The topic came up at the press conference yesterday. Tilman and Renu didn't repeat it, but they're not backing off of it either.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/sto...-holgorsen

On Thursday, Fertitta leaned over to Khator during Holgorsen's introduction and said, "We're not going to say what we demand anymore, because I've read it all over the country in the last two years," as the crowd laughed. "But you can just push repeat."

Added Khator: "Yes, my expectations are we do win games. Now you can define it any way you want to define it, but I'm not backing off," she said to more laughter.

(01-04-2019 09:14 AM)TheOrigamiJimmyChin Wrote:  The topic came up at the press conference yesterday. Tilman and Renu didn't repeat it, but they're not backing off of it either.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/sto...-holgorsen

On Thursday, Fertitta leaned over to Khator during Holgorsen's introduction and said, "We're not going to say what we demand anymore, because I've read it all over the country in the last two years," as the crowd laughed. "But you can just push repeat."

Added Khator: "Yes, my expectations are we do win games. Now you can define it any way you want to define it, but I'm not backing off," she said to more laughter.

This reminds me of when Nebraska fired 9-3 coaches and became irrelevant for 20 years.

They'll fire coaches for going 8-4 but hire a coach who averages 7.5 wins. Interesting tactic.

What are the odds this one works out like expected?

I think running around saying we fire coaches for 8-4 is a stretch and a bad look. There are circumstances even if you're a good team/coach to lose 4 games. Injuries would be one issue, grad transfers, a few recruiting busts, etc. Didn't WVU just lose 4 with a Heisman candidate QB?

It is good for the league to have teams pushing winning, but like the previous poster said...Nebraska went that route and still trying to recover.

(01-04-2019 10:19 AM)DownEastPirate Wrote:  They'll fire coaches for going 8-4 but hire a coach who averages 7.5 wins. Interesting tactic.

What are the odds this one works out like expected?

good call out

Will they play defense?

(01-04-2019 09:47 AM)Jugnaut Wrote:  This reminds me of when Nebraska fired 9-3 coaches and became irrelevant for 20 years.

Are you suggesting Major Applewhite = Frank Solich? Or even Bo Pelini?

I'm not expecting miracles or consistent 10 win seasons from Dana. I think UH overpaid. But it's not my money (or relatively little of my money). And Holgorsen is a solid coach.

There's hope amongst UH fans that 7.5 wins/season in Big 12, trying to recruit from Morgantown WV, will translate to more wins in AAC recruiting from Houston.

I'm not sure what to expect. I can imagine he'll do very well at UH, or he'll be "mediocre" with 8-4 seasons. I don't expect he'll do worse here than at WVU.

In any event, Major wasn't the guy. He's a nice guy, but I think he was better at molding young men to be good human beings than he was a good head coach. Unfortunately W/L is more important than building good character. We needed to make the change.

As a side benefit, the hire also pissed off Tom Herman, as evidenced by the "clown show" article he got his friend Thamel to publish. It's fun to see people get under his skin.

I think Fertitta and Khator did themselves harm yesterday with those comments. They just dug the hole deeper.

(01-04-2019 09:14 AM)TheOrigamiJimmyChin Wrote:  The topic came up at the press conference yesterday. Tilman and Renu didn't repeat it, but they're not backing off of it either.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/sto...-holgorsen

On Thursday, Fertitta leaned over to Khator during Holgorsen's introduction and said, "We're not going to say what we demand anymore, because I've read it all over the country in the last two years," as the crowd laughed. "But you can just push repeat."

Added Khator: "Yes, my expectations are we do win games. Now you can define it any way you want to define it, but I'm not backing off," she said to more laughter.

Talking publicly about how many games your school and its coach must win is an invitation and an inducement to breaking NCAA rules. These coaches are under enough pressure without some imbecilic University President publicly quantifying what success looks like. This kind of thing is done at places like Louisville and it's not a good look. It reminds me of old "joke" attributed to a former Oklahoma University President that "We're trying to build a University that our football team can be proud of."

(01-04-2019 11:03 AM)TheOrigamiJimmyChin Wrote:  

(01-04-2019 09:47 AM)Jugnaut Wrote:  This reminds me of when Nebraska fired 9-3 coaches and became irrelevant for 20 years.

Are you suggesting Major Applewhite = Frank Solich? Or even Bo Pelini?

I'm not expecting miracles or consistent 10 win seasons from Dana. I think UH overpaid. But it's not my money (or relatively little of my money). And Holgorsen is a solid coach.

There's hope amongst UH fans that 7.5 wins/season in Big 12, trying to recruit from Morgantown WV, will translate to more wins in AAC recruiting from Houston.

I'm not sure what to expect. I can imagine he'll do very well at UH, or he'll be "mediocre" with 8-4 seasons. I don't expect he'll do worse here than at WVU.

In any event, Major wasn't the guy. He's a nice guy, but I think he was better at molding young men to be good human beings than he was a good head coach. Unfortunately W/L is more important than building good character. We needed to make the change.

As a side benefit, the hire also pissed off Tom Herman, as evidenced by the "clown show" article he got his friend Thamel to publish. It's fun to see people get under his skin.

Applewhite would do okay at Tulane if we lost Fritz. We will give a coach some time if he's building a team in a certain image.

We shall see how it works out but with the injuries Houston had not sure pulling the plug made sense.

(01-04-2019 11:03 AM)TheOrigamiJimmyChin Wrote:  

(01-04-2019 09:47 AM)Jugnaut Wrote:  This reminds me of when Nebraska fired 9-3 coaches and became irrelevant for 20 years.

Are you suggesting Major Applewhite = Frank Solich? Or even Bo Pelini?

I'm not expecting miracles or consistent 10 win seasons from Dana. I think UH overpaid. But it's not my money (or relatively little of my money). And Holgorsen is a solid coach.

There's hope amongst UH fans that 7.5 wins/season in Big 12, trying to recruit from Morgantown WV, will translate to more wins in AAC recruiting from Houston.

I'm not sure what to expect. I can imagine he'll do very well at UH, or he'll be "mediocre" with 8-4 seasons. I don't expect he'll do worse here than at WVU.

In any event, Major wasn't the guy. He's a nice guy, but I think he was better at molding young men to be good human beings than he was a good head coach. Unfortunately W/L is more important than building good character. We needed to make the change.

As a side benefit, the hire also pissed off Tom Herman, as evidenced by the "clown show" article he got his friend Thamel to publish. It's fun to see people get under his skin.

I think firing Applewhite was the correct decision, my response was directed more at the amdiminstrators comments of 8-4 gets you fired. I think those comments are up there with the mentality that led to constant turnover at Nebraska and decades of being irrelevant. It makes Houston a less desireable location for coaches and creates unreasonable fan expectations (that anything less than 10-2 is failure and an 8-4 season should get you fired). It could cause Houston to become a revolving door of failed coaches. I'm not sure Holgorson is the answer, he might be, but he walked into a pressure cooker.

@PeteThamel
Source: Troy's Neal Brown expected to be the next coach at West Virginia, in process of finalizing a deal.

WVU won the trade

2015 seems like forever ago. Maybe 8-4 (8-5) is the new normal?

I think Khator put herself and the Cougars in a coffin and nailed it shut from the inside by doubling down on her rash standard. In a way, it insults the quality of other AAC schools. It will come back to haunt her.

(01-04-2019 11:57 AM)Pony94 Wrote:  @PeteThamel
Source: Troy's Neal Brown expected to be the next coach at West Virginia, in process of finalizing a deal.

WVU won the trade

Quite possible.

I just don't understand the reasoning behind making the comment if it was really made. I'm not suggesting this is what happened, but it sounds more like a 1:00AM 5th beer comment than a university president or successful business man. If the Cougar fans and donors are happy with it, this old guy in Germantown TN has no issues.

(01-04-2019 12:52 PM)oldtiger Wrote:  I just don't understand the reasoning behind making the comment if it was really made. I'm not suggesting this is what happened, but it sounds more like a 1:00AM 5th beer comment than a university president or successful business man. If the Cougar fans and donors are happy with it, this old guy in Germantown TN has no issues.

The comment was made by Khator right after Herman left for Texas. Then she and Fertitta doubled down on it yesterday, refusing to back off the original comment.

I'll see if I can find the original article and quote.

(01-04-2019 12:52 PM)oldtiger Wrote:  I just don't understand the reasoning behind making the comment if it was really made. I'm not suggesting this is what happened, but it sounds more like a 1:00AM 5th beer comment than a university president or successful business man. If the Cougar fans and donors are happy with it, this old guy in Germantown TN has no issues.

Not hard to find.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...applewhite

"The winning is defined at University of Houston as 10 and 2," she told faculty and staff at the annual holiday party at her home. "We'll fire coaches at 8 and 4.”

[/quote]
I think firing Applewhite was the correct decision, my response was directed more at the amdiminstrators comments of 8-4 gets you fired. I think those comments are up there with the mentality that led to constant turnover at Nebraska and decades of being irrelevant. It makes Houston a less desireable location for coaches and creates unreasonable fan expectations (that anything less than 10-2 is failure and an 8-4 season should get you fired). It could cause Houston to become a revolving door of failed coaches. I'm not sure Holgorson is the answer, he might be, but he walked into a pressure cooker.
[/quote]

I thought about your statement, too; however, it was just proven moot since UH not only found a coach interested, but one from a "power" conference to sign a contract with a fairly stout buyout clause. And, it didn't take very long at all to find a coach to do it.