Premature but likely scenario

[bulldogcountry1]

We make a bowl this year and Mullen bolts just like we all know he will. Would you consider and up-and-coming Manny Diaz for head coach?

 

[Goat Dawg]

especially next year. And I believe the intent was to groom Hudspeth for the HC job, but in your scenario, assuming we are successful next year, I'd think you have to look at Diaz.

 

[pDigital32Dawg]

but one year in our system I don't think I could hire him. Like Goat said Hudspeth would be more qualified and I would go to him first. Diaz if he has a couple of seasons here where our defense is solid all across the board I definitely could see him being a good hire as a head coach. But we still are looking for an offense here in Starkville and I am not ready for us to move back to a defensive minded head coach.

 

[DamnitDog]

BAAAAAA! BAAAAAAAAA! say the sheep - April Fool's Day joke.

Sadly, the reality is the posers on SwanLake (same type who want LT, Polk or Sherrill for AD) would NOT consider it a April Fool's joke and would probably seriously consider Felker and/or Stringer for next football coach.

 

[LAMSUFAN]

That's the best word to describe this foolishness. If someone like Jim Harbaugh is still at Stanford after all he has done the past few years then Mullen will not have suitors lining up at the door for a 6-8 win season. Programs want to see consistency, until Mullen strings together a few good seasons he won't be an attractive name for anyone outside of Starkville. And even then, the program that wants him will have to be clear cut better than State as I don't see Mullen just jumping at whatever offer is made. If a program like UF comes along, sure, he's gone. The majority of programs, no.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

But we should consider bringing back Croom.

At this point I am willing to admit that we did not give him enough time to win. While he did a fantastic coaching job in 2007 to get us to 8 wins, factors beyond his control caused our 2008 campaign to get off on the wrong foot. His and Woody's offensive scheme was too advanced for Wes Carroll, so the players were largely to blame for our underperformance that season.

If we bring Croom back we will get an instant boost in motivation and prestige when it comes to new recruits. I don't think Dan Mullen appreciates just how nicely Croom set him up recruit and player-wise (most of the problem players in 2008 left with that season). If Dan leaves at the end of the year, I'll recognize him for the turncoat he is and proudly wear my "Maroon is all that Matters" shirt and loudly campaign for the re-hire of Sylvester Croom.

 

[RobbieRandolph]

nt

 

[Goat Dawg]

nm

 

[thunderclap]

It seems sometimes like we're trying to project the guy away.

 

[Shmuley]

A very strong showing by Mullen next year puts him on numerous lists. Whether he bolts is still a good question, but success in the SEC puts your *** on more lists than success in the pac 10.

 

[Shmuley]

nm

 

[LAMSUFAN]

*Sustained sucess in the SEC. Too many programs have been burned by the nice flash in the pan to go that route immediately.

 

[alabamadog]

nm

 

[Todd4State]

in about four years or so. And if/when he does, he should not settle for less than a very prestigious job- such as Forida, Michigan, LSU, Texas, etc. If he goes to say Arizona, he is a fool.

That said, if and when Dan leaves, while I like our staff now better than any staff we have had since the late 90's, I think it would be prudent to look at guys that are coaching at other places and try to get the best guy that we can. If that's Manny or Hudspeth, that's fine. I have no problem with that. Heck, if it's Reed Stringer, I would have no problem with that, although that won't be the case. My point is, there are a lot of good coaches out there that would like to coach at and be qualified to coach at a SEC school that we could get. We don't necessarily have to look from within, and I think it would be best to do a national search to see what and who we could get. For example, I think Houston has a very good coach that we could probably get. Central Michigan has a good history of producing good coaches like Brian Kelly, who is now at ND. We could also get another good coordinator like we did with Dan.

My concern with Hudspeth is he is not really our OC- at least not as much as Les Koenning is from what I glean. I know he has a lot of input, but promoting him would be like promoting a WR coach to HC.

Then Manny has absolutely no HC experience whatsoever, although he may good in time. At least Hudspeth has some experience as a HC at lower division schools.

Those two may be awesome HC's one day, and I do think that they are good coaches, but I also think we could do better.

 

[LAMSUFAN]

Target an older proven coach who could pick up where Dan left off and we wouldn't have to worry about him leaving. I accept the fact that Dan will be gone one day but it won't be in the next two years like some of our paranoid fans think. Besides, with all the turnover in CFB today it's no big deal. Just think about The Blindside, not one SEC coach in the film is with their school today.

 

[Todd4State]

Target an older proven coach who could pick up where Dan left off and we wouldn't have to worry about him leaving. I accept the fact that Dan will be gone one day but it won't be in the next two years like some of our paranoid fans think. Besides, with all the turnover in CFB today it's no big deal. Just think about The Blindside, not one SEC coach in the film is with their school today.

I would be OK with MSU being coach training U.

I would be OK with a proven coach if it is not a retread, although that route has worked OK for South Carolina- Lou Holtz, and now Steve Spurrier.

 

[LAMSUFAN]

I think unless you're a program that can win based on talent alone then stability doesn't matter, but I think it's huge here and for most programs like us. I think Mullen is OK because I don't see him leaving for a while but in general I'm not a fan of turnover. That's why I prefer going the route of hiring someone in the stage of their career like OM did with Nutt or Sherill when we hired him in the early 90s. Mullen builds us up and x coach maintains and builds upon the foundation he laid.

I also think this will be a much more attractive job in a few years...stadium expansion will be underway or done, the financial backing will be much better as the Bulldog Club grows in number and donations, and I think we will have a few winning seasons and a very attractive roster by the time the next coach gets here. Hiring a quality coach should not be a problem at all.

 

[Todd4State]

is the perception that a lot of people have about our program being a coaching graveyard. I think that hurts us when we are trying to get a guy like a Chris Petersen. So, I think to get to the point that you are talking about, we may need Dan to do well here and get another job and then hire another Dan after that before we get a guy that will be here 12 years.

 

[ThreePack]

That's the best word to describe this foolishness. If someone like Jim Harbaugh is still at Stanford after all he has done the past few years then Mullen will not have suitors lining up at the door for a 6-8 win season. Programs want to see consistency, until Mullen strings together a few good seasons he won't be an attractive name for anyone outside of Starkville. And even then, the program that wants him will have to be clear cut better than State as I don't see Mullen just jumping at whatever offer is made. If a program like UF comes along, sure, he's gone. The majority of programs, no.

I believe Tennessee's last two hires were not proven winners. I think it depends on who is available when the times comes to hire a coach.

 

[LAMSUFAN]

Dooley was plan z or something like that & Kiffin just has some kind of weird effect in interviews.