- Aug 22, 2014
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I had a conversation with my Cowbell booster acquaintance right after NSD. It was a pretty objective discussion and he got in depth on Stricklin a bit. This is what I came away with:
Stricklin is going to be as bad or maybe worse than Foley. He is very much a “deliver results and I’ll deliver the cash” first versus “I’ll give you the tools so you can get results” type of leader. Stricklin comes off as a money saver vs a money maker. When he left Cowbell, a son-in-law to their royalty, no one was very upset. The consensus is that he is way too tight to be effective. It bore itself out when he hamstrung Mullen into some DC hires(think that was mentioned in another thread). When Mullen wants to make a coaching change, hire analysts or anything else, Stricklin is the type that’s going to be right there needing an analysis before signing off. So Mullen is probably to a degree resigned to rolling with what he has.
He didn’t hire Mullen at MSU and friend said he would bet a large amount of cash that it wasn’t his idea to hire him here either, rather he was pushed by a booster or more likely several. The fallacy in Stricklin’s logic is that if Mullen, or any other coach for that matter, wins big- Spurrier, Meyer, Saban etc. (or loses big- see Muschamp) then your AD becomes marginalized. Winning makes his job easier, but he may not understand how much yet.
Friend also reiterated that he believes he won’t be here much longer. About 4-5 years and he always looks for something new. Thinks Mullen probably knows it too and likely factored into his decision to come here, so let us all hope.
About Grantham to MSU and why it didn’t happen: Said it was likely at first but between the bad team discipline problems, never being a HC, and Kiffin coming in at Ol piss, MSU thought Leach was a safer bet, and said Grantham likely feels the same way.
Oh well it is the off-season, something to talk about.
Stricklin is going to be as bad or maybe worse than Foley. He is very much a “deliver results and I’ll deliver the cash” first versus “I’ll give you the tools so you can get results” type of leader. Stricklin comes off as a money saver vs a money maker. When he left Cowbell, a son-in-law to their royalty, no one was very upset. The consensus is that he is way too tight to be effective. It bore itself out when he hamstrung Mullen into some DC hires(think that was mentioned in another thread). When Mullen wants to make a coaching change, hire analysts or anything else, Stricklin is the type that’s going to be right there needing an analysis before signing off. So Mullen is probably to a degree resigned to rolling with what he has.
He didn’t hire Mullen at MSU and friend said he would bet a large amount of cash that it wasn’t his idea to hire him here either, rather he was pushed by a booster or more likely several. The fallacy in Stricklin’s logic is that if Mullen, or any other coach for that matter, wins big- Spurrier, Meyer, Saban etc. (or loses big- see Muschamp) then your AD becomes marginalized. Winning makes his job easier, but he may not understand how much yet.
Friend also reiterated that he believes he won’t be here much longer. About 4-5 years and he always looks for something new. Thinks Mullen probably knows it too and likely factored into his decision to come here, so let us all hope.
About Grantham to MSU and why it didn’t happen: Said it was likely at first but between the bad team discipline problems, never being a HC, and Kiffin coming in at Ol piss, MSU thought Leach was a safer bet, and said Grantham likely feels the same way.
Oh well it is the off-season, something to talk about.
