Soulfire21

January 10th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^

Perhaps I am being ignorant ... but what's to love so much about him?  I mean, he did alright in the NFL ... but that doesn't guarantee success at the college level.

Also, is he a "MICHIGAN MAN" ...

CWoodson

January 10th, 2011 at 1:19 PM ^

Of all the ridiculous arguments for and against various coaches posted on this site over the last month-plus, the most idiotic one suggests that Gruden isn't a good enough coach for Michigan.  If he's not, you better call up Coughlin, Cowher, Parcells, or Saban, because outside of those guys, nobody else is good enough for Michigan either.

So congrats Soulfire - you've managed to top "Brady Hoke's consistent history of success."  Great work.

biakabutuka ex…

January 10th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^

OK, then look at Bill Callahan or Bill Walsh. Neither of those guys left their program in good shape. There are examples.

There's no telling how well he'll do, but at least he has the right personality for college coaching--more like Pete Carroll. I'm just a little worried about the offense. He will need to choose his OC more wisely than Rodriguez chose his DC.

lincboe

January 10th, 2011 at 12:42 PM ^

I recently heard from a strong source in the athletic department that when GERG interviewed with Rich Rod and the athletic department (after getting canned by Syracuse) he was interviewing for the Linebackers Coach position. Rich Rod was so impressed with him that he gave him the Defensive Coordinators position... That was the biggest mistake Rich Rod made in his entire time at Michigan, and in my mind makes it impossible to say he did everything he could for us. That was a HUGE mistake that caught everyone - even GERG - by surprise.

lincboe

January 10th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^

Clearly, people weren't lining up out the door to come work for Rich Rod. In his mind GERG was the best option at DC and rather than actively pursuing a better candidate (which can't be hard to find) he decided to go with it - to the surprise of everyone including GERG. He could have done more by going out and trying to find a better candidate. His mistake was hiring GERG when he could have done more and put forth a greater effort to find the right guy to run his 3-3-5 defense.

BiSB

January 10th, 2011 at 12:16 PM ^

He took what was essentially Tony Dungy's team to the Super Bowl in '02.  Over the next six seasons he went 45-51.  This gives me serious concerns about player development, and reminds me a little bit of Charlie Weis; sure he can take good players and take them to the next level, but can he take raw players and coach them up?

Obviously this is conjecture on my part... but I don't think he's a slam dunk.

Blue_Sox

January 10th, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^

That means Bill Callahan took the Raiders to the Super Bowl in 02 with Gruden's players, right? 

Look, I like the thought of Gruden but don't know about the viability of it either. But the constant "did it with another coach's talent" is a flawed argument to me. Bottom line is he won, you can't take that way from him.

coldnjl

January 10th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^

most NFL teams that make it to the superbowl miss the playoffs the next year. Its just a fact of the turnover of the NFL. THat doesn't mean he is bad at player development. It means that he took advantage of the chance he had and that is what matters.

mgowin

January 10th, 2011 at 1:15 PM ^

I have some of the same concerns as to whether he can coach college level players up or not. But I think the biggest thing you get with a guy like Gruden is who is available for him to hire. The talent pool of coaches for Gruden to hire from is most likely huge. IDK if he is actually interested in us or not, but I think hiring him is would be very risky, either we would win a MNC or two, or be really bad. I don't see much in between with this type of hire.

King Douche Ornery

January 10th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^

He won with Tony Dungy's players.

I'm more impressed that he left a pretty good team in Oakland, working under Al Davis. He figuratively won a super bowl while beating himself (I'll leave this softball out there).

cm2010

January 10th, 2011 at 2:29 PM ^

He didn't win the Super Bowl, but he took the Raiders there and he was awful at Nebraska. Plus there are the coordinators like GERG as already mentioned, plus Charlie Weis. I think Gruden would do a good job, but it's not like winning a Super Bowl will make him a great college coach.

Undefeated dre…

January 10th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^

And not at the NFL level, either. Gruden loves football, and he knows he's too young to be a talking head the rest of his life. So the question is, NFL job or NCAA job? I think he has a very romantic (perhaps unrealistically romantic) view of college football, and I could easily see him taking a college job.

I'd still be shocked SHOCKED if he is both offered and takes the U-M job, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him coaching at the college, not NFL, level.

NomadicBlue

January 10th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^

I am not one of those super anti-Miles people, but I do think Gruden would be a better hire than Les.  his zest for the game is incredibly infectious.  Get him around a bunch of young men who are willing to buy in and the results will be positive.  Also, I think he would be able to adapt his offensive style to the talent around.  Also, he's fuckin' Chucky, Dude!

buckeyeh8er

January 10th, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^

Is there a bigger name out of all non-players in all of football?  Gruden is all over the TV, does on air assessments of Tebow, McCoy, Bradford, etc... He goes to high schools across the country and speaks to the kids and helps them in practices.  He is every where and is extremely relevant and add this to the fact that he did win a SB and was a very good coach for the Raiders.  His name will recruit talent and his coaching will allow us to utilize that talent.

buckeyeh8er

January 10th, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^

Is there a bigger name out of all non-players in all of football?  Gruden is all over the TV, does on air assessments of Tebow, McCoy, Bradford, etc... He goes to high schools across the country and speaks to the kids and helps them in practices.  He is every where and is extremely relevant and add this to the fact that he did win a SB and was a very good coach for the Raiders.  His name will recruit talent and his coaching will allow us to utilize that talent.

buckeyeh8er

January 10th, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^

Is there a bigger name out of all non-players in all of football?  Gruden is all over the TV, does on air assessments of Tebow, McCoy, Bradford, etc... He goes to high schools across the country and speaks to the kids and helps them in practices.  He is every where and is extremely relevant and add this to the fact that he did win a SB and was a very good coach for the Raiders.  His name will recruit talent and his coaching will allow us to utilize that talent.

ken725

January 10th, 2011 at 4:16 PM ^

 Some people say; one of the reasons why Gruden might not be a good college coach is his lack of experience dealing with college kids.  Like you said he goes around the country speaking to HS kids.  He is even a volunteer OL coach for a HS in the Tampa area.  I think Gruden ‘s charisma and pedigree will garner lots of attention from HS prospects across the country.

finch

January 10th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^

Agreed. Looking back through his posts, he has very few reactions and comments. Sounds like a guy who's passionate for football, but has latched on to the Gruden rumor and is hoping it's true.

Until I see Chucky with a knife in his hand, stabbing a picture of Brutus and announcing he's our head coach, I'm going to consider this a pipe dream. I think Gruden would be a great hire, but a pipe dream none-the-less.

Beavis

January 10th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^

This guy has been grinding his Gruden axe for a couple of weeks now.  So, take his info FWIW.

On a related note, I had my own blog for about 7 months (when I was unemployed).  It was approximately the same quality, and I knew jack sh*t about anything "insider".