HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[Vespidae]

Any ideas about whether Tashard Choice might return? He was a helluva recruiter and great coach. I was really disappointed to see him leave and I'd love to get him back in Atlanta.

If Parker Search is involved, you can expect them to create an initial list of every college head coach and assistant in the country, probably every NFL head coach and assistant and ... create a criteria with weights and analyze every potential candidate and get that list down to the Top 10. Those will be discussed with their agent and if interested, presented to the GTAA for consideration and from that, 3-4 interviewed.

Parker won't guess at it. It's a pretty rigorous process they use. I'm glad they are involved.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

So we have hired a search firm. I presume we will have some sort of search committee as well that will get the recommendations, and then make the final decision. Will be interesting to see how the process plays out. We are clearly not in a great position right now, but do you have a little bit of time to make a good decision. I think the firm we hired is the same one that got the A.D. and coach at Tennessee. That seems to be working out well right now. Fingers crossed

Typically, the committee will bring a list of finalists to the AD for the AD to interview, select, and hire with BoT approval.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Hire Chadwell, save money on an OC, go after a SCHEME PROVEN DC, and thrive.

This also might work.

 

[bobongo]

Hire Chadwell, save money on an OC, go after a SCHEME PROVEN DC, and thrive.

Maybe, but I see here Coastal Carolina has two OC's. So is the offense his, or theirs?

Football Coaches - Coastal Carolina University Athletics

The official Football Coach List for the Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers

goccusports.com

 

[bke1984]

Because the last guy was a good recruiter and still stank, we shouldn't try to recruit? Collins didn't fail because he could recruit - he failed in spite of it because he couldn't do anything else, which ultimately thwarted even his recruiting ability. That we should eschew recruiting - especially in a recruiting hotbed - defies reason.

i think you’re missing the point. We can’t go all in on recruiting and expect it to be our savior. Even with a recruiting uptick we should be seeking a coach that gives us a strategic advantage. Namely doing something on offense that the masses aren’t doing right now. There are many flavors of this.

 

[GTLorenzo]

I know Parker Executive Search. They are based in Atlanta in Sandy Springs and specialize in Higher Ed. They are pretty good. Lots of time spent on cultural issues (will the candidate fit in?).

Yep. I know them as well. Good people trying to do a good job. Unfortunately, with coaching searches, it doesn't always work. I'm sure they'll do all of their due diligence very well and bring a good list of potential hires (with all of our GT issues considered) and hopefully the selection committee will make the best possible choice.

 

[iceeater1969]

Its all about Angel
Does he want a top / mid/ or mediocre (present case) football program for the students and instiute ?

We have aimed at midlevel and are at medicore w 3 coaches that left on sour note.

For "good"
He must be and say he is commited to the rebuild - $, admin / prof / student enthusiasm, seek some degree of acceptance of blended degree minors outside those currently offered.
I hope we let him know we want to aim for good.

 

[JacketFan137]

i think you’re missing the point. We can’t go all in on recruiting and expect it to be our savior. Even with a recruiting uptick we should be seeking a coach that gives us a strategic advantage. Namely doing something on offense that the masses aren’t doing right now. There are many flavors of this.

we don’t need a schematic advantage we need a good coach. what does dave clawson do that is so drastically different from other schools? admittedly don’t watch every wake game but when i watch them they aren’t running a spread option offense, air raid, or whatever. they just play fundamental football and develop players and it seems to be working.

we need the best coach we can possibly get. recruiting, development, scheme, x’s and o’s are all equally important. schematic advantage takes you so far. you need athletes to compete. athletes only take you so far, you need a good gameday coach to compete. gotta stop looking at these things like we either get scheme or recruiting. ideally we get a coach that emphasizes both

 

[GTLorenzo]

Typically, the committee will bring a list of finalists to the AD for the AD to interview, select, and hire with BoT approval.

Well, yeah, but most likely an AD hire first and then a coach hire. I wonder if the selection committee will be for both positions or one for each?

I tried to pull some strings to get on the selection committee, but I heard it came down to me and Mark Teixeira and, well, you know, I don't have that much pull......

 

[Yoda]

Maybe, but I see here Coastal Carolina has two OC's. So is the offense his, or theirs?

Football Coaches - Coastal Carolina University Athletics

The official Football Coach List for the Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers

goccusports.com

His. He's been doing it a long time.

 

[link3945]

we don’t need a schematic advantage we need a good coach. what does dave clawson do that is so drastically different from other schools? admittedly don’t watch every wake game but when i watch them they aren’t running a spread option offense, air raid, or whatever. they just play fundamental football and develop players and it seems to be working.

we need the best coach we can possibly get. recruiting, development, scheme, x’s and o’s are all equally important. schematic advantage takes you so far. you need athletes to compete. athletes only take you so far, you need a good gameday coach to compete. gotta stop looking at these things like we either get scheme or recruiting. ideally we get a coach that emphasizes both

Clawson does have that weird long handoff that throws a defense off. Their mesh legitimately takes 2 seconds, and I have no idea how it works as well as it does.

 

[Gt2019]

I’m not doubting you, but I’m curious how you know this?

I heard it when Collins was hired and heard it again yesterday from a buddy who attends the board meetings.

 

[bobongo]

Yep. I know them as well. Good people trying to do a good job. Unfortunately, with coaching searches, it doesn't always work. I'm sure they'll do all of their due diligence very well and bring a good list of potential hires (with all of our GT issues considered) and hopefully the selection committee will make the best possible choice.

My thinking as well. There's a lot to consider.

 

[RamblinRed]

Some of my current thoughts.
Collins failure was twofold - first he truly believed he could recruit his way to success at GT above all else, second he and his staff were probably the worst i've ever seen at GT at player development and gameday coaching.

If your definition of wins is competing consistently for National Championships and avg double digit wins, that is not realistic.

I think the ceiling for GT is an avg of around 8 wins per year (over a 5 yr period). GT has only 9 double digit win seasons in its entire history. It has only avg 9 wins over 1 period - 1951-1955/1952-1956.

GT has had some periods where it has avg 8 wins a year, most recently 2005-09/2006-10/2007-11. (end of Gailey era, beginning of Johnson era).

The blueprint for how to win at GT has been around for 40 years. Recruit decently (middle of the P5 pack - GT is unlikely to ever be a consistent Top 25 recruiting program due to the academic restrictions and lack of non-science majors), strong player development and strong game day prep/coaching.

Ross, GO'L and Johnson were all way above avg college coaches. Gailey was also above average, but not as much as the first 3. You need a coach like that. GT has had 1 consensus Top 25 class this century - 2007 (The 2020 class was the next closest but it wasn't a consensus Top 25 class). That doesn't mean we forego recruiting, it just means we understand that it is just one piece of a winning program and we shouldn't prioritize it over the other two important pieces. Personally I'm looking for someone who looks like Dave Clawson at Wake or Pat Narduzzi at Pitt. Guys who build tough, hard nosed programs that win consistently.

One last thought, competing for conference championships is going to get harder starting next season. Getting rid of the divisions means you have to be one of the top 2 teams in a 14 team conference in order to make it to the championship game. That is likely to occur less often for GT than it was to be the best of the 7 teams in the Coastal division before.

 

[Techster]

Sounds a lot like the guy we brought in from East Carolina in the mid 90s after he too had a great QB.

Look up Bill Lewis's coaching history at his two previous stops before GT: Wyoming and East Carolina. Lewis never had a winning season before his one amazing year where he coached ECU to 11-1. In fact, there was a decade between Wyoming and ECU...which tells me Lewis spent a LOT of time rehabbing his career after his failures at Wyoming.

Bill Lewis (American football coach) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Looking back, it's shocking GT even considered him as a candidate much less HIRED him!

Contrast that to Jamey Chadwell who has a coaching record at multiple schools. At each school he won BIG after about 1-2 years of a rebuilding. Those guys are high floor, high ceiling type coaches. CPJ had similar questions before we hired him: Would his offense translate to this level? With his track record, why didn't a bigger school hire him earlier? Can he recruit at this level?

We all know the answer to the first two questions. The third question depends on your POV. Did he hit rankings home runs? No, but he did recruit well enough for his system that after the vaunted 2007 class left, we still went to 2 ACCCGs, won an OB, and only had 2 losing seasons out of 11.

Chadwell is getting CPJ a decade younger, more willing to evolve, and media friendly. His scheme is more recruiting friendly as his offense has put players in the NFL, and puts up big passing numbers.

He's a "schematic advantage" type coach...the type of coach GT needs because we are never going to consistently recruit at an appreciable level we can out talent everyone. That's just not happening at GT...I've been a fan for 30+ years. Can we consistently recruit better than we have? ABSOLUTELY. We've had some really good recruiting classes during that time, but never sustained recruiting success. Our success came from our coaches and ability to develop talent, and find talent. That is GT's recipe for success.

 

[JacketFan137]

Clawson does have that weird long handoff that throws a defense off. Their mesh legitimately takes 2 seconds, and I have no idea how it works as well as it does.

yeah it makes no sense and is not something that is practical against teams that have an advantage over you in the trenches. i don’t think it’s a coincidence kenneth walker transferred and was the best back in college football last year

 

[leatherneckjacket]

yeah it makes no sense and is not something that is practical against teams that have an advantage over you in the trenches. i don’t think it’s a coincidence kenneth walker transferred and was the best back in college football last year

I never understood why defenders do not just try to blow up the mesh and knock the ball loose instead of picking one player to tackle over another. Blow the whole damn thing up, I say!

 

[bobongo]

Look up Bill Lewis's coaching history at his two previous stops before GT: Wyoming and East Carolina. Lewis never had a winning season before his one amazing year where he coached ECU to 11-1. In fact, there was a decade between Wyoming and ECU...which tells me Lewis spent a LOT of time rehabbing his career after his failures at Wyoming.

Bill Lewis (American football coach) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Looking back, it's shocking GT even considered him as a candidate much less HIRED him!

Contrast that to Jamey Chadwell who has a coaching record at multiple schools. At each school he won BIG after about 1-2 years of a rebuilding. Those guys are high floor, high ceiling type coaches. CPJ had similar questions before we hired him: Would his offense translate to this level? With his track record, why didn't a bigger school hire him earlier? Can he recruit at this level?

We all know the answer to the first two questions. The third question depends on your POV. Did he hit rankings home runs? No, but he did recruit well enough for his system that after the vaunted 2007 class left, we still went to 2 ACCCGs, won an OB, and only had 2 losing seasons out of 11.

Chadwell is getting CPJ a decade younger, more willing to evolve, and media friendly. His scheme is more recruiting friendly as his offense has put players in the NFL, and puts up big passing numbers.

He's a "schematic advantage" type coach...the type of coach GT needs because we are never going to consistently recruit at an appreciable level we can out talent everyone. That's just not happening at GT...I've been a fan for 30+ years. Can we consistently recruit better than we have? ABSOLUTELY. We've had some really good recruiting classes during that time, but never sustained recruiting success. Our success came from our coaches and ability to develop talent, and find talent. That is GT's recipe for success.

I'm warming to Chadwell, and it's obvious he runs a great scheme that we could use around here. I just hope he can recruit because that's essential. CGC could recruit but he couldn't coach. Paul could coach but even though I know he wasn't given proper resources he wasn't that much of a recruiter. We need somebody who can do both.

 

[BCJacket]

I’ll also say this, Collins wasn’t letting guys do their job for what they were paid to do. Collins was running the 2021 defense and this years defense, opposing coaches have said that, even tho it’s claimed Thacker was solely running last years defense. Collins also had a hand in the offense this year and wasn’t letting Long have an open book. Collins was dipping his hands in everyone’s position group and job instead of letting them what they

This tracks with everything I've heard, although I believe you have much better sources. Collins had some... unique ideas about how to setup a football program. He had a system envisioned that he'd been imagining for years, this fun exciting culture that would create self sustaining buy in. The loud music at practices, dancing, everybody gets reps, cross-training, no depth chart, social media, all the contrived traditions- money down, etc. It's a fine line between crazy and genius. There's probably a universe where it would've worked and Collins 'system' was the next great innovation in coaching. It's not this universe.

But being beholden to that cultural system handcuffed how the assistants were able to operate. How they were able to train, motivate, and discipline their groups. The OL in particular, it takes a lot of reps working as a group to develop the rapport and trust necessary to work as a unit. Collins' system was not conducive to that.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

One last thought, competing for conference championships is going to get harder starting next season. Getting rid of the divisions means you have to be one of the top 2 teams in a 14 team conference in order to make it to the championship game. That is likely to occur less often for GT than it was to be the best of the 7 teams in the Coastal division before.

This +1