OT: Thoughts on Who WMU's Next Coach Should Be
So it's official: P.J. Fleck is going to Minnesota. They're holding a press conference in Kalamazoo at noon.
I'm not sure if Western has a Lloyd Carr waiting in the wings to take over the program, but I'm speculating on who Western's next coach might be. I'd like to see Brady Hoke get a stab at it. (Although he's been rumored to be the next DL coach at Tennessee.)
Hoke was a failure as a Power 5 head coach and a failure as a Power 5 DC, but he was a success as a Group of 5 head coach. This job is made for him. He made $700,000 at Oregon, and Western was paying Fleck $800,000, so the money fits.
Any other thoughts as to what our friends in Kalamazoo should do?
January 6th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^
Didn't Hoke only have a couple years each at his Group of 5 stops? He never sustained success or even won a conference championship IIRC. Mainly lived off of one really good year at Ball State.
Would be interesting to see him at WMU. Seems his stock has to be low though after Oregon, not that I pin that all on him.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^
I like Hoke a lot. Good recruiter, good DL coach, nice guy, etc. but he is a bad HC. If he couldn't win with Michigan's talent, what is he going to do in Kalamazoo?
January 6th, 2017 at 12:03 PM ^
I agree with all of this however he also wouldn't face Michigan level opponents.
January 6th, 2017 at 12:16 PM ^
...but he could face Michigan
January 6th, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^
He has an overall positive winning record. Before he took over at Ball State in 2003, the last time they had a winning record was 1996, with consecutive 1-10 and 0-11 seasons thrown in there. They were REALLY bad. It took a while, but he got them to consecutive winning seasons.
The last winning record SDST had before hiring Hoke in 2009 was in 1998. It can be argued that he turned them around in 2 seasons, with Rocky Long sustaining it since.
Did he fail to meet Michigan's high standards for a head coach? Absolutely. Was he in an untenable situation at Oregon as DC? I believe so. Was he a "bad HC" as you suggest? Debateable. He has a positive track record at G5 schools, but perhaps he's just not built to run a P5 program.
At the very least, I think he'd be a good interview for WMU, even if they don't hire him.
January 6th, 2017 at 1:33 PM ^
Yeah, he'd be a plausible candidate for a Group of 5 job. One problem with the specific case of WMU, though, is that some of their fans are also Michigan fans and they might perceive him as a failure because of what he did here.
I forget where he applied a year ago - East Carolina? I visited their message board when he was a finalist and they were pretty enthusiastic about hiring a guy with Power 5 experience.
January 6th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
There was a brief upward trend at SDSU. Think he was only there for 2 years but second year was like 9-4? I mean his stock is low and deservedly so for certain things like being a Power5 head coach or a DC which he didn't really have experience at prior to Oregon. But he's qualified to be at least a solid if not great MAC head coach.
January 6th, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
Hoke was at BGSU for six years (34-38 overall, 27-20 MAC) and SDSU for two (13-12 overall, 7-9).
January 6th, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^
Ball State, not BGSU.
January 6th, 2017 at 1:29 PM ^
D'oh. Too many of these abbreviations on the mind.
January 6th, 2017 at 1:17 PM ^
I prefer to use CFBdatawarehouse to wikipedia
http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.ph…
January 6th, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
The only problem with that is that it doesn't have the conference records. In Hoke's case there was a big discrepancy between his overall record at Ball State and his MAC record.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:21 AM ^
Les Fucking Miles
January 6th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
Nope, Mike Fucking Hart!
January 6th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
Oooooh, or... Frederic Fucking Chopin
January 6th, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^
Also it's Frédéric. /pedantry
January 6th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
I read that as Fucking Mike Hunt, and was going to tell you to leave my wife out of this!
January 6th, 2017 at 11:22 AM ^
That'd be fun.
January 6th, 2017 at 3:02 PM ^
Milan Vooletich!
January 6th, 2017 at 11:24 AM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^
I don't get why Bo Pelini has not been in the running for some big jobs. I get that he's a dick, but his track record is pretty darn good. He would be a great hire for lots of power 5 jobs, and a huge home run for WMU, IMO.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
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January 6th, 2017 at 1:16 PM ^
Yeah, I don't think cats want anything to do with being in a boat.
January 6th, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^
I assumed that Bo was happy being home enjoying his $6.5M Nebraska buy-out, playing for a national title, and generally being loved by his new fan base and, of course, his cat.
January 6th, 2017 at 2:36 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
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January 6th, 2017 at 12:16 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:24 AM ^
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January 6th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
... with Steven Threet as OC?
January 6th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:25 AM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
He would need an introduction with the owner of Crazy Monkey Tattoos on Westnedge.
January 6th, 2017 at 1:30 PM ^
Decent tattoo shop. Joe is a decent artist. I know quite a few people very satisfied with tattoos from there.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:25 AM ^
Glad to hear they're having a press conference. If I was a Western fan, I'd want a certain RB coach with Michigan recruiting ties...
January 6th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
I said I'm glad they're holding a press conference because I hope they're promoting someone internally, because I wouldn't want to lose this person from our current staff...
January 6th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
Is the best job in the entire world, bar none. Better than Alabama, better than the Patriots! Best job I've ever seen!"
Fred Jackson
January 6th, 2017 at 2:38 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
That would hurt us alot. That said, it is the kind of jump Wheatley should make. It is unfortunately a good idea from WMU's perspective.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
Mike Hart was their RB coach until this past season.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:35 AM ^
I'm hoping that his son being on the team will keep him here for a few more years. I don't think he has ever even had any coordinator experience, so it would be quite a jump. But Western needs to get a guy who can keep recruiting at the level Fleck was
January 6th, 2017 at 2:44 PM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:25 AM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
Thunder
January 6th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
sharik
January 6th, 2017 at 11:25 AM ^
January 6th, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^
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January 6th, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
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January 6th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
to you, Sir!