ideas and philosophies,

athlonsports.com

 

[jgtengineer]

I was not following UF closely enough last year to know what happened, but all the losses while Mullen was head coach came on the road: to #1 Alabama by 2 points, undefeated (at the time) Kentucky by 7, LSU by 7 in a game where UF had four passes intercepted, #1 uGA in an ugly loss in Jacksonville, then the game that cost Mullen his job at South Carolina, followed two weeks later by the loss by 1 point at Missouri.

There is not much to defend right there, but that one year is just about the nadir for his time as a head coach. And, that year would be our best record since 2018.

Mullen was fired not for on field performance but because he wouldn't smultz with boosters and do what they wanted. They used a bad season to fire him.

 

[orientalnc]

Mullen was fired not for on field performance but because he wouldn't smultz with boosters and do what they wanted. They used a bad season to fire him.

Interesting if correct.

I had to Google smultz. If that's not a typo I understand why he refused.

 

[takethepoints]

Thank you for the Paul Johnson commentary

Several ACC championship games? 3 in 11 years.
Two Orange Bowls? One with Gailey's recruits, one after being ACC runnerup because FSU went to the playoff and the Orange Bowl had to take us because of tie in.
Finished 1st or 2d in what? You didn't say. 1st or 2d in the weakest of the P5 divisions?
He averaged less than 6 FBS wins from 2010-2018 when relying on his recruits. (He had 3 top 25 AP poll finishes in 11 years--2 of them were his first 2 years with Gailey's recruits)

Just adding facts to clarfy your post. Thank you.

Beats the living daylights out of - let me check - 13 wins in four years, now doesn't it? I can never get over the way people were pleading for a coach who would lead us to the heights every now and then all through the Gailey years, got him, and then started whining about how we were "excepting mediocrity" or something like that. You know, because we weren't going to a New Years bowl or contending for the MNC every year.

I wanted Paul to retire at Tech in his seventies, just like Bill Snyder, so I'm prejudiced, I guess. In favor of winning, that is.

 

[jgtengineer]

Interesting if correct.

I had to Google smultz. If that's not a typo I understand why he refused.

lol i actually typo'd that. instead of the schmaltz which basically means demean himself or engage in flowery superficial behavior meant to endear them to him because he should be graveling. But you knwo what what the level of bs these boosters typically want that one probably works too. Comes from the german/yiddish word for excess fat.