Your Thoughts on the Candidates?

Since we’re getting nothing fromKansas on this one, we might as well just assume that these rumors are substantiated enough to be worth discussing.

Jim Harbaugh (*) – As we’ve said before, the resume isn’t really there. Harbaugh would be a hire based on pedigree and the IT factor. He just feels like a home run. Factor in the general lack of geographical ties (though Stanford has mildly recruited Texas) and despite all the buzz and wishful thinking surrounding this hire, it wouldn’t necessarily be a sure thing. All of that said, if he wants to come here, he’s probably our guy.

(*) – Apparently, I was wrong about him interviewing yesterday. Apparently, his interview is instead set for today. Apparently, none of us know shit about this search.

Houston Nutt - He knows the area. He’s recruited some players. And he’s done some winning in the SEC. And really, he’s a pretty decent football coach – plenty good to coach at Kansas. But he’s also certifiably insane. And I’ve heard classless thrown around without too much reservation when describing the guy as well. I don’t think he’d be a disaster, but I don’t see how we’d view him as an upgrade now or in the future, and it just feels like we’d come to regret it at some point. And yet, I’m all but positive he’ll be interviewed shortly (*).

(*) – Now confirmed by Tom Dienhart

Kevin Sumlin – First things first, if it’s Sumlin, we better find a good DC to join the staff. A former LB at Purdue, Sumlin has spent his entire coaching career on the offensive side; bouncing around his first few years, but since the turn of the century has been in the area. First he was with RC Slocum and then he moved up to Norman where he eventually came to be the OC under Stoops before filling the void Art Briles left in Houston. He went 8-5 with a bowl win over Air Force last year and, currently sitting at 10-3, he’s set to play the Falcons again this year. Given his track record, ties to the area and familiarity with Texas recruiting, we’d have to be pleased with this hire.

Turner Gill First things first, if Gill were to come, he’s going to need to assemble a new staff. No disrespect to the guys he’s working with, but with no recruiting ties in the area, track record in college (most are CFL guys) or BCS conference type experience, they’d just be walking into too much. However, if that’s something he’s willing to do, he could make for a great coach. I was always impressed with his work at Nebraska and the job he has done at Buffalo has only added to his credentials. Wouldn’t be a headline grabber hire, but could be very solid for many years to come.

Skip Holtz - Fresh of winning his second straight C-USA championship, Holtz is set to take East Carolina to a bowl for the third straight year (beat Boiste State in ’07, lost to Kentucky in ’08), this time in the Liberty Bowl against Arkansas. After early success as OC at Notre Dame, Skip left to coach at UCONN (having some good success while they were still DI-AA), before leaving to re-join his father at South Carolina and opening the door for Lew Perkins to hire on Randy Edsall. The South Carolina gig went ok, but ended after four years with Holtz resigning and Spurrier taking over, from which Skip took the ECU job. As for his place at Kansas, I think that’s hard to say. I know next to nothing about his staff, but in reference to just himself, his regional ties would be next to none. Originally I didn’t consider this a great fit, but as I’ve thought about it more, I feel like his on-field results speak for themselves.

Larry Fedora - Fedora’s resume is much like Sumlin’s: lots of success at big time programs as an OC (Florida, Okie St), very little experience, though with success, as a HC in C-USA. And much like Sumlin, I think he makes a lot of sense as a hire for Kansas, just as long as we find a DC to join his staff. But factor in his recruiting, the assumption that he’d bring along Darrell Wyatt and if he’s willing to retain Beaty, Miller and Bowen, we could have a recruiting machine. It feels like he’s slid down the list some, but if we end up with him, I’ll be extremely pleased.

We’ll leave it at those six for now, but feel free to add whoever you’d like as you discuss this list. Tuberville and Fulmer continue to keep popping up as well, but since they aren’t getting a ton of play and I’m not too high on either, I left them off for the time being. Personally, if I’m ranking by preference here, I’d go:

Harbaugh: Trust me, I’m laughing at myself too. The guy is just intoxicating, apparently, because objectively it’s just not there.
Fedora, Sumlin, Gill, Holtz: They each have their pros and cons, but I’m having a lot of trouble saying one is better than the other.
Nutt: I think he’s a decent football guy, but on every other front, this makes zero sense to me.

Thoughts?

Article Tags:

Big XII, College Football, Kansas Jayhawks

76 Responses

Triston27 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:35 am

My only issue with Harbaugh is that I don’t think he’d stick around too long. I could see us going through this same process again in a couple years. I don’t think his recruiting would be an issue. Sure, he doesn’t have any solid ties to the area, but at Stanford you have no choice but to recruit nationally. And even though you recruit a different type of athlete to KU than you do to Stanford, I think he’d bring in some very good classes.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:40 am

Agreed on both points. Although I still think he’s a few years off from a NFL job and if he has enough success to warrant that kind of hire, then he’ll leave us in better shape than we’re in now.
Triston27 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:46 am

I agree that we’d be left in better shape. Also agree with your NFL thoughts. I think he’s the best of the rumored group.
BluManGrp said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:50 am

Nutt is out.

http://www.olemisssports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=2600&ATCLID=204845907
Gene Claude said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:54 am

Perhaps you can add Houston’s brother, Dickie Nutt, to the list? That would make for some sweet NC-17 signs at Border War games.

I can’t get my mind around Harbaugh coming to KU. I wonder how much of it, if any, is driven by his wife? And where did he meet a nice Belton girl, anyway?
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:56 am

Just saw that, BMG. Given how much he could bring to the table, it sounds crazy, but I’m very pleased.

It also means one of two things, either:

1) Lew has his man and has given other interviewees the heads up so that they can pull their name out, in order to look good for their University, or

2) Ole Miss got a little perturbed and Nutt decided it wasn’t worth the risk.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:58 am

GC: He met her in Vegas.
BluManGrp said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:58 am

@Gene: Vegas. Seriously.
BluManGrp said:

December 8th, 2009 at 9:59 am

too slow
cj said:

December 8th, 2009 at 10:01 am

I keep coming back to Fedora and Sumlin, with Gill as the backup option. They both seem to be very good coaches, and it seems like they would recruit Texas well. That’s the ball game right there. Gill makes me a little more nervous just because I wonder if he would be able to recruit as well. Sure, he grew up in Texas, but does he still have ties there with the current high school coaches? When at Nebraska, it was still a place that didn’t require a whole lot of recruiting, and they weren’t getting many of their kids from Texas at the time.

Holtz has no ties, can’t see him making it happen here. Is Edsall out? He would be a better choice than Holtz.
Gene Claude said:

December 8th, 2009 at 10:02 am

You sure it wasn’t at the famous Belton hot spot One Eyed Jack’s, and the media misconstrued that as Vegas?
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 8th, 2009 at 10:16 am

I didn’t include Edsall, simply because I haven’t heard a thing about him lately. Which means almost nothing, but still. I’m not sure I’d say he’s any better than Holtz, personally, but I get where you’re coming from and each of them (Gill, Edsall, Holtz) would have to figure out a way to reach an area with which they aren’t terribly familiar.
Triston27 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 10:42 am

I’m kind of relieved to see the Nutt news.
Ben F said:

December 8th, 2009 at 11:11 am

At least that top 5 (excluding Nutt) is very solid – like you say, any of those 5 we’d have to be pleased with (I’m higher on Holtz than most, though).
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am

I’m a bit confused by the Texas recruiting obsession. Don’t get me wrong, there are many, many great players in Texas. But hanging our collective hat on convincing 4- and 5-star recruits to not play for Texas, Texas A&M or even Oklahoma (given its geographic proximity) seems to be a bit of a fool’s errand. Clearly, we do need those players. But having geographic diversity seems to be a better long-term plan.
sea_hawk said:

December 8th, 2009 at 11:27 am

I’m with you, DC. The fact that Sumlin and Fedora do such a “great” job recruiting Texas is proof that we DO NOT need a head coach with deep Texas roots. Hire the best available HC and allow him to spend whatever necessary to assemble his staff. Make sure that includes one or two rock star Texas recruiters.

Hiphop,
Great point about Gill’s staff.
Ben F said:

December 8th, 2009 at 11:46 am

Total speculation, but does Lew want to bring in a guy who is his stamp on the program? Though we know that Lew is generally speaking going to do what’s best for the program, wouldn’t his first choice of coaches be a guy that “only ” Lew could bring to the program? To me, that would mean a top-notch hire (such as a big name — Harbaugh or Fulmer, maybe not quite big enough) or someone he has a previous relationship with.

Edsall fits the previous relationship bill, but obviously isn’t going to be the choice. Holtz, on the other hand, gives Lew the chance to say “I know you aren’t so high on this guy, but trust me he’s going to take the program to the next level”. And if it goes poorly, whatever just hire a new coach, but if it goes well, then Lew looks like the savant who was the only one who could have procured Holtz and saved the program.

Again, speculation. And Holtz is just the coach that I can think of with ties to Lew (via UConn), maybe there are ties to the other candidates that I’m not thinking of, whose names you could swap with Holtz and have the same theory.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 8th, 2009 at 12:18 pm

DC/SEA – Perhaps I’m over-emphasizing the Texas thing, but I can’t think of a program in this area that can succeed without successfully recruiting in Texas. As SEA points out, the head man doesn’t necessarily have to do the recruiting, but if he doesn’t have the connections, then he better assemble a staff that does. However it happens, we HAVE to recruit Texas in order to compete. There’s no way around it.

Ben – I absolutely think this is a stamp hire for Lew. And your scenario has some defensible logic behind it…but I still doubt if he’s much higher than the middle of Lew’s list.
Travis said:

December 8th, 2009 at 12:39 pm

To me, It’s going to come down to the fedora/sumlin/holtz group with my money being on Sumlin, just because he seems to be the most flashy, what have you done for me lately guy, his run with keenum is about to end and they are having a great season… So if he’s going to jump the timing couldn’t be better.

Were the big 12 its not exactly the defensive juggernauts that we want to believe it is, with his offenses hitting on all cylinders and a quality young DC he could make big moves for you all. Besides boosters like the the stoops tree , it has done well over the years and I think that he would energize the base.

Personally I think that Edsall would be the best hire but I find it hard to believe he would make the jump, just because he is in a BCS conference and they look at him like he’s Urban Meyer up there… if he made the jump and continued the success your having now with, 8-4 , 9-3 but losing to nebraska or mizzou how long before he is where mangino is? Will the standard be winning the north every year or would you expect to win the big 12? It would be a big risk jumping to a conference that has the likes of Texas and OU holding all the power.

However money talks and KU is bigtime when it comes to throwing cash around , so maybe your right about Harbaugh but if he wouldn’t go to ND, would he go to KU?
Gene Claude said:

December 8th, 2009 at 12:43 pm

hip, I agree with you on the Texas thing. I don’t think it is possible to excel in the Big 12 without recruiting Texas well. Just the sheer population numbers in Big 12 stats almost dictate it. The only way you could get away with it is to recruit either the southeast, rust belt or California well, and that is a much tougher road than Texas. Granted, if you hire someone from outside the region, you might have an inroad to, say, Pennsylvania or something. But good luck making that your bread and butter locale. Colorado and, to a lesser extent, Nebraska are the only Big 12 schools I’ve seen that are able to consistently compete on the West Coast.

You aren’t going to convince any 4 or 5 star kids not to go to Texas, and damn few not to go to OU or A&M. But you might convince some not to go to Mizzou, Nebraska, LSU, Arkansas, TCU, Alabama, Auburn, etc. And there are plenty of 3 star kids that are wide open..a factor of 10 more than there are in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska combined. Just the demographics of the Big 12 and especially high school football populations practically require that you recruit Texas.
Triston27 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

DC/SEA – Perhaps I’m over-emphasizing the Texas thing, but I can’t think of a program in this area that can succeed without successfully recruiting in Texas

I think what they’re saying, and maybe I’m wrong, is that no matter which coach you bring in, you’re only getting the Texas scraps anyway. Sure, you need to be able to recruit the Texas schools but the number of Texas HS athletes alone make that very doable. I think it’s more important to have a talent evaluator rather than recruiter when it comes to Texas. You’re not going to get many 4-5 star recruits, but you stand a good chance of getting 3 star guys who who should maybe be rated higher, as long as you can pick them out.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Triston, yep, that was my point. IF we’re only getting the scraps and maybe once every 4 years pick up one 5 star out of Texas, a talent evaluator is very important, looking at the 2 and 3 star prospects who might turn into something. But a guy like Harbaugh (or Fulmer or Tubberville) can walk in the door of any recruit’s home in the state of Texas and have some level of credibility, regardless of whether they know the difference between Odessa, Dillon and West Canaan.

Fulmer can recruit in the Southeast. He has a significant level of credibility in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and South Carolina (just to name a few). Obviously Tubberville brings that same geographic knowledge. And Harbaugh of course has spent significant time on the West Coast.

So while a good talent evaluator is key for recruiting Texas (frankly everywhere, but that’s not the current discussion), a head coach with experience elsewhere could open up a lot of recruitments. Hiring a Texas “specialist” might actually do more harm than good to the program.

“Kansas” isn’t “Florida” or “USC.” But, man, Lawrence is a beautiful town, and the entire city adores its athletes and the University. That sense of family has to count for something on a campus visit. As a native Nebraskan, it’s why I chose Kansas.
Gene Claude said:

December 8th, 2009 at 1:50 pm

I think your view is greatly oversimplified. Being a talent evaluator is great, but the key is finding the out of the way talent early and building relationships with those players. You do that by having relationships with high school coaches and those “in the know” in Texas. You do that by working with them for years. Pinkel has had success in Texas by either finding and getting on kids before they blow up (James Franklin, Chase Daniel), finding kids in out of the way places (Ziggy Hood, Sean Weatherspoon, Jerrell Jackson) and developing a reputation as straight shooters that run a program that helps kids develop. They have done that by building relationships throughout Texas.

I don’t think it is a question of having someone sift through game film and pick out the under the radar Texas kids and then going down and having them sign on the dotted line. Hell, many of the under the radar kids don’t have game film, at least not until it is too late. How does the KU coaching staff find out about them? They get a call from someone at the school, or the area, who gives them a heads up about this young buck in Amarillo. Why do they call KU? They know someone there they trust. That’s why having someone with local knowledge is useful. I don’t think it is a requirement…Harbaugh could build a network pretty fast, I’m sure. Hell, we hired Josh Henson and he came with a network. You can do the same.
Triston27 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 2:20 pm

I see what you’re saying, GC, and I’ma let you finish. But I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t want “who do you know in Texas” to be the determining factor in who gets hired.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 8th, 2009 at 2:25 pm

I think he’s exactly on point. Obviously it shouldn’t be the determining factor, but if it’s not considered, then you’re not doing your due diligence.
Triston27 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

I agree it needs to be considered. And I believe it will be. But Texas is a hotbed for football players, and Big 12 schools aren’t the only ones mining that state for athletes. I’d be willing to bet that every guy on that list has an assistant coach dedicated to Texas. I know some will have stronger ties than others but they can all pull from Texas.
Gene Claude said:

December 8th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

Triston, I agree, who do you know in Texas should be a factor, not the determining factor. My only point being it should be a relatively important factor. I really think that Pinkel’s staff’s willingness to outwork most other schools in Texas has been one of two critical keys (the other being his willingness to outwork everyone in Missouri) to turning us around. Guys like Alexander, Weatherspoon, Daniel, Hood all happened because of relationships they built in Texas.

All that said, Harbaugh is a no brainer. I think. I’ve always thought that competing at Stanford had to be one of the most difficult jobs in college football, but I suppose it also gives you a recruiting leg up for certain types of kids. Unfortunately, one of those types is Marcus Lucas. If you are willing to pay the money, you can always hire an assistant with good Texas ties.

An interesting side note is that if you guys get Harbaugh, it would probably help Mizzou in the very short run by handing us Lucas.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 3:07 pm

GC,

You don’t think Lucas would consider KU if Harbaugh was the coach? (Just asking, not trying to be a smart*ss, just don’t know much about the kid).
Gene Claude said:

December 8th, 2009 at 3:12 pm

I don’t think he would, DC, but of course that is possible. His mother played bball at MU and he has made several anti-KU-type remarks, and (allegedly) dismissed their recruitment efforts out of hand early on.

He has long been rumored to be close to a Mizzou lock, but Stanford is a whole different animal. Hell, I doubt I could tell my kid to go to Mizzou over Stanford.
natlchampjhawks said:

December 8th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

A little off topic… But my understanding is that Lew made two hires while at UCONN… Was there any big name coaches that Lew went after and got rejected by?
Triston27 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 3:42 pm

He hired Skip Holtz and Edsall. When he made the hires, UConn was I-AA so he wasn’t even going after big names I don’t think. One thing to keep in mind, he left UConn after leading them to the playoffs to join his dad at So. Car. Not sure what kind of terms he left on.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 4:11 pm

GC, you make a very good point regarding cultivating relationships versus being a “talent evaluator.” But my larger point still stands: focusing on “Texas ties” for a head coach when any one of several assistant coaches/recruiters could have those ties is short-sighted, especially given areas of the country that could be untapped resources for KU:

California (Harbaugh, obviously)
VA/NC/SC (Holtz)
SEC country (Fedora, and Fulmer/Tubberville if they’re still under consideration)

And Gill’s experience recruiting for over a decade for Nebraska means he has ties all over the country, including Texas (it hasn’t been mentioned much, but he actually was an assistant coach at North Texas and SMU before joining UNL’s staff).
RoboBoogie said:

December 8th, 2009 at 4:23 pm

Brewster, really?

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2009/dec/08/minnestota-ad-cant-guarantee-brewster-kansas-rumor/
RoboBoogie said:

December 8th, 2009 at 4:23 pm

14-23
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

We will NOT hire Tim Brewster.

I have no information to prove that, but if I believed we were capable of hiring Tim Brewster right now, I’m not sure I could summon the strength to go on.
Triston27 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

Makes me very uneasy even thinking about it.
annyong said:

December 8th, 2009 at 4:50 pm

It won’t be Brewster. That’s exactly the kind of hire Perkins cannot afford. This is either an agent ploy or some sort of sour grapes from the Minnesota AD.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 8th, 2009 at 5:32 pm

Let it be Brewster.

Butch Jones is apparently interviewing. Not sure about him. I saw him interviewed after the MAC Champ game and he seems personable and energetic and all that. And, he could be hired cheaply – he’s making bottom dollar at CMU.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 8th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Does Brewster have KU ties? I don’t get that. He’s got a pretty good thing going at Minnesota what with the awesome new stadium and improved facilities. Strange.
Neon said:

December 8th, 2009 at 6:34 pm

Lew is doing a great job of politicking. Go high (Nutt) and then low (Brewster). When we settle on someone in between everyone will breathe a sigh of relief and buy some Gridiron boxes.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 8th, 2009 at 8:18 pm

I’m no more sure than anyone who our next coach will be, but I’m pretty confident saying that it will be one of: Harbaugh, Gill, Fedora, Sumlin or Holtz, any of whom I’d be very happy about. Which probably means Carl Pelini is about to be our coach…but I’ll remain optimistic for the time being, however misguided that may be.
'78 and '87 said:

December 8th, 2009 at 11:38 pm

I am surprised that Frank Solich hasn’t been mentioned. He was a solid coach at NU and has turned a long suffering Ohio program into a force. He got a bumb deal at NU and I’m sure he would relish the opportunity to husk some corn. I have a lot of faith in Lew and suspect that he’s going to make a great selection.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 9th, 2009 at 4:47 am

’78/’87,

Solich is a solid coach, but he is not a stellar recruiter, even in the mold of a “closer,” where the assistants do the heavy lifting.
cj said:

December 9th, 2009 at 8:20 am

1. Has to be a good football coach, x’s and o’s. I think Fedora, Sumlin, Gill, and Harbaugh all fit this criteria, but I’m no expert that evaluates game film, etc. I’d like to know if someone disagrees with this.

2. Has to be a good recruiter. Fedora, Sumlin, Gill, who knows if they can recruit. Fedora and Sumlin seem like they have good, solid contacts in Texas, so at least they’d be able to get a lot of those 3-4 star kids that UT, TAM, and OU don’t have room for. Gill can probably do that, but I think that’s a little more up in the air. Harbaugh can probably recruit nationally a little better than those others, but he’s going to be more dependent on his assistants to get into Texas.

3. Intangibles like character, family atmosphere in program, etc. I don’t think any of them have problems with this, might give Gill an edge in this area.

4. Excitement. Harbaugh wins this hands down.

To me, it comes down to who do you think can recruit the best to Kansas. I’d probably take a chance with Harbaugh, but I’m still doubtful he’d really come here. Then it comes down to Fedora/Sumlin, with Gill next in my book.
cj said:

December 9th, 2009 at 8:22 am

Also, x’s and o’s has to be criteria number 1. It doesn’t matter what players you have if they don’t have a scheme to execute. See, for example, Barnes, Rick and Brown, Mack.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 9th, 2009 at 9:03 am

cj,

I’m not a Gill apologist, but he does have a ton of recruiting experience. He recruited all over the nation for Nebraska for over a decade. A number of their defensive skill players (the Peter brothers, in particular) came from New Jersey, a number have come from Florida (lots of ties in Bradenton, where Tommie Frazier and several others are from), and quite a few from California. He doesn’t have the Harbaugh wow-factor that will open doors everywhere, but he has over a decade of experience recruiting all over the country.
Neon said:

December 9th, 2009 at 9:03 am

I would say xs and os is less important for a football coach than a lot of factors. Football coaches can be very successful as CEOs that do very little if any game day play calling. I think recruiting is more important than getting a “football genius”. Also, for lew at least, excitement and program relations seem to be as important as anything else since his job is decided by what percent of the gridiron club is sold.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 9th, 2009 at 9:03 am

I don’t want anyone to put too much stock into this – because at this point, I’m not either – but I just heard from a pretty solid source that Brian Billick is seriously in the mix.

Like everything you get from me, please take with a bottle full of salt.
Gene Claude said:

December 9th, 2009 at 9:31 am

xs and os are critical for A football coach. Just doesn’t have to be THE head coach. In fact, the only head coach I can think of that has ever consistently impressed me with xs and os is Bill Snyder. Like any company, if your leader is your xs and os guy, you don’t have a leader.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 9th, 2009 at 9:38 am

WHAT????

HipHop, are you serious?
sea_hawk said:

December 9th, 2009 at 11:06 am

I’ve heard for a long time that Lew baby and Billick are very close.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 9th, 2009 at 11:34 am

DC: Completely serious. Can’t say if it’s legit or not, but it didn’t come out of nowhere. And like SEA mentions, they’ve been buddies for quite a while (strangely, Keegan actually mentioned this in his first post-resignation piece for the LJW). Honestly, I’m not sure it’s any better hire than some of the other names mentioned, but it would certainly jive with the plan Lew has laid out…

1. To out Mangino, you figured he had to have a plan of some sort (As a friend and an out of work coach, it would have been incredibly easy to be speaking with Billick this entire time.)
2. He told the players, “you won’t believe some of the names we’re talking to” (As a guy who won a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer, he’s clearly a name.)
3. This would clearly get the fans/booster energized (I believe he needs to sell a few Gridiron seats.)

If you want three more names supposedly in the mix…Chris Petersen, Mark D’Antonio, & Mike Riley. As of now, I can’t speak for the validity on these three, but since no one knows anything, why not throw them in the pot as well.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm

Well, I’m impressed. I don’t know about D’Antonio or Riley, but I’d be ecstatic with most of these names.

Oh, the Terry Allen days of yore. My, things have changed.

But here’s the big question: Does Billick have experience recruiting in Texas? /sarcasm
Scipio Tex said:

December 9th, 2009 at 1:13 pm

There’s some unwritten rule that Mike Riley and whatever coach wears Boise’s head set must be discussed for every job in college football. No one ever moves on them. But there’s some sort of rule mandating an obligatory mention.

I can’t believe Nutt was being actively discussed as an option fo KU. It honestly bothers me. I have the Big 12 cleanly divided in my head between small-time shithead schools and those who are not and Kansas was in the not camp. KU doesn’t strike me as a program that’s culturally compatible with that POS. Are you Oklahoma State? Kansas State? The guy is the definition of a small-time redneck and the lifeboat he found at Ole Miss after being pushed out at Arkansas was a miracle. Having his name even connected to your search strikes me as horrendous.

Tim Brewster can recruit his ass off, but if you think Mangino has anger management issues…let’s just say that there’s a reason his son plays for Texas.

Harbaugh. That’s not happening.

Billick would be a Holy Fucking Shit Hire. I would be very excited for the conference. I don’t know if he can translate to the college game but that’s a very sharp guy. I also find him enormously entertaining as he loves to mock journalists and their utter stupidity.

Regarding Texas recruiting, you’ve had some great exchanges above, but I’ll just add that Texas is too broad. Your focus is DFW and CenTex. You can pick up small-towners or Houston kids occasionally on word-of-mouth, but I’d stick to my knitting in about 20 key high schools on a 200 mile strip of I-35 corridor. I could write your comprehensive staff recruiting plan on a long weekend. It’s straightforward stuff.

Reesing is a great story for the suburban spread kids and Texas puts out 1-2 Reesing types per year and Briscoe/Talib/Collins are a great sell to everyone else. Your head man having a specific Texas background is irrelevant. He just needs to understand that this is the place where he needs to go to get half of his roster. Notions of KU national recruiting outside of the JUCO ranks are completely fucking retarded at best.

The assistants are the key and they don’t have to be high profile guys necessarily. They just need to be willing to camp out in high schools that are known by all and fight the good fight against Okie St, Tech, A&M, Nebraska, Mizzou, Arizona, TCU for players that are often every bit as good as the ultra-hyped but who are 2 inches too short, have iffy eligibility, or unclear future positions. TCU outworks programs for these players and the results are evident. We’re talking about a program with 25,000 attendance figures. Absurd.

You can also get into a very effective symbiotic relationship with Texas. We don’t ultimately recruit many of the same guys, but some guys we like but can’t take spill over into OU/A&M/LSU territory where we know that they’ll go and become players eventually. We will always attempt to influence these guys to go to a KU, TCU, Mizzou and there are numerous ways to do it. Mangino never took full advantage of that, IMO.

GC -

Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, and Nick Saban made their reps as X’s and O’s guys. And still exert their influence heavily on their side of the ball. They impress me. However, your larger point is right on.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 9th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

I love it when colleges hire NFL guys – always interesting to see how they’ll do. Brian Billick, or my uber fave NFL coach, Bill Cowher, are wasting their enormous football brains as analysts. I’d love to see either of those guys coach college ball.

Who in the past has gone from the NFL head coach to college head coach and what kind of success was had? Off the top of my head:

Chan Gailey – ugh
Dave Wannstedt – a good recruiter from day one and has himself a decent football team
Al Groh – ugh, but UVA is a tough place to have consistent success and he lasted 9 years.
Pete Carroll – he’s done okay for himself

The top of my head is pretty shallow. I’m sure there’s a bunch more.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 9th, 2009 at 2:25 pm

Scipio – glad to have you stop by…

Don’t read too much into the Nutt discussion. As I mentioned in our post last Friday, he called us sometime in between when the investigation was announced and the resignation occurred. That’s why it didn’t leak until it did and from everything I heard, it was very much a “thanks, but no thanks” kind of response on our part. Which is why he was so easily given the chance to save fae with Ole Miss.

Tim Brewster will not be the guy. Annyong said it best – even if Lew thought he was the best coach this world had ever known, he couldn’t get away with that hire right now.

I have no idea if Harbaugh is happening and logic would tell me he isn’t. But he was a candidate and he did interview. Whether or not he went to that interview with much intention or not, I can’t say for certain.

I agree with every word you said about Billick and pretty much all of what you wrote on how we could/should recruit Texas.

And being that he’s such a hot topic lately, I’d add Brian Kelly to your X’s and O’s list.

Phenom – Curious to know how a Missouri guy forgot all about Callahan. I think we’d all embrace Billick with open arms, but being an NFL guy hardly guarantees much.

All of this drama and I still won’t be stunned if our guy ends up being Turner Gill.
Gene Claude said:

December 9th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

And Mike Sherman!

Scip, good points. I forgot about Meyer, his xs and os make me woozy. Meyer is to spread as Einstein is to the letters E, M and C.

Do you not think having personal relationships in that corridor matter? I know that Mizzou “found” kids like Ziggy Hood and Mike Egnew (not that he seems like all that precious of a bauble) through coaches calling our staff.

Also, would love to hear over on AT what you think of some of our Texas recruits, specifically James Franklin.

Mizzou seems to hit the whole damn state. We have kids from Houston to Amarillo to El Paso to DFW.

Billick would be awesome, annoying and frightening, all at once.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 9th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

Billick would be awesome, annoying and frightening, all at once.

The perfect villain.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 9th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

Chan Gailey – ugh
Dave Wannstedt – a good recruiter from day one and has himself a decent football team
Al Groh – ugh, but UVA is a tough place to have consistent success and he lasted 9 years.
Pete Carroll – he’s done okay for himself
Bill Callahan – ugh
Mike Sherman – ugh, but he’s recruiting pretty well so he could maybe turn that ship around. He’s just so blah.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 9th, 2009 at 2:50 pm

And the perfect superhero.
Ben F said:

December 9th, 2009 at 3:23 pm

Davis – North Carolina
Erickson – Arizona St.
Riley – Oregon St.
Brooks – Kentucky (sort of)

some guys who are making it stick in college (except Erickson, mostly)
Gene Claude said:

December 9th, 2009 at 3:42 pm

The perfect superhero for KU from my point of view is probably different than yours. A big fat mean guy would do.
Scipio Tex said:

December 9th, 2009 at 3:44 pm

HipHop-

Thanks for the clarification on Houston Nutt.

GC -

I do think personal relationships absolutely matter and KU’s assistant hires should reflect that. They shouldn’t have a bunch of guys from upstate New York. But relationships can also be built pretty quickly in Texas if you have some guys willing to put in the legwork. A lot of college coaches are straight up lazy on the recruiting trail. Some of ours almost criminally so.

James Franklin is a player. He’s a perfect college QB and he’ll add a running element to your offense that you need. He’s supposed to be a pretty polished passer for a dual-threat guy.

He went to Chase Coffman hurdling school apparently:

Why has Mizzou lost two four star recruits from Columbia?
Scipio Tex said:

December 9th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

And I can’t paste YouTube clips in the comments of my own fucking network! Here’s his hurdle clip, complete with adoring small town announcers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAJQsnXbPG8
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

Why has Mizzou lost two four star recruits from Columbia?

While I don’t think a KU blog is the proper forum to discuss this, and GC follows this stuff a lot more closely than I do, but apparently Chase Rome was turned off at the prospect of being yet another Chase in a Mizzou uniform. Ok, that’s probably not true. I don’t know that it isn’t true, though, so keep that in mind. What I’ve heard is that while Chase went to high school in Columbia, his family just moved there and he has no real ties to the area. His family is friends with the Okie State coach he committed to early. I don’t know why he switched to NU.

I don’t know if Trey Millard ever seriously considered Mizzou. Especially not after Stoops got to him.

The cooler thing to discuss is how Mizzou might have pulled two four star recruits from the NU commit list – Curtis Carter and Tyler Gabbert. They’re visiting this weekend and have apparently officially decommitted from NU.
Gene Claude said:

December 9th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

Phenom, correct on Rome. The talk on Millard was that the staff wanted him on defense and he wants to play TE.

The odd thing is that both (plus Logan Gray and Aron White, UGA commits from a couple years ago) are coached by former Tiger tight end AJ Ofodile. He is a vocal Mizzou supporter and has nothing but good things to say about Pinkel. I guess kids want to get out of town, but it is very odd.

What is more appropriate for a KU blog is this: Rumors swirling that Keeston Terry may be reconsidering the home state school….
Gene Claude said:

December 9th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

Now that is some sweet announcing. Love high school guys. Sometimes I feel like they may not be objective, though.
Phenomenal Smith said:

December 9th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

Davis – North Carolina
Erickson – Arizona St.
Riley – Oregon St.
Brooks – Kentucky (sort of)

Guys that slink back to college after failing in the NFL don’t interest me as much. I find guys who’ve been a head coach in the NFL who go on to coach college football. Like Jerry Glanville. He’s a good example.
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 9th, 2009 at 7:46 pm

You had him, GC. Should have let him win in KC. Might have kept him.
BluManGrp said:

December 9th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

Okay, I’ve had a really hard time deciding where I stand on all the candidates, but Lew keeps pressuring me to get him a list, so here it is…

1. Harbaugh/Tuberville
2. Holtz
3. Gill
4. Fedora

I’m excluding Sumlin because he seems to be distancing himself.
Gene Claude said:

December 10th, 2009 at 4:15 pm

I just heard that the plan is high dollar offer to Harbaugh and if he won’t do it, Skip Holtz.
Hiphopopotamus said:

December 10th, 2009 at 5:19 pm

That is plan with which I can get on board.
Scipio Tex said:

December 10th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

If they Skip Holtz, who is the next candidate then?
DCJayhawk0208 said:

December 10th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

Very clever, Scipio.

My guess is if they Skip Holtz, it’ll be Gill.
gingerballs said:

December 10th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

“If they Skip Holtz, who is the next candidate then?”

I see what you did there…

I like that scenario though, I can also get on board.
BluManGrp said:

December 10th, 2009 at 7:15 pm

But what if Turner us down…
If Gill, Turner…
Turner over…
Turner around and …

…Damn you, Scipio!! You took the good one.

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