(03-14-2018 10:28 AM)mrbig Wrote: (03-14-2018 10:23 AM)GoodOwl Wrote: I won't defend Todd Graham as a person, but as a football coach it is undeniable he has above-average talent. How much is a point of debate.
I sometimes wonder what the last decade of football here at Rice would have looked like if we had ponied up and paid him to stay, and if he, not the last guy & Co. was the football coach at Rice for these ten years.
Pretty sure Rice did try to pony up to keep Todd Graham. It was just that, unbeknownst to Rice, while he was literally negotiating a new contract with Rice, he was also negotiating a contract with Tulsa. Not sure that the Tulsa contract was substantially better than what Rice offered, but they didn't have the recruiting restrictions and likely had better facilities (hard to be too much worse than Rice in January 2007).
Reader's Digest version:
Maybe it's not exactly the way we think it is.
(you may skip to next post)
In-Depth version:
I understand your perspective on this, Big. Many share this view. I'm speculating here, so take it with a grain of salt to play Devil's advocate (an appropriate allusion, no?) But looking back at what happened both here at Rice and in College Football over the last decade, I wonder if instead of being a subject for soreness and self-pity on Rice's part, the Todd Graham situation as it presented itself and unfolded was really a lost opportunity to slingshot Rice back into a desirable and competitive job instead of tumble back to what we have more or less been for half-a-century: a retire in place job.
Let's look back and see:
Scenario A (the prevailing view):
1. Hat, a "name" coach we had hired was done, bottoming out the program at 1 win.
2. We found Todd and hired him to take Hat's place and settle into the "Rice Way."
3. Todd got lucky and won because of luck, not any special coaching talent he had.
4. Todd signed extension, but negotiated in bathroom stall at New Orleans Bowl instead of coaching bowl game vs Troy.
5. We tried to match, but cried foul at his negotiating tactics, as it's not the "Rice Way."
6. Todd leaves for Tulsa, we get a "better" coach in last guy & Co.
7. Rice is "happier" without a coach like Todd and many say so.
8. Rice proceeds to lose it's butt over the past decade and sinks further into obscurity that it had been when Todd started after Hat.
Scenario B (an alternative, missed opportunity view):
1. Hat, a "name" coach we had hired was done, bottoming out the program at 1 win.
2. We found Todd, who was an "up and comer" with regional connections that were relevant to Rice, fire in his belly and a willingness to disregard the "Rice way" in order to move the program into being a more normal D-I Head Coaching job (and to get himself paid more.)
3. Todd quickly evaluated what he had to work with here, adjusted quickly to the personnel, pushed his players to be better than they were the year before and won because of moxie. his own brand of leadership (which definitely rubbed many here the wrong way) and coaching acumen a bit of luck. He also went outside the traditional "Rice way" to make things happen immediately he thought the program needed, and he found a way to get them done: truck, stadium seats, pressure washing, (yes, yellow on the redesigned unis) etc... He appeared to have raised an above-normal for a Rice Head Coach portion of needed funds on his own.
4. Todd signed extension, but negotiated in bathroom stall at New Orleans Bowl distracting him from what should have been his primary duties of coaching bowl game vs Troy, and lost game.
5. Rice, in a real negotiating scenario for a hot coaching prospect for the first time in ages, tried to match, signed and announced Todd's raise, but cried foul at his ongoing negotiating tactics, as it's not the "Rice Way." Rice decides it will not use Todd's tactics an a much-needed excuse to catapult the program back into the big-time by re-raising the ante with an iron-clad higher offer to chase Tulsa off and, even if not successful in getting Todd to stay, keeping that significantly higher payout for a new head coach several tiers above what Rice traditionally was willing to go after. Rice would have never needed to actually sign Todd higher, but could have used the higher numb er and it's willingness to pay more as a way of stating "Rice is ready to play in the big-time of D-I and compete for decent talent across the board because that is the reality of the Head Coaching market in D-I today.
Yes, what Todd did wasn't kosher, but Rice needed (and still appears to need) something exceptional to happen to have an excuse to play the game the way it is not the way it wanted it to be and this was a perfect opportunity to "normalize" the Rice job and serve notice to all that it was changing and finally willing to play the game as the market dictated. Rice could blame Todd for the increased level of pay to satisfy the stubborn powers that be and have a valid scapegoat, while still transforming the program (thread title, after all.)
Rice could also jettison Todd later and eat the payment to further solidify its announcement that things were finally different on South Main after 40 years of descent into oblivion. Then Rice could move boldly forward without the self-imposed financial encumbrances of its past and finally "show them how its done" like it always claims it will. There'd be bite behind the bark for a change, and many would take notice and want to participate and cheer us on (and fill the stadium?)
6. Todd leaves for Tulsa, we get a significantly worse coach in last guy & Co. and get taken for a ride to oblivion believing his lies (about how great he and your team really was despite the many re-repeated on-field embarrassments) instead of Todd's. Difference being Todd's lies get you wins and elevate the program while costing you more, other guy's lies get you mostly losses, ridicule, and you still end up paying him and his buddies more than you were used to.
7. Rice is worse off without a coach like Todd and many say so; and may more stay away completely.
8. Rice proceeds to lose it's butt over the past decade and sinks further into obscurity that it had been when Todd started after Hat.
9. Rice hires Bloomgren. Jury is out: will he win and leave due to Rice not being willing to pay whatever necessary (significantly more than it ever has before?) Will he lose and be another guy & Co.? Will he be middling and not move the needle, but get paid a bit more each year and keep things more or less the way they've been for 50 years? Time will tell.
I want Rice to invest in a way that demonstrates to itself and the college sporting world that it is just as good as any other D-I program. I think that adds value to the Rice degree in the modern society we live in. I think it adds value to the school overall and gives alumns something to remain significantly and more regularly connected to the school than ANY other single achievement in today's modern world. I think those are good things to do far any university.