HC Candidate/Rumors/Info Thread
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Tech93
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who do you think the top 3 candidates are if you were to guess?
Gt2019
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I’ll give you 4 candidates that I’ve heard in no specific order.
Chadwell
Willie Fritz
Mike Houston
Brent Key.
Also willing to throw in Bill Clark but I haven’t heard enough about him from the tech side of things.
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Confirms some of what I have been hearing.
I know a lot of people don't want to hear this, but I was told by my source a couple of days ago that Brent Key has a better chance of keeping this job than anyone here wants to admit. Kinda shocked me when I was told that. Chadwell was the only other name on your list that was mentioned as a major possibility, and he was emphasized to me as the one to keep an eye on. My source wants Chadwell, so he could be a bit biased though.
Was told Houston was a dark horse candidate though, so who knows. The only one he didn't mention was Fritz.
JacketOff
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I’m going to be so disappointed if it’s Mike Houston. Why has nobody dumped on his recruiting like they have Chadwell’s? In the AAC he has way more resources than SunBelt schools. But since Houston’s first year at ECU they’ve had classes ranked:
79th with an 82.56 avg
74th with an 82.39 avg
98th with an 83.51 avg
85th with an 82.95 avg
And currently for class of 2023: 69th with an 83.38 avg
Compared to Chadwell’s classes at Coastal since 2019:
119th with a 78.62 avg
99th with an 81.52 avg
81st with an 83.12 avg
69th with an 83.39 bag
And currently for class of 2023: 89th with an 83.82 avg
So Chadwell started from a lower place, and raised his averages to the same or above what ECU is doing. Oh yeah, and he’s 31-4 in the last 3 years, and 36-11 as full time head coach. Compared to Mike Houston’s 16-15 over the last 3 and 20-23 overall. ECU is also just 12-18 in conference play over Houston’s tenure, while Coastal is 24-9 (20-3 since 2020) with Chadwell. ECU also outspent Coastal by $2.5M last year
If we were going to hire Fritz it should’ve been during our last search, but his success with Tulane this year will make him more exciting.
I really like Key, and I think he could do really good things here. I think he would put together the best overall staff out of all the candidates. Maybe he could even bring Choice and DMo back home. But him being so closely tied to our ineptitude the last 4 years would be bad optically. Especially if we struggle again next year.
Clark is a wildcard. Obviously he has insane program building skills, but there’s a big difference between UAB and Tech. At UAB most of the state was behind him, because UAB is not challenging Alabama or Auburn for fans or resources. Most Alabama and Auburn fans root for UAB unless they’re playing against them. At Tech the opposite is true. Most of the state would love to keep laughing at Tech failing over and over again. I’m not sure he would be able to make the inroads necessary to repeat what he did in Birmingham.
Chadwell is who I think the best overall choice is, and it’s not really close. I think he can recruit in the 30s easily, and with winning comes more resources, and better recruiting. In case y’all didn’t notice Tech’s last 2 full recruiting classes were ranked 47th and 54th nationally, 11th and 9th in the ACC. Currently we’re 54th and 12th. Chadwell can easily beat that. Even Paul Johnson regularly recruited in the 40s and 50s here. Will we get anymore Jahmyr Gibbs’ with Chadwell? I don’t know maybe not. But we’ll probably get a lot more Jordan Mason’s and Deandre Smelter’s. For the record we went 6-16 with Jahmyr Gibbs. One or 2 players isn’t going to make a difference. But a head coach with a plan will.
In conclusion, I don’t want Houston. Fritz and Clark would be meh. I’ve got mixed emotions on Key, a lot of positives, a lot of negatives. Chadwell is definitely my favorite
79th with an 82.56 avg
74th with an 82.39 avg
98th with an 83.51 avg
85th with an 82.95 avg
And currently for class of 2023: 69th with an 83.38 avg
Compared to Chadwell’s classes at Coastal since 2019:
119th with a 78.62 avg
99th with an 81.52 avg
81st with an 83.12 avg
69th with an 83.39 bag
And currently for class of 2023: 89th with an 83.82 avg
So Chadwell started from a lower place, and raised his averages to the same or above what ECU is doing. Oh yeah, and he’s 31-4 in the last 3 years, and 36-11 as full time head coach. Compared to Mike Houston’s 16-15 over the last 3 and 20-23 overall. ECU is also just 12-18 in conference play over Houston’s tenure, while Coastal is 24-9 (20-3 since 2020) with Chadwell. ECU also outspent Coastal by $2.5M last year
If we were going to hire Fritz it should’ve been during our last search, but his success with Tulane this year will make him more exciting.
I really like Key, and I think he could do really good things here. I think he would put together the best overall staff out of all the candidates. Maybe he could even bring Choice and DMo back home. But him being so closely tied to our ineptitude the last 4 years would be bad optically. Especially if we struggle again next year.
Clark is a wildcard. Obviously he has insane program building skills, but there’s a big difference between UAB and Tech. At UAB most of the state was behind him, because UAB is not challenging Alabama or Auburn for fans or resources. Most Alabama and Auburn fans root for UAB unless they’re playing against them. At Tech the opposite is true. Most of the state would love to keep laughing at Tech failing over and over again. I’m not sure he would be able to make the inroads necessary to repeat what he did in Birmingham.
Chadwell is who I think the best overall choice is, and it’s not really close. I think he can recruit in the 30s easily, and with winning comes more resources, and better recruiting. In case y’all didn’t notice Tech’s last 2 full recruiting classes were ranked 47th and 54th nationally, 11th and 9th in the ACC. Currently we’re 54th and 12th. Chadwell can easily beat that. Even Paul Johnson regularly recruited in the 40s and 50s here. Will we get anymore Jahmyr Gibbs’ with Chadwell? I don’t know maybe not. But we’ll probably get a lot more Jordan Mason’s and Deandre Smelter’s. For the record we went 6-16 with Jahmyr Gibbs. One or 2 players isn’t going to make a difference. But a head coach with a plan will.
In conclusion, I don’t want Houston. Fritz and Clark would be meh. I’ve got mixed emotions on Key, a lot of positives, a lot of negatives. Chadwell is definitely my favorite
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JacketFan137
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frankly mike houston has been seldom mentioned relative to the popular candidates on here. seems like 99% of the dialogue here is chadwell, deion, key’s future, dan mullen and bill o brien. i don’t think anyone has gone out of their way to support houston and start a ruckus in the thread so no one is bothering to look up any information on him other than “hey he did well at JMU and inherited a **** situation at ECU”
Randy Carson
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We're one week away from our date in Dogtown, and Cumberland fans everywhere are hoping they will finally get that 222-0 monkey off their backs.
But you're saying that meanwhile, behind the scenes and unbeknownst to all of us, steps have been taken already? Why so hasty?
This JBatt fellow seems to be a bit of a reactionary, doesn't he? Shouldn't we at least wait until the season has played itself out before starting anything new?
I'm skeptical, but if true, kudos for your reportage, sir.
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Oldgoldandwhite
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So we’ll have a JBatt, JChad, and a JPast?
So you say there’s a chance?
So you say there’s a chance?
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I do not have any skin in the game relative Houston or Chadwell, but I don't see any measurable difference in their recruiting "scores." Both are recruiting at places where it's tough to get athletes' interest. Both are places where in-state athletes who can go elsewhere usually do.
Yoda
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Chadwell probably wins 8-9 games on average if he’s playing our schedule with his current talent. Can only imagine he’ll do better with better talent to work with, as long as he finds the right trigger man or brings McCall with him for his senior year for the transition. Really pulling for him.
stech81
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all i'm hearing is rake the yard, take out the garbage, stop drinking so much, and lift the seat.
yeti92
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Well that depends on when you look at it, what you define as the sky, and whether you consider light scattering to be the actual color. Colorblindness also could have an effect on what color you think it is.
UgaBlows
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Option you say? Triple or?
stech81
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I need to make a doctor's appointment; I must have a problem. I would not mind of Key got the job.
g0lftime
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If Key is the HC selection then he would have been given the benefit of the doubt since he had to take over a team mid season with a staff he didn't really select. Additionally he had to replace his RB coach suddenly. We really don't know what he can do with his own guys.
I was pulling for him until the UVA game. Now not as enthusiastic as I could have been but I can see why he might be retained.
I was pulling for him until the UVA game. Now not as enthusiastic as I could have been but I can see why he might be retained.
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This is something I have also considered. For my peace of mind with Key it depends on the mood of the team. Are they working their tails off in practice or just trying to get past these last two games? Does it look like our best players are planning to stay? Or, will we be decimated by defections? Batt should have a feel for that by now. Key has been a genuine improvement over Collins and he is a good, solid coach. I am not sure he can get us back to winning consistently, but he is an improvement. I also think this depends on whether any of our top candidates are possible. As @RamblinRed posted earlier, we are not sure if any of our top candidates are interested in coaching at GT under any set of conditions. Key might be better than anyone we could actually hire.
Sean311
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We’ll your profile pic is definitely a tell…and I like it.
bobongo
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Well, my grandma would be an improvement, but Key does seem like a solid coach. If he's offered 2 million a year, it would be triple what he's making and more than he could garner anywhere else. Not saying that should be Tech's offer, but just pointing that out. At any rate, Tech could afford very good salaries for very good assistants. When O'Leary took over from Bill Lewis, he went 0-3 as interim and got hired. Key stands at 3-3 but somehow, I don't expect it. A win today would be a BIG feather in his cap. It would be his second 20+ point upset win this season. I hope after today's game somebody's looking that up to see how often that's ever happened before. I bet you could count the times on the fingers of one hand.
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I’m sure you missed five things because you weren’t listening