Coaching Candidates: NFL, Fringe
WELP! WELP! WELP! welp
PREVIOUSLY: the POWER 5, which is just Dan Mullen. The OTHER 5 and college coordinators.
I-AA And Beyond
All these guys are risks. Just look at Bobby Hauck, who went a staggering 80-17 at Montana and has three two-win seasons and a seven win season at UNLV.
BOMBS OVER BEILEIN Y'ALL
BOB STITT, COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
BASICS: 12 years as HC/OC of D-II CSM, before that two years as Harvard OC and smaller jobs. 90-57, 1-2 in three trips to the D-II playoffs. 50 years old.
PROS: Extensive head coach experience at an academically demanding school that had previous experienced no success. 2001, his second year, was CSM's first winning season in a decade; 7 wins was their best record since 1958(!). Since getting established with an 12-1 record in 2004 only two CSM teams have finished worse than 6-3 in conference.
Has a reputation as an offensive innovator after Dana Holgorsen credited him with the play WVU used to obliterate Clemson in that one Orange Bowl. Does weekly coaching recap show in which he diagrams plays. Seems cool with shirts that say "Stitt happens."
CONS: No experience with big time football, and I mean none: coaching career has taken him from Northern Colorado Greeley to Doane College to Austin College to Harvard to CSM. No idea how he'd recruit.
OVERALL: Here's your Beilein. Quality 50-year-old dude with long, successful track record and reputation as offensive guru with recruiting and can-he-be-big-time questions. CSM is a lot farther from Michigan in Big Time considerations than WVU, obviously.
BEAU BALDWIN, EASTERN WASHINGTON
BASICS: 56-22 in six years on the blood-red field at EWU, coming off consecutive final four appearances in the I-AA playoffs and a national championship in 2010. Had one year at Central Washington, a D-II school before that. Career as an assistant included four years at EWU as OC and QB coach; before that was a Central Washington QB and then their QB coach, commencing immediately upon graduation. 42 years old.
PROS: Wildly successful in the Big Sky. Young. Significantly improved on Paul Wulff's EWU tenure, which saw years around .500 most of the time with only two 9-4 outliers.
CONS: May have never left the state of Washington. Usual experience issues. Paul Wulff flameout indicative of the flier nature of any of these guys. EWU seems to have in-built advantages that lend themselves to success irrespective of HC quality.
OVERALL: Has had more success at a higher level than Stitt, albeit in a briefer time period and coming from a much less dire starting point.
ROB AMBROSE, TOWSON
BASICS: Took over a moribund Towson program that went 3-19 in his first two years and flipped the script, going 29-10 the last three and reaching the I-AA championship game last year. Former Towson WR, has spent virtually all of his coaching career either at his alma mater or UConn, where he was first their QB coach and then OC from 2006 to 2008. 44 years old.
PROS: Youth, crazy Towson turnaround, etc., etc. These guys all have the same profile.
CONS: Same as the other guys. Shorter track record than either.
OVERALL: If you're reaching down here Stitt seems like the pick.
[After THE JUMP: oh no the NFL, plus goblins]
NFL
Who hates the idea of hiring an NFL coordinator? This guy. Most of these gentlemen haven't tried to recruit anyone in 20 years and will flit off to the place they consider the real league posthaste.
GREG ROMAN, OC, San Fransisco
BASICS: Harbaugh's OC since 2009, first for two years at Stanford and then at SF. No college experience outside of those two years. 42.
PROS: Has run both the manball Harbaugh installed in Palo Alto and SF's Kaepernick-oriented pistol/quasi-spread, and done well with both.
CONS: Was never a college coach below the coordinator level; no idea about recruiting. Said delay of game penalties are "not always bad" in midst of season where SF led the league in them, so I would definitely die enraged if he was the guy. Seems more interested in the NFL long term.
OVERALL: This is the model for all these guys: at best a brief stop in college, often 20 years ago, and then a bunch of NFL position jobs before becoming a coordinator.
JOSH MCDANIELS, OC, New England
BASICS: Broncos head coach in 2009 and 2010. OC with the Rams, Patriots, and… uh, Patriots around that. Went 11-17 as Broncos coach. 38.
PROS: Super young! Former NFL head coach. From Ohio so recruiting and stuff. Probably knows Tom Brady do you know Tom Brady?
CONS: College experience consists of two years as an MSU GA. Belichick assistants have a massive failure rate.
OVERALL: I mean I guess but this is such a hopeful swing at the vague direction of competence that it would be sad.
HAROLD GOODWIN, OC, Arizona Cardinals
BASICS: Former Michigan OL spent a few years bouncing around the MAC as an OL coach then made the leap to the NFL to do the same. Promoted to Cardinals OC in 2013. This is a truly meteoric rise: as recently as 2011 he was a quality control coach with Pittsburgh. 41.
PRO: Michigan Man.
CONS: Would never be mentioned as a candidate if he's wasn't. Only offense he's coordinated to date finished 20th in FO's DVOA stat, 12th in total offense. Arizona is currently 28th in yards per play.
OVERALL: If we hire Goodwin at this stage in his career, the disease is terminal.
Ask again in five years (but hopefully not, because then we're sad again).
TERYL AUSTIN, DC, Detroit Lions
BASICS: Just named the Lions DC, before that a defensive backs coach for 20 years, including four in Ann Arbor from 1999 to 2002. Went to NFL in 2003, had one year as Florida's DC in 2010, then bounced back to the NFL.
PROS: Unlike almost every single other one of these guys, Austin coached college for a decade and established himself a good recruiter during that period. Michigan guy, albeit by adoption. Lions D is first(!) in YPG and YPP so far this year.
CONS: Very little track record. Florida's 2010 D was a bleah 29th in FEI, and then Urban temporarily retired and he was out of a job.
OVERALL: Austin is marginally preferable to Goodwin because he's been in college longer but this is all but elevating a position coach directly to head coach. No. God. No God Please No. No. No.
GARY KUBIAK, OC, Baltimore Ravens
BASICS: Remember him from my youth as John Elway's backup, moved into coaching immediately after. Was Broncos OC for a decade under Mike Shanahan, then a fairly good head coach for the Texans from 2006 until 2013. Career record was 61-64, made playoffs in 2011 and 2012 before dismal 2013 season doomed him. Currently Ravens OC. 53.
PROS: Absolute pile of experience. Was generally successful with the Texans until the end there. Seemed to be well-liked. Was virtually a QB coach as a player so if anyone can get pro-style QBs right it's him. Did one of those THANK YOU ads when he got the ziggy.
CONS: Had a "mini-stroke" during that dismal 2013; no idea if that would be an issue. Almost zero college coaching. Zero Michigan connections.
OVERALL: More attractive than most coordinators because of his extensive experience, and his age might actually be a bonus: if Kubiak gets settled in as Michigan's head coach he may not be inclined to leave, and NFL teams may not be inclined to ask. Prefer him to anyone currently in the NFL not named Harbaugh except…
DAN QUINN, DC, Seattle Seahawks
BASICS: Hasn't exactly constructed the Legion of Boom but he is in charge of it as Seahawks DC the past two years. Before that, two years as the DC at Florida; before that a decade of NFL jobs along the DL. Has a reasonable amount of college experience as a DL coach at William and Mary, VMI, and Hofstra. Almost hired by the Browns last offseason. 44.
PROS: Kind of good job with Seahawks. Final year at Florida saw Gators finish fifth in yards per game, though he was working under Muschamp. Promoted as Next Great Head Coach by Peter King's admittedly bootlicking NFL version of Grantland.
CONS: Will be frequent target of NFL teams. No connection to M.
OVERALL: If it has to be an NFL guy not named Harbaugh this would be my pick.
OTHERS
Well, a lot of these guys are in the right age range with a lot of OC experience. Brian Schottenheimer has been an OC since 2006, for instance, and has been talked about as an NFL head coach for a while now. But with no ties to Michigan and exactly two years as a college coach of any variety, he's an enormous question mark. Ditto Darrell Bevell, though at least Bevell was a Wisconsin QB.
People bring up Adam Gase a lot, apparently because he was born in Ypsi. He's got Goodwin's resume except he went to State, and Peyton Manning's the OC of the Broncos anyway. No.
UNEMPLOYED
GREG SCHIANO, formerly of Rutgers and Tampa Bay
BASICS: Completed all-time turnaround at Rutgers, turning most moribund outfit in the country into a consistent winner. After four straight losing seasons to open took Rutgers to five consecutive bowls, including an 11-2 season that briefly had Rutgers in contention for a BCS championship game bid. Hired by Tampa in 2012, only lasted two years there. Miami's DC at the turn of the century before getting the Rutgers job. Somehow just 48.
PROS: Turned Rutgers from laughing stock into okay-to-good program, lots of experience. Pro-style guy, if that's an asset.
CONS: Tampa exit was messy and acrimonious. Had that whole kneeldown thing that was cro-magnon dumb. Was "almost universally viewed as unaccommodating, intimidating and downright disrespectful" by NFL even before his hire. Former player said it was "like being in Cuba." Didn't coach anywhere last year.
OVERALL: Last thing this program needs is a guy who will piss off half of everyone immediately and the other half gradually. Do you know what a colossal wiener you have to be for the NFL to turn on you? They didn't turn on Ray Rice! Ray Lewis! Other bad guys named Ray!
But they turned on Greg Schiano.
JON GRUDEN, ESPN goblin
BASICS: Nope
CUMONG MAN: Dude if he really wanted to be a coach he'd be a coach. He has found his true love and calling: yelling really loud in a TV studio while slowly turning into a goblin.
I SUPPOSE SO: Seriously dude is making bank and doesn't have to eat a metric ton of antacids every week.
OVERALL: omg gruden
October 8th, 2014 at 3:00 PM ^
Just read; Gundy is now squarely in the "Do not want" list. Thanks.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^
choosing the next coach, we need a guy who can manage all the non-football aspects of the job. Stitt and other FCS guys might be great at X's and O's but we don't have pep rallies at the edge of campus either.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^
My dad has had Univ of Montana tickets for 30 years and I grew up there so I know the Big Sky pretty well and 1AA well. The first thing to look at is not the coach but the program. Any UM fan could have told you Hauck wasn't going to have much success because he wasn't that great at UM. His record was but that program has been cranking out 10 win seasons for 20 years. Plus, the Big Sky was a 2-3 team league for much of his tenure. He just maintained an outstanding program during a down time for the conference. He was a Special Teams coach whose brother was a legend at the school so his name got him the job. Plus, they sucked on special teams when he was there.
Baldwin at EWU is interesting but I'm not sold. When he was at Central they had a nice run but in a garbage conference and mostly because they had a great QB who now starts for a CFL team. He runs a nice offense but his success at EWU has been built on having a dynamic QB with little defense. Plus, the Big Sky is pretty top heavy these days so it's not too hard to have success in that conference. They have the benefit also of getting a lot of Pac-12 drop-downs and non-qualifiers because their admissions are pretty lax. Paull Wulff also built that up before flaming out at Wazzu.
If you go the 1AA route you have to find someone who took a garbage program in a mostly talentless region and developed something sustaining. One player can change a program in 1AA so short-term success should be measured carefully becuase it could have just been because of one elite player. That's why Stitt is such an entriguing possibility.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
Was at Mr. Spot's the day of the Oregon game (post-Horror), wearing my RU hat and jersey. Guy in the place says "Don't get too used to your coach -- he's going to be working here next season." Your fan base was receptive to him then, and I think they'd welcome him now.
I think UM could do far worse than Schiano. As Wolverine1987 pointed out, the NFL criticism is moot. GS ran a clean program with a top 5 APR pretty much every year. The approach that the NFL guys chafed against is far better suited to college kids. He recruited incredibly well, including opening a branch of the "State of Rutgers" down in Florida and pulling top kids up from there to NJ. And his "Family" atmosphere is a great sell in living rooms. Look back at how he handled the LeGrand injury -- that's the measure of the man.
Schematically, he'd need to hire a good OC, and you'd better hope he found the humility to trust him. Defensively, he's well suited to the B1G - a Schiano defense is fast, dials up creative blitzes, and stops the run. As successful as he was with this at RU in the BE, he'd be moreso with B1G players.
Bottom line: if the Harbaughs don't bite and Mullen can't be lured away, GS should get a phone call from your new AD.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
thread title should be "Coaching Candidates: NFL, CRINGE" - at least all the ones before the jump.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
How about Joe Moglia? He is 65 but may be able to give 5 or so solid years if there are no other viable candidates.
TBH, none of these guys really seem exciting to me beyond the Harbaughs and I am not on the Les Miles bandwagon at all.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
is an interesting pick. I would imagine he coached with Mattison while at Baltimore so that would be an interesting situation with possible retaining of the DC from the current M coaching staff. Also I would guess that the Michigan Man thing isn't as pressing an issue as before so that any of these candidates could be considered. Also, I agree with a previous opinion posted on here, best guess without actual medical file data of course, is that his "mini stroke" was likely a TIA that might have been brought on by stress and/or a stenotic loci that can be addressed with surgery/meds. Its no more of an issue than with anyone over the age of 45-50 thats in a stressful profession (coaching probably fits this description).
October 9th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
Not advocating, but curious if anyone's given any thought to Joe Lombardi, the Lions OC. Obviously a great name/familial pedigree, has a couple ties to the state (brothers played high school ball here), experience coaching QBs (!!!), has head coached at the college level before, and while he just arrived, I imagine a head coaching stint rebuilding a brand name like Michigan would be a serious career boost. (Edit: can't decide whether his one year with the XFL helps or hurts. Probably depends on whether or not Dave Brandon stays.)
October 8th, 2014 at 2:32 PM ^
No Jack Del Rio?
October 8th, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^
OC at many different college programs, helped develop a couple NFL QBs. Considered a mad genius by some. Won't leave us for another job. Strong Michigan connections -- served as OC here for three years. During that time, his offense set the all-time Michigan record for yards in a game despite working with an incompetent offensive line. [Ducks to dodge flying tomatoes] HEY THERE, I'm kidding!
October 8th, 2014 at 2:44 PM ^
Pros:
- Keeps the "Michigan Man" stuff going. Love it or hate it, there is a strong institutional desire to respect and build off Michigan's tradition. Frankly, it makes a lot of sense, because it is one of the few things our program still has going for it. But it can be taken too far... Austin represents a balance of knowing about the past but not being locked into it. Pitt, Penn State, Wake, Syracuse, Florida -- he's been around a lot of programs.
- Well regarded by Mattison? Might just be coincidence, but he seems to have followed GMatt at UofM, Florida, and Baltimore. Maybe we can keep GMatt around as the DC even though he loves Brady Hoke. He did express a desire to stick around AA.
- NFL cred. This does help in recruiting. Hoke gets most of the credit but GMatt's ability to sell his Ravens all-pros seems to be working pretty well on defense. Austin will be able to bring up the newer Ravens, Suh, etc.
- Looks the part
- Rich network having coached under Harbaugh, Carr, Meyer, etc.
- Very few cons
Cons:
- No head coaching experience -- this is where having Lloyd and GMatt's support could be critical.
- Moves around a lot
Assumptions:
1. Austin keeps the Lions D going and they finish in the top 5-10 range for the season.
2. Dave Brandon stays on as the AD, therefore we are married to a "bring Michigan back to NFL-style football"
Continuity means stability. Something we've lacked in the last decade and a key ingredient to our past success. Brian has argued that we should get a "Rob Deer" a swing-for the fences/we've got nothing to loose candidate. I couldn't disagree more. Michigan still has a lot to lose but it's rapidly slipping away. We need to regain some stability in this program, even if it means a string of 8 or 9 win seasons.
Bottom line is that Michigan risks a great deal by going through another total transition. As Rodriguez has argued (convincingly) it can take 3-5 years to get a program up to speed. If we go out and grab somebody off the Oregon staff or Bob Stitt you're back to rebuilding...again. And suddenly its 2017 and you haven't had a good team in 11 years...
Austin could come in and keep Nussmeir and GMatt and Manning around. He could replace some of Hoke's cronies who have struggled (e.g., Funk, Ferregino) and bring in upgrades. He could provide a new leadership and energy to the program without sacrificing whatever good has come of the last 4 years.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 3:42 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 7:27 PM ^
October 9th, 2014 at 1:51 AM ^
October 9th, 2014 at 2:00 AM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^
A few points:
1. These lists are depressing. There is not a single candidate profiled who I would be happy to get (Mullen included).
2. Given where we are as a program, I think that we can all agree that we absolutely must get this next hire right. If we swing and miss again, we could be talking about permanent damage to our cherished program. For that reason, just about EVERY SINGLE CANDIDATE profiled here would not work.
3. As I see it, our program needs a rapid turn around, and that obviously starts with the HC position. The media on our program - and hence, the perception amongst recruits - is that our program is a dumpster fire. Kids coming up today literally do not remembr a time when we were relevant. Think about that for a minute. The quickest way to remedy that is with a slam dunk, high profile HC hire. For that reason, the next hire must satisfy two specific criteria: (a) significant experience running a big time program, and (b) be a "big name" akin to OSU hiring Urban Meyer (at which point all of their NCAA issues were magically forgotten). It would be nice if the hire had some connection or exposure to Michigan since, as much as many hate it, some of our traditions and history does make us special and set up apart from whatever the flavor of the year team currently is. But, this is NOT a requirements.
Taking all of this into account, I can come up with a grand total of 5 remotely possible candidates - all are reaches:
Les Miles (I actually think that this is realistic)
Jim Harbaugh (somewhat unrealistic, and kind of a d*ck)
John Harbaugh (I just don't see this happening)
Cam Cameron (I know that many are down on him because of his NFL stint, but I think he is a big enough name and the NFL stuff gives him recruiting cred).
Teryl Austin (see Mat's post at #98 for all of the reasons, with which I agree 100%)
October 8th, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^
but he certainly does not fit your criteria of being a "big name akin to OSU hiring Urban Meyer." Not even remotely close. Cameron doesn't fit #1, at least not if you infer that you would like him to have not only experience, but also success. Cameron is 19-52 as a head coach.
October 12th, 2014 at 9:45 PM ^
I like Austin, too. He wouldn't be a big name but he'd be an even better recruiter now than he was 15 years ago, with a Super Bowl ring on one finger and NFC Championship rings on two others. He ticks a lot of boxes besides experience.
Also, there's something of a Bo/Woody deal there with Meyer... not quite like there is with Mullen, but the optics are good. And he might be able to use that negatively recruit against Urban, especially as his yeat with him was the year he flew the coop.
October 8th, 2014 at 5:31 PM ^
- The reason people are down on Cameron is his stint at Indiana. Maybe you can't win big there, but you can move things in a positive direction (a la Wilson).
- Les Miles is neither realistic nor desireable. The beef with Brandon and Lloyd is real. The accusations of being dirty are too.
I don't think we have to have a an experienced HC at all. Your argument seems to be about positive media attention, but EVERY new coach gets positive media attention (unless you're Todd Graham.) Chad Morris or Kirby Smart or Bud Foster would bring a ton of buzz too.
October 9th, 2014 at 2:12 AM ^
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October 8th, 2014 at 11:48 PM ^
Never been a big Schiano fan but I didn't realize what a douche-canoe he is until this article, Yikes!
October 9th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
I posted in another thread about Rob Chudzinski as a potential canidate. Not that I think he's the top choice, but there are some things to like. He was Miami TE coach and OC for a few years so he knows college, has HC expericnce albiet for only one year, from Toledo so knows the area, pro-style appeases the anti-spread zealots, Miami connections could be good for recruiting talent from Florida, only 46 so if it works, could be long term, and finally, he doesn't have a current gig, so he could start the day after the OSU game.
I don't think he is ideal, but we could do alot worse.
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