Jamie Chadwell Coastal Carolina

[charles]

Would be a perfect fit here

 

[Techster]

Feels like Chadwell is getting the "triple option" treatment. Devastating offense proven to put up big numbers and wins, but the option heavy component of the offense is scaring off P5 schools.

Chadwell was a no-brainer for a school like Duke. I mean, they went hard after CPJ when he was at Navy. You would think they'd be smart enough to try and go after the modern day version of CPJ after Cutcliff retired. Nope...and that's why they'll be "Duke football". Social media has killed AD's brains...more concerned about winning the PR wars than actually winning. No way a coach like Chadwell or Jeff Monken should still be where they're at.

If GT has to get rid of CGC, and if Chadwell is available at the time, GT needs to do what it can to try and get Chadwell to Atlanta. He would absolutely kill it here against ACC Coastal competition.

 

[slugboy]

If you’ve seen Coastal Carolina, it’s a city school taking up some blocks in Charleston. It’s gorgeous, but it is probably smaller than SCAD. (Imagine if SCAD had a powerhouse football team).
Still, even with a school that small, why would you leave Coastal Carolina for Duke? You live in Charleston. You’re the toast of the town. You can make it into the top 25 as easily in Coastal Carolina as you can at Duke—possibly easier.
In basketball, we’ve seen successful mid-major coaches stay at a mid-major until a BIG offer comes—like an Oklahoma or a Texas or someone who brings a big money truck—not just for the coaches, but also for an extensive support staff. I think it’s the same for football now—you don’t leave UCF or Cincinnati unless it’s the “right” opportunity—see Nebraska as an example.
If a school in the bottom 2/3rds of their conference wants a Chadwell, they need to supply a ready-made nest of success to roost in.
Same for basketball programs looking for an up-and-comer.

 

[GTJackets]

If you’ve seen Coastal Carolina, it’s a city school taking up some blocks in Charleston. It’s gorgeous, but it is probably smaller than SCAD. (Imagine if SCAD had a powerhouse football team).
Still, even with a school that small, why would you leave Coastal Carolina for Duke? You live in Charleston. You’re the toast of the town. You can make it into the top 25 as easily in Coastal Carolina as you can at Duke—possibly easier.
In basketball, we’ve seen successful mid-major coaches stay at a mid-major until a BIG offer comes—like an Oklahoma or a Texas or someone who brings a big money truck—not just for the coaches, but also for an extensive support staff. I think it’s the same for football now—you don’t leave UCF or Cincinnati unless it’s the “right” opportunity—see Nebraska as an example.
If a school in the bottom 2/3rds of their conference wants a Chadwell, they need to supply a ready-made nest of success to roost in.
Same for basketball programs looking for an up-and-comer.

Are you thinking about College of Charleston? Coastal is up in Conway about 2 hours north of Charleston. May still be a beautiful campus. I've only driven up there once when GT played a baseball tournament up there a few years back.

 

[Techster]

If you’ve seen Coastal Carolina, it’s a city school taking up some blocks in Charleston. It’s gorgeous, but it is probably smaller than SCAD. (Imagine if SCAD had a powerhouse football team).
Still, even with a school that small, why would you leave Coastal Carolina for Duke? You live in Charleston. You’re the toast of the town. You can make it into the top 25 as easily in Coastal Carolina as you can at Duke—possibly easier.
In basketball, we’ve seen successful mid-major coaches stay at a mid-major until a BIG offer comes—like an Oklahoma or a Texas or someone who brings a big money truck—not just for the coaches, but also for an extensive support staff. I think it’s the same for football now—you don’t leave UCF or Cincinnati unless it’s the “right” opportunity—see Nebraska as an example.
If a school in the bottom 2/3rds of their conference wants a Chadwell, they need to supply a ready-made nest of success to roost in.
Same for basketball programs looking for an up-and-comer.

Duke was just an symbolic example. Other schools would have been UVA or VT...or any other faceless mid-lower tier P5 school. Those schools passed on Chadwell (and Monken).

Point is, it has more to do with a school and Chadwell's aspirations...and he's on record as desperately wanting to prove himself at the P5 level. Well, top tier schools like USC/Oklahoma/LSU/etc (they all had openings) can pretty much get who they want...they're not giving a shot to a Chadwell or Monken because then schools like Bama and UGA can negatively recruit against them because of the offense.

Because of the specialized offense that is perceived to hurt recruiting, if Chadwell and Monken are holding out for "blue blood" type schools, then they're never leaving where they are now.

 

[slugboy]

Are you thinking about College of Charleston? Coastal is up in Conway about 2 hours north of Charleston. May still be a beautiful campus. I've only driven up there once when GT played a baseball tournament up there a few years back.

Doh! Yeah, I am. Basketball on the mind.

@Techster I don't think that good to great G5 coaches have to take a mid to low P5 job any longer. I'm kind of surprised that ND didn't back up the truck for Fickell.

 

[Techster]

Doh! Yeah, I am. Basketball on the mind.

@Techster I don't think that good to great G5 coaches have to take a mid to low P5 job any longer. I'm kind of surprised that ND didn't back up the truck for Fickell.

No they don't. But my point was Chadwell is VERY good coach, and Monken is a VERY good coach. Unfortunately, their opportunities will be limited because of their offense. That won't be a factor for other good G5 coaches that run "typical" offenses.

As GT fan, we can attest to this firsthand with what's going on with CGC post CPJ.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Are you thinking about College of Charleston? Coastal is up in Conway about 2 hours north of Charleston. May still be a beautiful campus. I've only driven up there once when GT played a baseball tournament up there a few years back.

Yeah, I think they are known for a marine biology department.

But his other points were solid

 

[rodandanga]

The rumors that I have heard about why Duke or UVA didn't look at Chadwell is that they felt he was too country and would not fit in the culture at Duke/UVA. Don't know if that is true, but it is a dumb as hell reason to not hire a coach.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

The rumors that I have heard about why Duke or UVA didn't look at Chadwell is that they felt he was too country and would not fit in the culture at Duke/UVA. Don't know if that is true, but it is a dumb as hell reason to not hire a coach.

By that logic they would have turned down Kirby Smart.

 

[GTJackets]

I've talked to people here in the Charleston area that know Chadwell from his North Greenville days. They tell me it would be really hard for him to leave the state. Not sure why since he's not from SC originally. But I guess they feel like he's made roots here with his family.

But big money can ease lots of concerns.

 

[ilovetheoption]

The rumors that I have heard about why Duke or UVA didn't look at Chadwell is that they felt he was too country and would not fit in the culture at Duke/UVA. Don't know if that is true, but it is a dumb as hell reason to not hire a coach.

Our insiders were saying his history of NCAA violations scared off our administration.

We hired bronco mendenhall. That weirdo couldn't be a weirder fit, but that didn't stop them.

This was about
A) Wanting to maintain a squeaky clean image (and, honestly, having Bennett hurts us in that regard. He's able to win AND be freaky squeaky clean, so they figure if Basketball can do it, football can, too)
B) Elliot really is a super attractive candidate. If there's a guy who's going turn UVa into a national power, Elliot's probably the best bet we're going to get for a long, long while. Frankly, I don't think we can be a national power in football, but if we're going to shoot that shot, I like Elliot being the guy shooting it. We'll see in 5 years.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Elliot is nothing special. And I say that after research. Not saying he won‘t be ok, like Bronco, but without the players he was getting to coach at Clemson he’s just another run of the mill guy. I wasn’t upset that GT didn’t get him. But I’d take him or any of the Golden Girls over who we did hire.

 

[iopjacket]

Our insiders were saying his history of NCAA violations scared off our administration.

We hired bronco mendenhall. That weirdo couldn't be a weirder fit, but that didn't stop them.

This was about
A) Wanting to maintain a squeaky clean image (and, honestly, having Bennett hurts us in that regard. He's able to win AND be freaky squeaky clean, so they figure if Basketball can do it, football can, too)
B) Elliot really is a super attractive candidate. If there's a guy who's going turn UVa into a national power, Elliot's probably the best bet we're going to get for a long, long while. Frankly, I don't think we can be a national power in football, but if we're going to shoot that shot, I like Elliot being the guy shooting it. We'll see in 5 year

I did a little checking after reading your post. Only God knows what the truth is, but Jamie Caldwell was not cited in NCAA report. I posted one article and an opinion column from the Charleston Post and Courier. They may be behind a paywall. I can't tell since I am a subscriber.

Short summary: Charleston Southern started cutting corners on compliance documentation after a local con man Al Parish defrauded them of $10 million dollars in a Ponzi Scheme. CSU was cited in an audit by the Big South Conference in 2011. Then the NCCA investigated. In addition to the above violations, CSU and its book store let 34 players use scholarship money for items other than books. Another Tee-Shirt Scandal. The violations were in all sports, not just football. IMHO This fiasco shouldn't be a black mark on Jamie Caldwell's career.


NCAA hits Charleston Southern with probation, loss of football scholarships for violations
Sapakoff: Charleston Southern needs UNC lawyers to fight NCAA mockery

 

[Techster]

Chadwell and Monken will get their shot somewhere. Those ADs will look like a genius. Just like Radakovich did with CPJ, and that propelled him to the Clemson job. At the time of CPJ's hiring, it was widely regarded as one of the best hires in college football, and an almost perfect fit for GT's situation. CPJ started out at GT like he got shot out of a cannon: 9 wins, win over arch rival and preseason #1 UGA, and a big bowl game. Followed it up with 11 wins, ACC Title, and an Orange Bowl.

The right hire makes a difference. Monken and Chadwell won't be good for every school (namely the elite factory schools due to recruiting narratives), but there are certain schools that will be dumb not to take them if they have the opportunity.

 

[Techster]

B) Elliot really is a super attractive candidate. If there's a guy who's going turn UVa into a national power, Elliot's probably the best bet we're going to get for a long, long while. Frankly, I don't think we can be a national power in football, but if we're going to shoot that shot, I like Elliot being the guy shooting it. We'll see in 5 years.

It's going to be an interesting story for GT fans to watch given how Elliott was VERY interested in the GT job but was basically frozen out by big GT donors that wanted a "GT guy". Elliott publicly pulled his name from the search once he realized that GT's coaching search was being limited and he was never seriously under consideration.

Given the CGC situation, and how fast the program has nosedived under his watch, if GT has to fire him after next season it's gonna be a lot of "what might have beens" if Elliott does well at UVA.

 

[4shotB]

It's going to be an interesting story for GT fans to watch given how Elliott was VERY interested in the GT job but was basically frozen out by big GT donors that wanted a "GT guy". Elliott publicly pulled his name from the search once he realized that GT's coaching search was being limited and he was never seriously under consideration.

Given the CGC situation, and how fast the program has nosedived under his watch, if GT has to fire him after next season it's gonna be a lot of "what might have beens" if Elliott does well at UVA.

Of course there will be a lotta "what if's" as we seem to love to do that but at the time of the hire CCG was a much better candidate on paper....been at GT before so he knew what he was getting into, success as a coordinator, been at Bama and other SEC schools, two years HC experience, Georgia native but not a "Tech man". Yes, we now have the luxury of having data and may regret the decision but, at the time, it was the right call imo. I have no hard feelings towards Elliott fwiw and hope he does well up there....but to say he was a better hire AT THAT TIME is purely speculative. I do not know what he brought to the table that Collins did not other than the Clemson offense was spectacular with TL and ETN.

 

[Techster]

Of course there will be a lotta "what if's" as we seem to love to do that but at the time of the hire CCG was a much better candidate on paper....been at GT before so he knew what he was getting into, success as a coordinator, been at Bama and other SEC schools, two years HC experience, Georgia native but not a "Tech man". Yes, we now have the luxury of having data and may regret the decision but, at the time, it was the right call imo. I have no hard feelings towards Elliott fwiw and hope he does well up there....but to say he was a better hire AT THAT TIME is purely speculative. I do not know what he brought to the table that Collins did not other than the Clemson offense was spectacular with TL and ETN.

This is what I wrote at the time of the coaching search regarding Elliott:

Potential Head Coach Hires

We're in the middle of ATL, the second most fertile metro-area recruiting ground in the country and in GA, the 4th best state at producing recruits. That is the greatest resource you can ever have. I see no need to recruit in NJ. Disagree. We're in ATL. Gotta take advantage of that. If GT...

gtswarm.com

Read the Tony Elliott piece on ESPN (BTW, got a little dusty in that article...ahem...). Something that struck me as almost poetic in Elliott's life and career arc and Dabo Swinney's life and career arc:

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...ry-clemson-offensive-coordinator-tony-elliott

After graduating from Clemson with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, Elliott took a job with Michelin North America in 2004. Although Elliott was making good money and seemed to have a bright future with the company, he wasn't completely satisfied. He missed football and believed his own experiences in life would make him a good mentor for kids. While working as a volunteer football coach at a high school in Easley, South Carolina, Elliott realized what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

"I was making great money, had a great job and a great boss," Elliott said. "I just felt a little empty inside. I needed something to validate my purpose."

AFTER CONSULTING WITH Swinney, who had become his mentor and close friend, Elliott quit his job at Michelin. He married his wife, Tamika, a week later and then started his first coaching job at FCS member South Carolina State in 2006. Two years later, he was named Furman's receivers coach.

Swinney, who replaced Tommy Bowden as Clemson's coach midway through the 2008 season, realized Elliott was a rising star in the coaching ranks.

"I told him to just bloom where you're planted and be great at whatever you're doing," Swinney said. "That's the epitome of Tony Elliott. I was so proud of him. I knew I would hire him when the right time came. I told him he needed to be ready when the time came."

In January 2010, when Elliott and Swinney were both in Los Angeles attending a coaching convention, they drove to see the house where Elliott lived in Anaheim. Then they drove to the intersection of West Sycamore Street and Harbor Boulevard, where Elliott's mother had died in the car wreck nearly two decades earlier. Elliott wanted his close friend and mentor to see the place where his life changed forever.
BOTH Swinney and Elliott perservered through almost crushing circumstances to follow their dreams. Dabo walked on at 'Bama, Elliott walked on at Clemson. Both became contributing members of the team after making personal sacrifices to be on the team. Both graduated and had lucrative non-football careers before deciding coaching was their life's calling. Both rose through the ranks and became rising stars. One left his alma mater and help build a modern day program considered only second to the jaugernaut that is Alabama...Dabo's alma mater. The other has the opportunity to leave his alma mater and build a similar program somewhere else....

...could that somewhere else for Elliott be GT?

I was hesitant to say much about Elliott until I did some research. Research done. You never know about any coach, but Elliott checks so many boxes it's hard for me to see his negatives as something that he can work through (let's not forget, Dabo was just a position coach, and two a few seasons to iron out the wrinkles before turning Clemson into a powerhouse).

For me this is what Elliott brings to the table:

-Immediate credibility on the recruiting trail. He knows the Southeast, and he's landed some MONSTER recruits. His ability to recruit the most fertile areas for GT is not going to be questioned.

-Immediate credibility in living rooms. Let's face it, the family structure today is filled with single parent homes. Coaches have to have the ability to walk into homes and strike a chord with single parents. Elliott's past will blow mothers and fathers away. He perservered, and in the process, helped his little sister become a college graduate and make a living in a well respected field. Football teams are predominantly made up of African Americans, and how many better example of a successful African Americans are there who could be mentor to sons of single family homes? His story will have mothers and fathers crying, and assured that they are sending their son off to someone who cares and will do what's right for them. Combine that with an elite GT degree? Going to be hard to turn down a combination of getting coached by Elliott and a GT degree down.

-Immediate credibility on the football field. He's coached two of the best QB prospects in the last decade: DeShaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence...BOTH happen to be from GA. You think all these elite GA QBs the state has been producing won't give GT serious consideration knowing that Elliott mentored two first round QBs (Lawrence is a future #1 overall pick). He also coached Kelly Bryant to an NCAA Championship game. GT is a place where our coach has to be able to coach and develop QBs, and he's doing that. 5 star QBs don't go to Clemson to have their talents wasted...like at FSU, Texas, Texas A&M and even 'Bama. His offense scores in bunches as well.

-He's calling Clemson's plays. In this regard, he's well ahead of where Dabo was when Dabo was promoted to HC. Calling plays is a BIG deal, because that means you understand defenses, how to attack them, how to use personnel, what personnel you need. He wasn't just a figurehead of an OC. This is a big deal for me.

-Exposure to the high level of operations needed to become a top tier program. I've said this many times, and it's unfortunate for CPJ, but the next coach will inherit all the things CPJ wanted. That's just how it works. Elliott's knowledge of Clemsons operating machine will benefit GT. He may not get everything he asks for, but if he's hired, it's because he'll get most of the things he wants to be HC of GT. Most of big ticket items (indoor practice facility, new weight room, new locker rooms) are complete. Other big ticket items are in the works (money for more support staff). We also have a MAJOR capital raise going on...and Elliott is going to make a LOT of donors want to contribute more money, and lot of previously lukewarm donors actually donate. In fact, if Elliott is announced as our new coach, I would hope TStan immediately announces they've raised the total amount of money they're targeting. GT will get it.

-Immediate Buzz (ahem) for our program nationally, but more importantly, in the state of GA. If I'm not mistaken, if Elliott is hired, he will be the first African American HC of GT. That will resonate with the local HS in GA, especially in the city of Atlanta.

One thing I'm certain, if TStan hasn't already reached out to Elliott and his representatives, it would be AD malpractice. This guy checks so many boxes for a GT HC that it's almost ridiculous there's much debate here. Are there better candidates? Maybe...but not many candidates can bring to the table what Elliott potentially has and represents.

Ball is in your court, TStan.

Elliott was the coordinator for Clemson, a program considered to be on par with 'Bama at the time of their playoff and national championship runs. He had success recruiting top QBs in GA, and top talent throughout the Southeast. He had experience developing that high level talent into championship talent. Before you say "well, it's easy to coach that level of talent"...well, go check out what's been going on with Texas/USC/LSU/ etc. lately. If anything, Elliott had a long history of success at an elite program...unlike CGC's "SEC experience" which consisted of bouncing around programs and never establishing a true record of his abilities. People forget this because of the damage he caused to our program, but Bill Lewis was able to finish with a 0.500 record in the ACC his first year at GT coming off the success Bobby Ross...sometimes what's already set up before you get there still pays off for some time before you establish your own identity. CGC's longest stay was at Miss State...4 years. 2 years as "CO-DC" and 2 years as the main DC before jumping to UF. If you read the boards, people weren't exactly fretting when CGC left Miss State or UF.

Temple was a red herring. Matt Rhule built that program from a 2 win program to back to back 10 win seasons before he left for Baylor. Temple was set up for the next coach to succeed. CGC won 7 and 8 games there...so it's not like he had unprecedented success on the level of Bobby Ross at Maryland or Paul Johnson at Navy/GA Southern (BTW, neither had experience at GT so the whole "know what they're getting into" has been an overplayed excuse by GT fans) when he was hired away from Temple. The reality is, CGC was only a candidate at GT because the George O'Leary faction of the coaching search pushed for him due to his ties to George O'Leary and O'Leary's push to get CGC here.

I was a fan and vocal supporter of CGC once he was hired because I saw some elements in CGC (namely his recruiting ability and relationships with players) I thought would translate well here. I thought if CGC hired a top notch OC (which I think Long will be), and CGC coaches to his defensive reputation, we may have another O'Leary/Friedgen team. Unfortunately, as a HC, intangibles of coaching mean just as much as X's and O's acumen (which I think CGC has, but is undone by his lack of intangibles).

I still believe to this day that Elliott will be a REALLY good coach. Will he win 10+ games every year? Probably not. But I think he could have at least done what CPJ did here. Give us consistent bowl games, and an occassional special season of 10+ wins when talent and experience lined up.

We'll get to see that play out once a year now when Elliott plays us coaching for UVA.

 

[4shotB]

You make really good points although I did not see any clearcut advantages that you mentioned in your earlier post outside the possible advantages of hiring a minority candidate. This was offset imo by the lack of having HC experience (although 2 years is certainly NOT a long tenure). Again, we are now discussing the merits of the hire with some data which I think skews the conversation a bit. Again I wish Coach Elliott nothing but the best in his new position.