Jack Del Rio

#52
#52
Del Rio wanted the LSU a few years ago. Of course his wife is from that area.
 
#55
#55
What say you, Vol Nation?

I think that he would be a refreshing, out-of-the-box pick who could take us where we want to go.

Pros:

1) Tons of HC experience, albeit at the pro level. Things ended sloppily at Jax, but the front office down there is probably more to blame than JDR.

2) Defensive-minded guy who has excelled as a player and coach at every level.

3) Young and energetic and, similar to Pete Carroll in the early 2000s at USC, presumably eager for a redemptive opportunity. I think we'll all happily volunteer our program as his stepping stone back into the NFL if he can leave us with a few conference titles and a NC (no NCAA violations of course).

4) Players love and respect him. See Kris Jenkins on Inside the NFL a few weeks ago. The more I think about it the more I believe that "buy-in" by players is essential. Dooley seems never to have truly gotten it. Del Rio probably will.

5) Given that he is Denver's DC, he would likely arrive with Peyton's involvement and support. I don't think I have to convince anyone reading this that Peyton's endorsement, implicit or otherwise, matters a great deal.

6) He doesn't show up on everyone else's list of prospects, so we might not have to beat Arkansas and Auburn to his front door. I would love to get Gary Patterson, but nothing suggests to me that he has any interest in UT or even leaving TCU. Jon Gruden is a pipe dream. Neither is necessarily preferable to Del Rio in my view.

7) He's not Tommy Tuberville. That this retread former Auburn flame-out is even discussed is depressing to me as it suggests exactly the sort of lame, uninspired, rear view thinking that led us to our current dismal predicament.

8) No known linkages to Nick Saban. Let's just cut those poisonous ties forever. I want a coach willing to have an adversarial, even hostile relationship with Saban, both on the field and on the recruiting trail.

Cons:

1) No natural ties to the SEC. He went to USC of all places, after all. Then again, Derek Dooley was a pedigreed conference prince, and we know where that's gotten us.

2) Never coached college football. Unknown ability as a recruiter. See above comments on his relationships with players. Although originally a West Coast guy he coached in Jax for many years so I think we can assume he has some credibility in and knowledge about that part of the world. This is a good part of the world for a prospective recruiter to know and in which to have NFL-style credibility.

3) He can't coach offense, as evidenced by some of those Jaguar teams. At this point I am so desperate for average defense that I would be willing to take the risk that he will find an OC who can coach them up. I'll be LSU any day at this point (awesome defense, anemic offense, national title contender every year). Moreover maybe he can talk T Bray and at least one of our great receivers into returning, in which case we'll have a great offense next year like we do, sadly, this year.

Fire away, friends!
 
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#57
#57
First off ****ing great avi. Second, he is my #2 behind Gruden.

I agree with everything you said, but he did want to the LSU job a few years ago, so there's that.

Although there already is a Del Rio thread, you bring up a ot of good points, so this one is much better.

Oh, the guy from austin is a ****ing *******.
 
#60
#60
knucklehead_vol said:
First off ****ing great avi. Second, he is my #2 behind Gruden.

I agree with everything you said, but he did want to the LSU job a few years ago, so there's that.

Although there already is a Del Rio thread, you bring up a ot of good points, so this one is much better.

Oh, the guy from austin is a ****ing *******.
Click to expand...

are you serious? this guy is a grade a doucher and is NOT A HC OR EVEN CLOSE....loser...
 
#61
#61
Record at the NFL level are not the same as records at the college football level.
 
#63
#63
calban said:
Saban and Spurrier were both unsuccessful in pro football. Where are they now?
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True, but they had big success in College, that got them the NFL job in the first place. Plus, those stints in the NFL were very brief. Del Rio has a long record of sucking in the NFL.

I just think it would be too far of a reach. But, if we kept getting turned down by the likes of Gruden, Patterson, Peterson (don't really even consider this a possibility...he's turned down too many other big prospects), and Strong....then him or Greg Roman would be better than settling for a Coordinator at the college level.

However, at that point, I think it would make a lot of sense to bite the bullet and hire Tressel. Guy is on the same level as Saban, Meyer and Stoops....just has a bitter PR aftertaste because of his Show Cause...which has perhaps the lightest penalty ever given a coach applied to it. He personally would have to sit 5 games and first yr post season bowl.

He already paid the penalty when he was hired by the Colts last year (sat out the first six games) as an assistant....so it's very likely the NCAA would reduce the penalty, if asked to do so.

This go around, I'd rather have a prospect who has shown he can win, and consistently. Like him or not, that would put Tressel at the very top of the list, with Patterson 2nd, and Gruden 3rd.
 
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