UCF's hiring of Dino Babers exposes the gutless cowardice of the B1G's also-rans
The B1G-SEC contrast is overblown. The SEC is overhyped; we all know it. We're tired of it. I can't wait to hear about how Michigan's "brawn" will have trouble matching up to the "ESS EEE SEEE SPEEEED" in whatever bowl game we're in.
But there is one area in which the SEC clearly edges the B1G, and it's a huge, legit reason why the conference is consistently better than the B1G top-to-bottom: Mid-range SEC teams are willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary (perhaps, though a topic for another day, not entirely legal ones) to produce a winning football team. Mid-range B1G teams are not.
This has been exposed, again, by the poaching of Dino Babers by mid-major dumpster fire UCF.
You know, Dino Babers. Art Briles disciple, who has the potential to introduce to the B1G a style of football foreign enough that wins are a likelihood just because teams won't be able to adapt. Dino Babers, head coach of in-our-backyard Bowling Green. Dino Babers, who has more wins over B1G teams than... current, not-fired Purdue coach Darrell Hazell.
I mean, c'mon, Babers beat Hazell in his own barn this year. He has clearly assembled a better program in a small college in a small town most people don't believe really exists. Why is Hazell still at Purdue and Babers coaching in Florida for a non-power-5 school?
Because, aside from the big boys at the very top of our conference, Big Ten teams are little more than callow lawn ornaments on the national football landscape. They're gutless. A bit of a buyout (Hazell) and they won't pull the trigger. A suggestion of continuity (Tracey "wait let's fire all of our coordinators now that I'm in charge" Claeys and Bill "Mac retread who didn't totally embarrass himself" Cubit) and they can't help but stay the course. A guy with a nice personality or program familiarity (Mike Riley, Paul Chryst) and he's a sure hire.
The Big Ten isn't a disappointing conference because of talent drain or geography or NCAA bias or even cheating; it is a disappointing conference because half of the teams really don't care.
Dino Babers was in our backyard. He is 3-1 against B1G competition in the last two years. That he won't be on a B1G sideline next year is a travesty.
November 30th, 2015 at 8:47 AM ^
You just compared Purdue to Arkansas.
How in the world can ANYONE take you seriously after that second sentence?
November 30th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^
How are they that different? They are each bottom 2-3 jobs in their respective conferences.
November 30th, 2015 at 12:11 PM ^
But that doesn't mean their programs are even CLOSE to each other.
Do you compare Purdue who's in the bottom 2/3 of our conference to the bottom 2/3's of the Sun Belt?
That's an extremely analogy, but it holds true.
Texas is in the bottom of it's conference...you want to compare them to Purdue?
It's such a stupid comparison...I'm sorry.
Their history, prestige, facilities, budget, tradition are completely different. Arkansas football is not Purdue foot in any, way, shape or form.
Just because their records may be the same doesn't mean anything.
Hell, we we're 5-7 last year...are we the same as Illinois this year? Should they be looking to hire a Harbaugh of 2015?
November 30th, 2015 at 1:30 PM ^
The fuck? Sure, let's compare Group of Five bottom feeders to Power Five bottom feeders.
November 30th, 2015 at 10:04 AM ^
Who do you compare Purdue to in the SEC?
It's absolutely true that the SEC has more teams that truly care enough to do what it takes than the Big Ten. This is especially true with the conferences respective 13th and 14th teams. The SEC got two programs that want to compete, even if Missouri hasn't been historically a great program. The Big Ten got two schools that pretty much just wanted the pay checks.
November 30th, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^
Probably Kentucky.
Comparing them to Arkansas is fucking ridiculous.
November 30th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
Kentucky is very clearly the Indiana equivalent. Neither program has accomplished remotely anything in the last 40 years. Purdue at least has the Joe Tiller era. Purdue is probably South Carolina, honestly.
November 30th, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
#1 it's not apples to apples...the SEC has more prestigous programs than the B1G does. That's just a fact.
Look at their facilities, look at their budget, look at their fan base. So saying the "bottom 2/3's of the B1G vs. the bottom 2/3 of the SEC" just isn't a far comparison.
#2 Purdue has the Joe Tiller era and S. Carolina has the Spurrier era...I suppose those are equal? I'd say Arkansas is a more prestigous job than S. Carolina and they're in the same conference and much easier to compare. Would you disagree?
My point was Arkansas is on a different level. They're not Bama or Florida, but they're not Purdue either.
November 30th, 2015 at 1:05 PM ^
Isn't your second paragraph entirely the point the guy was making in "comparing" Arkansas to Purdue?
I think the difference between the SEC and Big Ten is just one or two more teams at each the higher tiers, and teams at each tier pretty much have outspent their respective counterparts in the Big Ten outside of Ohio State and until the last few years Michigan.
I'd break it down like this based on resources, history, etc. and accept that there's some fluidity (e.g, Tennessee could easily move back into the top tier.)
Top Tier (Blue Blooded Elites): Big Ten - Ohio State, Michigan. SEC - Alabama, Florida, LSU.
Tier 2 (Onetime elites and not quite year-in, year-out threats): Big Ten - Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin. SEC - Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, Arkansas, Texas A&M.
Tier 3 (Nice runs don't come entirely out of the blue): Big Ten - Michigan State, Iowa. SEC - Ole Miss, Missouri (could bump A&M or Arkansas down here).
Tier 4 (Things have to go very right): Big Ten - Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, Northwestern, Maryland. SEC - Mississippi State, South Carolina.
Tier 5 (Dregs): Big Ten - Indiana, Rutgers. SEC - Vanderbilt, Kentucky.
November 30th, 2015 at 8:50 AM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
Not sure that's fair to Stoops. Kentucky is as impossible to win at as Indiana. The high water mark for Kentucky in the last 38 years is 4-4 in the SEC. I'd take a job at UCF before Kentucky.
November 30th, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's done a good job. Just saying I wouldn't say a guy is a bad coach for failing to win at Kentucky.
The nosedive began with Joker Phillips, if you can really have a nosedive from the "heights" of the Rich Brooks era. He had a near-identical 13-24 record with a 2-10 winless SEC campaign to get him fired. Even Rich Brooks, aside from that one year they upset #1 LSU, never really beat anyone good. And again, he never did better than 4-4 in conference. He did do a great job of beating the sisters of the poor, and steve kragthorpe led Louisville in the non-conference schedule, though.
I don't know what you have against Stoops, but it is an obvious bias if you think he's the problem in the program.
November 30th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
On the other hand, Rich Brooks was 9-25 and also 4-20 in conference his first three seasons. Sometimes a guy needs a little time at a place like Kentucky. Kevin Wilson is making his first bowl game in his fifth season and has an 8-32 conference record, yet most still think he's a quality coach. Stoops may be bad, he may be good, I don't know. I just think at this point he should receive a "coaching at one of the worst 10 jobs in p5" pass for another year or two.
November 30th, 2015 at 12:46 PM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 8:44 AM ^
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November 30th, 2015 at 8:48 AM ^
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November 30th, 2015 at 9:22 AM ^
I wouldn't say "stuck" because if he has success he will not be stuck here for very long. UCF is a little bit like Houston, in that it could be a spring board to a P5 job in an instant. You also have the fertile recruiting ground in Florida. You can take UF and FSU and even Miami's scraps and put together a solid team with the right coach. The Baylor offense could do some bad ass things with the talent in Florida. I believe it was reported that Babers had zero interest in the Illinois job, so him taking a job at a non P5 school should tell people something about where these bottom dwellers from the B1G rank with regards to prospective coaches.
November 30th, 2015 at 8:49 AM ^
I don't know what 2/3 of the teams in this conference are even doing. They're cashing checks generated by the 3-4 teams at the top of the conferences and then stuffing the money into their mattress or some shit, because they sure aren't spending it to make their football teams better.
November 30th, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^
A. I usually really like your posts but this particular one doesnt make much sense to me.
B. Even if I do follow your logic (which I don't) I'm really trying to get my head around why this point has you so fired up. It's like if you posted a really, really angry diatribe on the amount of ice you get in your cup at the Michigan concession stands.
November 30th, 2015 at 11:28 AM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 12:24 PM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 9:07 AM ^
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November 30th, 2015 at 9:22 AM ^
If I were Dino, I'd turn down this year's openings at B1G schools to go to UCF. I assume he's built relationships with Texas and midwest high school coaches, and now he'll have access to talent in Florida. UCF seems like a good move for his career trajectory. I'd say Hawaii is the biggest loser for not getting him and his Baylor-like offense to return home.
November 30th, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^
I think there's a kernel of truth in what you've said here. Teams like Purdue, Rutgers, and Illinois have exhibited constant levels of incompetence in hiring decisions. But that's really about it. Who else would you fit into that category? As you mentioned, the top of the conference is doing just fine with coaching hires. Indiana's coach is Kevin Wilson, who was a highly-regarded OC at Oklahoma. Minnesota had Jerry Kill, who built NIU into a MAC dynasty. Wisconsin has Paul Chryst, who was their OC when they were killing it a few years ago.
And I think Babers is a bad example. He's been a HC for only two seasons, and only this past season was successful (in 2014, BGSU went 8-6 and got embarrassed by every decent team they played). The coaching ranks are littered with coaches who parlayed a single miracle year in the MAC into a higher-profile job and couldn't maintain their success. If Babers can build UCF into a good program, then he'll be a hot P5 coaching candidate, but I think it's too soon to say that right now.
November 30th, 2015 at 9:24 AM ^
Illinois promots 62 year old Bill Cubit to HC. He hadn't won a MAC title since 1995 and was fired from that job. Rod Carey (44 years old) meanwhile is coaching the most successful program in the state (Northern Illinois). How you don't at least interview the guy is mind boggling. He is not Tim Beckman, who couldn't win the MAC in three seasons there.
November 30th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^
don't think this one was super well-thought-out. In the end, though--if you're arguing for a win-at-all-costs ever-escalating approach to college football--I'm not really for it.
November 30th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^
...except when you consider Darrell Hazell, Tim Beckman, Brady Hoke, Turner Gill, possibly Dave Doeren, and other MAC coaches that didn't work out.
Dino Babers could work out. Jerry Kill was a good hire and so were some other coaches from the MAC, but it's preposterous to assume that success at one school will translate into success at another. It's an OK hire on paper; it's absurd to get worked up over UCF getting Dino Babers. He was mainly a position coach before becoming HC, and he only has a small sample size of good results.
November 30th, 2015 at 12:16 PM ^
That was my thought...
The OP is going nuts over this, meanwhile just last year we were getting RIPPED because the B1G had all MAC level coaches and Dantonio and Meyer.
November 30th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
Brady Hoke.
November 30th, 2015 at 1:36 PM ^
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November 30th, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^
Maybe at UCF he can poach enough share of Florida athletes to make his system hum. UCF is no more a dumpster fire that the B1G dumpster fires. The only advantage the B1Gs program have is they are in the B1G. We don't know that Purdue, Illinois, MD or others didn't kick the tires either.
November 30th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
I'm still worked up over the Arkansas is Purdue comment...so I decided to make a list. List? LIST.
This is program prestige, budget, national perception, facilities, fanbase just as much as it's competitive success
- Alabama / Ohio St.
- Florida / Michigan
- LSU / Nebraska
- Tennessee / Michigan St.
- Georgia / Penn St.
- Auburn / Wisconsin
- Texas A&M / Iowa
- Arkansas / Minnesota
- Ole Miss / Illinois
- S. Carolina / Maryland
- Mississippi St. / Purdue
- Missouri / Northwestern
- Kentucky / Rutgers
- Vanderbilt / Indiana
I gave this ZERO thought...so tear it up, it actually would be a nice off-season thread of it's own. I didn't take the time to review ANY history, so I'm admitting this isn't going to be accurate. But my point is even an educated guess doesn't compare Purdue to Arkansas. Arkansas has a million more resources than Purdue does when it comes to football.
November 30th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 12:45 PM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 2:26 PM ^
I actually don't think Minnesota promoting Tracy Claeys is such a bad move, considering that they don't have a permanent AD and Tony Dungy isn't coming anytime soon.
December 1st, 2015 at 10:46 AM ^
whoops