HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread

[orientalnc]

If true that we turned down Clark that must mean we have locked in on someone else (probably Chadwell). No way we turn Clark down unless we have someone Batt views as better already locked down.

Worst case scenario would be if our top option (Chadwell) turns it down for another job and we are stuck keeping Key.

I first heard about Clark's back problems several years ago in an alumni letter asking for money. He said he had been having back pain for over 25 years and the meds were beginning to be insufficient to control the pain. When he finally retired back in June he said he could only stand for 10 minutes at a time. Now, remember, UAB has one of the best medical schools in the country. If they cannot keep him standing for longer than 10 minutes without the back surgery he says he needs, why do we think GT can help that happen?

All that said, I know he loves coaching and has 30 years of contacts with high school coaches in Alabama and Georgia. If we turned him down it is because of our concern that his health remains an issue or, as you speculated, we have a preferred coach under a handshake deal. My guess is, if that is the case and we are not announcing, it must be someone who is "on the job" at another school.

 

[stech81]

Chadwell recruits the same area now that he would at Tech

yes the U.S.A

 

[Gtech24]

I first heard about Clark's back problems several years ago in an alumni letter asking for money. He said he had been having back pain for over 25 years and the meds were beginning to be insufficient to control the pain. When he finally retired back in June he said he could only stand for 10 minutes at a time. Now, remember, UAB has one of the best medical schools in the country. If they cannot keep him standing for longer than 10 minutes without the back surgery he says he needs, why do we think GT can help that happen?

All that said, I know he loves coaching and has 30 years of contacts with high school coaches in Alabama and Georgia. If we turned him down it is because of our concern that his health remains an issue or, as you speculated, we have a preferred coach under a handshake deal. My guess is, if that is the case and we are not announcing, it must be someone who is "on the job" at another school.

I agree with that. I have heard Clark's surgery went well and should allow him get back into coaching. Im sure he wants to do it but its possible we dont want to be the school that finds out whether he can hold up. I still would love him to be the guy but would be happy with Chadwell also. Just need someone who has built a winning program.

 

[TheStolenT]

I can lend some insight into Clark since I went to UAB, lived with a player, and tutored athletes during Clarks tenure at UAB. First, let me say I will love him forever for what he did for UAB football, both resurrecting the program and elevating the level of the program which is leading to UAB moving to the AAC. However, I don't feel like he is a good fit at tech and here is why:

1. He built and rebuilt the UAB program with a good number of guys who came from junior college who many times had issues at another school (bama, auburn, lsu ect) and went to JUCO and came back to D1. As someone who tutored football players, unless tech plans on significantly reducing entrance standards and there are some super easy classes to hide folks in, this just isn't a viable way to build our program. Not saying he wouldn't be able to recruit, but this was a mainstay of his programs at UAB

2. His offense is boring. He won in CUSA with skill players that were just better than most teams we played due to the above. But there was absolutely no innovation on offense, and if anything it was a more boring offense than what we try to run now. And he showed no interest in modifying this throughout his tenure. He was very comfortable having a stout defense and running a traditional offense and was even so loyal to his OC that he named him his successor on his way out the door which has led to one of the worst seasons for uab in a while.

3. Health issues: he has a history of back issues that ultimately sidelined him and I have a hard time believing that he could bounce back this quickly into a challenging job and do well from a health standpoint.

4. Excitement: he is not somebody who is going to rally the fanbase around a "big hire"

All that said, he is a great guy and coach, and I think he would find a way to win here, but I feel like there are probably better options out there

 

[Gtech24]

I can lend some insight into Clark since I went to UAB, lived with a player, and tutored athletes during Clarks tenure at UAB. First, let me say I will love him forever for what he did for UAB football, both resurrecting the program and elevating the level of the program which is leading to UAB moving to the AAC. However, I don't feel like he is a good fit at tech and here is why:

1. He built and rebuilt the UAB program with a good number of guys who came from junior college who many times had issues at another school (bama, auburn, lsu ect) and went to JUCO and came back to D1. As someone who tutored football players, unless tech plans on significantly reducing entrance standards and there are some super easy classes to hide folks in, this just isn't a viable way to build our program. Not saying he wouldn't be able to recruit, but this was a mainstay of his programs at UAB

2. His offense is boring. He won in CUSA with skill players that were just better than most teams we played due to the above. But there was absolutely no innovation on offense, and if anything it was a more boring offense than what we try to run now. And he showed no interest in modifying this throughout his tenure. He was very comfortable having a stout defense and running a traditional offense and was even so loyal to his OC that he named him his successor on his way out the door which has led to one of the worst seasons for uab in a while.

3. Health issues: he has a history of back issues that ultimately sidelined him and I have a hard time believing that he could bounce back this quickly into a challenging job and do well from a health standpoint.

4. Excitement: he is not somebody who is going to rally the fanbase around a "big hire"

All that said, he is a great guy and coach, and I think he would find a way to win here, but I feel like there are probably better options out there

Thanks for that perspective, you seem to know a lot more than I do about him. I did not know about him bringing in the JUCO players when he was rebuilding. My only counter to that would be that it was likely his only option at the time given the circumstances. He would not need to go that route at GT luckily.

On the OC, I would be curious to know if he planned on bringing his guy from UAB if he got the job. That would probably be less appealing. I was thinking a benefit with hiring him would be that he could build a fresh staff with better resources than he has ever had. I agree that his offense at UAB was not inspiring and would not be a big fan of that at GT.

 

[orientalnc]

I called one of my UAB classmates and asked him about Clark. His comment to me was that UAB expects him to return to Birmingham when/if he is able. He reminded me that the current coach's title is "Interim Head Football Coach." My reaction was, hmmm....

 

[Gtech24]

I called one of my UAB classmates and asked him about Clark. His comment to me was that UAB expects him to return to Birmingham when/if he is able. He reminded me that the current coach's title is "Interim Head Football Coach." My reaction was, hmmm....

Im only buying that if he doesnt get any P5 offers lol sounds like wishful thinking from your friend. If he gets the GT offer he would 100% take it over UAB. With that said, it sounds like he might not be as good of an option for GT as I had originally imagined based on what others have added. He has exactly what we want in terms of coaching ability and experience but there are definitely some other concerns.

I just hope whoever we hire ends up being a home run. We can't afford to make consecutive bad hires like the factory schools. The program is currently like a snowball rolling down a grass hill...if we dont hit some more snow soon it will be all gone.

 

[TheStolenT]

There were rumors when he left for his health reasons that maybe he chose a convenient time to leave when he could leave the program to Vincent and maybe that he would resurface in a year or two once he got healthy again (the thought at the time was that he may try to go be a coordinator in the SEC somewhere), but thats all just UAB message board rumors so take it with a grain of salt

 

[stech81]

I called one of my UAB classmates and asked him about Clark. His comment to me was that UAB expects him to return to Birmingham when/if he is able. He reminded me that the current coach's title is "Interim Head Football Coach." My reaction was, hmmm....

I called one of my old friends, asked him what he thought about Clark. He asked who I was and hung up. I really need to find a friend.

 

[kg01]

Gotta say, I'm 'whelmed' at the names we're tossin' around. Can anybody sexify any of these choices. Here's my 'coaching' dating profile ..

- Loves long walks on the beach down North Avenue.
- Is partial to copious 3 'n outs on defense.
- Doesn't mind mixin' it up on offense, pro style, option, RPO's? Sign me up.
- Hates the color red.
- Wouldn't mind seeing top-20/30 recruitin' classes but knows it's about the motion of the ocean (results) not just the size of the boat.

My heart's ready for love. Your move, schwarm....

 

[Vespidae]

Gotta say, I'm 'whelmed' at the names we're tossin' around. Can anybody sexify any of these choices. Here's my 'coaching' dating profile ..

- Loves long walks on the beach down North Avenue.
- Is partial to copious 3 'n outs on defense.
- Doesn't mind mixin' it up on offense, pro style, option, RPO's? Sign me up.
- Hates the color red.
- Wouldn't mind seeing top-20/30 recruitin' classes but knows it's about the motion of the ocean (results) not just the size of the boat.

My heart's ready for love. Your move, schwarm....

Channeling Pat Dye, I'm all for the guy who can answer this interview question, "Coach, how long will it take you to beat Georgia?" with an equally pithy, "About 60 minutes."

 

[slugboy]

Gotta say, I'm 'whelmed' at the names we're tossin' around. Can anybody sexify any of these choices. Here's my 'coaching' dating profile ..

- Loves long walks on the beach down North Avenue.
- Is partial to copious 3 'n outs on defense.
- Doesn't mind mixin' it up on offense, pro style, option, RPO's? Sign me up.
- Hates the color red.
- Wouldn't mind seeing top-20/30 recruitin' classes but knows it's about the motion of the ocean (results) not just the size of the boat.

My heart's ready for love. Your move, schwarm....

Did you mess up the dating profile about 4 years ago and ask for 'copious 3 and outs on OFFENSE'? Is that why we're here right now?
I bet you also typo'ed "Doesn't mind mix ups on offense".

 

[leatherneckjacket]

Did you mess up the dating profile about 4 years ago and ask for 'copious 3 and outs on OFFENSE'? Is that why we're here right now?
I bet you also typo'ed "Doesn't mind mix ups on offense".

Hates scoring in the red zone.
Would not mind seeing 20/30 recruits leave each year.

 

[kg01]

Did you mess up the dating profile about 4 years ago and ask for 'copious 3 and outs on OFFENSE'? Is that why we're here right now?
I bet you also typo'ed "Doesn't mind mix ups on offense".

Did I do those things?

 

[UgaBlows]

BOB is probably a bigger splash hire than Chadwell who is not as well known in Georgia. I would be okay with either. Just get it over and time to move forward. I also would not totally rule out Key if a decision has not been made. If Bama was in the mix for the playoff, then BOB would likely stay through that but if a bowl, I think he would start his new gig immediately. He would need to form a staff but Chadwell would likely bring most of his current staff. Chadwell might stay through any post season games.

I don’t know man, Coastal is on espn everytime they play it seems like, a ton of people are following CC now because of the offense he runs

 

[ibeattetris]

Bill Clark coached at the high school Justin Thomas attended (don’t think their timelines connected though as I think JT was a freshman the last year Clark was there). He was a legendary coach and everyone from the area loves him. My only interaction with him was in the weight room where he told me to stick to baseball

 

[Deleted member 6494]

Based on sources? Any info as to why we are not interested? Just cant wrap my head around why we would not be interested over some of the other names mentioned.

Is Clark the coach who built up UAB? If so, the AD should be concerned about his long-term health; remember, we cannot take a chance if there are other good choices.

 

[TromboneJacket]

Based on the radio silence, I’ve come to the conclusion that either we haven’t started reaching out to candidates or we’ve only interviewed candidates who are currently coaching at potential playoff contenders. Anyone who is currently coaching at a G5 or FCS program would have no problem leaking our interest to the press. Same for anyone not currently coaching. My guess is that we’ve come to an agreement with Bill O’Brien. He would want to keep things quiet so as not to distract the players at Bama, and he would likely want to stay in good standing with the rest of the staff in case needing connections in the future. It could also potentially be a coordinator at one of the other highly ranked programs, but I think BOB is the most likely due to Batt’s Alabama connection and BOB’s familiarity with Tech and proximity to Atlanta. It wouldn’t be difficult for Batt and O’Brien to meet up somewhere in Alabama or western Georgia to conduct the interview without drawing attention from the media and with minimal disruption to the normal schedule of either person.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

My guess is the announcement will be either on Monday the 28th (in which case it will be Bill O'Brien) or on Monday the following week (or it is Jamey Chadwell).

 

[Deleted member 6494]

I first heard about Clark's back problems several years ago in an alumni letter asking for money. He said he had been having back pain for over 25 years and the meds were beginning to be insufficient to control the pain. When he finally retired back in June he said he could only stand for 10 minutes at a time. Now, remember, UAB has one of the best medical schools in the country. If they cannot keep him standing for longer than 10 minutes without the back surgery he says he needs, why do we think GT can help that happen?

All that said, I know he loves coaching and has 30 years of contacts with high school coaches in Alabama and Georgia. If we turned him down it is because of our concern that his health remains an issue or, as you speculated, we have a preferred coach under a handshake deal. My guess is, if that is the case and we are not announcing, it must be someone who is "on the job" at another school.

My guess is the deal is done, but the coach and his team may be in contention for at least a #5 or #6 spot in the playoffs and does not want any distractions for the team. If so, the holdup would be at the request of the coach.

This should not be the case of O'Brien as Alabama will not be in contention for a spot in the playoffs. The only teams that could possibly be in contention for a spot in the playoffs are UGA, Ohio St, Michigan, TCU, USC, Tennessee, Clemson, North Carolina. and Coastal Carolina.

Ohio State and Michigan still must play each other and then may have to face each other again for the conference championship. Clemson and North Carolina have to play each other and maybe again in their championship. I think USC and Utah have to play each other and Utah is 8-2 at present.