(11-18-2014 04:52 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(11-16-2014 02:56 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Muschamp is not the right guy for Rice. Kurt Roper might be, but Muschamp isn't.

Summary: Bailiff and Muschamp bot have plusses and minuses, just in different areas. I prioritize being successful on a national scale a bit more than we have in a long time. Mus has a pedigree I can understand as a fan and that is marketable to players, fans and other coaches. I don't know all his details, but a former head-coach-in-waiting-at Texas can't be dismissed just because he failed at Florida.

Now, for your reading entertainment (all two of you) here are a few more thoughts on posting this thread here when I turned on my computer Sunday morning and read the headline in the news, which should more than make up for my lack of postings this year, so enjoy:

Owl 69/70 I appreciate your opinion. I have read your continued posts this season where you repeatedly speculate Bailiff has his plusses, but overall just doesn't seem like the guy to get us to the next level. If Bailiff had his current performance against the old SWC instead of present day C-USA 3.1 (or whatever version it's in now) I would not be complaining about him (okay, much.)

My opinion is likening Bailiff to the girl you've dated off and on for a few years and just can't seem to pull the trigger on and marry (perhaps some of you older guys can relate and/or you remember). Oh, she's a fun girl and all, and she has her positives, and she talks about how much she digs you and stuff, but in the end you're just so on the fence you can't say "I Do" because you know deep inside she just isn't the right one for you--not that you necessarily have someone better all lined up, but you have some ideas.

I'm not saying Bailiff hasn't done some things for Rice--he has:
+He is a nice guy- most everyone agrees.
+He is very loyal to his staff--there is something to be said for that in certain situations.
+He graduates his players--a necessity for any coach at Rice, no question.
*He can recruit well for Rice (here's where I think a lot of other coaches--not all, but a lot) would be able to use Rices' academic advantages in recruiting against other C-USA and G5 schools almost as well as if not better than Bailiff because it's not as much Bailiff as it is having a Rice degree vs other C-USA degree.
+He is weirdly lucky or charmed, which serves Bailiff better than it serves Rice IMHO--by this I mean, he can be on the brink of being fired and then snatch job security/contract extension by doing just enough to not get fired despite still having a losing overall record after, what almost 8 years. JK gave him the latest reprieve because as a brand-new AD of only a few months, in the process of getting up to speed and evaluating the current situation, how do you fire a guy who won the conference, even if the stars lined up absolutely perfectly for it to happen last year (I don't think it happens more than 5 times out of ten, but I'm glad for our players it did). I don't know any other D-I school Bailiff would still be coaching at but Rice (maybe there are others, but I can't name them). Rice's indecision in waiting too long to rid themselves of coaches who are dead weight is part of the school's long football history, so why change now? This seems to be what we're known for nationally in football more than anything else to the current generation of college football fans.

As for GA Southern, well, son, they were a perennial Champion and top-ranked team in D-IAA before moving up (they have a playoff in FCS, remember, so their wins were no fluke of luck or stars aligning like many of Bailiff's), have a huge tradition of winning and a wildly supportive and growing fan base, and they are currently leading their weak conference. They have a history of playing top level (and I mean D-I ranked) teams close and coming up with the occasional upset (or signature win--something Bailiff lacks) so when they beat Florida, we are not surprised here in Georgia because we know about Georgia Southern. They are like UTSA, but with a history of playing that UTSA does not have--they will move up at least a bit someday soon--probably to C-USA or AAC due to their winning and their fan base and willingness to invest in football as a marketing tool and tradition of excellence for their school.)

As for Rice possibly being interested in a coach who didn't live up to Florida's standards (of Top-10 rankings (Top 25 is just not good enough at Florida, you see) and National Championships in the most competitive, stacked conference in the country), well, Urban Meyer left FL after a mediocre (by Florida standards, which are a bit higher than Rices' most people would say) 4-4 conference season and a minor bowl, and burnout/whatever. But Ohio State has done pretty well giving that last washed up Florida coach a chance, wouldn't you say? Or maybe Ohio State was just "delerious"?

When I look at Muschamp here's what I see:

+He's still young by Head Coaching standards, he's not a sunset guy like Hatfield (who did pretty well for us anyway until the end) or Coker (who also had other "issues" but some on the board(including OptoOwl) liked)
+He has deep roots and connections to the nations premier college football league, which would help in Rice scheduling and recruiting both players and assistants.
+He has definite Texas connections, I mean he was the heir apparent at UTexas before his stint at Florida, come on, someone saw more than a little in his potential.
+He knows D (Florida has said they want a more offensive minded coach next go-around) Maybe he'll be smart and find a better OC next job.
+He played for UGA, which I admit to personally liking due to its tradition and winning history.

What kind of person is he? (Is he a "nice guy" like Bailiff?) I have no idea--some of you probably know a bit more.
Who is Roper? Not real familiar with him either, some of you apparently are.

I never played beyond High School Football myself, unlike some of you, I'm a fan, my career has been in marketing and owning small entrepreneurial and technological businesses. My business concerns are, in order: 1. profit first, 2. growth second, 3. investment in the future third.

I saw the story and decided to post in light of the Marshall loss. I have kept silent for this season as I wanted to give Bailiff a chance to carry momentum from his Conf Championship and see if he could muster a signature win on this years' schedule. Once again he has failed to do so, something Dr. K said was a necessity to our football team becoming a Top 25 team, a stated goal of Dr, K, which I agree with. I kept quite after the Old Dominion fiasco, which should never have been so close in the first place. 8 years in, depth should not be as big an issue as it seems to be for Rice when it comes to beating a virtually brand new team like ODU.

You are free to disagree with my opinions, and laugh and comment snidely as many choose to. My goal is same as Dr. K's--for Rice to be ranked in Top 25 and leave doormat status behind. To raise Rice back up to the nationally respected level in football (and basketball) as its academics are. Top-20 academics. Top25 football, baseball and basketball. Seems reasonable to be consistent across the board, but, hey, that's just me.

Muschamp's a pipe dream anyway if for no other reason than Rice has chosen to be penny smart and pound foolish when it comes to football coaching budgets. Something I most certainly do not agree with in sports or in business. If you're going to play, you've got to pay. Anything else gets the results we have seen. To me they are not satisfactory, but again, that's just me. Could Muschamp come to Rice and fall on his face, sure, to answer OO's inevitable point. But I have a feeling Muschamp would do at least as well as Bailiff and Muschamp has more upside, way more, to me. His pedigree still says he's worth loosening the purse strings and taking a chance, along with more pay for assistants, for.

Go Rice!

PS. If Bailiff stays (a near certainty for the Teflon Coach--which I say to his credit--he's a magician at keeping his job here) I'd like to see him and his staff participate in SEAL training like Rhoades, his staff, the MBB team and Dr. K did in the off-season. Maybe it will help him and the football team some. Seems worth a try.

I agree with much of your post here, especially that of expectations and the need to raise them/ keep them high.

The major exception is your advocating Muschamp for Rice. He was a failure at one of the biggest, richest programs in the country- where he basically had a blank check for coaches, recruiting etc., facilities on par with the best in the country, and a built in recruiting draw as the premier state school in the state with the deepest collection of football talent in the country. There is literally nothing in his resume that would indicate he has what it takes to lead Rice to better things. If anything, he seems to me to be just the type of coach who would struggle here. By the way- the comparison to Urban Meyer is laughable.

To answer your question---Kurt Roper is a former Rice football player who is currently Muschamp's OC at Florida. Up until this year he was seen as a hot up-and-coming assistant who would certainly be moving up to a HC job pretty soon. He was David Cutcliff's OC at Ole Miss and then Duke, and oversaw the recent offensive resurgence at Duke. Needless to say, his gamble on Muschamp/Florida didn't pan out.