If Beamer fails to meet expectation and is let go
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I don't think Beamer is the head coach that Donati has in mind. And I think special arrangements were the only reason Briles agreed to come here to reunite with Donati.
I can’t fault your speculation, and I think quite a few fans have wondered if there isn’t a hidden agenda behind the Briles hire. But until solid reliable information is given, we have to assume Donati has someone else in mind besides Briles.
Too early to speculate. Ask me if Beamer fails. Here is what I will say right now. I will want a proven, successful Head Coach. If past is predictive of the future, that's the kind of replacement Donati will make. He did just that at TCU for their football job and with the baseball opening this year at USC.
Well, I don't agree that we HAVE to assume that. And what I mean is even if Beamer goes 6-6 with a bowl game I think the decision has already been made. The buyout is still some crazy amount though.
If Briles does a great job this year, then he saves Beamer's job. If Briles stinks, no way we would hire him as the new head. Just can't see a pathway for Briles.
Im hoping Beamer is successful this year and is our coach long into the future. I think his loyalty to underperforming assistants is the reason why he is on the hot seat going into the season this year. He let guys like Lonnie Teasley, Marcus Satterfield, Montario Hardesty, Justin Stepp, and Marquel Blackwell all stay around long after clearly demonstrating how bad they were at recruiting/developing players.
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This is what I was thinking. How does Briles impress enough for the promotion, but at the same time fail enough that the season is a failure? (Getting Shane let go)
If the situation comes up, my bar for expectations is LOW.
Not a guy that just got fired for gross incompetence (muschamp) and not a position coach.
Give me a coordinator from a P4 school, or a HC from a G5 school, and im good.
6-6 and a cold weather bowl game will be more than enough for Beamer to keep his job.
If he does go 4-8 or 5-7 and is fired, I doubt Briles is the replacement. How do you hire an OC who had a losing record as head coach? Also, Briles has some serious skeletons in his closet from his days at Baylor. I think a G5 coach with a good record is about the only real option. A good G5 coach who wants to make a name and use SC as a stepping stone is the best case scenario. Get a young guy in, let him build a winner over 4 or 5 seasons and watch him move on to a bigger name program, then, repeat the process for the next guy. No P4 head coach who has had any success is going to want to come to South Carolina. South Carolina is a coaches' career graveyard.
Just to play devil's advocate; (Only semi-serious, if even that - And this would be a wild scenario) Say we go 4-8 while putting up 38pts a game, but giving up, well, a lot more than that. Then Beamer could possibly be canned because of the record, but our OC did a great job and gets promoted to the big chair.... It could happen!
It would not shock me one bit, if Briles gets the job, if Beamer fails. And I would probably be OK with that. It brings to mind the movie (Risky Business) I saw over 40 years ago that was Tom Cruise' breakthrough and co-starred Rebecca De Mornay. A quote from that movie I have always kept in the back of my mind and sometimes go with, would apply:
"Sometimes you gotta say, 'What the f-ck', make your move. Every now and then saying, 'What the f_ck' brings freedom. Freedom brings opportunity, opportunity makes your future.
Briles has never been a Head Coach. He has been an Assistant Head Coach. You are right though that he was touched by the scandal at Baylor where his Dad was the Head Coach. But, he has been hired as OC by multiple programs since then, including by Lane Kiffin (which "ain't" bad); though for some reason here, hired by Kiffin, would be looked at, by some, as a negative.
I would be fine with a successful G5 Head Coach.
But I would disagree that no P4 Head Coach would come here. I believe Jamey Chadwell at Coastal Carolina wanted the job.
A P4 Head Coach to keep an eye on is Jake Dickert of Wake Forest. He reminds me of Kirby Smart.
By the way, we had great fortune hiring an ACC Head Coach (Tanner from NC State) in baseball, resulting in 2 national championships and one runner-up.
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Tanner didn't take the football job. I was talking about the head coach of the football team at South Carolina. I think Joe Morrison was the best coach ever at South Carolina and he died. I can't think of another coach that left on an upward trajectory.
Coastal isn't a P4 program, neither is Liberty. Chadwell would be a good hire in my opinion. He wasn't hired because of the hubris of gamecock fans who think the football program is much better than it really is and Chadwell wasn't a big enough name.
Dickert is probably smart enough to know not to come to South Carolina. He is doing pretty well in the ACC and has to recognize that the Dabo model is a good one to follow. Build a strong program in a weak conference and the path to the playoff is much easier than trying to create a strong program in a strong conference like the SEC. Also, he can be an 8 win coach at Wake Forest and they will build a statue of him. If he went to an SEC school and wasn't competing for the conference championship in four years, he'd probably be fired.
As to Briles and Kiffin, I'm one of those who views Kiffin as a shyster snake oil salesman and Briles being associated with him in any way is a definite negative.
I knew you were talking about football. I was just trying to convey that we had some good results hiring someone from the ACC. I consider SOS number one and JoMo number 2. But, that's me. Yes, the last year and a half of the SOS tenure was not 2011-13. But I think he was ready to hang it up after Clowney left but, Tanner talked him out of it. And Joe had nowhere near the success of SOS. And SOS won his last bowl game. Joe did not.Yes, that's true, Coastal is not P4. They are FBS. I was thinking of FBS.
Regarding Dickert or any such coach, you will never KNOW until you offer.. Dickert or any such coach at a school like WF is limited to how high they can go. Comparing WF to Clemson is like comparing apples to oranges, 2 different schools, 2 different potentials. Besides, money talks.
Yeah, I said the Kiffin association would bother some. I'm not in that group.
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If the offense averages 38 points a game, Clayton White will not only make sure the defense plays lights out, he will be on cloud nine!Just to play devil's advocate; (Only semi-serious, if even that - And this would be a wild scenario) Say we go 4-8 while putting up 38pts a game, but giving up, well, a lot more than that. Then Beamer could possibly be canned because of the record, but our OC did a great job and gets promoted to the big chair.... It could happen!
Re: Dickert, yes, money talks but he's making $4.8 million a year at WF, so hiring him away with money as the only motivator would be a major investment and would come with expectations of immediate results. That takes us back to my point about his being a hero at WF with 8 win seasons and some bowl wins compared to trying to make SC an SEC title contender and the pressure to perform.
Yes, that's true, Coastal is not P4. They are FBS. I was thinking of FBS.
Regarding Dickert or any such coach, you will never KNOW until you offer.. Dickert or any such coach at a school like WF is limited to how high they can go. Comparing WF to Clemson is like comparing apples to oranges, 2 different schools, 2 different potentials. Besides, money talks.
Yeah, I said the Kiffin association would bother some. I'm not in that group.
If he left WF, I could see him going to a Big XII or a bigger ACC program, like NC State. Somewhere with more resources than WF but still having a relatively manageable path to the CFP. I could see him going somewhere like UK or MSSt in the SEC, where he could deal with much more manageable expectations.
The pressure to win would definitely be there for him to win here and should be for anyone in this job. That said, I sometimes get the feeling that many Gamecock fans have flown the white flag and, thus, are settling. And maybe that's more realistic than I am. I don't know for sure. Hopefully, Dr. Amiridis and Jeremiah Donati are changing the mindset. I like the leadership we now have in both those guys. Time will tell. I must say though I like that Donati cut our losses in the baseball program and I suspect he had a hand in the mid-season football coaching changes ( which was unlike Beamer). He seems to be a no nonsense guy.
Our record is 51% all time. Our fan base is probably the only people that would make your statement.
White flag? More like a gradual understanding. I’m very curious to see what Indiana does this year; whether it’s a music band or the eleven guys on a football field at a given time, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. Indiana put themselves in a position to mitigate that this past season and it showed. My opinion is that throwing ADs and coaches alone at a program will not significantly elevate a South Carolina; unlike most I guess, I can live with that for the most part because of the Pandora’s box opened beyond there.
First of all, football, and sports in general, are nowhere near the most important things in my life. I am an eternal optimist. Whatever I do, I strive to do 100% to the best of my ability. Regardless, I never stay satisfied. I always strive to do better and improve. That's the way I have always been. That approach, to all things, has worked out for me. If I die tomorrow, I will have out punted my coverage. Not everything nor everybody is equal. One cannot expect to be number one. What one can expect, and should demand, is that there's production equivalent to resources.
Beamer is undoubtedly on the hot seat, but he's still on the seat. I'll wait to see how the season goes before starting replacement talk.
I wonder if the pressure would be so high if we just qualified for a bowl each year. 6 wins as a floor, and once in a while put together a really good season.
What i mean is, at least as far as my own opinion, I dont need SEC title contentions. But I feel our program could and should be a consistent bowl qualifier.
(Granted, I know bowls dont mean what they once used to. But the 6 win mark is still a good measuring stick, imo)
Someone can correct me on the number, but I think there are about 35 bowl games. That's 70 schools out of about 118 that don't make the playoffs. How pitiful does a program need to be to be among the bottom 48?
It comes down to expectations. I know that in the era of NIL, resources make a difference. If a school has $10 million more in NIL money than another school, is that really a huge difference? What if you spend that $10 million on one player? There are 22 starters on a football team, 44 on the 2 deep. And that's not counting the kicking specialists. There is no way we can be within a field goal or even a touchdown of the Texas schools' NIL oil money. I don't think any school can. At the same time, has Texas and Texas A&M been killing it on the football field since the NIL era started? I think I read somewhere that Sarkisian is on the "hot seat" (with Beamer). It comes down to is the production equivalent to the resources? And, you know, in every day life, some households do a better job of managing their money than other households. Again, it comes down to expectations. If mediocrity is our ceiling, with occasionally cracking it, maybe we should save our administrators some time and give our Head Coach a lifetime contract. I think USC did that once with Warren Giese. I don't think that worked out as planned. But that was before my time.That’s pretty much where I fall as well, and thats nil or no nil. And truthfully, a twelve game schedule, 51 percent is right there at 6 wins. As frustrating as it is with a satterfield or a Tinsley or a Shula or a Muschamp, we are who we are, who we always have been. It’s good with me, I enjoy watching the seasons play out; the 86 team is one of my all time favorites. Beyond that is just tilting at windmills in my view.
This is a rational take and expectation. I don't know where some gamecock fans get the idea that the football program is some sort of powerhouse that should be competing for championships every year or a sleeping giant. SC football is pretty much a .500 team with a rare 8+ win season, always has been. SC is a state with a small population and the gamecocks have no real football history to point to. We share the state with another major football program that does have a tradition of winning and, to be honest, probably has a much better brand.
I think 6 wins should be the absolute floor, and should only be really accepted when there are extenuating circumstances (i.e. injuries). Every season starts with at least 3 gimmes. It isn't asking too much for the team to win 4 competitive games.
Well I like that some of you are coming around to Air/Power Raid guys finally......but we already have a Lashlee: Kendal Briles.Rhett Lashlee or Jake Dickert
IF GIVEN TWO years - he could make a major mark at USC. Briles
I have given the MOST credence to AR/PR coaches on here the last 12-15 years....but the Veer n' Shoot is IMO a slightly better, more adaptable offense that has the same big bang production, but is lesser known/run and therefore some coaches still have no idea how to properly stop it. Don't forget- before all the other off field stuff, Art Briles was setting the world on fire with this offense at BAYLOR!!!!!
Even after people have come and stole from it....it still allow tweaks and nuances that can produce big results from a team that doesn't have top 10 offensive talent across the board.
Someone can correct me on the number, but I think there are about 35 bowl games. That's 70 schools out of about 118 that don't make the playoffs. How pitiful does a program need to be to be among the bottom 48?
Maybe its not so much the bowls as it is the .500 season? Speaking for myself, I could live with a lot if we just hit that consistently.
To your last point, we USED to start a season with 3 patsies. With the 9 game conference schedule, we have clemson and 2 patsies to start every year.
There are always a couple cupcake SEC games i.e. Vandy, UK, MSSt, Arkansas. My point is, every season starts with 3 sure wins, expecting a coach to win three or four more games a season isn't a big ask.
Good point. Im just missing the days when we could add a weak SEC game or two and be looking at 4 or 5 "easy" wins to start a year.
Every team in the Big XII sets the world on fire on offense. The Big XII doesn't play defense at all. If the Air Raid offense was great, MSSt would have won the SEC when Mike Leach coached there or UK when Hal Mumme was their coach.
If you want an offense opponents don't see very often, hire Paul Johnson and let him run the triple option.
If Beamer does not produce this season (and I certainly hope he does), Briles would be an interesting hire. That is for sure.
It's hard not to see the connection between Briles and Donati. I suspect that Donati has a lot of fingerprints in the football program. I'm looking forward to this season. I'm not so sure that Beamer has a long leash and that Donati does not have a hook nearby.
kidrobinski looked it up and we are traditionally just that kind of program, a .500 program.
I think we can all agree that Beamer is not an X/O type of coach. He seems to excel at building a good culture, recruiting well, organizing (excellent admin skills) and motivating. If he turns the offense over to Briles as he’s done the defense to White, this could be an interesting year.
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