Five-Tool Head Coaches

Submitted by Forgive me. on

To my mind,  the most successful head coaches in the college ranks (in every sport) share some common traits that underpin their success. Using an analogy to baseball's Five-Tool player, I think the following list captures what a Five-Tool HC ® has at his/her disposal. Spoiler alert: Depending on your disposition, our current Football HC has between one and three of these attributes and is, therefore, not referenced below.

1. Recruiter - This one is obvious.  It's hard to win without horses. 

2. Game Coach - Again, this is pretty basic.  Xs and Os, play calling (or confidence in good play callers), RPS win ratio, game/clock management, schemes (1-3-1), formations (e.g.,punting), situational awareness etc. are all critical components apparently lacking inour program at the moment.  I would put game preparation in this category. 

3. Face of the University - The HC needs to positively represent the institution to the fan base, the press, and recruits. In addition, the HC should garner the respect of opponents and opposing fans alike (even if only begrudgingly or expressed as hatred). This is primarily for marketing purposes, but a coach behind whom the university/fan community can rally instills a culture of winning. 

4. Fundraiser - This one is often overlooked, but if you can't pull in mega-dollars for the program, you're whiffing on a big part of your job. It's also a way to justify your bloated salary. 

5. Educator - These are 18 -22 year old kids.  They may not have come to college to play school, but intellectual and social development is essential in order to ensure any signinficant team development. 

So who in the past 25 years or so has been a Five Tool HC?  

I'm happy to put Bo and Beilein up here, but several other candidates form a veritable who's who of Wolverine Killers:

Urbs

Tressel (even in the educator category for the majority of his players)

Pitino (wins with freshmen, but grows them in the short time he has them under his tutlage)

Coach K

Saban 

Pat Summit

JoPa (before the fall)

Roy Williams

Tom Osborne

There are plenty of others... 

Are these the right five tools? Who would you put in this class of coach? 

Perhaps more importantly, are there any who might be available at the end of this FB season? 

 

 

 

 

Connecticut Wo…

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^

but #5 isn't on the radar of any Board/President/AD realistically intent on winning a national championship or, for that matter, Big Ten Championships. The ages old concept of educating boys to be men does not mesh well with the pursuit of excellence in college football. It's a nice idea but not even in the top five of priorities, in my opinion, for schools pursuing championships. It's time for Michigan to make a choice and to understand the risks.

club2230

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^

Let’s look at Beilein.  The knock on him coming in was that he wasn’t a good recruiter or, at least, there were doubts he could recruit at a high level.  He was regarded as a top flight Xs and Os coach, and I’m not sure where the stance on player development was, but I would venture that could have been identified as a strong suit.  To me this is the perfect example of the two traits that are absolutely necessary.  The other three (recruiter, face of the university, and fundraiser are very far down the list). 

With many coaches, recruiting at a high level has not lead to success nor has stepping in to good situations lead to success.  Sure it’s nice to have the horses to compete, but if they aren’t coached properly it flat out does not matter one bit.  Charlie Weis, Brady Hoke, Muschamp are just three examples of this. 

Being a fundraiser or the face of the university doesn’t really do anything for the program.  Sure you can desire a certain personality, but if you are a great coach it matters not how good of a speech you can give to a bunch of wealthy alumni.  I would say it is important to hire someone who won’t destroy the program due to out of control infractions, but that’s pretty avoidable. 

It is my opinion that game management and player development are the foundation of a good program.  They will lead to success and with success comes the other three traits that you have desired.  Beilein is going after top 25 recruits and shattering the worry because he is winning games due to the fact that he can develop players and call a good game. 

If Hoke is fired, the 1 and 1A traits that should be required are the ability to call a good game and develop players over time.  The second trait that would be desired is a strong attention to detail.   The third should be a strong hatred of losing.

snowcrash

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^

The 4 criteria I usually use are recruiting, game management, assistant selection, and "program management" which includes academics, legal troubles, and NCAA violations. Here's how I would grade our last 3 coaches:

Hoke: recruiting A, game management C, assistant selection C (Mattison good, offense tire fire), program management B

Rodriguez: recruiting D, game management A, assistant selection D (meddled with DCs), program management C

Carr: recruiting A, game management C, assistant selection B, program management B

and a point of comparison

Mark Dantonio: recruiting B, game management A, assistant selection A, program management B  

You have a point about fundraising, but fundraising depends mostly on how much you win which in turn depends on the first 3 factors I listed. Program management doesn't affect the W-L record much, but IMO avoiding embarrassment to the university is more important than winning.

hfhmilkman

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^

From someone else who quoted Bo from Bacon's lasting lessons book to summarize the head coach must be able to deligate.  As others have mentioned you must also have an eye for coaching talent.  More importantantly the coach needs to have the confidence that details are being taken care of by the Coordinators who deligate to the postion coaches, who deligate to the grad assistants.   If the team is not organized, hard work does not equal productive work.

Big_H

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:26 PM ^

Just a quick question for the board.

 

How well do you think Saban/Meyer/Dantonio would do if they became the next Head Coach at Michigan?

This is if they came here at the end of this year, brought all of their coordinators, etc. Give me your thoughts where the program would be in 2015 and 2016?

 

This is completely hypothetical...Just wanted to see the thoughts.

reshp1

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^

My feeling is they would do 1 win better than Hoke would next year. Obviously, that's an untestable hypothesis. I think Hoke's lack of attention to detail costs us around that much a year. Long term development wise, I think maybe add another win per year.

I don't believe those guys or anyone can 180 this team. Too many fundamental problems with the roster and long term issues that take time to resolve.

MGoViso

September 22nd, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^

The Peter Principle is brought up quite a bit here, but there is also the Pareto Principle (AKA 80/20 rule). Basically, I think a job like U-M will always attract guy who gets 80 percent of the possible yield. But to get the extra 20 percent (roughly literally in terms of winning percentage points), it'll take four times as much effectiveness in getting the right coach with the right structure. 1) DB ain't making that happen, and 2) the perfect coach would be a marginal improvement in wins, probably (tempting fate by assuming U-M only loses 4-5 games this year).

alum96

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^

I am actually higher on Dantonio than Urban right now.  Guy has built a nationall relevant program without the stars ND, UM or OSU get.  I dont like Urban's defense last year or what I have seen this year.  His offense requires a QB who gets hit a lot - I dont like that either.  One hit and your season is in jeopardy. 

If you asked me Dantonio/Tressel/Saban I'd say it would still take 2 years to compete for the Big 10 - I am looking at the remains of the 2011 and 2012 classes and dont see many stars.  Funchess is gone next year, breaking in a new QB who has not shown anything yet, and Jake Ryan and Frank Clark are gone - those are the stars from our team.

So 2 years to build it into a championship team in the Big 10, and a playoff team 3 years with those type of coaches IMO.   I dont trust that the player evluation has been great and thats why i dont think this is a 1 year turnaround story - right now of the 2012 class for example which was 7th ranked nationally I see Funchess and Henry as stars (Funchess gone next year), with Bolden, Wilson, Ross III (maybe?), Clark, Darboh, Chesson, Magnuson out of that class as your core starters?  Both 5 stars in that class (Kalis, Pipkins) seem to have been beaten out.  This is a mid level SEC team in 2015 at best based on talent right now even with the right coaching.  If Peppers and Lewis both are star corners you still have to find 2 DEs who can do anything for 2015 for this defense and replace Jake Ryan. 

And I have no idea what can be done about this offense right now - are these OL good players who need another year?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  What is Shane right now? Potential.  Potential for what?  After Funchess goes who are the top 3 WRs?  Again a lot of potential.  Only Butt is a star right now that we will return in 2015.  Green looks competent.  Everything else is open to how giddy you are about STARZ.

alum96

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:32 PM ^

Mark Dantonio, Bill Snyder, Bobby Bowden, Lou Holtz, Stoops at Oklahoma

Steve Spurrier - dont believe me? look at what he did at Duke, the USFL ... and UF was an average program until he took it over as a coach.  Made sad sack SC solid.

Brian Kelly has a pretty damn good record as well for your criteria.  Unfortunately of maybe 10 guys in the country who fit this criteria, 3 of them are sitting at our rivals.

Briles and Gundy at Baylor and OK State are approaching that area of very good coaches over a long time.

Yinka Double Dare

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:55 PM ^

Urbs

Tressel (even in the educator category for the majority of his players)

Pitino (wins with freshmen, but grows them in the short time he has them under his tutlage)

Coach K

Saban 

Those are five tools alright

trueblueintexas

September 22nd, 2014 at 5:09 PM ^

This post can't help but lead to: who are the five tool coaches out there who would come to Michigan? 

Every time my mind has wandered down that road, it only ends with one name: Jim Harbaugh.

- Proven winner as a head coach at the highest levels in college

- Proven winner in the pro's

- Proven winner at a tough academic institution

- Understanding of Michigan culture and tradition

- Runs a system which would not require a complete overhaul

Every other realistic name you put on a potential list comes with questions. 

I'm not saying Harbaugh will or will not happen, but the potential for replacing Hoke at the end of the season will be a very difficult search because it seems like the perfect candidate already exits.

 

UMForLife

September 22nd, 2014 at 5:09 PM ^

I agree with the tools (not that tool). I think this is missing the important tool for football. Player development.

Another one -- Motivator. This includes telling people like it is-- similar to Bo. Carr was pretty good at this.

So, I am not sure if it is 5 tools. Unless you want to include player development into educator.

I see Hoke fairing in 3 of them. That is the sad part.

Swazi

September 22nd, 2014 at 5:19 PM ^

JoePa was never that great of a recruiter.  His classes were normally middle of the B1G.  And his kids got into a heap of trouble before his fall happened.

xxxxNateDaGreat

September 22nd, 2014 at 6:30 PM ^

"There are plenty of others... " Really? Cause 5 of those people you named have been involved or are currently involved in academic and/or off field scandals that brought shame to their reputation and/or reputation of their universities. And that's not including Saban. (For the record, I don't think Saban is the devil, but he definitely does not fit criteria #5. See: Prothro, Tyrone* and his Gen Studies degree from the prestigious University of Alabama)

*autocorrect went for Tyler, not Tyrone. feel free to insert thatsracist.gif

Och3517

September 22nd, 2014 at 7:00 PM ^

When you said Patino I agree but I was wondering if you meant Calapari, due to the Freshmen quote? According to your 5 indications I agree with your picks but Art Briles has done all 5 at Baylor he has built that program from nothing, Spurrier did the same, I also think Kevin Sumlin and Mike Gundy and even Chris Peterson.

Wolverine15

September 22nd, 2014 at 8:07 PM ^

Roy Williams needs to be off that list because of the massive academic scandal at UNC. Saying Joe Pa "before the fall" nullifies that argument. And Rick Pitino's "Fifteen Seconds of Fame" doesn't exactly represent U of L in the most positive light.

I think you're really missing a couple of less historically renowned coaches like Art Briles who is turning into an excellent recruiter given his resources at Baylor and schematically is as innovative as they come. Gus Malzahn another fantastic coach who is immensely popular at Auburn.



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TomJ

September 22nd, 2014 at 9:26 PM ^

I thought you meant the 5 coaches who were the biggest tools.

Kelly

Kiffin

you get the idea

 

Not a bad idea for a thread, though a lot less cerebral than yours.

skegemogpoint

September 23rd, 2014 at 9:38 AM ^

Rick Pitino??? He may be a damn good coach, just like Bobby Petrino is, but he does not pass Test #3.  The guy banged a skank on a dining table in a public restaurant, he is a very well known philanderer, adulterer and gambler.  If Gary Moeller can get canned from UM for being an obstinant drunk, imagine how long a cad like Pitino would last here.