OT: Next Baylor HC

Submitted by goblue1213 on
With the "suspension of Art Briles with intent to terminate" one of my friends and I started discussing potential replacements. We came up with 2 names that we felt were pretty solid options. First: Tom Herman, Houston Urban disciple. He only has one year of experience as a HC, but Briles came from the high-school ranks. He's great on offense, connects with the young guys, and he's already in Texas so he understands the state. Second: Chad Morris. Was a trendy name for a couple HC openings a few years ago. He knows how o put out a high-octane offense. The offenses he had at Clemson. He hasn't had a ton of success in a short time as a HC, but he is still someone who Had been highly thought of. He's from Texas, and went to school at A&M so he knows the state. What does the board think?

evenyoubrutus

May 26th, 2016 at 6:19 PM ^

I would be surprised if Herman made a move that is arguably lateral or at the very least a marginal step up when he is almost certainly going to be the most hotly pursued coaching candidate in a matter of a couple years at most.

stephenrjking

May 26th, 2016 at 6:41 PM ^

Herman already turned down South Carolina, apparently with this in mind. He just signed a contract. He is staying at Houston on purpose. 

He can afford to wait. He will win 10+ games a year until Texas or LSU open up (or Alabama by retirement, I guess). No reason to rewrite the program at Baylor when you can do it next year using a roster loaded with 5-stars.

The Mad Hatter

May 26th, 2016 at 6:59 PM ^

Would hire Herman. Both of those schools prefer football to basketball on grass. Texas is probably willing to try anything at this point.

I agree that Herman isn't leaving Houston until a top tier P5 team comes calling. Maybe OSU when Harbaugh forces Meyer into retirement after losing The Game 5 years in a row.

stephenrjking

May 26th, 2016 at 7:43 PM ^

I think both Bama and LSU want to win, and will pursue the best candidate. Granted, Alabama can win with a "traditional" type guy, but they aren't going to hire a Hoke type just to line up under center. Granted, though, a guy like Kirby Smart, if he excels, will be an easy hire for them. And of course there is no sign that Saban is going to slow down yet.

LSU will also pursue the best guy, regardless of style. And Herman, following Meyer's lead, plays a style that is unique but is hardly soft; I think that he might be the best coaching candidate period next year, and that means a school like LSU will be looking for him.

Herman knows how to run a powerful spread offense; he was destroying Alabama with a pretty basic power/counter running package out of the gun a year ago with OSU. It's not basketball on grass, and it is not prone to big-game frustration the way Oregon's offense is. I think any major school would be delighted to get him.

 

LJ

May 26th, 2016 at 8:53 PM ^

100% cosign.  Hell, Bama tried to hire Rich Rod a year before we got him.  I think we're all scarred from Michigan's fanbase demanding a certain style, but the vast majority of schools do not give a shit in the slightest.  Just win baby.

Mr Miggle

May 27th, 2016 at 8:01 AM ^

Urban is an offensive coach, after all. What Herman runs at Houston will more likely be his own. The other variable is the talent level. Those basketball on grass offenses were built for teams with lesser talent to contend, not ones that recruit like Bama and OSU.

tlo2485

May 26th, 2016 at 6:20 PM ^

Herman was my first thought, but Baylor makes no sense for him. Take out their past few seasons under Briles and add an investigation by the NCAA and possibly DoJ and Houston is a better job. He'll have better options in a year or two.

canzior

May 26th, 2016 at 6:20 PM ^

It'll be someone who doesn't have to reach for a P5 gig. Plenty will open up next year, why deal with whatever issues are coming. Maybe someone under the radar or overlooked for P5 jobs may take it and be in over there head. Or get a pro coordinator who needs 2 years before a Hc spot like BoB.




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Mr Miggle

May 26th, 2016 at 10:10 PM ^

the season. It will come down to a few questions. What does the future look like at Baylor? Are there still investigations going on? Does it look like the scandal will make it too hard to recruit? What kind of restrictions will the new administration put on the coach? How much they are willing to spend? Maybe part of changing the culture there will preclude their outbidding others for a big name. I don't think all those questions will be answered in six or seven months.

Then there are the usual things. Who's available and what other jobs are open? I think it's unlikely they could get anyone near the top of their wish list. it will probably be someone like you suggested. Someone like Tom Herman was unlikely in better circumstances, a pipe dream now. This season will surely be with an interim. It will be no shock if he's retained if not implicated by the investigation.

tlo2485

May 26th, 2016 at 6:26 PM ^

John L Smith has experience in these situations. What's he up to?

 

Edit: It looks like he was hired by Kentucky State in Dec. This is perfect. He has no problem bolting for another school before coaching a game to coach through a year of scandal recovery.

superstringer

May 26th, 2016 at 6:25 PM ^

Where does Briles go? NFL for sure -- he is toxic for a college. OC somewhere this season or maybe he sits it out? Then Danny Snyder had a big fat paycheck waiting for him.




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Mr Miggle

May 27th, 2016 at 8:13 AM ^

Basketball on grass isn't exactly hot there. Dan Snyder failed spectacularly hiring Spurrier to bring the fun n run to the NFL. He would seem like one of the last owners to be interested.

Style of play aside, why would any NFL team want to bring in Briles and his baggage? It's a PR nightmare. What do they get out of it? It's not like he was someone they were pursuing before. At best, he might get a job like Tressel had with the Colts, a low profile consultant.

turtleboy

May 26th, 2016 at 6:27 PM ^

From what the reports say, the death penalty is a very real and reasonable possibility. I don't think anybody should be coaching football at Baylor for several years.

FrankMurphy

May 26th, 2016 at 6:41 PM ^

The problem with the PSU situation was that, despite the egregious nature of PSU's conduct, PSU didn't actually break any NCAA rules in its handling of Sandusky (that's right; looking the other way while boosters give grocery money to cash-strapped players is a major NCAA violation but sheltering a pedophile who repeatedly raped children in athletic department facilities apparently isn't). The NCAA had to go outside of its normal enforcement procedure to punish PSU and had to get them to sign a consent decree (which PSU probably wouldn't have signed if it subjected them to the death penalty). That won't be necessary with Baylor, since they've already contacted the NCAA and essentially conceded that they violated NCAA rules. 

turtleboy

May 26th, 2016 at 7:09 PM ^

And what they've admitted to, as well. I mean there's no way just Briles ends up fired. The report says not only did numerous football coaches receive notice and do nothing, but they actively met with victims and families and interfered. The staff as a whole knew and actively covered up numerous times, back to 2009. It even states administrators "retaliated" against an accuser.

FrankMurphy

May 26th, 2016 at 9:47 PM ^

No, but there should probably be some NCAA rule against programs committing felonies, violating state or federal laws, or committing acts or omissions that serve to cover up or conceal any of the foregoing.

Since the NCAA made it a point to note that "sub-tweeting" recruits is a violation but giving them cream cheese to go with their bagels isn't, you would think it would have occurred to them to make sure that violating myriad state and federal laws by looking the other way while football coaches repeatedly commit multiple violent felonies on university grounds over the course of at least a decade is actually an NCAA violation. 

FrankMurphy

May 26th, 2016 at 10:00 PM ^

Possibly, but if that's the best they could do, then clearly the rulebook has some serious gaps. PSU officials violated numerous state and federal laws in their handling of the Sandusky situation, but beyond fining the school and prosecuting the officials responsible, there's not much the state or federal government can do to punish the Penn State football program. To fill that gap, there should be an NCAA rule that penalizes a program or athletic department if its officials commit such serious violations of the law in the course of carrying out their duties.  

For the life of me, I can't find a link to the article in which I read this, but apparently the NCAA strongarmed PSU into signing the consent decree by huddling with the Big Ten ADs and getting them to agree to threaten PSU with expulsion from the conference if they didn't sign it. The result was obviously not unjust, but the NCAA should have had some formal mechanism to punish Penn State in that situation instead of having to resort to such tactics.

Mr Miggle

May 27th, 2016 at 8:23 AM ^

paragraph could be spun more than one way.

I read there was a strong sentiment within the Big Ten to expel PSU before the NCAA got involved. If the NCAA didn't step in and punish them, the Big Ten would have likely acted. No doubt PSU was told that if they fought the consent decree they would be booted from the Big Ten. I think it was perhaps more a case of the Big Ten using the NCAA than the other way around.

stephenrjking

May 26th, 2016 at 6:44 PM ^

I've blasted teams like Purdue for not having any guts in their coaching hires, but this is a bridge too far, even next year.

If Briles works again (not implausible) it will be in some corner of a lesser conference, or for a run-down ethically questionable school that's in the dumps.

Or: Hey, look, Ole Miss might need a coach.