HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[ibeattetris]

and if he was such a great coach I’m curious why he went to be an OC at Alabama instead of landing another G5 or small P5 HC position?

Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, and Steve Sarkisian all did the same thing at Alabama. I don’t see why O’Brien being a coordinator at Bama is a negative when it seems to be what coaches do.

 

[JStewart2227]

In no particular order
Urban Meyer
Prime Time (High Risk High Reward)
Tom Herman
Kendal Briles
Jamey Chadwell
Curt Cignetti
Lance Leipold
Todd Monken
Dell McGee

 

[Lavoisier]

This would be a very true and valid concern if Deion were to just recruit average. He had a top 75 class at an HBCU, that is anything but average.

75 is including the transfers. HS recruiting was 122. So why doesn’t he have a top 10 class? Why did he only sign 1 4 star and 1 5 star? Because all the other 4 stars told him No. Because the level of recruiting is always limited by the school you’re at. Georgia Tech has a limit of how high Deion can go just like Jackson State. If he could recruit as well as anybody in the country they would have Arch Manning lined up instead of 3 commits only 2 of which are rated. The ceiling for recruiting at Tech is just not that high, no coach is going to fix that. You can however change is with ridiculous NIL deals which is what Louisville is doing right now. We don’t have that going for us.

 

[Techster]

“He's since OC'd the Patriots (with the notoriously picky Belichek and Brady)”

irrelevant. adam gase was an oc with peyton manning and one of the worst head coaches i’ve ever seen.

“turned two QBs at Penn State into NFL QBs”

two of the worst qbs that made it to the nfl. hackenberg and mcgloin is hardly something to brag about on a resume

“won his division in the NFL 4 out of 7 years with the Texans, with only 1 losing season out of 7 full years”

not wrong but never won the big game 2-4 in the playoffs and you’ve conveniently left off that he was about to have an absolutely awful 2020 but got fired while he was 0-4 LMFAO

“and now he's operating one of the most efficient offenses in the college and coached a Heisman winner. Coaches do evolve over time.”

i guess credit for doing what he’s supposed to? bama fans are about done with him and feel like he’s wasting a lot of potential on their team. you seem to have your mind made up so it won’t convince you but it’s been VERY hard to be impressed with what he’s done at bama

Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

Yes, OC'ing for the Patriots with Belichek and Tom Brady is VERY relevant. It proves he's one of the best in the business which led him to getting hired at Penn State. Also, if he wasn't good, he wouldn't have been hired in the first place. Adam Gase has nothing to do with O'Brien...whataboutisms are a very poor defense to make a point. The Patriots offense was 2nd in the NFL in total offense the year O'Brien was their OC. The NFL is often considered the highest level of football coaching, and O'Brien was able to lead the Patriots offense to the second most productive offensive in the NFL. If your only retort to his time with the Patriots is "Adam Gase", well, that's just poor on your part.

Hackenburg and McGloin. One was a 5 star QB who he recruited to scandal ridden program (proving he can recruit), the other was a walk on. Last I checked, I didn't realize O'Brien was responsible for what players did after they left his program. That's like saying CPJ is a poor coach because Justin Thomas and Josh Nesbitt couldn't cut it in the NFL. How many 'Bama QBs have failed in the NFL after they leave Saban? Plenty. Does that reflect on Saban? NO! The fact that both were developed into NFL QBs (even though he did not get to fully coach Hackenburg) shows that he can develop talent...something MUCH needed at GT. McGloin being the best example as he was a walk on that put up BIG numbers in his one season under O'Brien, and that season was with walk ons and freshmen playing a lot of minutes. From Wikipedia: On November 17, 2012, in the course of a 395 yard, four-touchdown effort over Illinois, he surpassed Daryll Clark's career record for touchdown passes (45) in Penn State history,[8] Clark's single-season record of 3,003 passing yards,[9] and Anthony Morelli's single-season record of 234 completions.[10] He finished the season leading the Big Ten with a school-record 270 completions, 446 attempts, 3,271 yards and 24 touchdowns.[11] McGloin earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors and was the 2012 Burlsworth Trophy winner, given by the Rotary Club of Springdale, Arkansas to the most outstanding college football player who began his career as a walk-on.

Don't know about you, but any coach that can do that with a walk on is an outstanding coach...it makes you wonder what Hackenburg would have done if he had all 4 years with O'Brien. But none of that matters because they didn't do anything in the NFL?! LOL...okay.

Texans. This is gonna be fun. You want to do "whataboutisms"? Let's play it: Nick Saban (15 NFL wins), Urban Meyer (2 NFL wins), Bobby Petrino (3 NFL wins), and Matt Rhule (11 NFL wins). O'Brien has more NFL wins than ALL of them COMBINED! Saban and Meyer are considered two of the best college coaches of all time. Petrino is considered one of the best offensive minds in modern college football. Matt Rhule was considered a top college coach, and will have major programs lining up to hire him if/when he gets fired. Yet poor O'Brien was able to have a better NFL career than all of them (54 NFL wins vs their 31 COMBINED wins). You don't do that if you are not a good coach.

What does it matter that O'Brien went 0-4 and got fired his last season with the Texans? Does it change the fact that the previous two seasons he won 10 games and 11 games? Does it change the fact that he made the playoffs 4 of his 7 seasons? Does it change the fact that he came in first in the division 4 times, and 2nd one time? NO...because, again, facts are inconvenient to your point. The fact is, O'Brien had a better NFL career than a LOT of current and former NFL coaches. O'Brien didn't get fired for going 0-4 to start his last season there, he got fired because he was a control freak that lost the locker room, and made horrible trades.

Alabama. These are the OFEIs of the OCs that preceded O'Brien:

Steve Sarkisian (2019-2020). 2019 OFEI: #2 - 2020 OFEI: #1

Mike Locksley (2018). 2018 OFEI: #2

Brian Daboll (2017). 2017 OFEI: #8

Lane F'ing Kiffin! (2014-2016). 2014 OFEI: #4 - 2015 OFEI: #20 - 2016 OFEI: #8

In 2021, O'Brien's offense had the #2 OFEI, in 2022 the #4 OFEI so far this season. Do you really need me to analyze those numbers? I'm pretty sure O'Briens work speaks for itself there.

How's all that for nuance? Honestly, I'm REALLY glad we had this discussion because now after all of this research, I think O'Brien is a LOT better coach than I gave him credit for...and I already thought he was a very good coach before this discussion. In fact, he's probably now my #2 candidate over Jeff Lebby and just below Jamey Chadwell.

 

[Gt2019]

75 is including the transfers. HS recruiting was 122. So why doesn’t he have a top 10 class? Why did he only sign 1 4 star and 1 5 star? Because all the other 4 stars told him No. Because the level of recruiting is always limited by the school you’re at. Georgia Tech has a limit of how high Deion can go just like Jackson State. If he could recruit as well as anybody in the country they would have Arch Manning lined up instead of 3 commits only 2 of which are rated. The ceiling for recruiting at Tech is just not that high, no coach is going to fix that. You can however change is with ridiculous NIL deals which is what Louisville is doing right now. We don’t have that going for us.

There’s a very good chance Deion would bring us those type of NIL deals. I mean just his connection and working for barstool sports helped him flip Travis Hunter from FSU. You shouldn’t be asking “why did he only sign one 4 star and only one 5 star”, you should be praising him for doing that at JACKSON STATE. If he’s doing that at a school that has no appeal to players other then being a HBCU, no college town vibe to it, below average facilities, not being a D1 school, etc, etc, etc then imagine what he can do at a school that’s a power 5, has better facilities, is in the heart of college football, is in a big city in Atlanta which all young teenagers absolutely love, has a true college campus compared to JSU, provides a top education to these kids and the type of NIL deals that could come. You combine the most known coach in the media that isn’t named Dabo, Riley, Kirby, Day, Saban with the city of Atlanta, has connections with everyone, has barstool connections for NIL and you have a recipe for success when it comes to recruiting. You absolutely can’t knock anything Deion has done on the recruiting side of things.

 

[ibeattetris]

Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

Yes, OC'ing for the Patriots with Belichek and Tom Brady is VERY relevant. It proves he's one of the best in the business which led him to getting hired at Penn State. Also, if he wasn't good, he wouldn't have been hired in the first place. Adam Gase has nothing to do with O'Brien...whataboutisms are a very poor defense to make a point. The Patriots offense was 2nd in the NFL in total offense the year O'Brien was their OC. The NFL is often considered the highest level of football coaching, and O'Brien was able to lead the Patriots offense to the second most productive offensive in the NFL. If your only retort to his time with the Patriots is "Adam Gase", well, that's just poor on your part.

Hackenburg and McGloin. One was a 5 star QB who he recruited to scandal ridden program (proving he can recruit), the other was a walk on. Last I checked, I didn't realize O'Brien was responsible for what players did after they left his program. That's like saying CPJ is a poor coach because Justin Thomas and Josh Nesbitt couldn't cut it in the NFL. How many 'Bama QBs have failed in the NFL after they leave Saban? Plenty. Does that reflect on Saban? NO! The fact that both were developed into NFL QBs (even though he did not get to fully coach Hackenburg) shows that he can develop talent...something MUCH needed at GT. McGloin being the best example as he was a walk on that put up BIG numbers in his one season under O'Brien, and that season was with walk ons and freshmen playing a lot of minutes. From Wikipedia: On November 17, 2012, in the course of a 395 yard, four-touchdown effort over Illinois, he surpassed Daryll Clark's career record for touchdown passes (45) in Penn State history,[8] Clark's single-season record of 3,003 passing yards,[9] and Anthony Morelli's single-season record of 234 completions.[10] He finished the season leading the Big Ten with a school-record 270 completions, 446 attempts, 3,271 yards and 24 touchdowns.[11] McGloin earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors and was the 2012 Burlsworth Trophy winner, given by the Rotary Club of Springdale, Arkansas to the most outstanding college football player who began his career as a walk-on.

Don't know about you, but any coach that can do that with a walk on is an outstanding coach...it makes you wonder what Hackenburg would have done if he had all 4 years with O'Brien. But none of that matters because they didn't do anything in the NFL?! LOL...okay.

Texans. This is gonna be fun. You want to do "whataboutisms"? Let's play it: Nick Saban (15 NFL wins), Urban Meyer (2 NFL wins), Bobby Petrino (3 NFL wins), and Matt Rhule (11 NFL wins). O'Brien has more NFL wins than ALL of them COMBINED! Saban and Meyer are considered two of the best college coaches of all time. Petrino is considered one of the best offensive minds in modern college football. Matt Rhule was considered a top college coach, and will have major programs lining up to hire him if/when he gets fired. Yet poor O'Brien was able to have a better NFL career than all of them (54 NFL wins vs their 31 COMBINED wins). You don't do that if you are not a good coach.

What does it matter that O'Brien went 0-4 and got fired his last season with the Texans? Does it change the fact that the previous two seasons he won 10 games and 11 games? Does it change the fact that he made the playoffs 4 of his 7 seasons? Does it change the fact that he came in first in the division 4 times, and 2nd one time? NO...because, again, facts are inconvenient to your point. The fact is, O'Brien had a better NFL career than a LOT of current and former NFL coaches. O'Brien didn't get fired for going 0-4 to start his last season there, he got fired because he was a control freak that lost the locker room, and made horrible trades.

Alabama. These are the OFEIs of the OCs that preceded O'Brien:

Steve Sarkisian (2019-2020). 2019 OFEI: #2 - 2020 OFEI: #1

Mike Locksley (2018). 2018 OFEI: #2

Brian Daboll (2017). 2017 OFEI: #8

Lane F'ing Kiffin! (2014-2016). 2014 OFEI: #4 - 2015 OFEI: #20 - 2016 OFEI: #8

In 2021, O'Brien's offense had the #2 OFEI, in 2022 the #4 OFEI so far this season. Do you really need me to analyze those numbers? I'm pretty sure O'Briens work speaks for itself there.

How's all that for nuance? Honestly, I'm REALLY glad we had this discussion because now after all of this research, I think O'Brien is a LOT better coach than I gave him credit for...and I already thought he was a very good coach before this discussion. In fact, he's probably now my #2 candidate over Jeff Lebby and just below Jamey Chadwell.

My brother (PSU grad) still hates BOB for having names added to the back of the jerseys as a sign of thanks to the players who stayed I just call him a baby and tell him he should write thank you cards to BOB every day thanking him for saving PSU.

Edit: BOB did also make it sound like he was going to stay another season and then just dipped when the Texans came calling. Made some of the fans a bit upset being used as a stepping stone.

 

[Techster]

My brother (PSU grad) still hates BOB for having names added to the back of the jerseys as a sign of thanks to the players who stayed I just call him a baby and tell him he should write thank you cards to BOB every day thanking him for saving PSU.

Edit: BOB did also make it sound like he was going to stay another season and then just dipped when the Texans came calling. Made some of the fans a bit upset being used as a stepping stone.

If O'Brien wins big here, which I expect him to in 3-4 years, I totally think he'll use GT as stepping stone as well. I'm OK with that because that will mean O'Brien got us back to winning and winning enough for a major program to hire him...and GT will be in a MUCH better place than we are now.

Also, I think if the B1G comes calling, and GT can somehow fineagle out of the ACC Grant of Rights, all of the cash infusion we'll get could convince O'Brien to stay.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I will say what I always say.

We absolutely will not recruit our way to where we would like to be. We need the smartest coaches, especially on the O side of the ball.

 

[TheTechGuy]

Make it happen.

 

[Techster]

Something else I want to point out about O'Brien.

When he took over the PSU program (2012), a program that played with a BIG scholarship disadvantage, with a lot of walk ons and freshmen getting minutes, and a WALK ON QB as a starter, Penn State's OFEI was #39...it was #94 the previous season. His OFEI wasn't great in 2013 (#75) as he dealt with a freshmen QB (5 star Hackenburg) and a lot of players graduating. Penn State still finished 7-5 that year and would have gone to a bowl game if PSU wasn't under a post season ban. They beat #15 Wisconsin and #18 Michigan that year, and finished 6-2 in the Big Ten.

IMO, that's a great sign of a good coach...not just a coach that needs to out talent the other team. That's the kind of coach GT needs.

 

[Lavoisier]

And the DC he hired for that 2012 PSU squad? Ted Roof.

Time is a flat circle.

 

[Techster]

And the DC he hired for that 2012 PSU squad? Ted Roof.

Time is a flat circle.

Well, PSU finished 8-4 (6-2 in the Big Ten) that year with a walk on QB. Roof's Defensive FEI that year was an impressive #16 (although it was an even more impressive #11 the previous season).

 

[Techfan02]

Twitter isn’t the only source. Just gonna say that. Same booster who told me Collins was done a few days ago when I posted it, is saying Deion would be interested and tech boosters have interest.

He is the only guy I would belive can recruit better than collins also tell your booster PLEASE PLEASE GIVE HIM GOOD ASSISTANTS

 

[Techster]

I think we've covered most of the names, but an outsiders perspective here:

 

[JacketFan137]

Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

Yes, OC'ing for the Patriots with Belichek and Tom Brady is VERY relevant. It proves he's one of the best in the business which led him to getting hired at Penn State. Also, if he wasn't good, he wouldn't have been hired in the first place. Adam Gase has nothing to do with O'Brien...whataboutisms are a very poor defense to make a point. The Patriots offense was 2nd in the NFL in total offense the year O'Brien was their OC. The NFL is often considered the highest level of football coaching, and O'Brien was able to lead the Patriots offense to the second most productive offensive in the NFL. If your only retort to his time with the Patriots is "Adam Gase", well, that's just poor on your part.

Hackenburg and McGloin. One was a 5 star QB who he recruited to scandal ridden program (proving he can recruit), the other was a walk on. Last I checked, I didn't realize O'Brien was responsible for what players did after they left his program. That's like saying CPJ is a poor coach because Justin Thomas and Josh Nesbitt couldn't cut it in the NFL. How many 'Bama QBs have failed in the NFL after they leave Saban? Plenty. Does that reflect on Saban? NO! The fact that both were developed into NFL QBs (even though he did not get to fully coach Hackenburg) shows that he can develop talent...something MUCH needed at GT. McGloin being the best example as he was a walk on that put up BIG numbers in his one season under O'Brien, and that season was with walk ons and freshmen playing a lot of minutes. From Wikipedia: On November 17, 2012, in the course of a 395 yard, four-touchdown effort over Illinois, he surpassed Daryll Clark's career record for touchdown passes (45) in Penn State history,[8] Clark's single-season record of 3,003 passing yards,[9] and Anthony Morelli's single-season record of 234 completions.[10] He finished the season leading the Big Ten with a school-record 270 completions, 446 attempts, 3,271 yards and 24 touchdowns.[11] McGloin earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors and was the 2012 Burlsworth Trophy winner, given by the Rotary Club of Springdale, Arkansas to the most outstanding college football player who began his career as a walk-on.

Don't know about you, but any coach that can do that with a walk on is an outstanding coach...it makes you wonder what Hackenburg would have done if he had all 4 years with O'Brien. But none of that matters because they didn't do anything in the NFL?! LOL...okay.

Texans. This is gonna be fun. You want to do "whataboutisms"? Let's play it: Nick Saban (15 NFL wins), Urban Meyer (2 NFL wins), Bobby Petrino (3 NFL wins), and Matt Rhule (11 NFL wins). O'Brien has more NFL wins than ALL of them COMBINED! Saban and Meyer are considered two of the best college coaches of all time. Petrino is considered one of the best offensive minds in modern college football. Matt Rhule was considered a top college coach, and will have major programs lining up to hire him if/when he gets fired. Yet poor O'Brien was able to have a better NFL career than all of them (54 NFL wins vs their 31 COMBINED wins). You don't do that if you are not a good coach.

What does it matter that O'Brien went 0-4 and got fired his last season with the Texans? Does it change the fact that the previous two seasons he won 10 games and 11 games? Does it change the fact that he made the playoffs 4 of his 7 seasons? Does it change the fact that he came in first in the division 4 times, and 2nd one time? NO...because, again, facts are inconvenient to your point. The fact is, O'Brien had a better NFL career than a LOT of current and former NFL coaches. O'Brien didn't get fired for going 0-4 to start his last season there, he got fired because he was a control freak that lost the locker room, and made horrible trades.

Alabama. These are the OFEIs of the OCs that preceded O'Brien:

Steve Sarkisian (2019-2020). 2019 OFEI: #2 - 2020 OFEI: #1

Mike Locksley (2018). 2018 OFEI: #2

Brian Daboll (2017). 2017 OFEI: #8

Lane F'ing Kiffin! (2014-2016). 2014 OFEI: #4 - 2015 OFEI: #20 - 2016 OFEI: #8

In 2021, O'Brien's offense had the #2 OFEI, in 2022 the #4 OFEI so far this season. Do you really need me to analyze those numbers? I'm pretty sure O'Briens work speaks for itself there.

How's all that for nuance? Honestly, I'm REALLY glad we had this discussion because now after all of this research, I think O'Brien is a LOT better coach than I gave him credit for...and I already thought he was a very good coach before this discussion. In fact, he's probably now my #2 candidate over Jeff Lebby and just below Jamey Chadwell.

honestly i’m impressed that bill o brien has a family member on this board. never seen anyone argue so hard for a guy who has been so unimpressive most places he’s gone and has literally zero people from any of the fanbases he’s been at support him aside from maybe penn state people a decade ago

clearly there is no point in arguing since you’re going to shut out any legitimate questions.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

A certain segment of our fan base thinks "schematic advantage" was a concept that didn't exist until CPJ came here in 2008 and therefore have a hard time separating the two despite it being a thing for over hundred years.

Lest we forget, Dodd continued to use the Heisman approach of schematic advantages which became innovations which became part of the established vocabulary of football. Belly series anyone?

 

[Northeast Stinger]

honestly i’m impressed that bill o brien has a family member on this board. never seen anyone argue so hard for a guy who has been so unimpressive most places he’s gone and has literally zero people from any of the fanbases he’s been at support him aside from maybe penn state people a decade ago

clearly there is no point in arguing since you’re going to shut out any legitimate questions.

You raise serious objections. I don’t have an opinion yet except he would be far from my top choices. So, serious question, why do you think his name is getting so much traction, some even claiming from inside sources that he is the one?

 

[slugboy]

west coast guy for sure. no way he’s coming here. great coach but doesn’t seem likely that he makes it here

Mississippi State is really far east for Mike Leach. It happens.

 

[Buzzbomb]

Huff will probably get an interview as the politically correct part of any search. Not sure about the “fit?” He has a reputation as a fine recruiter.

Charles Huff (American football) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[stech81]

I know a lot of people like to guess who the next head coach will be but understand that we not know till after the season. If they pick CBK to finish the season even thought I didn't think he did that well with the OL let's get behind him the rest of the season and after the season lets see how we look anything can happen.