Tulane Coaching Hostage Crisis: Day 48

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OUG
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During the last go-around, in '06, I was a huge fan of a guy that coached at the University of San Diego named Jim Harbaugh, and said that undoubtedly he should be contacted by Tulane as he was a perfect fit. Well, Tulane thought so too, but unfortunately, we couldn't entice him for a number of reasons -- partly due to the fact that he may already have been getting feelers from Stanford at that point.

But the other names that were being considered were just God awful. I mean, really, really low budget choices, as I remember... Bobby April was on that list... Frank Wilson I think... not names that scream credible Division 1-A hire. Names that screamed cheap. Hell, we hired New Mexico's 61 year old offensive coordiantor. Let that sink in.

At Toledo's hiring press conference in 2006, Dickson said:
"The support has to build, not dwindle, and we had to reverse that trend, again, for bigger reasons and beyond football," Dickson said. "We're going to have to ramp up levels of support not seen here before. Football is a critical piece and driving force of that. ... We can't afford to regress."
This is far, far more urgent today than it was then, mostly because we were too cheap to do then what we MUST do now. Which is to at least double, if not triple, our football coaching salaries at every coaching position.

Dickson probably thought we could slowly turn the program around and win games to the point where he could more easily sell football season tickets. That can't happen now. The community needs an immediate jolt. We need a name that sells tickets before the first snap of spring practice. We need that more than ever, because we are on the Big 12's watch list, and their only hesitation is probably how they can justify adding us from an on-field and budgetary perspective.

So, with that, I think our coaching candidates need to be either proven coaches in their coaching prime, or young, energetic guys that have the name recognition to make a splash in our market:

Rich Rodriguez -- has to be the first choice. Just has to be. There's hardly any amount that we would be asked to pay him that wouldn't be worth it to us financially, almost immediately. And he knows that he can work wonders here with his offense and southern Louisiana talent against C-USA defenses.

Mike Leach -- Knows the spread offense can work here. Yeah, there are some issues there with his history. We just admitted a convicted muderer into the law school. Our school is in New Orleans -- what are we about if not redemption? If we offered him a credible salary, the guy would absolutely drool over the chance to recruit southern Louisiana talent for his offense.

Mike Belotti -- Like Leach, a great offensive mind. Like Leach, loves coaching. Like Leach, has baggage. Like Leach, the baggage isn't that big of a deal and he's probably learned from it.

Who else has should be considered? I think its fine and reasonable to consider assistant coaches, but we won't get the hottest names that are being groomed for BCS jobs -- hell, Malzahn makes 1.3 mill a year, and the average SEC assistant won't make the splash that we need.


austxwave
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I believe we need to hire a former or current head coach with D1 experience. If he is currently unemployed, he must be young enough to have the fire/passion for our program.

Someone with head coaching experience is a must because who they hire for their staff and their level of experience is just as important.

I'd be afraid of a current sitting assistant with no head coaching experience as they are likely to hire less experienced assistant coaches.
Robert1969
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I bet if we had gone with Bobby April we wouldn't have the Special Teams problems we have. ;)
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OUG
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austxwave wrote:I believe we need to hire a former or current head coach with D1 experience. If he is currently unemployed, he must be young enough to have the fire/passion for our program.

Someone with head coaching experience is a must because who they hire for their staff and their level of experience is just as important.

I'd be afraid of a current sitting assistant with no head coaching experience as they are likely to hire less experienced assistant coaches.
We'll get the assistant coaches that we pay for. Double the salary for the WHOLE coaching staff, and we'll see upgrades in talent and experience across the staff.
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Tommy Bowden?



Totally kidding.
TURVS71
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Robert1969 wrote:Tommy Bowden?



Totally kidding.
Do be so quick to dismiss this name. Probably won't happen but perhaps he is interested?
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jonathanjoseph
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Excellent list, but everyone should stop saying "but he's got baggage" (as all/most of those names do).

No one has more baggage than Tulane, which is dealing with being considered a joke. The baggage is worth the $25M/year (?) that we would gain by being in the Big12.
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TURVS71 wrote:
Robert1969 wrote:Tommy Bowden?



Totally kidding.
Do be so quick to dismiss this name. Probably won't happen but perhaps he is interested?
I guess it could spark a little interest in the program to say the most successful two-year coach in Tulane history will be returning. The guy does have an 11 game win streak here.
RWR
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Hudspeth from ULL should be up on that list after RR and Leach. RR has to be the clear #1. If we are finally trying to right our many wrongs RR is the man we should hire.
Last edited by RWR on Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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OUG
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jonathanjoseph wrote:Excellent list, but everyone should stop saying "but he's got baggage" (as all/most of those names do).

No one has more baggage than Tulane, which is dealing with being considered a joke. The baggage is worth the $25M/year (?) that we would gain by being in the Big12.
Biggest concern with the "baggage" guys, so to speak, is whether after a few years as TV personalities they still have the "fire in the belly" to coach at a school like Tulane where they won't be competing for national titles in the near future.

There are also going to be BCS jobs open as well. Arizona is already open. Ole Miss could be. UCLA will be open and is a very attractive job. Boston College.

Money alone won't do it for us. If we want the best guys that still have the fire in the belly to win and build a program, we'll need to make real commitments in areas beyond coaching salaries.
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Robert1969 wrote:
TURVS71 wrote:
Robert1969 wrote:Tommy Bowden?



Totally kidding.
Do be so quick to dismiss this name. Probably won't happen but perhaps he is interested?
I guess it could spark a little interest in the program to say the most successful two-year coach in Tulane history will be returning. The guy does have an 11 game win streak here.
I think its more important to get a guy that would be a Tommy Bowden-LIKE coach, who brings the same attributes to the table. Tommy's 57 now.

Hudspeth is the type of guy that might have been a good hire 5 years ago. We need to go think bigger here, I believe.
jonathanjoseph
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OUG wrote:
jonathanjoseph wrote:Excellent list, but everyone should stop saying "but he's got baggage" (as all/most of those names do).

No one has more baggage than Tulane, which is dealing with being considered a joke. The baggage is worth the $25M/year (?) that we would gain by being in the Big12.
Biggest concern with the "baggage" guys, so to speak, is whether after a few years as TV personalities they still have the "fire in the belly" to coach at a school like Tulane where they won't be competing for national titles in the near future.

There are also going to be BCS jobs open as well. Arizona is already open. Ole Miss could be. UCLA will be open and is a very attractive job. Boston College.

Money alone won't do it for us. If we want the best guys that still have the fire in the belly to win and build a program, we'll need to make real commitments in areas beyond coaching salaries.
True, but I think these guys are competitors at heart and know (RR especially) exactly what kind of rebuilding job that they would be getting into at Tulane. There will be other opportunities, so I'd be thrilled if we had our choice as opposed to who will genuinely consider us.
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Do be so quick to dismiss this name. Probably won't happen but perhaps he is interested?[/quote]

I guess it could spark a little interest in the program to say the most successful two-year coach in Tulane history will be returning. The guy does have an 11 game win streak here.[/quote]

I think its more important to get a guy that would be a Tommy Bowden-LIKE coach, who brings the same attributes to the table. Tommy's 57 now.

Hudspeth is the type of guy that might have been a good hire 5 years ago. We need to go think bigger here, I believe.[/quote]

I simply said he should be on the list. We might not get the guy at the top and overlooking Hudspeth would be another huge mistake.
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Hire RR to be head coach and Mike Stoops as defensive coordinator. This scenario would be a statement hire and would show a serious commitment. Please don't hire a choir boy. The best candidates might be a little rough around the edges.
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I don't see RR coming here while Cowen is still here.
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This is not going to be easy given that there are going to be far more attractive positions open to the names being mentioned here. Given our history, do you really think this admin is ready to give these big time coaches the things they will want? I highly doubt it. There will be a new coach but its not going to be who some here have in mind. Hope I am wrong but it is the way I see it, and thats a fact , jack!
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Bowden didn't like New Orleans and was furious when Tulane made guys academically inelgible several days before fall practice in 98 when they had promised they wouldn't do it when he was hired. He was gone before 98 started and he's not coming back now. Rodriguez I cant see even considering us as long as Cowen is here.
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Tommy Bowden actaully won the last 12 games he coached @ Tulane. The last game from '97 (Houston) and all of '98 except the Liberty Bowl, which is actaully credited to Chris Scelfo, but really belongs to RichRod.
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T1B2TW wrote:Tommy Bowden actaully won the last 12 games he coached @ Tulane. The last game from '97 (Houston) and all of '98 except the Liberty Bowl, which is actaully credited to Chris Scelfo, but really belongs to RichRod.
Bowden declined when RR left. He's the one I'd most wonder about the remaining "fire." Plus, he's been out for a while and is still out.
Why did Belotti retire and then leave the AD position at oregon (that Nike stuff?).
As for Hudspeth, I think it would be hard to get him. He's probably up for an intermediate job in another year (Ole Miss level) and TU seems to be a launching pad into more of an intermediate+ job (Clemson, North Carolina). Not sure there's enough of a difference there for him to risk a move. That said, he's probably making under 500K at ULL, and he's not going to get those intermediate offers after 1 year, so perhaps he could be had for $1.2 mill.

RR has got to be atop the list, I agree. My one concern - why did his teams struggle so much at Michigan? (struggle relative to what Michigan is).
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DrBox wrote:
T1B2TW wrote:Tommy Bowden actaully won the last 12 games he coached @ Tulane. The last game from '97 (Houston) and all of '98 except the Liberty Bowl, which is actaully credited to Chris Scelfo, but really belongs to RichRod.
Bowden declined when RR left. He's the one I'd most wonder about the remaining "fire." Plus, he's been out for a while and is still out.
Why did Belotti retire and then leave the AD position at oregon (that Nike stuff?).
As for Hudspeth, I think it would be hard to get him. He's probably up for an intermediate job in another year (Ole Miss level) and TU seems to be a launching pad into more of an intermediate+ job (Clemson, North Carolina). Not sure there's enough of a difference there for him to risk a move. That said, he's probably making under 500K at ULL, and he's not going to get those intermediate offers after 1 year, so perhaps he could be had for $1.2 mill.

RR has got to be atop the list, I agree. My one concern - why did his teams struggle so much at Michigan? (struggle relative to what Michigan is).
This needs to be more than hiring "a football coach". This needs to be "the rebirth of Tulane athletics".

The sales pitch is:
New Athletic Director
Full budget
The end of the Tulane Model
Big 12 here we come
Chance to build it your way
DrBox
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jonathanjoseph wrote:
This needs to be more than hiring "a football coach". This needs to be "the rebirth of Tulane athletics".

The sales pitch is:
New Athletic Director
Full budget
The end of the Tulane Model
Big 12 here we come
Chance to build it your way
No doubt
sader24
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Rodriguez didnt struggle at Michigan, he inherited a program in decline and remade it into his style and actually put up a sh*tload of points last year but was without a defense. Just look at what Michigan is doing this year and you can see what he had built. The guy whose up there now is getting credit for winning with Rodriguez's team and Rodriguez's QB. Rodriguez would be outstanding here, better than June Jones is for SMU, but I don't think he'd come. If I was AD I would certainly ask/beg. Also, it's going to be hard for us to get a real up and coming coach from an SEC background b/c no matter what the money is they aren't going to come to a place that doesn't allow them to recruit and doesn't academically support the guys they do get in with athletic friendly majors. If you're making 600K as a SEC coordinator you arent going to take 1.2 mill to coach in a place with the deck stacked against you and an unsupportive administration when you can likely wait 3 or 4 years and get a job at 2.5mill where you can succeed and recruit. The last 2 guys we got from this background (Mack Brown and Tommy Bowden) were trying to get out of here almost immediately. I'd be surprised if we got a major coordinator without a serious change in philosophy from the top. Getting in the Big 12 and dropping the Tulane model would of course change just about everything I said.
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for those "Leach" Fans...a good read is his book "Swing Your Sword"....I wonder, if Leach came to Tulane...would he hire is mentor from Valdosta state, Hal Mummme as OC ?...NOLA is a good fit for him..Pirates...no equipment sheds near the practice fields, it is perfect...but wait, he is involved in a lawsuit against Tx Tech..no school will touch him until that is settled, especially one that may wish to get into the same conference
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I remember when Hal Mumme was at SLU. I was doing some projects up there and got entrenched in the SLU community. As a matter of fact, I found out about the football program revival when it was "gossip" and broke it to one of the SLU alumni board members even before they knew.

I sat next to his wife during a banquet once. She is not nearly as charming as Elaine Toledo. I just couldn't believe that his base salary at SLU was 75k, I guess that's how she became "Development Officer" at the cancer center in Baton Rouge to make up for his salary (my conjecture). To be fair, she has been involved with the Susan Komen foundation.

a Mike Leach + Hall Mumme combo would be a very aggressive move, but we would need to counter balance with a razor sharp ncaa compliance officer and maintain a deep legal fund. Senator Hainkel would be doing flip flops in his grave though since he was totally against the Mumme hire at SLU.

and Mumme has experience beating LSU. That's all I need to hear.

I wonder if he would bring his son on staff?
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Mumme has legitimate NCAA baggage. Nix.
We're going to have to have a razor sharp compliance offer whoever we get if we're going to try to soar into the big time. Recruiting is recruiting - it's hard-nosed.
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