The Coaching Search Thread

[Gatorraid81]

You can judge a coach in his second year.... not just overall record but trends.

I have bad news for you, any coach we hire is going to struggle at least for the first year or three with this pile of crap roster Butterteeth made.

I agree that the new coach is gonna have a major rebuild on his hands, and to expect us to be extremely successful right away is probably not realistic. However we should be able to tell if the team looks well coached and prepared to play every week and plays hard. If these things are accomplished from the beginning, we’ll have an elite team a few seasons later.

 

[g8tr72]

Butters references Mac's teeth.

Mullen is at best a mediocre head coach, who has had some success at the QB position. I could throw a litany of stats but in summary, this one is the most significant -



Lastly and more importantly, his last name starts with "M," which is the 13th letter of the alphabet and has proven (with the last two coaches especially) to be terribly unlucky, the lone exception being Meyer, who's luck was influenced by some dude named Tebow.

 

[divits]

No, I don't look at the teeth of coaches.

If you didn't notice McElwain's you my want to have your eye doc up the diopter on your glasses.

 

[Mim Jacelwain]

No, I don't look at the teeth of coaches.

Well you really don't have to look directly at them, but the yellow tint kinda jumps out at you.

 

[divits]

Lastly and more importantly, his last name starts with "M," which is the 13th letter of the alphabet and has proven (with the last two coaches especially) to be terribly unlucky, the lone exception being Meyer, who's luck was influenced by some dude named Tebow.

And there you have it. Its' science!

 

[g8tr72]

And there you have it. Its' science!

And, for those who are wondering, no.

I am not superstitious, just cautious.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

I would not propose that the exception proves the rule. I would say, emphatically, that if a coach appears to be a significant talent and looks to be a good fit for your program, failing to hire him simply because he doesn't have a long track record is a bad decision.

Sure. But in that case you are relying on your subjective ability to judge versus the objective reality of records.

If we hire Frost we will likely be asking ourselves all these questions down the road. Why not ask them now?
Will his offense work against Saban/Bama - big, fast, disciplined athletes?
How did he perform against rivals?
Was he able to win any games he was an underdog in? i.e. Does he do more with less?
Does he make adjustments when the offense is sputtering?
Can he recruit against the big boys?
Was success at Oregon due to him or the system in place?
etc. etc. etc.
A lot of those answers are going to be nothing more than speculation because ther's no history.

The SEC is a big, nasty place and UF is one of the biggest pressure cookers in CFB. You have to admit that hiring Frost is like hiring a CEO for Apple because he did a bang up job turning around the local Pizza Hut.

 

[Since65]

Sure. But in that case you are relying on your subjective ability to judge versus the objective reality of records.

If we hire Frost we will likely be asking ourselves all these questions down the road. Why not ask them now?
Will his offense work against Saban/Bama - big, fast, disciplined athletes?
How did he perform against rivals?
Was he able to win any games he was an underdog in? i.e. Does he do more with less?
Does he make adjustments when the offense is sputtering?
Can he recruit against the big boys?
Was success at Oregon due to him or the system in place?
etc. etc. etc.
A lot of those answers are going to be nothing more than speculation because ther's no history.

The SEC is a big, nasty place and UF is one of the biggest pressure cookers in CFB. You have to admit that hiring Frost is like hiring a CEO for Apple because he did a bang up job turning around the local Pizza Hut.

Your questions are valid. Your last statement is an inaccurate and invalid analogy.

I would also say that "records" are not always an objective measuring stick for success (see McElwain, Jim...10-2 at CSU). And the eyeball test is not always a subjective way to judge talent.

 

[SavannahGator]

I don't know much about the rumors and speculation connected with Mullen's personality while at Florida. However, I would love to sit in on the public relations planning meetings that would be needed to address the comments his wife recently made about life in Gainesville while they were on the Florida staff. It would require the Bill Belichick of spin doctors to walk back her statements about their miserable quality of life while working for the Gators.

The odd thing is, if I'm not mistaken, her comments had to do with nasty comments she got from people in Gainesville if the team wasn't doing well. But except for 2007 (when Mullen's side of the ball was putting up video game type numbers), Urban-coached teams while Mullen was here won two SEC titles, two NCs, and did quite well for a first year coach in 2005. So I can't imagine why she "has it in" for Gainesville. It's gotta be nicer (although hotter) than Starkville.

Aha - so Mac's yellow teeth gave rise to that nickname. Ya know, with all the $$$ he had, he could have taken one afternoon at a cosmetic dentist's office to whiten them!!

 

[G8trwood]

Well Finebaum just called us the biggest embarrassment in college football......

 

[SavannahGator]

If you didn't notice McElwain's you my want to have your eye doc up the diopter on your glasses.

I have been made aware of the reason behind the nickname. I guess it never concerned me. That is an interesting round-about way of coming up with a nickname - since his teeth are yellow and teeth are like corn kernels, I would have used something related to corn.

In any case, with all of the $$$$$ we were paying him, he could taken the time to have spent one afternoon in a cosmetic dentist's office to have gotten them whitened.

 

[NavetG8r]

Sure. But in that case you are relying on your subjective ability to judge versus the objective reality of records.

If we hire Frost we will likely be asking ourselves all these questions down the road. Why not ask them now?
Will his offense work against Saban/Bama - big, fast, disciplined athletes?
How did he perform against rivals?
Was he able to win any games he was an underdog in? i.e. Does he do more with less?
Does he make adjustments when the offense is sputtering?
Can he recruit against the big boys?
Was success at Oregon due to him or the system in place?
etc. etc. etc.
A lot of those answers are going to be nothing more than speculation because ther's no history.

The SEC is a big, nasty place and UF is one of the biggest pressure cookers in CFB. You have to admit that hiring Frost is like hiring a CEO for Apple because he did a bang up job turning around the local Pizza Hut.

Not exactly. He's more like promoting the district manager of Apple to CEO of Microsoft. He was an offensive coordinator at Oregon when they were damn good. So he went from being a successful district manager of Apple to being the CEO at a "Pizza Hut" job after proving himself at Apple. Now Microsoft has taken notice and come calling for his skills.

 

[t-gator]

I like the Will Miles article suggesting Shaw, who I think would be a fantastic hire. Might he be available?

Anybody that thinks we should hire brian shaw, doesn't watch football.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Your questions are valid. Your last statement is an inaccurate and invalid analogy.

I would also say that "records" are not always an objective measuring stick for success (see McElwain, Jim...10-2 at CSU). And the eyeball test is not always a subjective way to judge talent.

Well Butters is a good example. At first blush his records at Colorada St and Alabama looked good. But as he failed we dug deeper and it was all smoke and mirrors. So those are the questions about Frost. If we dig deeper what do we find? Unfortunately we don't find much because there is not much to look at. We are star struck with Frost as is much of the CFB world, but what do we really know? And you can keep talking yourself into the Frost hire or you can ask the hard questions. Lots and lots of unknowns there. If you go after an experienced P5 coach most of those answers are known. The only question is how will they do taking the comparatively smaller step up.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Butters references Mac's teeth.

Mullen is at best a mediocre head coach, who has had some success at the QB position. I could throw a litany of stats but in summary, this one is the most significant -



Lastly and more importantly, his last name starts with "M," which is the 13th letter of the alphabet and has proven (with the last two coaches especially) to be terribly unlucky, the lone exception being Meyer, who's luck was influenced by some dude named Tebow.

His SEC record isn't much better and he is DAMN lucky he gets to play Kentucky every year.

 

[jdh5484]

No, I don't look at the teeth of coaches.

Well, most can't look directly at them without eclipse glasses, but the 360 glow is a dead give away.

 

[soflagator]

@GridironNow: 3 reasons why Scott Frost is not the best candidate to become the Florida Gators' next head coach.
http://gridironnow.com/scott-frost-dan-mullen-willie-taggart-florida/

I have been made aware of the reason behind the nickname. I guess it never concerned me. That is an interesting round-about way of coming up with a nickname - since his teeth are yellow and teeth are like corn kernels, I would have used something related to corn.

In any case, with all of the $$$$$ we were paying him, he could taken the time to have spent one afternoon in a cosmetic dentist's office to have gotten them whitened.

I think the teeth became a microcosm of his time here. Logic, as you point out, would be to get them whitened so that you look best when on television representing a brand, or sitting across from a recruit and his family. But based on his comments regarding the fans, I think he knew(heard) it was an issue and stubbornly elected to leave them as they were.

No different than knowing his offense needed help, and having an offensive genius in the same office, but refusing to accept any help. Or knowing that UF is in a hotbed of 4-5* recruits, yet not being willing to work hard enough to get them, settling instead for leftover talent because you feel you know best. Or knowing that you currently have the best UF QB since Tebow on your roster, and rather than trying to keep him, arrogantly encouraging to seek other opportunities.

Like you said, simple steps could've been taken to take care of the issue, and yet he did nothing about it. Just defies all logic and common sense.

Good to see you, Savannah.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Not exactly. He's more like promoting the district manager of Apple to CEO of Microsoft. He was an offensive coordinator at Oregon when they were damn good. So he went from being a successful district manager of Apple to being the CEO at a "Pizza Hut" job after proving himself at Apple. Now Microsoft has taken notice and come calling for his skills.

Any further evidence that pot damages braincells needed?

 

[Since65]

Well Butters is a good example. At first blush his records at Colorada St and Alabama looked good. But as he failed we dug deeper and it was all smoke and mirrors. So those are the questions about Frost. If we dig deeper what do we find? Unfortunately we don't find much because there is not much to look at. We are star struck with Frost as is much of the CFB world, but what do we really know? And you can keep talking yourself into the Frost hire or you can ask the hard questions. Lots and lots of unknowns there. If you go after an experienced P5 coach most of those answers are known. The only question is how will they do taking the comparatively smaller step up.

Yes, looking at the coaching record will only take you so far. I think this is where the subjective or eyeball test comes into play. Care to compare McElwain with Frost when it comes to how they present themselves to the media, halftime interviews or standing in the living room of a recruit? I guarantee you Frost wins that comparison.

Clearly the interview process (for any job) has a number of different elements. A job candidate can have a Harvard Phd and yet be unable to carry on a normal social conversation. So it's not just the record or resume that makes the determination.

Stricklin talked at length about finding someone who is a "good fit" for the UF program. I'm sure their coaching record and pedigree will enter into the process as well as their personality, core values, etc. They will consider the total package.

I don't know that Frost would be the best choice but I will say again that passing him over ONLY because of a small sample size as a head coach would be a bad decision.

 

[Since65]

If you go after an experienced P5 coach most of those answers are known.

I know Gundy is 2-11 against his biggest rival. That's a known answer that I find alarming.