BlazerGreen
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 04:07 PM)UAB?IAB Wrote: (01-14-2014 03:52 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: (01-14-2014 02:31 PM)UAB?IAB Wrote: This guy doesn't excite me, he left UAB as a coordinator to become a position coach and hasn't advanced since. I am not sure how strong his recruiting connections in the southeast are and this seems to be his only opportunity. But if he gets the job I will support him.
He's a UAB guy, he knows *exactly* what he's getting into and he's still willing to come. He's willing to leave a perennial Top Ten team to come back, a team that is Phil Knight's favorite charity to boot.
He may not be the perfect hire, but he's a damn sight better than a number of the names I've seen batted around.
Hell, they won their last bowl game behind two pick sixes - and he coaches the DB's.
I remember John Neal and I am familiar with what he did while at UAB.
While he was in Birmingham, Coach Neal and I attended the same church. He was very friendly and I had several chances to talk with him. I think he is a fantastic person and a great coach BUT I'm not sure he's what we need in our situation. Seems like we're going on a decade of "on the job training" with UAB football coaches. We need someone with experience as a head coach, winning experience vastly preferable.
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01-14-2014 04:19 PM |
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UAB Band Dad
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
Well if Phil wants to pay for it, I think that we can play at Phil Knight/Nike Stadium without asking him for a dime for naming rights.
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01-14-2014 04:19 PM |
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BlazerPhil
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 04:19 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: Well if Phil wants to pay for it, I think that we can play at Phil Knight/Nike Stadium without asking him for a dime for naming rights.
It would be good to have a guy as our coach that knows a guy like Phil Knight. That guy could put up a stadium on the southside just by collecting the loose change under his sofa.
(This post was last modified: 01-14-2014 04:22 PM by BlazerPhil.)
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01-14-2014 04:21 PM |
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UABslant
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 04:13 PM)BeliefBlazer Wrote: Do we get 100 different ugly uniform combinations if we hire Neal?
We don't have the budget for that, but maybe he can get Knight or Chip Kelly to join Blazer Boosters a la Roy Williams.
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01-14-2014 04:26 PM |
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BandGrad
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
Just talked with Eric Schumann. He has not been contacted by anyone about interviewing for the HC job at UAB. I've really gotten to know Schumann. Very funny guy.
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01-14-2014 04:28 PM |
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UAB Band Dad
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 04:21 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote: (01-14-2014 04:19 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: Well if Phil wants to pay for it, I think that we can play at Phil Knight/Nike Stadium without asking him for a dime for naming rights.
It would be good to have a guy as our coach that knows a guy like Phil Knight. That guy could put up a stadium on the southside just by collecting the loose change under his sofa.
Phil Knight has donated many millions to the University of Oregon and the Stanford Business School. He is an alum of both. I know of no connection he has with UAB.
Sooo.... I think an honorary degree sounds like a cheap investment!
Seriously, I don't think that one's happening, guys.
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01-14-2014 04:37 PM |
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Blazer85
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Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
I think Mackin understands that defense is how UAB is going to turn this thing around. Everyone these days is trying to focus on offense. But the ones winning championships are focused on defense.
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01-14-2014 04:40 PM |
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biglizard
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
Obviously it's not a done deal yet and he's just coming for an interview. Having said that the majority of guys who played for him here before would walk through fire for the guy. He turned out NFL DBs from recruits that weren't exactly 5 stars coming out of high school. Player development hasn't been a strong suit at this school in years. He knows exactly the situation he'd be walking into in terms (dare I say the word?) facilities. He knows the political landscape. He's 55 and knows this may be his best or only shot at putting a permanent stamp on a program as a legacy. His recruiting ties in the southeast give him more of an advantage than anyone else that would interview from outside the area.
Reading some of the other names I can say I wouldn't be very upset with many of them. They seem to be up and coming in most cases and would probably give us a shot at improvement. But this guy wanted to be here in 2011 and has been given another chance. Something tells me this isn't just about being a HC with him. Maybe, just maybe, he actually wants to be part of the program and see it advance. JMHO
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01-14-2014 04:44 PM |
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Blazer85
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Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
Whoever we hire, I bet we know by Friday or Saturday and they are introduced at halftime of UTEP game.
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01-14-2014 04:48 PM |
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biglizard
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
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01-14-2014 05:00 PM |
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BlazeN'Bham
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
Id take Neal over any other assistant interested in UAB. Id take him over Houston Nutt as well. It would be a tough decision between Clark and Neal for me. Remember Clark is a few years removed from HS. Neal has 25+years of coaching experience at the college level.
(This post was last modified: 01-14-2014 05:42 PM by BlazeN'Bham.)
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01-14-2014 05:42 PM |
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82blazer
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 05:42 PM)BlazeNBham Wrote: Id take Neal over any other assistant interested in UAB. Id take him over Houston Nutt as well. It would be a tough decision between Clark and Neal for me. Remember Clark is a few years removed from HS. Neal has 25+years of coaching experience at the college level.
i agree with you, i am partial to Neal but have no problem with Clark. Not overly excited about the other names.
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01-14-2014 05:44 PM |
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BlazeN'Bham
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 07:42 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: This not the UAB football era that Neal had when he was here. He never had to coach with academic restrictions or recruit in a twice watered down CUSA. He has been living fat in Oregon where Phil knight gives you whatever you need.
There many discipline and academic problems when Neal was here under Watson. He bears some responsibility for that.
I want someone who has succeeded under a bad situation and didn't have every advantage. Neal doesn't fit that profile
Who are you interested in?
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01-14-2014 07:44 PM |
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biglizard
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 07:42 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: This not the UAB football era that Neal had when he was here. He never had to coach with academic restrictions or recruit in a twice watered down CUSA. He has been living fat in Oregon where Phil knight gives you whatever you need.
There many discipline and academic problems when Neal was here under Watson. He bears some responsibility for that.
I want someone who has succeeded under a bad situation and didn't have every advantage. Neal doesn't fit that profile
Good points and I'm sure those will be part of the discussion
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01-14-2014 07:46 PM |
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UABFRENCHY
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
Nutt please no way
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
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01-14-2014 08:03 PM |
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Smaug
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 07:42 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: This not the UAB football era that Neal had when he was here. He never had to coach with academic restrictions or recruit in a twice watered down CUSA. He has been living fat in Oregon where Phil knight gives you whatever you need.
There many discipline and academic problems when Neal was here under Watson. He bears some responsibility for that.
I want someone who has succeeded under a bad situation and didn't have every advantage. Neal doesn't fit that profile
Neal left in 2002, so it can be argued that he was long gone when everything went to hell under Watson.
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01-14-2014 08:07 PM |
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82blazer
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RE: Golden Ticket #2 goes to John Neal
(01-14-2014 07:42 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: This not the UAB football era that Neal had when he was here. He never had to coach with academic restrictions or recruit in a twice watered down CUSA. He has been living fat in Oregon where Phil knight gives you whatever you need.
There many discipline and academic problems when Neal was here under Watson. He bears some responsibility for that.
I want someone who has succeeded under a bad situation and didn't have every advantage. Neal doesn't fit that profile
There were not any academic or discipline problems when Neal was here under Watson. it was when all the strong assistants left (Clay, Nienas, etc) that the discipline problems started. Neal succeeded as a DC at UAB without any advantage.
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01-14-2014 08:12 PM |
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