OT: CU hires Jon Embree as Head Coach
Denver Post is reporting that CU will hire Jon Embree as its next head coach. I guess they wanted to get someone in there from the CU "family." Eric "Sleeping With" Bienemy will be OC.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:38 PM ^
What difference will it make, recruits nowadays only have the recent memories of CU being awful. I don't think anyone can really make a huge difference at Colorado, they'll just continue to be mediocre.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^
...cause Stanford was a jugernaut before Harbaugh got there.
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^
I hope CU hires a great coach. It's a shame what happened to that program under Dan Hawkins over the last five years.
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:17 PM ^
Gary Barnett's reign was more of a shame.
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:48 PM ^
That last post was my opinion. I don't think they'll turn it around, but with a good coach they could after a few years.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^
Oh wait...
If a program has a good coach and the necessary facilities, then they are capable of consistently putting a strong product on the field. Also, Colorado has 4 division championships and one conference championship over the past decade, so while they've sucked the past several years, it's not like recruits don't have memories of decent to good Colorado teams.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
for not spending money on their football program, to the point that they kept Hawkins around for an additional year because they couldn't afford to pay his buyout.
Also, it would be really great if we didn't have 16 posts about Jim Harbaugh in a thread about Colorado's new coach (who is not Jim Harbaugh).
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:52 PM ^
Thank You.
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:09 PM ^
The original reasoning was that programs that have sucked recently cannot recruit well because recruits will not remember the school being good. Harbaugh is the most obvious counter-example to this idea. Another obvious example, though it makes me cringe to say it, is Mark Dantonio. You can make similar arguments for Nick Saban (also cringeworthy), Mike Leach, Jim Leavitt, Glen Mason, Paul Johnson, Rich Rodriguez (at WVU), etc.
And with regard to Colorado's spending habits, it should be noted that they will have more money to spend in a few years because they're joining the Pac 10. So yeah, I would argue that Embree's ceiling is rather higher than perpetual mediocrity if he turns out to be a good coach.
December 2nd, 2010 at 7:40 PM ^
They couldn't keep Bzdelik for their CU program either due to money issues.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:49 PM ^
Cincinnati when Brian Kelly was hired.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:55 PM ^
All valid points, I may or may not be right, I just personally believe that Colorado can't turn it around.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:39 PM ^
of the Washington Redskins to be your head coach, you gotta make that move.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:41 PM ^
He was TE coach for Broncos before getting Minnesota job.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:42 PM ^
and had a reputation as being an "excellent recruiter." Maybe it's just me, but I think I'd rather have Leach, Malzahn, or Holgerson.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^
That was the first thing I thought of. Offhand I can't think of any successful head coaches who had never previously been head coaches or coordinators. We'll see how Embree does.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:42 PM ^
Don't schools have to have an actual tradition to do the "staying in the family" thing? Although I guess Colorado was at least decent for half the seasons that Embree was a coach with the team.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:42 PM ^
Part Deux?
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
The best part is that he doesn't have a wiki page (yet) or he is a dead anthropologist returning to coach the buffs.
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:48 PM ^
Troy Calhoun and Les Miles were apparently top choices. Telling that the AF guy was not interested. McCartney with Embree/Bienemy as top assistants would have been pretty cool. Have to pull for the few coaches who remain who were once on Bo's staff...
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^
Please please please run the spread...
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:05 PM ^
I know a fair amount about coaches and have never heard of this guy before. It's the kind of hire I'd expect from Indiana or Minnesota, not CU.
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:11 PM ^
"It was never about me doing it again," McCartney said. "It was about setting the table for a black man to come in (as head coach). And he (athletic director Mike Bohn) hired one. Now, give him a chance."
I know absolutely nothing about Embree other than what I just read in that article, but I'm curious what his reaction would be to McCartney seemingly characterizing it as an affirmative action hire with no reference to his capabilities as a head coach.
December 2nd, 2010 at 7:12 PM ^
Is McCartney suggesting that he was the obligatory "majority" interview the university had to conduct? That is an odd quote. Can you link the article?
December 2nd, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^
I read it at the link the OP put in his original post.
December 2nd, 2010 at 7:19 PM ^
He obviously doesn't know about the city ordinance that prohibits loud sounds to be played on campus. Thus, he cannot simulate crowd noise. This really puts CU at a disadvantage. No coach would want to coach there.
ps...I actually heard ESPN analysts make this argument. However, in their defense, I believe they were trying to point out how CU doesn't put much effort/funcing into the football program.