(hatvol96 @ Apr 4 said:
The Gibbs/Schnellenberger/Blake era wasn't any fun, that's for sure. Nebraska's mistake was giving the job to Solich. Callahan has them headed in the proper direction. The common theme among the schools that struggled with coaching changes was the lack of a coherent plan. My plan is very simple. Fulmer wins 9 games this year, he stays. Less than that, Butch Davis becomes the head coach at UT. Nothing complicated there.
yep..i agree 100%...as it was a mistake to hire Bob Davie at Notre Dame and Mike Dubose at Alabama and Gerry Dinardo at LSU etc, etc, etc.....
All of the shools i mentioned above are in much better shape today than they were way back when or whatever. They are also in better shape, presently, than TN. But it wasn't always that way, and it wasn't all that long ago that we we were on par with most other big time programs around the league and nation.
I think your point about having a plan B in place before you get to that point is a good one. LG talked about having no choice to hire Zook, and he's right. He was the only guy who'd take the job after they went thru their list of #1's. and if that could happen to Florida, Oklahoma, LSU, Notre Dame, Alabama etc...sure, it could happen to us.
I don't have a problem in changing coaches. I have a problem in having a vacancy, and the admin sitting around going "OK, what now?". Which is what happened in SOME of those instances. Which is the difference of being realistic in your coach search vs. being, barrowing LG's word, arrogant in thinking you get anyone you want.
Florida is a good example. What happens if Meyer comes in this year and loses 3-4 games? or worse more? I think all of us would more than likely agree Florida should be better than that (based on returning starters, recruiting class etc, etc, etc,...), but their schedule is every bit as tough as ours was last year, so it's not inconceivable that they could get caught napping a couple of Saturdays and lose a couple of games they really shouldn't. What then for Gator nation? does it become apparent that he may not in fact be that great of a coach? Do they get restless and wonder what happened? is 8 or 9 wins good enough for a team that will have the expectations they will probably have this year? Probably not. I doubt any fan base of any real contendor in the SEC is much different than ours, whether it be UGA, UF, Bama, LSU, Auburn, all of which are usually in the discussion for SEC division titles and SEC titles.
We're all in the same boat. Win and win now, next year and the next. meet or exceed expecations every year.
Problem is, all but one of those teams are always going to fall short of those expectations. and lately, we've been that team to not only mis the expectation, but fall so far below you have to question everything until it's proven again that we are a)back and b)aren't going anywhere. if neither of those are met, and met quickly, change will take care of itself.
