Bo's Words: Wait for the Right Opportunity

Submitted by Clarence Beeks on

Durkin would have been wise to heed Bo's advice:

"What did I do with all this knowledge I acquired from Doyt and Ara and Woody?

I didn't sell myself, that's for sure.  I used it to become the best assistant coach I could be.  I had no qualms about eing an assistant coach, and I thought i was the best offensive line coach there ever was!

I have never applied for a job in my entire life.  I have never, not once, prepared a resume.  I just figured if I worked hard and got really good at this, someone's going to say, "This guy is good," and I'd get plent yof opportunities.  And I was right.

Don't worry about marketing yourself.  Just be good at what you're doing now and enjoy it, and things will take care of themselves.  Yes, I know in some fields you have to get your resume out and all that, but I think it's overestimated.  In most businesses, word gets around pretty fast - and hey, that's what headhunters are for.

That was the final lesson I learned from my days as an assitant coac: Don't waste your time and energy looking for the next job.  Take care of the job you've got now.  If you're good at what you're doing now, they'll find you.  Trust me, word will get out there, and they'll find you.

They always do.

And when that happens, don't jump at the first offer, just because you think it's a promotion.  Being an assistant for a great organization is better than being the head honcho at a place where you're being set up for failure.  You've got to wait for the right opportunity, working for the right people - because if you're impatient, you're going to regret it."

Intro to Chapter 3 of Bo's Lasting Lessons (which, if you have not read it, you owe yourself to do so).  Sure, he's the boss now at Maryland, but this move makes no sense at all from a career trajectory perspective.  Total mistake and the fact that he made it, contrary to Bo's teaching, says to me that he wasn't the right fit for Michigan, anyway.  We'll look back on this in four or five years and this will be spot on.

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Bb011

December 2nd, 2015 at 9:44 PM ^

I feel bad for Durkin because I really like him, but I also think he made a bad decision from his perspective. He is in the B10 east which is loaded. I think he's a great coach, but I'm worried that this job is going to kill some of the momentum he had building. He should have waited another year or two for a job that has more upward mobilitiy. I just don't see him doing all that well at Maryland.

Joined: 09/02/2010

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ford_428cj

December 2nd, 2015 at 9:59 PM ^

Lighten up Francis - just venting a bit. Not sure what uproar your speaking of btw...all the threads on the board? It doesn't bother me - I just open ones that interest me. Maybe I would hear more on sports radio - but all I hear is about how great dantonioio is & how the Spartans will win it all now...& how Osu ran roughshod over Mich & will be in playoff now for how dominant they were over us. So yea - durkin can gtfo. I wish him zero luck in future, for doing that during osu week

Btw - are you one of the site owners? I have seen people ask you a lot of questions on topics. 

 

(Post to Magnus - not sure how to quote posts on here?)

Joined: 10/28/2012

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jared32696

December 2nd, 2015 at 10:04 PM ^

You girls need to calm the fuck down and stop degrading his move. Good luck to coach DJ until he plays Michigan. You re crazy, young and naive to think that accepting this maryland job isnt worth it. Lay off the kool aid

Joined: 11/05/2010

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Desmondo

December 2nd, 2015 at 10:25 PM ^

Because it's a HC job at a school with a major shoe company pouring in money, in a premier conference in fertile recruiting grounds.

K-State was nothing until the right guy came around.

Oregon was nothing until the right guy came around.

OK State was nothing until the right guy came around.

Maybe Durkin's the right guy at Maryland, maybe he isn't. But turning down a good opportunity because it hasn't been successful in the past is a failing attitude.

Joined: 03/27/2009

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JBE

December 2nd, 2015 at 10:35 PM ^

Exactly. That "he doesn't belong here" argument the OP makes, and how he frames the argument using Bo, is fairly ridiculous. It's a weak effort all around. I'm surprised people here are actually agreeing with it. It's fucking crazy town.

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Bluetotheday

December 2nd, 2015 at 10:50 PM ^

The guy is 37, arguably one of the best young coaching talents in the country and just got offered the keys to a program supported by a billionaire...Implying he is one wise is just fucking stupid. Yeah, if you are offered a CEO position for mid tier company, would you turn it down?

Joined: 02/27/2013

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Amaizeinblue

December 3rd, 2015 at 12:02 AM ^

Some of these comments crack me up. All Durkin has to do is go to a few bowl games and maybe win one and Maryland fans will worship him. By then he'll probably be off to an even higher profile job. Look at it this way, he's getting probably a 2 million dollar raise right now to be a Head Coach. Maybe he thinks this is the right opportunity after heading a top ranked defense, again. He's going to have all that UA money to throw around and all the shiny new facilities in a year or two.

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Danwillhor

December 3rd, 2015 at 12:56 AM ^

the personality cult of Bo here at UM is not healthy - at all. I've never (correct me if missing one) seen or heard of a situation where one man and his lineage is of utmost importance and it was healthy or turned out ok. In fact, it's almost always downright deadly for the situation. My God we need to step back from the man a bit. We really do.

Joined: 12/02/2008

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Danwillhor

December 3rd, 2015 at 5:06 AM ^

and unhealthy and hinders growth. Again, name one case of personality worship that is/was healthy. I can't. Remember, honor but move on. We need to let Dear Leader go and rest in peace, ffs. It's creepy to even hear you say "why?". Is 50 years not long enough? Not a tight enough grip? We don't accept outsiders and it's almost 2016. We hired Hoke because he once coached here in literally any capacity. Every search contains the caveat of whether or not they worship at the alter of Bo and if they don't they're not wanted or accepted. It's crazy because he wasn't perfect! That advice was good for HIM and many others but not sveryone. Bo wasn't a diety without mistake or only seeing things from his perspective.

Joined: 12/02/2008

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BTB grad

December 3rd, 2015 at 1:07 AM ^

The talk of Maryland being a place where it's impossible to win sounds eerily similar to what was said of Michigan State's football program when they hired a certain coach in 2007...

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Wolfman

December 3rd, 2015 at 8:52 AM ^

MSU had a history of periodic greatness. MD does not. It is a BB school and any success in FB will be looked on as a bonus, not unlike ND when their BB teams performs well.

Add in LC taking his foot off the gas his last two years in regard to recruiting and M hiring a guy that had little use for those that he inherited. Hell, not many coaches would have had use for that group. Going in a different direction, he headed to an area that produced the type of athletes he had been successful with at a lesser program. Dantonio was given free reign to recruit in-state where you still find some decent players that RR did not want. Nothing in MD's history that I can think of in regard to fb, other than Randy White, speaks to good to great program. Conversely, MSU had produced high level talent throughout the years and their periods of greatness, although not consistent, were very very high periods, not unlike the one they are going through now. When MSU experienced these periods, UM was down due to bad coaching fits for their school, i.e. Oosterbaan who won big with Crisler's players and then went back to about .565 for remainder of his coaching career. Elliot recruited better than even he thought, giving Bo more future AAs than any coach would ever inherit. What about these two programs, MSU and MD are similar? Not a good move and uphill fight not only with PSU being the obvious threat to talent, but UM's breakthrough in NJ a state that just happens to be producing eastern talent at a level second only to PA. Good move if you're looking at it as a proving ground and a place to get feet wet. Bad move if you, or worse, they, think you are going to deliver them to the big time of the sport. However, Kiffin has proven it's very easy to make big time money in this game based on nothing more than projections. So there's that if you like green more than Ws. Many people do.

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pescadero

December 3rd, 2015 at 8:53 AM ^

Biggest monetary job offer Bo ever got: 1981 Texas A&M at $250,000 per year.

 

Durkin currently makes about $150,000 MORE than the inflation adjusted number Bo was offered at Texas A&M... and Maryland is going to pay him (inflation adjusted) 4-5x the biggest offer Bo ever recieved.

The monetray numbers aren't even comparable. Durkin in 3 years at Maryland will make as much (inflation adjusted) as Bo made in his entire career.

 

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pescadero

December 3rd, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^

Absolutely.

 

I was just pointing out that for many it changes the evaluation.

 

With A&M, Bo was choosing between:

 

a) Job that made you wealthy, but you still needed to keep working

b) Job that made you a bit wealthier, but you still needed to keep working

 

For Durkin it is:

a) Job that made you wealthy, but you still needed to keep working

b) Job that made you a lot  wealthier and enabled you to become idle rich if smart.

 

The options just aren't that comparable.

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Mpfnfu Ford

December 3rd, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^

But that just doesn't apply to today's college football world. In Bo's day, Athletic Director's ruled their department totally and made the hire they thought best, and all of them had experience themselves coaching some sport. And a lot of them were former football coaches themselves. Their eye for coaching talent was much better.

Today, all these ADs are MBAs, few of them have any experience in coaching, and they have to appease many masters. That means you get long out drawn out deals and multiple interviews, so that the AD can point at a process and say, "See, I did a good job" even if the result ends up subpar. 

Over a decade ago, Florida made Steve Spurrier interview for his old job after the Washington Redskins stint, even after all he'd done in the 90's. That's the world we live in, and it's only gotten more pressured since then.

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