HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[JacketFan137]

Why would he leave Lexington?

auburn is desperate and has an insanely unhinged set of boosters that are gonna give anyone a blank check

 

[UgaBlows]

Why would he leave Lexington?

He has absolutely hit the ceiling in KY

 

[BuzzDraft]

Bad analogy. Many golfers have their best rounds at the National because the caddies know the course so well they guide them through their round. You hit every club in your bag at the range beforehand and the caddies take notes. They know how to make their tips. lol

If the caddies at Augusta National saw my swing, they would give ME the tip...
Give up the game and try oil painting.

 

[4shotB]

What's really sad, in addition to our football program, is the depths to which Bradley has sunk as a writer. There was a point, in a time long ago, when he seemed relevant. There's one honest admission in his column. He has no idea what's going on.

I think they all stopped trying when they realized that we had all stopped reading. I can remember when reading the Sunday morning paper over breakfast and coffee was a great way to spend some time.

 

[JacketFan137]

I think they all stopped trying when they realized that we had all stopped reading. I can remember when reading the Sunday morning paper over breakfast and coffee was a great way to spend some time.

digital just crushed this entirely

 

[Techwood Relict]

Why would he leave Lexington?

There has been some light public back and forth between the basketball and football programs about resource allocation. Here in KY, bleed blue basketball is king.
The palace intrigue is Stoops wants more and doesn't want to be so far back on line. And as UgaBlows noted, the cap has been reached without additional resources.

 

[ramblin_man]

It is interesting to see how quiet J Batt and the search firm have been able to keep the interviews quite and preventing leaks of their “top 1-3” candidates. As far as I am aware of these haven’t been articles published listing actual HC candidates who have formally interviewed. Is there? If not then good for GT on keeping things quite and prevent poaching of current players or coaches. Anyone out there with information regarding this topic?

 

[BuzzDraft]

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.

I'm Austrian by heritage,.. Schmaltz is rendered chicken fat used in Jewish and eastern European cooking... really good stuff.

I think you meant "schmooze".

 

[EE95_curse EMAG!]

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.

That is my concern too, he took over a program in solid shape and drove it into the ditch in four years. Hardly CGC levels of ineptitude, but it does give pause and raise an eyebrow.
If they hire him, I'd root for him, but I don't feel real good about Mullen. Too many intangible concerns from past stops and went to a football power school and couldn't at least keep it in the top half of the SEC...and left them a mess.

 

[ramblin_man]

It is interesting to see how quiet J Batt and the search firm have been able to keep the interviews quite and preventing leaks of their “top 1-3” candidates. As far as I am aware of these haven’t been articles published listing actual HC candidates who have formally interviewed. Is there? If not then good for GT on keeping things quite and prevent poaching of current players or coaches. Anyone out there with information regarding this topic?

However on the other hand it is kind of boring at the same time. The lack of information is not generating a “buzz” about the future direction of the program especially considering that our current situation seems to be on a death spiral or that we’re going to bleed out before the end of our last two games on the schedule. Key is stuck in a helpless situation as he got caught holding the “hot mess potato” that Collins built hype by hype driven slogan. And Collins skates away to watch his millions roll in as a unemployed former coach.

 

[EE95_curse EMAG!]

His 5-9 stretch in his 3rd and 4th years there was more than enough to fire him. Part of the deal somewhere like UF with unlimited resources is you can't have terrible stretches like that

Exactly, if that isn't awful results and coaching, then I don't know what is. Just because some Tech fans seem to love the idea of 6 wins and some bowl we've never heard of, doesn't mean all fans feel that way. UF fans have higher expectations and they should...and so should GT fans. I just can't believe the amount of "we can't really compete with the big boys so why try" postings. Sad.

 

[bobongo]

Reminds me of

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.

Perhaps the word you meant is "schmooze".

Definition of SCHMOOZE

to converse informally : chat; also : to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favor, business, or connections; to engage in schmoozing with… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

"...to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favor, business, or connections"

 

[EE95_curse EMAG!]

Why would he leave Lexington?

As a pseudo UK fan (GT grad), I wouldn't be all that excited to get Mark Stoops as HC. Its a step up, but not close to aiming for ACC titles. He is in the Mullen area of upside...I could squint and see both of them getting us to just barely above average ACC team and unlikely to get us into the top 25. I'd root for either if they got the job, but I would not be excited in any way.

 

[jgtengineer]

It is interesting to see how quiet J Batt and the search firm have been able to keep the interviews quite and preventing leaks of their “top 1-3” candidates. As far as I am aware of these haven’t been articles published listing actual HC candidates who have formally interviewed. Is there? If not then good for GT on keeping things quite and prevent poaching of current players or coaches. Anyone out there with information regarding this topic?

This is probably the single most important decision weighing on him and we don't knwo who is going to be available. Honestly our best bet would be something like Bill O'brien at HC, Dan Mullen at OC (alot less pressure doesn't have to be liked in the media) and then a DC thats a great recruiter.

 

[jgtengineer]

Reminds me of

Perhaps the word you meant is "schmooze".

Definition of SCHMOOZE

to converse informally : chat; also : to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favor, business, or connections; to engage in schmoozing with… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

"...to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favor, business, or connections"

It was had a brain fart.

 

[Techster]

He has absolutely hit the ceiling in KY

Until Stoops wins an SEC Championship, he'll always be in the shadows of Calipari and Kentucky basketball. His biggest competition is in the same athletic department. Both coaches literally got into a pissing match about which program was the bigger heavyweight in the athletic department.

Kentucky AD responds to Mark Stoops, John Calipari quarrel | FOX Sports

Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops defended his program after comments from 'Cats basketball coach John Calipari.

www.foxsports.com

Rumors are Nebraska and Auburn will make a BIG push for Stoops. At both schools, it's not a question which sports program is the most important. Maybe Stoops uses other schools to make a point at Kentucky, or maybe he moves on to a program where its unquestioned which program is the most important within the athletic department.

 

[JacketOff]

As a pseudo UK fan (GT grad), I wouldn't be all that excited to get Mark Stoops as HC. Its a step up, but not close to aiming for ACC titles. He is in the Mullen area of upside...I could squint and see both of them getting us to just barely above average ACC team and unlikely to get us into the top 25. I'd root for either if they got the job, but I would not be excited in any way.

I would argue Mark Stoops is much closer to Kentucky’s version of George O’Leary or CPJ than he is to Mullen. He’s won 10 games twice in 10 seasons. Before Stoops Kentucky hadn’t won 10 games since 1977, and they only had 2 in their entire history. He’s going to take them to their 7th straight bowl game this year. Kentucky had only been to 15 bowl games total before Stoops. He’s finished ranked in the top 25 twice, the last time Kentucky finished ranked before Stoops was 1984. The only other Kentucky coaches to finish ranked more than once are Fran Curci and Bear Bryant.

Since 2016 Stoops’ conference record is 28-29 (.491). After their game against UGA this week it will probably fall to 28-30 (.482), but when you compare that to their all time conference record of 199-428-20 (.168), what Stoops has done at Kentucky is miraculous.

If Mark Stoops wanted to come to GT and coach, we’d be insane to tell him no. If Stoops had the resources of a place like Auburn, Tennessee, Florida State, Penn State, Nebraska etc. I bet he would be competing for conference championships and natties. Disclaimer: that doesn’t mean he would be a fit at any of those schools, just a comparison of resources.

 

[slugboy]

I think Mark Stoops might end up at Auburn, but I wonder if he'd be an interesting/interested candidate if the music begins to fade and he needs a chair. Here in KY there seem to be quiet rumblings of a potential change in the UK football program.

Stoops is another good example of a head coaching hire. He’s the “other” Stoops brother. He was a DC before getting the Kentucky job. He wasn’t that splashy a hire for Kentucky.
He’s the winningest football coach in Kentucky history.

Maybe we can do as well with a coordinator.



Oh yeah, there’s grumbling that he needs to make staff changes, which goes to show you that being the winningest coach in a school’s history only buys you so much slack

It was had a brain fart.

Sorry dude, it’s on now and people will be correcting this post for a month

 

[EE95_curse EMAG!]

I would argue Mark Stoops is much closer to Kentucky’s version of George O’Leary or CPJ than he is to Mullen. He’s won 10 games twice in 10 seasons. Before Stoops Kentucky hadn’t won 10 games since 1977, and they only had 2 in their entire history. He’s going to take them to their 7th straight bowl game this year. Kentucky had only been to 15 bowl games total before Stoops. He’s finished ranked in the top 25 twice, the last time Kentucky finished ranked before Stoops was 1984. The only other Kentucky coaches to finish ranked more than once are Fran Curci and Bear Bryant.

Since 2016 Stoops’ conference record is 28-29 (.491). After their game against UGA this week it will probably fall to 28-30 (.482), but when you compare that to their all time conference record of 199-428-20 (.168), what Stoops has done at Kentucky is miraculous.

If Mark Stoops wanted to come to GT and coach, we’d be insane to tell him no. If Stoops had the resources of a place like Auburn, Tennessee, Florida State, Penn State, Nebraska etc. I bet he would be competing for conference championships and natties. Disclaimer: that doesn’t mean he would be a fit at any of those schools, just a comparison of resources.

He has more resources at UK than he would at GT, so keep that in mind.
The off-setting intangible is that Georgia has a bigger and better prospect pool within driving distance than does Kentucky.
Kentucky football had been settling for decades (reminds me of GT fans) and have taken a step forward under Stoops...that is true.
They have also hit a ceiling just short of SEC title contender. That's why I don't see Stoops getting a GT team to ACC title contender either. It'd be more like CPJ record of mostly good, with one great season every 8 or 10 years.

As I said, I'd root for him, and he'd be a tick better than Mullen and infinitely better than CGC (then again, so would I as HC, and I've never coached a single game at any level). I just don't feel excitement if he were hired. I could get excited if he found a diamond of an OC or DC though.

I guess all things considered, he'd make a top 5 list of candidates (BOB and Mullen would not). I hope they give fair shake to FCS and division 2 stud coaches too. I know bust rates are high, but they are high for current FBS coaches moving to another program too.

 

[GoldZ]

It is interesting to see how quiet J Batt and the search firm have been able to keep the interviews quite and preventing leaks of their “top 1-3” candidates. As far as I am aware of these haven’t been articles published listing actual HC candidates who have formally interviewed. Is there? If not then good for GT on keeping things quite and prevent poaaching of current players or coaches. Anyone out there with information regarding this topic?

It's a lot easier when the decision has been made early on. Otherwise, it's near impossible.....people talk, even when their family is at stake.