Why reinvent the wheel? We've seen that coaches can come to Miami, win, and win big. We know what the formula is, we know what works here in our unique situation and what doesn't.
I don't think anyone would argue with me that the two best coaches we've ever had here were Jimmy Johnson and Howard Schnellenberger. I'll even throw Butch Davis in there as well.
So why not ask ourselves.... what did these two coaches have in common (prior to coming to Miami).... so that we can use that as a benchmark to find our next coach. Well I did just that, and here's what I came up with.
1.) Both spent time learning under elite coaches.
This is important because it gives the coach the first-hand experience of what a winning organization looks like, and how a great coach conducts practices, schedules things, recruits, runs his team, etc.
Howard has the best resume I've ever seen in this respect. He was the offensive coordinator at Alabama under Bear Bryant and won several national championships, and he recruited Joe Namath. He was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins under Don Shula when they went undefeated and won the Super Bowl. ****.
Jimmy wasn't quite as impressive from this standpoint, but still impressive. Jimmy recruited Terry Bradshaw at Louisiana Tech as their offensive coordinator. He was the defensive line coach under Chuck Fairbanks at Oklahoma when they won all their titles. Then he became the defensive coordinator at Arkansas, for the same team where Lou Holtz was the offensive coordinator. He was also the DC at Pitt back when they were good.
2.) Both had head coaching experience at a high level program
The key is experience, neither one was very successful as a head coach before coming here. Neither coaches had impressive turnarounds at a lower tier school.... THIS HAS NEVER BEEN OUR FORMULA FOR SUCCESS. What's important here is big time experience, in a big time conference, and maybe they didn't do so well, but that's more because of the situation they were in than anything they did.
Howard again has the best resume. He was the head coach for the Baltimore Colts for 2 years before being canned for having terrible records. Jimmy was the head coach for Oklahoma State, in the Big 8 (at that time the best conference in America). While not sucking, he didn't blow the world away either.
3.) Both brought something new to the table
Kind of like what Lu said in another post. Both brought something innovative and new to Miami that gave us a competitive advantage.
In Howard's case, it was the pro-style offense. College football wasn't ready for a passing attack like that. Note that Howard didn't INVENT the pro-style, he was simply the first to really bring it to the college world and implement it.
In Jimmy's case, it was the Jimmy Johnson 4-3. Again, Jimmy didn't really invent it. But he took an idea that had been kicked around in coaching circles in Texas/Oklahoma for a few years, made it his own, refined it during his time in Oklahoma State, and brought it to Miami with devastating results.
4.) Both had swag
People hate this word, but I'll tell you what.... a team takes on the personality of its coach. Both Howard and Jimmy were larger than life, confident, and would straight up tell you they were going to beat your ***. As a result, their teams played with energy and belief that we haven't seen around here since.
I think it's important when we interview a coach that he has this personality, because it works so well with the culture down here.
Those are my four points. Find a coach like that, and profit.
I don't think anyone would argue with me that the two best coaches we've ever had here were Jimmy Johnson and Howard Schnellenberger. I'll even throw Butch Davis in there as well.
So why not ask ourselves.... what did these two coaches have in common (prior to coming to Miami).... so that we can use that as a benchmark to find our next coach. Well I did just that, and here's what I came up with.
1.) Both spent time learning under elite coaches.
This is important because it gives the coach the first-hand experience of what a winning organization looks like, and how a great coach conducts practices, schedules things, recruits, runs his team, etc.
Howard has the best resume I've ever seen in this respect. He was the offensive coordinator at Alabama under Bear Bryant and won several national championships, and he recruited Joe Namath. He was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins under Don Shula when they went undefeated and won the Super Bowl. ****.
Jimmy wasn't quite as impressive from this standpoint, but still impressive. Jimmy recruited Terry Bradshaw at Louisiana Tech as their offensive coordinator. He was the defensive line coach under Chuck Fairbanks at Oklahoma when they won all their titles. Then he became the defensive coordinator at Arkansas, for the same team where Lou Holtz was the offensive coordinator. He was also the DC at Pitt back when they were good.
2.) Both had head coaching experience at a high level program
The key is experience, neither one was very successful as a head coach before coming here. Neither coaches had impressive turnarounds at a lower tier school.... THIS HAS NEVER BEEN OUR FORMULA FOR SUCCESS. What's important here is big time experience, in a big time conference, and maybe they didn't do so well, but that's more because of the situation they were in than anything they did.
Howard again has the best resume. He was the head coach for the Baltimore Colts for 2 years before being canned for having terrible records. Jimmy was the head coach for Oklahoma State, in the Big 8 (at that time the best conference in America). While not sucking, he didn't blow the world away either.
3.) Both brought something new to the table
Kind of like what Lu said in another post. Both brought something innovative and new to Miami that gave us a competitive advantage.
In Howard's case, it was the pro-style offense. College football wasn't ready for a passing attack like that. Note that Howard didn't INVENT the pro-style, he was simply the first to really bring it to the college world and implement it.
In Jimmy's case, it was the Jimmy Johnson 4-3. Again, Jimmy didn't really invent it. But he took an idea that had been kicked around in coaching circles in Texas/Oklahoma for a few years, made it his own, refined it during his time in Oklahoma State, and brought it to Miami with devastating results.
4.) Both had swag
People hate this word, but I'll tell you what.... a team takes on the personality of its coach. Both Howard and Jimmy were larger than life, confident, and would straight up tell you they were going to beat your ***. As a result, their teams played with energy and belief that we haven't seen around here since.
I think it's important when we interview a coach that he has this personality, because it works so well with the culture down here.
Those are my four points. Find a coach like that, and profit.
