Is Luke Fickell on the short list in a few years?
by mocopdx (2020-05-21 14:40:14)
Edited on 2020-05-21 14:40:29

Apologies if this has been discussed. I know- let’s hire a coach from Cincinnati, what could go wrong? I would like to see him succeed at a P5 school first, but I think that might be coming soon. He has done quite well thus far, and I like the idea of hiring a defensive minded coach, provided he can prove that he will focus on finding an offensive mastermind. Urban clearly had a lot of respect for him.

Let’s say he goes somewhere like Michigan State and wins 10 games, is he someone we would consider a top candidate? Any red flags I don’t know about?


Brian Kelly in a nicer suit *
by 84david  (2020-05-22 09:09:55)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Come on man. Fickell coached with Tressel for 8 years
by irishhawk49  (2020-05-22 14:49:33)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

and Urban Meyer for four. Plus he has the one year interim gig at OSU. On that foundation he’s now having success (26-13) at Cinci. Right there he’s more quailed, in my opinion, than Kelly was when Kelly started at notre dame. If he got a P5 job, as the op stipulated, you have a damn good candidate.
I’d trade him for Kelly today.


He was HC at OSU after Tressel and failed. *
by 84david  (2020-05-22 15:07:45)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


IIRC, he was named interim coach because Tressel was fired
by irishhawk49  (2020-05-22 15:56:01)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

in the summer for Tattoo-gate. He was put in an unenviable situation and what he could. Why would Urban keep him on as DC if he was such a failure.


It was an enviable situation if there ever was one.
by tdiddy07  (2020-05-22 15:58:19)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

He took over a 12-1 Sugar Bowl champion that he took to 6-7 and that Urban then took to 12-0. It was an unmitigated failure. Could he be a better coach now? Sure. But that sure gives me pause.


He also had to start a true freshman at QB. *
by NumberOneMoses  (2020-05-22 20:00:31)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


He wasn’t exactly set up for success. *
by irishhawk49  (2020-05-22 16:02:48)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


He took over a 12-1 team that won 2 NYD bowls in 2 years.
by tdiddy07  (2020-05-22 16:05:30)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

He was set up for tremendous success.


It’s August before the season’s about to start and ,oh,
by irishhawk49  (2020-05-22 16:56:50)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

you’re the head coach now. I’m sure in retrospect he learned a lot and wishes he had done some things differently. But in the interim he coached under Meyer for 4 or 5 years, where I’m sure he learned more. Now he’s succeeding at Cinci. I think he has the potential to be a really good P5 coach, if he chooses to ( he turned down MSU for whatever reason).


That didn’t phase Ryan Day. *
by tdiddy07  (2020-05-22 19:28:00)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Day didn’t have 5 of his best players suspended 5 games. * *
by NumberOneMoses  (2020-05-23 18:06:18)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Three games, *
by irishhawk49  (2020-05-22 20:38:06)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Next ND HC will be Tom Rees.
by Brahms  (2020-05-22 07:48:00)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I predict we will contact Edsall as well as a ploy.


Hired by AD BK at 900,000 per....
by Wolfetone  (2020-05-22 10:44:54)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Hails Rees as one of the all-time great ND qb's. Move hailed
by ExVP in Charge of Sports,Savvy, who collects but doesn't
earn his 2.5M annual salary.


A campus wide search results in Ian Book named OC *
by NDinJapan  (2020-05-22 09:32:31)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Campus wide would be too thorough a search. Just a few dorms
by CAFB4ND  (2020-05-22 11:09:37)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

should suffice.


There's an adjunct prof in Peace Studies who ...
by Brahms  (2020-05-22 12:03:38)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

...wants some of that action.

No probs; ND always makes the coach (not v-v). And the optics are too freaking good to pass up.

Eat it up with a spoon, lads.


FWIW, Matt Freeman on ISD opened up a no-holds-barred
by 1NDGal  (2020-05-21 17:41:38)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Q&A session in the football forum maybe a month ago.

Someone asked who will be the next coach. Matt responded with a picture of Tom Herman.

[NOTE — Herman will make $6.5M in 2022 and $6.75M in 2023.]


It was a picture of PJ Fleck *
by 11thfloorflanner  (2020-05-21 19:22:39)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Perfect *
by 1NDGal  (2020-05-21 19:54:18)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


That makes no sense.
by revressbo  (2020-05-21 18:38:34)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Freeman must’ve been trolling. Either Herman succeeds at Texas (and therefore wouldn’t leave) or he fails and is fired and we wouldn’t hire him.


If he wins a major bowl game as a head coach, then yes.
by domer4  (2020-05-21 15:59:34)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Leahy, Holtz and Devine all seem to have proven that before ND - how to prepare a team to face a great opponent with a one month gap (not that Leahy had to do it at ND).


Has our current HC won a major bowl game...
by Brahms  (2020-05-22 07:51:37)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

...against a quality opponent?


No, he hasn't won a major bowl game period.
by domer4  (2020-05-24 20:56:54)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

At ND, Cincinnati or anywhere else.

Neither did Davie, Willingham or Weis before ND or while at ND.

In today's playoff world - being able to beat a highly ranked opponent after 30 days off becomes critical.


I wouldn't put him on the short list.
by BIG MAC  (2020-05-21 15:42:22)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

But I might put him on the "long" list:i.e. the watch list of maybe a dozen names that I would be following and monitoring, over the next 2 or 3 years.


Expand on something, if you don't mind:
by jt  (2020-05-21 15:37:46)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

You say that you "like the idea of a defensive minded head coach" and I am just wondering why. That seems to be the exact opposite of most NFL and NCAA football teams these days. Sure, there are very successful coaches at those levels with a defensive background, but teams seem to live and die with their offensive play callers. Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary are modern guys who jump to mind for me--both have defensive backgrounds and both faltered when their offensive coordinators left/were not retained (Norv Turner and Mike Martz).


Looking at last years NCAA Top 15 teams by head coach focus:
by jimmypop  (2020-05-22 08:51:09)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

LSU - Defenes but didn't win big until he got the right QB and OC (and then he got the hell out of the way) and seems to be more of a recruiter/motivator than just a Defensive HC

OSU, Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon, Baylor, Wisconsin, Florida, Penn State - Offense

Utah- Defense
Auburn- Offense
Alabama - Defense
Michigan & ND Offense

The next 10 only have 2 defensive minded HC's.


Georgia? Kirby Smart.
by mocopdx  (2020-05-22 10:02:33)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I think jt is right though and I would change my mind on my original stance re: offensive vs defensive head coach.


For some reason I was thinking of McElwain when I was typing
by jimmypop  (2020-05-23 17:35:29)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

For smart


Baylor too
by StetsonDan  (2020-05-22 10:14:11)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Matt Rhule spent more time as an assistant coaching defense than coaching offense.

His offense at Temple was much like you'd expect a defensive coordinator to value (running the ball and valuing time of possession), but he changed that at Baylor when he realized almost all of Texas high school football runs some version of spread.


Rhule’s last few years were coaching
by jimmypop  (2020-05-23 17:34:09)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Offense so I dumped him that group.


uh, he's not at Baylor any longer *
by jt  (2020-05-22 13:57:15)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Well the new guy at Baylor is even more defense-heavy *
by mocopdx  (2020-05-22 14:31:17)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


and let's see how that goes *
by jt  (2020-05-22 18:04:39)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Mike Zimmer is one counter-example.
by PWK2  (2020-05-21 17:43:24)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Yes, I know it takes more than one, but he was the first to come to mind.


that's the first that comes to mind? Typical Vikings fan
by jt  (2020-05-21 23:49:03)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Not the best coach in the NFL right now, the guy who has won multiple Super Bowls in New England?

Zimmer?

Funny.

Yes, Zimmer is a good coach. So is Belicheck, obviously. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying that offense is the name of the game and you really have to ensure that your head coach has a feel for that side of the ball and really also an ability to develop a qb. That's the difference maker in the NFL; having a franchise qb vs. having to hope for lightening in a bottle.


I think it’s harder to find a good defensive coach.
by mocopdx  (2020-05-21 15:54:19)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

The game is certainly heading in the direction of being offense-friendly(it’s already there, but doesn’t seem to be shifting back). The caveat in my original post is crucial, and without it I wouldn’t want a defensive head coach. I would rather hire the rare defensive mastermind who can go hire an excellent OC and give them carte blanche than the other way around. Maybe I’m wrong on that. What do you think?


that offensive mastermind would be hired away immediately
by jt  (2020-05-21 16:55:06)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

and you would just end up being in a perpetual state of changing coordinators.

I am firmly in support of having a head coach that can take over offensive playcalling as needed. I would prefer to try and hire an offensive minded head coach who can hire a series of good DC's (who you will not lose as often, most likely).

I find that to be especially true in the NFL, but I suppose in college it can be more flexible. At the end of the day, I think that what Bill Walsh said back in the day is still basically true--one offense, the coaches can scheme up yards and points, but you need the horses on defense in order to have a championship level defense.

Basically, I would hire an offensive minded coach and then recruit the hell out of the defensive side of the ball.


We should let other teams know that we have an
by SWPaDem  (2020-05-21 18:05:12)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

offensive mastermind. We could and we wouldn't be lying.


Serious question: if a Coach succeeds at a high level D-1
by Rosecrea  (2020-05-21 15:26:49)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

FB program (I know you didn't specify "high level), what would be the enticement to want to move to ND? By any objective measure, don't we have less of an institutional commitment to "pure" football success than most other high level D-1 programs?


Because
by HTownND  (2020-05-21 18:49:31)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Even when you haven't come close to reaching the expectations at ND, you still are considered one of the top 5 coaches in the game.

Not really many other places you can pull that off.


I don't really understand this line of thinking.
by 01momanor  (2020-05-21 17:05:16)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Kelly has been given everything he could possibly want from Swarbrick. Jumbotron, trailer park turf, etc, etc, etc. If Kelly wants it, he gets it. He's a mediocre coach who has still managed a NC game appearance and a playoff appearance at ND. After a 4-8 season in year 7, and getting two years worth of wins vacated for academic cheating, he was on "the coldest seat in America." Institutional support, job security, two playoff appearances. The only thing holding Brian Kelly back from multiple NCs at ND is Brian Kelly. I don't know how an excellent coach wouldn't see that as a great opportunity.


We won't let everyone into school; until we do, it's always
by Rosecrea  (2020-05-23 12:21:53)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

going to be harder to win at ND than elsewhere. Do you think, all things being equal, Urban really preferred UF to ND? Urban could have won at ND, as could a small number of others...because it's harder. Obviously, Kelly can't win a NC here, but my comment had nothing to do with Kelly, but about any potential successor(s) an d their ability/interest in choosing a harder path.


the same reason(s) that MSU went and hired Mel Tucker
by jt  (2020-05-21 15:39:30)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

there are the haves in college football and there are the have-nots. It would certainly be difficult to go hire someone away from Oklahoma, as an example (though certainly not impossible). It would not be as hard to hire someone from a power 5 school without that same name recognition.