College and pro?

I've never seen so many firings, "resignations," and "retirements." There's something to be said for losing the lockerroom but whatever happened to riding the season out and seeing if there would be a turnaround?

I'd say see Miami (both Pro and College)....

It's pretty much the same phenomenon you see in recruiting (and often drafting). Schools are racing to be the first to offer a scholarship to a great prospect and to get a commitment from him early to keep somebody else from getting him. Today even freshmen are getting such offers. It used to be only seniors. It's an arms race.

The pool of qualified coaches is finite, and you want first crack at that pool. Today, if you wait until after the season is over, you are afraid you will miss on the replacement you really want because somebody else got to him or his agent before you.

It stinks, but it isn't going to change.

The idea is that you will lose an entire recruiting class by keeping a lame duck on until the second week of December. A new hire at that point has to get acclimated and then reopen and close the deals with kids in just a couple of months while everyone else in the region has been working them since they were sophomores in high school or before.

By hiring mid season you give your guy a couple of more months in the process and you have better coaches to choose from than if you wait (in theory at least).

You can mitigate the damage by hiring a really top name who has likely already been in talks with the recruits or by hiring another top coach in the region.

Look for Georgia to make a run at Jimbo Fisher. (Yes Richt is in trouble.) Kirby Smart is interested in the Virginia Tech job as is Rich Rod. If Kiffen and Smart both leave Bama it might be a move year for Saban as well. He could go to Texas and then retire in 5. If so Charlie Strong to Miami is possible. The fact that Smart is already expressing interest in the Va Tech job could well be an indication that Saban may be nearing the end of his stint at Bama, whether that means a move or retirement.

(11-03-2015 10:02 AM)JRsec Wrote:  The idea is that you will lose an entire recruiting class by keeping a lame duck on until the second week of December.

That points out one of the side effects of having all of these openings so early. Many of them will be filled as soon as the regular season ends, some of them will be filled with coaches who currently have jobs, so even more teams will be playing bowl games this year with interim head coaches.

It's got a lot to do with the fact that shortly after the regular season recruiting goes on a month-long dead period and your new staff will only have about two weeks to really recruit. You are going to get killed anyway with a staff change, but at least with an extra week/week and a half you can try to salvage something this year. When Clemson named Dabo the permanent head coach right after the South Carolina game he was able to stem the hemorrhaging and bring in a class he now calls "The Dandy Dozen" that had players that would go on to be key contributors like Tajh Boyd, Roderick McDowell, Brandon Thomas, Chandler Catanzaro, Tyler Shatley, and the man Braxton Miller still has nightmares about Spencer Shuey.

By initiating a change (firing/retiring/resigning) midseason you get a jump on the process and can hopefully make a hire days after the end of the regular season. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the teams that were really early in the process (Illinois, both USCs, Maryland) aren't already at the point where they have their finalists picked out.

I wonder what the record is for the number of iterim coaches a team faced in a year.

Iowa will face at least 3 iterim coaches (ILL, MD, Minn) and just missed facing North Texas' Iterim coach by a couple of weeks.

And there are still 4+ games left.

(11-03-2015 10:02 AM)JRsec Wrote:  The idea is that you will lose an entire recruiting class by keeping a lame duck on until the second week of December. A new hire at that point has to get acclimated and then reopen and close the deals with kids in just a couple of months while everyone else in the region has been working them since they were sophomores in high school or before.

By hiring mid season you give your guy a couple of more months in the process and you have better coaches to choose from than if you wait (in theory at least).

You can mitigate the damage by hiring a really top name who has likely already been in talks with the recruits or by hiring another top coach in the region.

Look for Georgia to make a run at Jimbo Fisher. (Yes Richt is in trouble.) Kirby Smart is interested in the Virginia Tech job as is Rich Rod. If Kiffen and Smart both leave Bama it might be a move year for Saban as well. He could go to Texas and then retire in 5. If so Charlie Strong to Miami is possible. The fact that Smart is already expressing interest in the Va Tech job could well be an indication that Saban may be nearing the end of his stint at Bama, whether that means a move or retirement.

But nobody is hiring mid-season. They are just leaving a void. Recruiting gets hurt even more. Doesn't make any sense except to the impulsive, "we have to do something" crowd.

Atlanta paper today is saying Richt truly is on the hot seat now. They've got the sportswriters opinions at the top of the front page.

(11-03-2015 11:46 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  It's got a lot to do with the fact that shortly after the regular season recruiting goes on a month-long dead period and your new staff will only have about two weeks to really recruit. You are going to get killed anyway with a staff change, but at least with an extra week/week and a half you can try to salvage something this year. When Clemson named Dabo the permanent head coach right after the South Carolina game he was able to stem the hemorrhaging and bring in a class he now calls "The Dandy Dozen" that had players that would go on to be key contributors like Tajh Boyd, Roderick McDowell, Brandon Thomas, Chandler Catanzaro, Tyler Shatley, and the man Braxton Miller still has nightmares about Spencer Shuey.

By initiating a change (firing/retiring/resigning) midseason you get a jump on the process and can hopefully make a hire days after the end of the regular season. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the teams that were really early in the process (Illinois, both USCs, Maryland) aren't already at the point where they have their finalists picked out.

Good ADs will have already been working on options before a termination decision.

(11-03-2015 12:06 PM)bullet Wrote:  Atlanta paper today is saying Richt truly is on the hot seat now. They've got the sportswriters opinions at the top of the front page.

It's gone national with both Jim Rome and Colin Cowherd talking about the Dawgs abysmal performance at the Cocktail Party. They'll keep Richt to the end of the year but I just can't see how they bring him back. While UGA might have the booster influence of a Bama or Texas, an empty Sanford Stadium would resonate just as much.

(11-03-2015 01:36 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(11-03-2015 12:06 PM)bullet Wrote:  Atlanta paper today is saying Richt truly is on the hot seat now. They've got the sportswriters opinions at the top of the front page.

It's gone national with both Jim Rome and Colin Cowherd talking about the Dawgs abysmal performance at the Cocktail Party. They'll keep Richt to the end of the year but I just can't see how they bring him back. While UGA might have the booster influence of a Bama or Texas, an empty Stanford Stadium would resonate just as much.

If Stanford Stadium is empty, you can't blame Mark Richt for that.

(11-03-2015 01:46 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(11-03-2015 01:36 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(11-03-2015 12:06 PM)bullet Wrote:  Atlanta paper today is saying Richt truly is on the hot seat now. They've got the sportswriters opinions at the top of the front page.

It's gone national with both Jim Rome and Colin Cowherd talking about the Dawgs abysmal performance at the Cocktail Party. They'll keep Richt to the end of the year but I just can't see how they bring him back. While UGA might have the booster influence of a Bama or Texas, an empty Stanford Stadium would resonate just as much.

If Stanford Stadium is empty, you can't blame Mark Richt for that.

damn sausage fingers

(11-03-2015 12:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  Good ADs will have already been working on options before a termination decision.

True, that's the theory. Part of me can't help but see those first two words and think "oxymoron." Higher ed is weighed down by too much bureaucracy. These decisions are "glacial." And if one's really working with a wish board, it's got to be a big board. So many programs doing business when the season's wrapping up, and so many feelers and games being played. I'm not surprised programs can make strings of bad hires.

"Good ADs" wouldn't do business with contracts structured the way that they are, though. I think *that's* why so many jobs open up mid-season, now. The commitment's there to pay these people whether they perform or not, so if changes can be rolling, why put everything up at one time, at the end?

In the pro's? I don't know. Money might not be as locked up?

(11-03-2015 01:46 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(11-03-2015 01:36 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(11-03-2015 12:06 PM)bullet Wrote:  Atlanta paper today is saying Richt truly is on the hot seat now. They've got the sportswriters opinions at the top of the front page.

It's gone national with both Jim Rome and Colin Cowherd talking about the Dawgs abysmal performance at the Cocktail Party. They'll keep Richt to the end of the year but I just can't see how they bring him back. While UGA might have the booster influence of a Bama or Texas, an empty Stanford Stadium would resonate just as much.

If Stanford Stadium is empty, you can't blame Mark Richt for that.

Someone will find a way.