Who Would Be On Your Replacement List?
Back around 1990 or so, I listened to a presentation by Don Canham, at that time the recently retired U-M Athletic Director. Canham is the guy who hired Bo and whose marketing activities filled the Big House. Canham said that he used to keep a list of three coaches he would go after if he suddenly found he had a vacancy he had to fill. The only name he admitted to having on his list was Bobby Ross! At that time Ross had been a successful head coach at Maryland and was on his way to a national title at Georgia Tech. Anyway...if you were Bill Martin and followed Canham's advise, who would be on your list? Here's mine:
Brian Kelly, for all the obvious reasons
Kevin Sumlin at Houston, late an assistant at Oklahoma also with college coaching experience in the Big Ten
Paul Johnson, a success at Navy (!) and currently at Georgia Tech.
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:00 AM ^
1. Brian Kelly - Obvious
2. Butch Davis - Proven winner at Miami, NC is looking up.
3. Gus Malzahn - Someone is going to give him a shot very soon
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:07 AM ^
I've always been a big fan of Gary Patterson at TCU. Great defensive minded coach with ties to a premium recruiting base (the three big ones being TX, CA, and FL). Wanted him to get some consideration for our gig (though I don't know that he'd have been a great fit and I'm thrilled we have RichRod). Also think Texas A&M should have hired him a couple of times already.
Like Canham, I'll be secretive and only share one of my picks (don't want the other guys to get a big head or use my high opinion of them as leverage to improve their deal at their current school).
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:25 AM ^
1. Kelly
2. Chris Peterson
3. Tebow
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:33 AM ^
1. Petersen
2. Kelly
3. Bud Foster- VT defensive coordinator
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:02 AM ^
1) Les Miles-could he say no twice
2) Brian Kelly
3) Peterson
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:32 AM ^
Paul Westerberg
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:30 AM ^
1. Pete Carroll
2. Pete Carroll
3. Pete Carroll
all seriousness aside,
1. Chip Kelly-Oregon
2. Brian Kelly-Cinci
3. Peterson-BSU
Go Blue!
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:17 AM ^
1. Brian Kelly
2. Charlie Strong
3. Gus Malzahn
Darkhorse: Pat Fitzgerald. I really think he'll be a star coach down the road, to the point where a bigger school will pluck him away from Northwestern.
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:22 AM ^
Fitzgerald ends up at Notre Dame? Makes a lot of sense if the good Jesuits are skittish about Kelly.
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:32 AM ^
1. Chris Petersen
2. Troy Calhoun (Air Force)
3. Butch Jones
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:02 AM ^
1. Turner Gill - Buffalo
2. Chris Peterson - Boise State
3. Larry Kehres - Mt. Union
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:08 AM ^
I'd throw Tommy Tuberville on there.
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:45 AM ^
Kelly
Peterson
Meyer (although you wouldn't get him to leave UF)
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:03 AM ^
Rhett Rodriguez
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:44 AM ^
Nick Sheridan
October 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 AM ^
1. Chris Peterson
2. Urban Meyer (I know this is a long shot, but so's this speculation)
3. Les Miles
I hope RR ends up staying around twenty years and retires with a few National Championships and Rose Bowl victories under his belt, but doesn't stay so long that he becomes a self-parody, like Bowden and Paterno.
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:16 AM ^
1. Charlie Strong
2. Steve Sarkisian
3. Chuck Martin