OT: Narduzzi Turns Down UCONN HC Job
Apparently Narduzzi has turned down UCONN. I personally think that was the beter call. I figured this was important info since he is one of the best defensive coordinators in the BIG on a team in our division. Can't wait for the who cares posts.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/12/11/5132350/pat-narduzz…
December 11th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^
They are running with this over at SBNation (LINK)
If the tweets they posted from FootballScoop have merit, the issue might have been over assistant pay. Reportedly, the package offered was overall "aggressive", whatever that means in "I just got an offer from UConn" terms. The rest of the article is mainly a rehash of Narduzzi's career highlights.
December 11th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^
Maybe this means he's heard from a better program.
December 11th, 2013 at 1:50 PM ^
not OT. where does narduzzi want to go?
December 11th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
He can do better
December 11th, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^
I have several legit sources saying Texas wants him
December 11th, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^
Not doubting you (okay, maybe) but that would be crazy if Texas replaced Mack Brown with a coordinator with no head coaching experience, especially when they can afford to get almost whoever they want.
December 11th, 2013 at 3:42 PM ^
Texas wants him as a DC
December 11th, 2013 at 6:03 PM ^
...although beyond GERG it seems Texas is where good defensive coordinators with upward mobility go to die. Two words: Manny Diaz, who was as hot a few years back as Narduzzi now.
December 11th, 2013 at 7:10 PM ^
Working for a has-been like Mack Brown probably has had something to do with that.
The guy has been to four BCS bowls in 16 years. AT TEXAS. He is very lucky he has lasted this long there and he should have the class to step down without a fight. He has clearly underperformed and his stint would have been a total disaster if Vince Young never came into his life.
December 11th, 2013 at 1:56 PM ^
Maybe he likes working for Dantonio and is expecting a pay raise after this year? Maybe he is waiting for the Nebraska HC job after next season.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^
Not that he doesn't deserve it, but Narduzzi just doubled his salary to $500k last season. Not sure if MSU has the stones to give him another sizeable bump to the Mattison or Fickell (HA!) range of $750K. Sparty should be giving Dantonio a solid bump too. At around $1.8M he's underpaid.
In general, if the Big Ten ever wants to seriously try and compete with the SEC, they need to learn to pay their coaches a competitive salary. The conference makes more money than any other, so there's really no excuse for it.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^
he gave them a laundry list of what he needed to succeed and it's price tag. The trustees said "no" and he bailed. Unless something has changed within that culture, Dantonio is going to keep getting underpaid. . .
December 11th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^
Supposedly that's one of the reasons that Bielma left Wisconsin too. Its what annoys be about the Big Ten. They bring in more money than any other conference, but just about all of the schools outside of Michigan and Ohio State refuse to pay their coaches top dollar.
If they are content being the #3 or #4 or #5 conference out of the five power conferences, then stick with the status quo. The SEC has ascended to the top conference because they pay their coaches like they want to be the best. There's no reason MSU/PSU/Wisc/etc can't shell out $3M + $1.5 for some assistant coaches.
December 11th, 2013 at 3:48 PM ^
Be careful what you wish for.
December 11th, 2013 at 7:08 PM ^
Whatever is going on in MSU's athletics culture right now sure as hell is getting better results than what our athletic culture has produced.
Al Borges is paid more than Pat Narduzzi is. Just think about that. We are a MESS here.
December 11th, 2013 at 3:44 PM ^
Hollis said Dantonio and all assistants will be getting raises this offseason. Narduzzi got one last year, and i'm pretty sure everyone got one 2 years ago.
December 11th, 2013 at 5:30 PM ^
Good for them. They certainly deserve it. The assistants all got one last season, but Narduzzi far and away had the biggest bump going from $233k to $500k. In 2011, Dantonio got a new contract, but not a big pay bump. It was more of a long term security type thing it "only" bumped his total compensation from $1.8M to around $1.9M. I think you'll see him bumped up to around $3.5M. That would be good for fourth in the Big Ten.
1. Meyer - $4.6M
2. Hoke - $4.1M
3. Ferentz (lol) - $3.98M
4. O'Brien - $3.2M
5. Pelini - $2.9M
6. Fitzgerald - $2.2M
7. Hazell - $2.1M
8. Andersen - $2.1M
9. Dantonio - $1.9M
10. Beckman - $1.7M
December 11th, 2013 at 7:22 PM ^
What's bizarre about Hoke's salary - and what makes it arguably a bigger LOL than Ferentzs - is that it exists totally outside of supply-and-demand.
Michigan did not have to pry Hoke from a high-paying gig nor is there any realistic chance an elite program would come after him. He is here because he is a "Michigan Man." While there is no doubt a gig as high-pressure as UM deserves some coin, it is disprespectful to the fans whom Brandon pilfers to pay this man so much when there is no logistical reason to.
December 11th, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
Quote from a CBS interview he gave in early November:
"I'd certainly like to be a head coach some day, at the right time," Narduzzi said on CBS Sports Network's "Fast Forward" on Tuesday night.
"I guess you kind of have to let it happen. I think, when you try to go after something so hard, sometimes, it doesn’t happen. Certainly, I get anxious to want to do that one day. But I'm also anxious to do it at the right place and make the right decision."
Sounds like he wants to be a head coach, but he thinks he'll get something better than UCONN this year. I don't see his stock rising much higher considering his unit was about as good as it can get this year and it's losing several starters next year.
Wouldn't surprise me if he waited around for Nebraska's bowl game to see what happens there, but I don't think that's worth staying an assistant for another year.
December 11th, 2013 at 1:55 PM ^
I honestly think that if Saban bolts, Alabama might give Dantonio a look if they don't just hand the keys off to Kirby Smart. I think Narduzzi would rather continue being a coordinator at a larger program.
December 11th, 2013 at 1:58 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 2:14 PM ^
You are most likely right, but they did hire Rich Rodriguez out of WVU before they got Saban. Plus Dantonio runs a similar style of football as Saban. I think there is a shot if he brings Narduzzi.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^
But that was all before they became the perennial national title contender that they are now. Expectations are higher. Prior to hiring Saban, Alabama was coming off a three year stretch where they went 67-54. So expectations weren't quite the same.
And just for reference, Michigan is in the midst of a 77 - 53 ten year stretch. So as bad as things have been around here, they were even worse at Alabama prior to Saban.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:20 PM ^
But then you look at Bama's pre-Saban coaching hires, and Dantonio seems just fine:
Mike Shula - career assistant
Mike Price - Longtime Washington State head coach. Also, LOL.
Dennis Franchione - TCU head coach
Mike DuBose - long time DL coach at Alabama.
December 11th, 2013 at 1:59 PM ^
I'm not entirely surprised. Quite frankly, he can do better than UCONN.
December 11th, 2013 at 1:59 PM ^
along. It's all a theory, but Cousins is gonna start this week in Washington, Shannahan has been trying to leave Washington since last year and Saban is an egomaniac, he has to be moving forward and Bama is coasting for him. He has two MNCs in a row and is always in the championship mix.
He needs a new challenge and Texas won't be it. It's a latteral move for him.
Just my .02. So basically worthless, but fun speculation.
Narduzzi on the other hand, can do much better than UConn. Could the Rutgers job open up? Or maybe WF or something on that level. UConn doesn't care about football, they are a basketball school.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^
Because he won't be given free reign to take control over the roster, etc. If Saban were ever to leave for the NFL, he wouldn't make the same mistake that cost him Miami (where he had to deal with a GM that he often disagreed with), he would have to be his own GM, he's that type of guy as far as control. He has stated that was his downfall and reason he left the NFL, he hated that part of it. So Washington will not be a place he would end up if he jumped back to the NFL.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:01 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^
Will someone respectable just offer this man a job already and get him out of our hair?
December 11th, 2013 at 2:43 PM ^
I offered him a job mowing my lawn, but he never replied to the job offer. Oh well...
December 11th, 2013 at 3:34 PM ^
Well of course he didn't. How is he supposed to lay in the weeds if he mows them all down?
December 11th, 2013 at 3:40 PM ^
Did you tell him about the complimentary lemonade?
December 11th, 2013 at 7:54 PM ^
I offered him a jod managing a pizza place. Could keep working with his players.
December 12th, 2013 at 11:11 AM ^
Ba dum tss!
December 11th, 2013 at 3:50 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 7:33 PM ^
Who will rid me of this meddlesome coach?
December 11th, 2013 at 7:33 PM ^
Who will rid me of this meddlesome coach?
December 11th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
UConn is an awful job. The HC gig at Cass Tech is about 100x better. Narduzzi should go somewhere like Boise State, or a lower-level Pac 12 job (Cal, Colorado, Utah). What about: Rutgers...? Purdue? Kentucky? Virginia?
I have no knowledge of the coaching situation at these schools, just stating opportunities that look exponentially more attractive than UConn, with teams that underperformed in 2013.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:23 PM ^
Kentucky is about as bad of a coaching destination as Uconn. Basketball school with a snowball's chance in hell of competing in the SEC.
December 11th, 2013 at 4:17 PM ^
Yeah you're right about UK. I think some of the others present a good opportunity though, namely Boise (carry on Petersen's momentum, plus weaker conference), Cal (California recruiting), and UVA (state producing more talent lately and most of the ACC is beatable each year).
December 11th, 2013 at 5:22 PM ^
Cal won't be hiring for another couple years at minimum. They were terrible this year, but their coach was in his first year. Even if they wanted to bail on the new coach (which they don't, yet), they don't have the cash for another buyout (Tedford got around 5 million I think). I do agree that that's probably around the level of job that Narduzzi is probably shooting for, though.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
He knows he's the heir apparent at MSU. No need to rock the boat to take the plunge at UConn, especially when it's likely Dantonio will get a look from a couple big-name schools in the near future.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
I think this is a good possibility. It seems to me that Narduzzi was rumored to be connected to the UConn job for too long for it to fall apart over assistnat pay. He either got cold feet (reasonable) or has reason to believe a better opportunity will be available.
On the other hand, isn't Dantonio a little long in the tooth for a big time coaching job?
December 11th, 2013 at 2:27 PM ^
Dantonio is 57. For reference, Saban is 62. He's already done the journeyman thing, he now has the almost-high profile job, and if he wanted to, he could do five or more years at a premiere program and retire on top.
Now, I don't think he would want to, but it's not outside the realm of responsibility.
December 11th, 2013 at 2:37 PM ^
I meant more from the opposite perspective. If you're AD at a big time school, do you want a guy who could be looking at retirement in 5 years? You do for a guy like Saban who could turn your program into a beheamoth in 5 years when he leaves it for the next guy, but Dantonio isn't remotely the same type of slam dunk.
December 11th, 2013 at 3:33 PM ^
While I agree Dantonio isn't as much of a slam dunk as Saban, (Who is) there aren't very many coaches out there I would rather have coaching my team. IMO Saban is probably the only one I can say, whithout a doubt I would rather have.
December 11th, 2013 at 5:01 PM ^
David Shaw, Mike Gundy, Jimbo Fisher, etc. Talk about overreacting MSU having a good year... afet losing 6 games last year.