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(11-23-2011 06:11 PM)Smaug Wrote:  1. I want a coach with an ego. Someone with charisma. I want a guy who's gonna walk in and say, "There's a new sheriff in town. This is a program that it's gonna take one full-bore, hard-drivin' sumb!tch to turn into a winner, and I am that sumb!tch."

A thousands times this.

1 - I want a head coach that knows how to utilize talent in a way that no team can prepare for our offense. Wing T? Sure. Notre Dame box? Better get a darn good Center to be able to angle that ball off the snap. Pro-set? I want our score to resemble a basketball routing, which brings me to my 2nd quality:

2 - Bring in a competent defensive coordinator. No more of this Nickel and Dime based defense. 3-4, 4-3, bear, over/under, and 5-2 in tight situations. Man coverage and cover 2, let's get some more Int's.

3 - Bring in a cutting edge strength coach. Traditional training resembles bodybuilding and strength training. Athletic development, because when was the last time a biceps curl resembled anything on the field during a game?

4 - I want the guy to be a straight-up mad man, a la Jon Gruden. If you have to choose whether the players to love or fear a coach, why not choose both? Visor throwing in team meetings is a must.

5 - I want a silver-tongued devil. If he could deliver inspirational speeches like those akin to our brother in green 58-56 to our men, sell the program to local media, and bash those who verbally assault the program/individual players, that would be a huge selling point.

6 - No sweater vests. Need I say more?

Everyone knows that I think John Neal is the right fit. He believes he can win at UAB, knows the challenges (facilities, recruiting, etc.), he believes in developing young men into better players and productive members of society, and would be commited to UAB. And I can assure you one thing, we would not be 3-8 going into the 12th game of his 5th season.

Whether or not we will have a coaching vacancy, I am not sure, but I sure hope we at least look John Neal's way.

Two crazy thoughts for coaches:
1. Bobby Bowden - let Jeff or Terry make the salary as Assoc Heead Coach and let Bowden be the figurehead of UAB Athletics all the while padding the all-time wins total. It might make UAB a gimmick, but at least people talk about us.

2. Gus Malzahn - would the BOT let us throw big money (1million+) to lure him away from Auburn. Eveyone saying he does not have it without Cam, but Alabama is not really looking forward to facing them this Saturday, either.

I have said #1 for weeks & people thought I was crazy.

No problems with John Neal either.

Whomever we choose, we need someone that will stand up with us and demand an on campus stadium.

There are many "good coaches" but many of those prefer to coach at established programs with already existing FACILITIES that UAB has mainly on a wish list, not "shovel ready". Mackin can't (and probably doesn't feel it a good idea) say how many agents for desirable coaches have said "Thanks, but no thanks right now. Call us back when you get permission to build something from the "real bosses" in Tuscaloosa." I'm pretty sure that what UAB has gone through in the last few weeks has not gone unnoticed by FB coaches around the country.

(11-24-2011 01:24 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  There are many "good coaches" but many of those prefer to coach at established programs with already existing FACILITIES that UAB has mainly on a wish list, not "shovel ready". Mackin can't (and probably doesn't feel it a good idea) say how many agents for desirable coaches have said "Thanks, but no thanks right now. Call us back when you get permission to build something from the "real bosses" in Tuscaloosa." I'm pretty sure that what UAB has gone through in the last few weeks has not gone unnoticed by FB coaches around the country.

I'm sure our pool of candidates has shrunk.

We need someone to come in and yell "CHARGE!"

Wow. It looks like we have about 10 folks who have weighed-in including myself and it appears just from us 10 that we want a miracle. I thought it might be maybe about 12 or so qualities I would see over and over but I stopped writing when it approached 30 discrete entries....

To try and summarize: we want a man of impeccable character who is clean, dynamic, media savvy, courageous, innovative, who is is a master of both offense and defense, brilliant at recruiting, who is at the same time both old and experienced and young and hungry, who will at the same time stay and build our program but also use it as a stepping stone to greatness, and who can come from anywhere as long as it's the south.

There were a number of duplications, but not NEAR as many as I expected. It was closer to "asking 100 people the same question and getting 100 different answers" than it was to getting the same answer...

I'm kinda surprised.

I would say that it's a sign, generally speaking, that we as a fanbase are quite passionate about our football program and that we have very clear ideas about what constitutes our ideal coach. That's pretty much the only conclusion I can draw from this data.

Well, actually, there was one quality that seemed to shine through: The ego/dynamic/animated sort of quality. We want him to "Twist and Shout". We apparently want Ferris Bueller!

On the "stepping stone" thing, I have no problem with a guy who builds something and walks away after a few years. One, UAB IS a stepping stone job, at least for now. Two, if some big school snatches him up, then it means UAB is winning.

Did Boise miss a beat when Dan Hawkins left?

(11-26-2011 08:59 AM)Smaug Wrote:  One, UAB IS a stepping stone job, at least for now.

Yep. I completely agree.

I had no visions of Jimbo Fisher staying his entire career at UAB. I just wanted him to be around long enough to resurrect our football team, which undoubtedly, he would have done, that why the "wolfpack" ambushed and slaughtered any chance of hiring him on, but weren't these the same people that were willing to pay him the same amount if not more, to be one of "Liittle Nicky's" lackeys at alabama? But at the same time, he's "too expensive" for UAB to be a head coach? Why that didn't warrant some kind of investigation into this faction's glaring interference with UAB sports is beyond me.