Analysis of the (Early) Coaching Candidates

FL Cane

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It's been a whirlwind day with a lot of names thrown around, but here are some of the popular ones. Here's a breakdown (my two cents) of them in no particular order. Sorry for the length.

Paul Hilton "Butch" Davis: Butch needs no introduction. He compiled a 51-20 record (4-0 in Bowls) at the U and built the greatest CFB team of all time. Jimmy Johnson himself has said that Butch is the best closer and evaluator he's ever seen. All of this, for the most part, while he was under crippling sanctions. He was subpar in the NFL with a record of 24-35 and built a respectable program at UNC. At FIU, he's blown expectations out of the water by going 17-9 and leading FIU to its best season ever. He was majorly interested in the job back in 2015 and would jump at the opportunity to come back here.

Advantages: Butch is only making $1 Million a year at FIU, and he'd probably come back on the cheap in exchange for tons of money for a coaching staff; knows what it takes to win here; loves the city & culture; South Fla. recruiting ties; major fan support (for the most part); major connections in CFB and the NFL, would put together a top staff; top talent evaluator and recruiter.

Disadvantages: Burned a lot of bridges here when he left in 2000, one of the reasons why he wasn't a more serious contender back in 2015; it's been two decades since he built an elite team; 67 years old (don't think this will matter to the admin and shouldn't).

Mike Leach: Everyone knows about the pirate and what he can do. All time he's 133-83 (7-7 in bowls) and is currently 48-40 at WSU. He just capped off an 11-2 season and had WSU as a playoff contender most of the season. It's no secret that Leach wants to be at Miami and has openly lobbied for the job before. He's got exciting offenses and a fiery personality.

Advantages: Offensive guru; a passionate coach that could give a f*ck what people think about him; wants to be at Miami; has consistently won throughout his career.

Disadvantages: Controversial public figure (I don't care about this but the school does for PR); hasn't had the best defenses; not a great recruiter; may not mesh with the Miami culture; lots of the same people that didn't give him a look back in 2015 are still boosters or on the BOT today.

Mario Cristobal: Mario is another guy that needs no introduction. He's well known to our fanbase having played on the 89 & 91 championship teams, and having been our TE and OL coach from 2004-2006. As an HC at FIU and Oregon, he's compiled a 35-52 record all time (1-2 bowls) but many of those losses were due to his taking over of a brand new and bare FIU football program. He had good seasons at FIU and won them their first bowl game. This past year at Oregon he went 8-4 (chance at win #9 tomorrow in the RedBox Bowl v.s. Mich. State). He's currently got a top ten recruiting class signed on for next year, along with top facilities and all the Nike money in the world that he could want or need.

Advantages: Miami is his dream job; born and raised here; he and his family love Miami; a beast at recruiting; can lock down South Florida recruiting with the right resources; players love him; has lots of supporters inside the Admin and with Boosters, BOT, etc; 48 years old; coached under Saban.

Disadvantages: Hasn't won big anywhere, his best season has been this current one at 8-5; has only coached one season in the P5; has a $10 Million dollar buyout with Oregon set to go down to $8 million when it's too late; Oregon could get into a bidding war with us over him, they can outbid us and don't want to lose another coach.

Dino Babers: Without a doubt, one of the hottest HC's in college football. All time he's 55-35 (2-0 in bowls) having had HC stints at Eastern Illinois, Bowling Green, and Syracuse. At each of those schools, he's had double-digit win seasons, and was only at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green for two seasons each. This past season he went 10-3 with a Syracuse team he'd built from back to back 4-8 records. This excerpt is from FootballScoop, which put it best:

"One sitting head coach that ACC head coaches would not like The U to hire is Syracuse’s Dino Babers. Babers has zero connection to the program or the area, but that could be immaterial in this case. Like the Johny Cash song, he’s been everywhere, man. Babers had no connection to Eastern Illinois, Bowling Green or Syracuse, but he took those jobs and won there. He’s 55-35 in seven seasons over those three stops, and his 10-3 mark this fall was perhaps his best coaching job. If he can win 10 games and inject life and points into the program at Syracuse, what could he do with South Florida athletes in his backyard?"

Advantages: Has won everywhere he's coached; took a horrible Syracuse program to 10-3; has beaten Clemson and other ranked teams; runs a physical and fast offense; great motivator; players love him; nobody in the ACC wants him at Miami.

Disadvantages: Just signed an extension at Cuse; has zero connections or past known interest with Miami; has only had one good season in the P5 (took over a trash program though); has it made at Cuse, low expectations and his family seems to love it there; may not mesh is South Florida living and culture.

Other Candidates:

Rex Ryan: Literally WTF. Guy has no business being here. The same players pushing for him to be our HC were the same guys on the 2000 team that wanted Coker in charge after Butch left.
Greg Schiano: If Shalala was still here maybe (she loved him) but he doesn't have a chance unless everyone and their mother turns down this job.
Rob Chudzinski: Like Schiano, he's a perpetual UM coaching candidate. Would not be a bad hire overall, but hasn't been doing anything since he got fired by the Colts.
Mark Stoops: Has done a great job at UK, was the DB coach at UM from 2001-2003. He's got it made at Kentucky though, and I don't think he's the splash hire the admin is looking for.
Lane Kiffin: An unmitigated disaster that should be avoided at all costs. Has sucked everywhere he's been: Oakland, UT, USC. No doubt he learned under Saban, for the better, but he's too much of a risk.
Brent Venables: Solid Hire. Has been with Dabo at Clemson for six years, definitely has learned how to build a winner. Don't know if he wants to leave Clemson though or if he'd mesh down here.
Matt Campbell: Would be an interesting hire, took an Iowa State team from trash to extremely competitive. Lots of supposed NFL interest in him though, and no known interest in the job. Haven't heard his name thrown around as much as I thought it'd be.
 
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Bring Butch Davis Back hire Lane Kiffin as an OC and BAM, a winning recipe. And i'm sick and tired of that age talk, Nick Saban is 67.
 
Remember way back in the day, when we were hoping and praying that Richt would at least make changes to the offensive coaching staff?

Now we are over 20 threads deep about our next HC. Man, what a f'ucking day! Even the atheist brethren would have to agree, God is good!
 
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Neal Brown?
Forgot about him. He's done great at Troy with a 35-16 record all time and a 3-0 record in bowls. Also has back to back to back double digit win seasons. The only issue with him is that he's never been an HC in the P5, and is really young at 38 years old. He's probably too much of a risk for the Admin since they need a proven commodity now.
 
Much better options than we had in 2015. There's 4-5 names out there thst i could really get behind..
 
Remember way back in the day, when we were hoping and praying that Richt would at least make changes to the offensive coaching staff?

Now we are over 20 threads deep about our next HC. Man, what a f'ucking day! Even my atheist brethren would have to agree, God is good!


Haha. When I read the tweet I was like 'this is from a fake account". Then I was like "maybe there is a god". Hahahahaah
 
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So Butch, Dino or Mario - OK!
I think Dino and Venables are going to get some feelers. I don't have any inside info on that, but Admin would be crazy not to give them both a call. I'd also bet money that Butch has reached out to his supporters in the Admin already, at least the big boosters that were pushing for him back in 2015.
 
Bring Butch Davis Back hire Lane Kiffin as an OC and BAM, a winning recipe. And i'm sick and tired of that age talk, Nick Saban is 67.
Lane isn’t taking a demotion, nor do I want him here as HC. Only person who is pushing for Lane is Lane, dressed up in Miami gear, in the front row of the Orange Bowl game (did anyone determine if it was actually him? hysterical if so)
 
I love Babers. Lock him down now. ... If not him, NC State's Doeren. I'd take Brown over any of the other guys on your list. Would be happy with Butch, too.
 
Brett Romberg was right when he said coaching is just cycling through the same names over and over again. Most of those names are the same old names which create little excitement.
 
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The people that disliked Leach years ago now want to see us score points. He could get a serious look now.
 
I can create a power point presentation on Campbell if needed OP.
 
Lane isn’t taking a demotion, nor do I want him here as HC. Only person who is pushing for Lane is Lane, dressed up in Miami gear, in the front row of the Orange Bowl game (did anyone determine if it was actually him? hysterical if so)
Dude is getting pay less than a mil at fau, and is not doing very good, so if you don't think he will take a demotion where he can get paid more and actually succeed than ok. Lane is not a HC but he is a great OC and that's facts.
 
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