Is age a factor for a National Championship coach
I was reading the article from Pat Forde on the Coaching Carousel and as he described Stoops, I started to think about the age of championship coaches. Stoops won his title at OU in 2000 at the age of 40. Forde described how Stoops (and Ferentz) aren't living up to the standard they set for themselves earlier in their career. As we embark on a coaching search in the next month or so, should the AD consider a candidate's age (not in a discriminatory kind of way, though)? In the last 20 years, 15 of the 22 title holders accomplished the feat by age 54, 3 in their late 50s (55-59), 3 in their 60s, 1 in their 70s.
The 22 coaches and their age
13 - Fisher - 48
12 - Saban - 62
11 - Saban 61
10 - Chizik - 49
09 - Saban - 59
08 - Meyer - 44
07 - Miles - 54
06 - Meyer - 42
05 - Brown - 53
04 - Carroll - 53
03 - Saban - 53 / Carroll - 52
02 - Happy Easter !! - 50
01 - Coker - 53
00 - Stoops - 40
99 - FSU - Bowden - 70
98 - Fulmer - 48
97 - Lloyd - 52 / Osborne - 60
96 - Spurrier - 51
95 - Osborn - 58
94 - Osborn - 57
**********************
Candidates:
Harbaugh 50
Mullen 42
Miles 61
Schiano 48
Stoops 54
etc.
November 13th, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^
Chizik...hahahahahahaha
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November 13th, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^
I looked up his Wiki page and was surprised to see him out of work, just a couple years after winning a national title. Hell, Larry Coker, George O'Leary, and John L Smith have jobs. Why not Chiz?
November 13th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
he does a show on XM channel 91.
November 13th, 2014 at 12:41 PM ^
Age is a factor in how long they may continue to coach, other than that a good coach is a good coach.
Championships in college are basically a crapshoot (compared to the NFL) of getting the right team and playing the right schedule (especially now with the committee) and then either winning out or having the chips fall juuuuuuust right that you get into the playoff.
November 13th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
for this guy or one of his peers.
November 13th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
Saban was at LSU in 03, not Miles.
November 13th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
Thanks. Fixed.
November 13th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
How do you look at age, and consider it, but in a non-discriminatory way? We like old people, we just don't hire them for this job?
Looking at the list, I see a range starting in mid-40s (because it takes a while to build up a resume). I don't see anything suggesting that being in your 60s should keep you from the job.
November 13th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^
According to federal law you can't discriminate against workers over 40. Since any likely candidate will be over 40 age shouldn't be an issue.
November 13th, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^
As my wife and many others her age can testify, the age discrimination practices at U-M are blindingly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain, but the way it's done is smart enough to keep U-M out of the courts.
November 13th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
I probably didn't phrase that properly, but I believe age factors in to a candidate's chances. Perhaps less in the coaching world than the real world, but it's a factor.
November 13th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^
Age? That's just a statistic.
November 13th, 2014 at 1:14 PM ^
you're probably right around 49 yrs old, huh? :-)
November 13th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
Harbaugh is 52.
Pretty sure he is not the more serious candidate but just some info.
November 13th, 2014 at 1:55 PM ^
soooo many sabans on that list
November 13th, 2014 at 2:07 PM ^
your name is Osbourne and you're using it to beg for NC votes as a going away present.
November 13th, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
Looking at it from another perspective, if you are an older coach, how much longer would you want to kiss up to high school recruits and to have your livelihood depend on the performance of a bunch of 18-23 year olds? Especially if you have the alternative of being a TV commentator making a six figure salary for two-three days work per week from August to January. You could be the college football version of Jonathon Livingston Seagull - fly in, shit over everything, and fly back out again.
November 13th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
Someone between the age of 15 and 92.