HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[kg01]

There's no high-major coach that doesn't feel they are the star of their program.

 

[JacketFan137]

TFFG ruined me to narcissistic head coaches.

every college coach has a degree of narcissism.

 

[LargeFO]

What makes Deion narcissistic?

 

[JacketFan137]

What makes Deion narcissistic?

he’s not really more narcissistic than any other coach. he exudes confidence and in todays day and age that’s gonna always draw some negative feelings

 

[bobongo]

What makes Deion narcissistic?

To say he's "narcissistic" goes too far, but there is a concern among many and an unease about this aura around him of making it all about himself.
Or maybe it's just because he's such a celebrity. My main concern would be if things don't go swimmingly right away - how would someone of his star stature respond to criticism? How would he handle it?

 

[JacketFan137]

To say he's "narcissistic" goes too far, but there is a concern among many and an unease about this aura around him of making it all about himself.
Or maybe it's just because he's such a celebrity. My main concern would be if things don't go swimmingly right away - how would someone of his star stature respond to criticism? How would he handle it?

i just get the feeling that the people calling deion a celebrity and star aren’t watching what he says and does today and are choosing to remember deion from 30 years ago playing football as prime.

if you watch the things he says and emphasizes to his guys it seems to focus on everything we want from a tech football team. emphasizes the students need to be in class and sitting in the front not dressed like slobs, talks about hard work and supporting families.

people here just don’t like deion for whatever reason and are reaching for straws to come up with arguments cause frankly they don’t keep up with anything related to jackson state. if deion was all about deion then there would be much easier avenues to stroke his ego than coaching at an hbcu

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

To say he's "narcissistic" goes too far, but there is a concern among many and an unease about this aura around him of making it all about himself.
Or maybe it's just because he's such a celebrity. My main concern would be if things don't go swimmingly right away - how would someone of his star stature respond to criticism? How would he handle it?

Wouldn't you think that someone like Deion, who endured his share of criticism throughout his career, would be well suited to handle any criticism here?

I can understand the argument, though I don't agree with it, that Deion can somehow get 5* talent to Jackson State that he couldn't get here. I can understand the argument that he is a relatively new HC at an FCS school. I just don't understand why some people think his celebrity will be a detriment.

 

[Techster]

What makes Deion narcissistic?

I wouldn't say it's narcissism, but I do feel advertising your brand on the back of your shirt when you're coaching is at minimum bad taste and goes against any "No I in team" mantra.

I'll say it again, I don't think Deion will be on the sidelines of a P5 school next season. Do I think he can coach at a bigger school than JSU? 100%...and he'll probably get offers from schools outside of the P5 this offseason. I don't think any P5 AD wants to be the one to pull the trigger on Deion given his very short coaching history at a smaller school.

 

[slugboy]

...

HARD no to Mullen. Hiring him would draw a lot of negative media reaction. Tech needs to rehab its image as a football program. Trying to also be a coach's rehab stop would be a mess. I can't imagine players and assistants wanting to buy into a program that's looked at as hard to recruit and win at, with a coach who's reputed to be hard to work with and uninterested in recruiting. None of that may be true. But Tech can't weather the weight of more negative perceptions right now. (Which, I've been a Tech football fan long enough to recognize that this means we're probably announcing Mullen as the coach tomorrow.)

Just my personal opinion, but I don't think the sportscasters on Channel 5 and the writers at the local paper make that much of a difference. They used to, but I think word of mouth and how you look on TV is a bigger deal.

The voices on ESPN matter, but only about 1 out of 5 do.

 

[BCJacket]

Honest question: Why would his celebrity be a distraction here but it hasn't seemed to hamper him in his current job?

Might not have phrased that perfectly. I meant in context of the real rebuilding/rehabing work that needs to be done on our program. A Deion hire would get a big 'splash' in the media. But it would be all about the celebrity and cache of 'Primetime Neon Deion back in Atlanta'. Similarly to Collins' big talk and media blitzing at the beginning, it will create a wide, but shallow, sense of excitement around the program. Maybe he even attracts some big name transfers or recruits starting out.

But, IMHO it's going to take several years to really turn things around here. We're probably going to lose a lot next year, no matter who we hire. The excitement would crash hard. Wouldn't necessarily be Deion's doing or fault. But the higher you fly, the harder you fall when reality sets in. Deion's name and celebrity would draw a level of attention and scrutiny that another coach would not. The media vultures would be circling and salivating to write a story about Deion's failure. Narratives have a way of taking on a life of their own. McGee or Chadwell start the season 0-4 next year and it gets an article in the AJC about struggles in year one, tough out of conference schedule and cleaning up Collins' mess. Deion starts 0-4 and it's a feature on ESPN about if he's in over his head.

None of this is a dig on Deion Sanders. I have a lot of respect for him as a competitor and what he's doing at Jackson State. But I don't believe that he and Tech are a fit for each other right now.

 

[Techster]

Let's not worry about winning the press conference. That will come when we win games. That needs to be our focus. Collins focused on winning over the media and he was all over the internet and on shows. When he didn't win, all of it went away.

You guys remember 2008-2009 and 2014? Remember how many articles were written about CPJ and GT because we were steamrolling everyone? There's nothing cooler than winning. Once you win, everything else builds off of it.

 

[JacketFan137]

Let's not worry about winning the press conference. That will come when we win games. That needs to be our focus. Collins focused on winning over the media and he was all over the internet and on shows. When he didn't win, all of it went away.

You guys remember 2008-2009 and 2014? Remember how many articles were written about CPJ and GT because we were steamrolling everyone? There's nothing cooler than winning. Once you win, everything else builds off of it.

everyone agrees with this sentiment. the people that don’t want deion have created this argument that deion is only here to create media buzz and that’s just not true

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Might not have phrased that perfectly. I meant in context of the real rebuilding/rehabing work that needs to be done on our program. A Deion hire would get a big 'splash' in the media. But it would be all about the celebrity and cache of 'Primetime Neon Deion back in Atlanta'. Similarly to Collins' big talk and media blitzing at the beginning, it will create a wide, but shallow, sense of excitement around the program. Maybe he even attracts some big name transfers or recruits starting out.

But, IMHO it's going to take several years to really turn things around here. We're probably going to lose a lot next year, no matter who we hire. The excitement would crash hard. Wouldn't necessarily be Deion's doing or fault. But the higher you fly, the harder you fall when reality sets in. Deion's name and celebrity would draw a level of attention and scrutiny that another coach would not. The media vultures would be circling and salivating to write a story about Deion's failure. Narratives have a way of taking on a life of their own. McGee or Chadwell start the season 0-4 next year and it gets an article in the AJC about struggles in year one, tough out of conference schedule and cleaning up Collins' mess. Deion starts 0-4 and it's a feature on ESPN about if he's in over his head.

None of this is a dig on Deion Sanders. I have a lot of respect for him as a competitor and what he's doing at Jackson State. But I don't believe that he and Tech are a fit for each other right now.

That's an argument I can understand. I disagree somewhat with you in that I think the media will give almost any coach not named Saban a pass on next years results considering the debacle they are inheriting. I do agree we are in a multi-year rebuild, but I think there are more pieces in place now so we should be back to a bowl by 2024 at the latest, and possibly next year if we can hold on to our best talent when the new coach is hired.

 

[kg01]

he’s not really more narcissistic than any other coach. he exudes confidence and in todays day and age that’s gonna always draw some negative feelings

Indeed and agreed.

I just hope folks don't fool themselves into thinking any other coach is markedly different from him in that regard (ego-wise).

 

[Techster]

everyone agrees with this sentiment. the people that don’t want deion have created this argument that deion is only here to create media buzz and that’s just not true

I was talking about our coaching search in general, not Deion. Way too many posters have "winning the press" as a requirement for the next coach. IMO, that doesn't even need to be part of the equation. The press is fickle, and "winning the press" is fleeting.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Let's keep conversation in this thread to new HC candidates. Discussion of option offenses belong in a different thread.

 

[kg01]

I was talking about our coaching search, not Deion in general. Way too many posters have "winning the press" as a requirement for the next coach. IMO, that doesn't even need to be part of the equation. The press is fickle, and "winning the press" is fleeting.

This is true. I think many of us don't recognize that winning is the ultimate press conference 'win'.

When you win, they have no choice but to like you. Or fake it like I do when I tell folks I like techster.

 

[JacketFan137]

Indeed and agreed.

I just hope folks don't fool themselves into thinking any other coach is markedly different from him in that regard (ego-wise).

as a football coach you become a CEO of a program and i can’t think of too many CEOs that don’t have an ego in some capacity.

some coaches show moments of humility like saban finally accepting that spread offense/rpo is the objectively most effective stuff in college football on offense today, but for the most part look at how stubborn and set in their ways coaches are. leach is gonna pass and paul is gonna run. dabo is gonna evangelize in the post game press conference. everybody has their thing they won’t let go

 

[Techster]

This is true. I think many of us don't recognize that winning is the ultimate press conference 'win'.

When you win, they have no choice but to like you. Or fake it like I do when I tell folks I like techster.

I'm winning free rent in your head.

 

[JacketFan137]

I was talking about our coaching search in general, not Deion. Way too many posters have "winning the press" as a requirement for the next coach. IMO, that doesn't even need to be part of the equation. The press is fickle, and "winning the press" is fleeting.

i do think there is some level of media buzz that benefits your program and to deny that is a little silly. i don’t think that it is entirely what the hire should be built around but there is a little momentum you can build just on the notion of people saying “wow that program is seriously trying to step up in college football. we have to pay attention to what they are doing”

media coverage goes up and NIL opportunities likely see a similar uptick. like it or not this is the game today. obviously as we saw with collins at some point there has to be on field results, but it’s all part of the game