College Football Coaching Moves

[E.J.]

Are you hearing anything EJ? I haven't had a lot of time to scour the internet for rumors of potential hires.

 

I've heard lots of things. That's the problem. I don't think anyone has a clue what's going on. Now both of the Premium sites are saying the decision on Rodriguez has been postponed until tomorrow at the earliest and the team meeting scheduled for tonight is being moved to tomorrow night.

[UMFan83]

Well that's certainly interesting. They can't not fire him at this point can they? That would be embarassing for the team.

 

This article is fairly optimistic about Harbaugh to UM, but of course it was posted before Rich Rod/fired rumors started.

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20110103/SPORTS06/110103017

[E.J.]

Well that's certainly interesting. They can't not fire him at this point can they? That would be embarassing for the team.

 

This article is fairly optimistic about Harbaugh to UM, but of course it was posted before Rich Rod/fired rumors started.

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20110103/SPORTS06/110103017

 

Well, the Free Press were one of the 2 media outlets saying Rich Rod was fired, so I wouldn't believe a word in that article. Plus, I doubt they'd be getting insider info after the witch hunt they put on a couple summers ago.

 

It's hilarious reading different Michigan boards right now though. People have no idea what's going on and they're FREAKING out. It is starting to feel like the coaching search 3 years ago.

[Jon]

John Harbaugh was quoted as saying that he thinks Jim is no longer considering Michigan.

[E.J.]

John Harbaugh was quoted as saying that he thinks Jim is no longer considering Michigan.

 

I'm not going to be very happy if Michigan fires Rich Rod and replaces him with Brady [expletive] Hoke.

[NCCubFan]

Now both of the Premium sites are saying the decision on Rodriguez has been postponed until tomorrow at the earliest and the team meeting scheduled for tonight is being moved to tomorrow night.

I got a text alert from ESPN also saying that the decision has not yet been made.

[shnsajax]

Sounds like Diaz is all but confirmed, Bo Davis is official. Dew what all do you know about him?

[E.J.]

Lots of chatter on Twitter about Harbaugh accepting the 49ers coaching position.

[dalgreen]

Good for Michigan. I applaud the move because the move shows they are not putting up with mediocrity like my alma mater (Illinois). Shannon at Miami (FL) gone after three years even though he had an above .500 record. I have argued with people that Illinois could be a very good football program if they showed that had a commitment to winning. Yeah, Illinois could be good next year if everyone (including coaches) stays but what about the following years? Again, kudos to Michigan for not accepting mediocrity.

 

How has Illinois not shown a commitment to winning? They've upgraded both practice and gameday facilities, they pay their coaches well, and it appears things are starting to turn around. I'm not a huge Zook fan, but the program is inching in the right direction.

 

You are right about Illinois' facilities they have improved greatly. And that is a good start, but I'm talking about accountability specifically with the head coach. 28-45 since joining Illinois shouldn't be acceptable. I have always said that the expectations/standards for Illini football is lower than Illini basketball. No basketball coach would survive a record similar to Zook's. He has recruited pretty well with little to show for it (recruiting class of '06, for example). I may be in the minority on this, but I'm not impressed with a 7-6 record when halfway through the season it looked like 9 regular season wins were attainable. I gave him credit for getting the new coordinators but I just think Illni football should have higher expectations than what we have seen under Turner and now Zook. Now we have to hope that most of the following people Wilson, Liget, Leshoure and/or the coordinators stay for us to be good next year.

[Magnetic Curses]

Good for Michigan. I applaud the move because the move shows they are not putting up with mediocrity like my alma mater (Illinois). Shannon at Miami (FL) gone after three years even though he had an above .500 record. I have argued with people that Illinois could be a very good football program if they showed that had a commitment to winning. Yeah, Illinois could be good next year if everyone (including coaches) stays but what about the following years? Again, kudos to Michigan for not accepting mediocrity.

 

How has Illinois not shown a commitment to winning? They've upgraded both practice and gameday facilities, they pay their coaches well, and it appears things are starting to turn around. I'm not a huge Zook fan, but the program is inching in the right direction.

 

You are right about Illinois' facilities they have improved greatly. And that is a good start, but I'm talking about accountability specifically with the head coach. 28-45 since joining Illinois shouldn't be acceptable. I have always said that the expectations/standards for Illini football is lower than Illini basketball. No basketball coach would survive a record similar to Zook's. He has recruited pretty well with little to show for it (recruiting class of '06, for example). I may be in the minority on this, but I'm not impressed with a 7-6 record when halfway through the season it looked like 9 regular season wins were attainable. I gave him credit for getting the new coordinators but I just think Illni football should have higher expectations than what we have seen under Turner and now Zook. Now we have to hope that most of the following people Wilson, Liget, Leshoure and/or the coordinators stay for us to be good next year.

 

illinois is not michigan. as soon as illinois starts having sustained success, their coach will jump for a better program and leave them with someone like lou tepper.

 

our best chance for continued success is that zook pulls it together and continues to surround himself with good coordinators. he recruits well already, and the biggest part of college football is amassing talent. you cannot win without talent. if zooks maintains a reasonable record and success, he will never leave because no one will offer him a better job than illinois.

 

zook really is the perfect fit. we just have to make it work.

[Sosa21MVP]

John Harbaugh was quoted as saying that he thinks Jim is no longer considering Michigan.

 

I'm not going to be very happy if Michigan fires Rich Rod and replaces him with Brady [expletive] Hoke.

 

Yeah I don't think Hoke's resume is impressive enough yet to say he should be the next Michigan coach. I mean he has done well enough at Ball State and SDSU but it still is kind of a limited sample size. Plus how often does Ball State get a kid with the talent of a Nate Davis?

[dalgreen]

Good for Michigan. I applaud the move because the move shows they are not putting up with mediocrity like my alma mater (Illinois). Shannon at Miami (FL) gone after three years even though he had an above .500 record. I have argued with people that Illinois could be a very good football program if they showed that had a commitment to winning. Yeah, Illinois could be good next year if everyone (including coaches) stays but what about the following years? Again, kudos to Michigan for not accepting mediocrity.

 

How has Illinois not shown a commitment to winning? They've upgraded both practice and gameday facilities, they pay their coaches well, and it appears things are starting to turn around. I'm not a huge Zook fan, but the program is inching in the right direction.

 

You are right about Illinois' facilities they have improved greatly. And that is a good start, but I'm talking about accountability specifically with the head coach. 28-45 since joining Illinois shouldn't be acceptable. I have always said that the expectations/standards for Illini football is lower than Illini basketball. No basketball coach would survive a record similar to Zook's. He has recruited pretty well with little to show for it (recruiting class of '06, for example). I may be in the minority on this, but I'm not impressed with a 7-6 record when halfway through the season it looked like 9 regular season wins were attainable. I gave him credit for getting the new coordinators but I just think Illni football should have higher expectations than what we have seen under Turner and now Zook. Now we have to hope that most of the following people Wilson, Liget, Leshoure and/or the coordinators stay for us to be good next year.

 

illinois is not michigan. as soon as illinois starts having sustained success, their coach will jump for a better program and leave them with someone like lou tepper.

 

our best chance for continued success is that zook pulls it together and continues to surround himself with good coordinators. he recruits well already, and the biggest part of college football is amassing talent. you cannot win without talent. if zooks maintains a reasonable record and success, he will never leave because no one will offer him a better job than illinois.

 

zook really is the perfect fit. we just have to make it work.

 

I understand what you are saying. It's just the "maintaining a reasonable record" that I am not confident with. We have had talent with good recruiting classes and not a lot to show. I know we are not Michigan but why can't we get to the point where we can keep a successful coach long term? Mizzou's been able to keep Pinkel and Iowa has been able to keep Ferentz (probably spelled wrong). I'm just frustrated with our football program and can't understand why we have been fine with mediocrity. Just ranting...

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

I agree with Sulley. Zook fits well at Illinois because of his recruiting ability. Illinois will never be at the top of any elite recruit's list. The state of Illinois does produce talent, but other midwestern schools will always be able to pick out the top recruits.

 

At our peak, we are a school which can win 7-9 games consistently each year and occasionally compete for a Big Ten title. The key to turning around Illinois, and going to consistent bowl games is scheduling. Now that the Mizzou game is gone we should be able to pick up more wins. Zook's not the best coach and will have unexplainable losses, but I think he is about as good a coach as our program can reasonably be expected to get.

[dew1679666265]

Sounds like Diaz is all but confirmed, Bo Davis is official. Dew what all do you know about him?

 

Never heard of Bo Davis. Manny Diaz really turned the Mississippi State defense around last year and was the driving force behind a really good (for the Sun Belt) MTSU defense before that. I've been hearing the potential for head coaching jobs in his near future and it seems he's regarded much like Justin Wilcox was at Boise State (now at Tennessee). A young, bright defensive coach with a head coaching future.

 

Interesting stats:

 

MTSU defense in 2009 (w/Diaz) – 23 PPG, 351.6 YPG

MTSU defense in 2010 (no Diaz) – 27.5 PPG, 384.4 YPG

 

Miss St defense in 2009 (no Diaz) – 26.8 PPG, 366.0 YPG

Miss St defense in 2010 (w/Diaz) – 20.3 PPG, 358.1 YPG

[Andy]

John Harbaugh was quoted as saying that he thinks Jim is no longer considering Michigan.

 

I'm not going to be very happy if Michigan fires Rich Rod and replaces him with Brady [expletive] Hoke.

 

Yeah I don't think Hoke's resume is impressive enough yet to say he should be the next Michigan coach. I mean he has done well enough at Ball State and SDSU but it still is kind of a limited sample size. Plus how often does Ball State get a kid with the talent of a Nate Davis?

About as often as we are coached by a coach as good as Hoke.

 

I'd be with you if it was just Nate Davis, but the guy immediately turned San Diego State, a program that had been worthless since Marshall Faulk left, and came within a couple of razor-thin defeats against TCU and Utah from winning the Mountain West.

[Tracer Bullet]

No way they would fire Rich Rod without having someone else in place.

 

the whole team meeting scheduled then no decision and team meeting rescheduled after reports of Harbaugh getting a fat offer from Stanford and the 49ers sure makes it sound like UM thought they had Harbaugh and then didn't. So instead of being coachless, they're holding out another 24 hours to lock up Harbaugh or find someone else. I can't believe RichRod will still be the coach on NSD after all this.

 

It's really weird watching this from the sidelines. I don't usually pay that much attention to coaching searches that aren't for my teams. I wouldn't say I'm taking pleasure in it, it's not really that funny. it's just such a strange dance when it's not your team/life seemingly hanging in the balance.

[Prizefight]

I mean, they have to fire RichRod now right even if they weren't planning on it. This story going national has to seriously hurt Rich's recruiting efforts. I'd imagine it would be a tough sell in a recruits living room to come play for you when they know one more 6 or 7 win season means you won't be there next year.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

I can't wait for Pitt to hire RichRod just to see West Virginia lose their [expletive].

[shnsajax]

I mean, they have to fire RichRod now right even if they weren't planning on it. This story going national has to seriously hurt Rich's recruiting efforts. I'd imagine it would be a tough sell in a recruits living room to come play for you when they know one more 6 or 7 win season means you won't be there next year.

 

His recruiting efforts have already sucked, and he lost Demitrius Hart who decommitted and committed to Alabama over the weekend.

[Jon]

A Michigan beat writer just reported that an assistant told him Rodriguez and the entire staff have been canned.

[dew1679666265]

A Michigan beat writer just reported that an assistant told him Rodriguez and the entire staff have been canned.

 

They just said on ESPN's First Take that Joe Schad is reporting RichRod is officially out.

[NCCubFan]

A Michigan beat writer just reported that an assistant told him Rodriguez and the entire staff have been canned.

 

They just said on ESPN's First Take that Joe Schad is reporting RichRod is officially out.

I just got a text alert from ESPN saying he's out.

[Soul]

I can't wait for Pitt to hire RichRod just to see West Virginia lose their [expletive].

 

Hehe, yeah.

 

Seems like the obvious move for him, too.

[bcl412]

I really believe Michigan is making a huge mistake. I don't see how they aren't mediocre for a while longer still unless they hire a huge name. I mean, my guess is they'll want to run a traditional offense again (I don't know for sure, I haven't followed too closely, it just seems like a lot of fans thought RichRod was gimmicky) which is going to mean a lot of turnover. You'd think that with the potential turnover of players it will be a year or two before they are at this years level again.

[Jon]

I really believe Michigan is making a huge mistake. I don't see how they aren't mediocre for a while longer still unless they hire a huge name. I mean, my guess is they'll want to run a traditional offense again (I don't know for sure, I haven't followed too closely, it just seems like a lot of fans thought RichRod was gimmicky) which is going to mean a lot of turnover. You'd think that with the potential turnover of players it will be a year or two before they are at this years level again.

Brandon and the fans will probably have less patience with the new coach, as well. Especially with the late firing, it could take a few years before the new coach can really put together a staff he likes. Add in the effect this will have on the recruiting class next month and potential transfers and you've got a recipe for taking a step back.

 

Big name programs are going to be coming across this problem more and more. This isn't pre-1993 college football. Coaching changes, particularly frequent ones, can be very damaging to football programs and the big programs rarely have the necessary patience to let a coach build a program.