Coaching Candidate: Making the Case for Mark Hudspeth
Firstly, let me start this off by stating that in 5 years Mark Hudspeth will be coaching a power 5 program that is a consistent 10 game winner. A coaching search that does not include Mark is a complete failure.
Mark Hudspeth
Bio
Mark Hudspeth (born November 10, 1968) is the current head footballcoach of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Previously, Hudspeth was a four-year football letterman at Delta State University, head coach at the University of North Alabama, and an assistant coach (Wide Receivers and Passing Game Coordinator) at Mississippi State under head coach Dan Mullen.
Negatives
-No Mid-West ties
-No big time head coaching experience
-Unfamiliar with the B1G
-Unknown commodity in the mid-west
-Likely to end up in the SEC
Positives
-Engaing personality
-Strong Recruiter
-Doesn't micromanage
-Creative offensive mind
-NFL and College insiders say he has an "It" factor that can energize a fan base
-Has won big everywhere he's ever been
Coaching Career
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Alabama Lions (Gulf South Conference) (2002–2008) | |||||||||
| 2002 | North Alabama | 4–7 | 3–6 | T–8th | |||||
| 2003 | North Alabama | 13–1 | 9–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division II Semifinal | ||||
| 2004 | North Alabama | 5–5 | 4–5 | T–6th | |||||
| 2005 | North Alabama | 11–3 | 7–2 | T–2nd | L NCAA Division II Semifinal | ||||
| 2006 | North Alabama | 11–1 | 8–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal | ||||
| 2007 | North Alabama | 10–2 | 7–1 | T–2nd | L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal | ||||
| 2008 | North Alabama | 12–2 | 7–1 | 2nd | L NCAA Division II Semifinal | ||||
| North Alabama: | 66–21 | 45–15 | |||||||
| Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (Sun Belt Conference) (2011–present) | |||||||||
| 2011 | Louisiana–Lafayette | 9–4 | 6–2 | 3rd | W New Orleans | ||||
| 2012 | Louisiana–Lafayette | 9–4 | 6–2 | T–2nd | W New Orleans | ||||
| 2013 | Louisiana–Lafayette | 9–4 | 5–2 | T–1st | W New Orleans | ||||
| 2014 | Louisiana–Lafayette | 1–3 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Louisiana–Lafayette: | 28–15 | 17–6 | |||||||
| Total: | 94–36 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
|
#Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. |
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National Perspective:
Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette head coach: There aren't many coaches who look better in a tight-fitting shirt or can bench press more than their defensive linemen. But Hudspeth, 45, is no sideshow. Heading into his fourth year at Louisiana-Lafayette, Hudspeth is 27-12 in Division I following a 66-21 run in D-II at North Alabama. He can coach. But he also has the so-called "it" factor that can charm and energize a fan base. Hudspeth is the total package, and it won't be a surprise if he wins the Sun Belt again this year and parlays it into a big-time offer. Hudspeth already makes more than $1 million a year, so he doesn't have to jump at just anything, but the Louisville, Miss., native makes way too much sense at a whole lot of SEC programs to not end up there at some point. -USA Today
Executive 1: Mark Hudspeth (Louisiana-Lafayette)
"He really seems to have the pulse of his team, but he doesn't micromanage. He's a creative offensive guy and he can recruit. That's not an easy place to win and he's done just that." NFL.com
Mark Hudspeth: One of the top up-and-coming head coaches in college football, Hudspeth has done a terrific job at Louisiana-Lafayette and guided the Ragin' Cajuns to three straight nine-win seasons and bowl victories each year. And how many head coaches out there can bench-press 375 pounds? ESPN.com
Last season, with Mississippi State at 4-6 heading into the final two weeks of the season, Bulldog fans were seen often debating the merits of firing Dan Mullen if it meant that Mark Hudspeth could get the Bulldogs' head coaching gig. He's a proven winner who can recruit and is a native Mississippian to boot. He would be a natural fit, it seems. Of course, the Egg Bowl win reversed Mullen's fortunes (surprise!) and largely put that discussion to rest, but sentiments still linger that Hudspeth - a supposed Bulldog fan - would be on a short list of candidates to take the Mississippi State job if it were to come available. He was even mentioned by a certain group of dumb Ole Miss bloggeurs as a potential replacement for Houston Nutt in 2011. -SBNation
Making the case for Mark Hudspeth
In the likely scenario that both Harbaugh brothers and Les Miles are not the head coach next year, then the coaching search needs to get creative. The fact that he has zero mid-west ties should not be a detriment to his chances. Mark is an engaging guy who has won everywhere he has ever been. Anyone who has spent 5 minutes with the guy seems to come away with the impression that this is a coach that everyone will know in 5 years. This next coaching search has to be in-depth, and it has to leave no stone unturned. He's a guy that needs to be interviewed and given very strong consideration. He's trending up, and this is a guy, in which a program like Michigan, would be wise to do their homework on. Among experts, there aren't many who don't think he will succeed at a power 5 conference school. As I said at the beginning of this piece, Coach Hudspeth will be winning big at a power 5 conference school in 5 years, and Michigan needs to make every inquiry to see if that school could be Michigan.
September 29th, 2014 at 11:16 AM ^
Interesting choice. Very interesting. I presume that Tommy (Detroit Lions coach from 1977-78) was his dad?
That is an impressive resume.
Why the hell can't there be just one of these guys in the Midwest? I haven't heard a single coach (other than coordinators) that we wouldn't have to yank across the country.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
I wondered the same thing, but their respective bios don't match up at all. Mark was born in AL in 1968 and then moved to Mississippi, but Tommy was HC at BYU from '64 to '71.
And a look at Tommy's resume just reminds me once again how ridiculously pitiful WCF's hiring decisions were.
September 29th, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^
Cool! Join the movement!
(note to self - I need to add pictures to my posts)
He looks very much like a Craig Bohl or Jim Tressel type resume so I hope he is looked at in the next search although if Brandon is still here I am sure the search will be
- Harbaugh (rejected)
- Harbaugh (rejected)
- Cam Cameron
Obviously one main issue is - like Bohl - outside the Big 10 footprint.
p.s. pretty funny that a coach that the fan base wanted to be fired last year (Mullen) is now seen as a real candidate for UM by the fanbase. Ugh.
September 29th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
Tressel won 4 National Champioships at Youngstown... Not a good comparison. Although Hudspeth has had good success, he is not even remotely up to Jim Tressel's pre-OSU resume.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:41 PM ^
Fair enough. I didnt mean literally I meant in a general sense. Brian Kelly was probaby the closest thing we are ever going to see home grown similar to Tressel but at the time he was too much of an unknown and too much "about Brian Kelly". We only like nice coaches here.
September 29th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
the lack of midwest ties is a big negative if it would kill recruiting. otherwise, he should be on the list.
September 29th, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
I share your concern BUT here are my caveats
- You hire 1 coordinator and 2-3 position coaches who are Midwest born and bred and are Big 10 footprint types to go along with the staff you brought from your previous head coaching stop.
- The quality of the Big 10 footprint is fading IMO. I think as we go forward it will increasingly be important to focus on the east coast corridor between New Jersey and Virginia where there is not a major SEC presence and there seems to be a growth in talent. Manning seems to be doing well in that area.
That doesn't mean you give up on the Midwest (Ohio/Ill) but ND, OSU, UM are fighting over what appears to be a smaller share of the talent and certainly a smaller share of the population. Kelly seems to be going far more outside of the Midwest than OSU and UM at this point and I think its the right call.
I can find some positives to a guy who has contacts in the South and can bring some of that talent up north. The retort to this was "yeah but Rich Rod did that" - but he had a specific system and I dont think maximized the UM name ...plus frankly just failed on some evaluations. Also he was not a southern guy, he was at West VA.
To me the perfect UM staff would have heavy ties to both the Midwest and South i.e. if not the SEC footprint at least the Big 12 footprint (Texas, Oklahoma) and then we are already building our presence on the northern seaboard (NJ->VA). You are not going to get a ton off kids from the Pac 12 area.
September 29th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^
The Michigan brand still carries weight in the midwest. That, along with your suggestion of having a mix of coaches with midwest ties, would buy him needed time until he can establish relationships for himself.
September 29th, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
Having said that, I'm going to disagree about the significance of not having any midwest connections. That was one of the major perceived problems with RR. It wasn't just the Michigan man crap. He didn't have, and had trouble developing good local recruiting ties. Even with the changing demographics, they're very important. It's hard to draw consistently good classes without a strong base. I'm not saying that it can't be overcome, but so soon after RR, Michigan is going to give it weight.
Your solution of telling someone like Hudspeth how to assemble his staff is unrealistic. Do we really want the AD meddling like that? If you poach a coach from a school like LA-Lafayette, you're going to get most of his existing staff. You're going to be tripling their salaries. Maybe one or two are offered promotions to stay behind, but expect the rest of his staff to follow. I don't think there's any way around this.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^
I think the emphasis on "Midwestern roots" in recruiting is, in many ways, just another one of those myths people perpetrate. Sure, roots can help. But even a HC with some past Midwestern experience doesn't necessarily know the current crop of high school recruits and coaches. Who cares if the guy coached LBs at Indiana A&T eight years ago? Second, the HC mostly recruits through his assistants, and his assistants can and likely will have Midwestern roots. Third, the recruits themselves -- especially those inclined to attend "national" programs -- generally don't give a shit where the HC is from (unless he's from their own hometown or somesuch). They want to know where he's going. And most local kids are already inclined to go to local schools, regardless of the coach's roots.
Mostly, the Midwestern roots thing can go the way of the "Michigan Man" thing. Just get the best guy. Even if he's from Bolivia.
September 29th, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
Took a really bad loss to La. Tech. this year and flopped in the two following chances to make a statement win. Getting drubbed by Ole Miss and Boise State. This season could get away from him and if so I don't see him being a serious player in any high level coaching search this off-season.
The non-p5 coach I think we should be tracking is Jim McElwain at Colorado State. He has turned around a completely moribound program at Colorado State (9-27 the three years before his arrival) and currently has the team at 3-1 with wins over Colorado and Boston College. He's mostly been out west, but had a few years with John L. Smith at Louisville and MSU. He then spent a year as QB coach with the Raiders and ultimately ended up guiding two national champion offenses at Alabama under Saban. He's the guy that every coaching search needs to consider this offseason.
September 29th, 2014 at 1:51 PM ^
Didn't know about him; he checks a lot of the right boxes. Another good year at Colorado St. this year makes him a top-5 candidate, I think.
As for Hudspeth, he looks pretty impressive, too, though that 1-3 start this year is concerning; we'll see if he can turn things around.
I appreciate all these coaching candidate posts -- they're lessening my sense of "We're doomed without Harbaugh." Are any of these guys absolute slam-dunks like Harbaugh would be? No, but the fact is, there are plenty of good coaches out there with much better track records of success as head coaches than Hoke had when we hired him. I just hope Brandon or, God willing, his successor, is willing to search far and wide and find the best coach. The-must-have-Midwest-ties thing isn't unimportant, but it's overrated as far as I'm concerned. Find a coach who knows how to prepare his team and gets the most out of his talent, and he'll recruit just fine at Michigan.
September 29th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^
To the comment earlier I didnt say "dont have ANY Midwest ties" - I said have a mix. And somehow Fred Jackson has been around thru 2390239020392 coaching changes so having a RB coach (who is not going to determine if the team wins 5 vs 10 games) with Midwest ties is not going to crush the coaching staff or anything.
To the comment about having coaches if its not a Harbaugh. That is the Mgo EMO attitude. It is as if there are 4 good coaches in the country. There are plenty of good coaches, you have to the dirty work and find them. And even then it is some luck. People are making it out as if Saban never lost before he got to LSU and Bama, Dantonio never lost, Spurrier never lost etc. All these guys lost and had some bad years. Dantonio was 18-17 at Cincy, Saban had 4 mediocre years before one good one at MSU (when he immediately bolted), all these guys have some years with a down year in it, or 3-4 loss seasons. Its college football, some years your QB graduates and the next guy just sucks. Sometimes your QB gets hurt and there is no replacement. Sometimes you lose 6 of your top 9 players and just cannot replenish in a year, especially at non power conference teams. You have to account for that and look for a big picture.
Hoke was not one of those coaches. He had 1 great year at a MAC school that took 6 years to get to. Then 2 good years with in retrospect someone else's recruited QB and RB who were very talented for a Mountain West team. He had never been a coordinator in his life and never run one side of the team. I can find 25 candidates with a MUCH better resume than Hoke out there. So surely there are 5 who are WAY better.
September 29th, 2014 at 9:52 PM ^
You seem confused about my comments. At the least you misinterpreted them. In any case, your reply doesn't make sense to me.
September 29th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^
Looks good to me. I know you think he ends up in the SEC, but I don't see any openings down there in which we wouldn't be able to top at least financially.
September 29th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^
This guy looks pretty good. The sustained success at two previous stops is impressive.
September 29th, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
Wow, amazed (and happpy) someone brought this guy up. My GF is from Lafayette, so I go back every year. I have been saying since last year I would love this guy at Michigan. ULL was a total shit show before he came. Then he delivered three straight 9 win seasons, and winners of the New Orleans bowl each time.
September 29th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
Pat Shurmur?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Shurmur
Midwest guy (played at State), 26 years of coaching (QB coach of McNabb, working with Chip Kelly now), HC experience (with the Browns, but every coach's career dies there), and was hired by Holmgren.
An MSU guy sure understands the B1G and rivalries and if he's an offensive minded guy, maybe GMAT stays.
September 29th, 2014 at 6:28 PM ^
I'm not sure if he's as good as the resume appears, and some people can maximize a small resource set without being able to handle a big one, but he deserves consideration.
Another one is Matt Wells.
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