232 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

Put me in the "Kiffin is overrated" group.  I don't care if he'd use the job as a stepping stone, any decent hire will.  I just don't think he'd do a particularly good job.  Still miles better than Edsall, but "better than Edsall" isn't much of a hurdle to clear.

 

I don't know much about the other candidates, so I don't have a real opinion yet on who we should target.  I expect that if whomever we bring in does a good job, they'll be gone for a bigger program within 3-5 years.  That's fine, take the program up a couple notches while he's here and everybody wins.

[Flosman]

Nobody here knows Kiffin... nobody here knows any of them... the only thing people have to base an opinion on is what people see from a distance... and from a distance it looks like Kiffin is (1) worried mainly about Kiffin, and (2) has a knack for driving into great big pot holes, rep-wise... he doesn't seem like the kind of guy I'd trust to care about what's good for the school's program...  

 

IMO, just the way he treated TN is reason enough to not trust him... it demonstrates he's more than happy to use those who hire him, regardless of the consequences for those he's using... the debacle after that is just icing on the upside-down cake... he may have several legit positive attributes, but honor and trustworthiness are not among them... I understand that coaches like to climb the ladder, but lots of them do that without leaving a bad taste in their wake... and the last thing MD needs is another guy who leaves a bad taste...

 

I am in a unusual situation that I do actually know him. My opinion is he is a really good OC who will never be an even good HC. Basically he is a flake. I don't think he is equipped to run a program and while I think he won't co-exist with Saban much longer I think he will get another chance at being a header, I just hope it is not at  College Park.  

[RShack]

Rshack...to be fair, how would you handle leaving a program after 1 year? 

 

My thoughts on Saban and Kiffin have been like this for a while, so it's nothing that's coming directly from this thread or Edsall's firing. I just hate when someone gets labeled as something without really examining the situation.

 

You're a pretty reasonable, intelligent guy....How would you handle if you are NIck Saban, you don't like it in the NFL, your family is miserable, it's not for you....and you want to go back to college, but you still have more games to honor? Seems like the coach is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Especially considering Bobby Petrino quit with 3 games left in a lost season in Atlanta and everyone called him a coward for quitting. Whereas Saban stuck in, gave his players his full attention, then was still labeled selfish after.

 

As for Kiffin, I hate to keep repeating myself. But the guy got hired by the Raiders at 33, was fired when Al Davis was losing his mind, got hired by Tennessee, and then his dream job opened up and he left. What better way could he have treated UT? Stuck around there for 2 more years and been unhappy wishing he would have took the USC job? Or stuck around for 2 more years, don't win, and then get fired? Loyalty goes both ways as well. 

 

I have no idea what happened between him and Al Davis... I can easily believe Davis fired him when he was in a snit about something... at the same time, I can also imagine his firing having been part of a 2-person tango... no idea which it was...  so, given that Al Davis was goofy towards the end, that really doesn't say much about whether Kiffin had any part in it... not saying he did, just saying I don't know...

 

As for Tenn, if he really had a dream job in the southern part of california in his mind, then he should have had a clause put in his Tenn contract about that... since he didn't do that, it means he was happy to have guaranteed money but not willing to honor his part of it... IMO, he should have told Tenn what he wished to do, explored with them to see if there was any way to work out a mutually agreeable way for him to leave early, and then go by the outcome of that... and if that meant staying, well, that's what it meant.   As you say, he was quite young at the time, so it's not like honoring his 2 year commitment, while also gaining lots of SEC HC experience, would have hurt his career any... it might well have helped him be better prepared for the next job...

 

As things turned out, it looks like he could not only have been a respect-worthy guy who earned a rep as being honorable, it also seems likely would have had a shot at his dream job after his Tenn commitment was up... but with some substantial top-level HC experience under his belt, which might have enabled him to succeed instead of failing...  but he didn't do that.  Instead, he said, "screw you" to Tenn and jumped.   Just because we can name a few others that did something similar, that doesn't mean it's either right.or necessary... it's not like he was in a burning building and had to get out or die... and it's not like he was nearing the end of his career and faced a now-or-never moment... to the contrary, he was young, had a chance to get valuable top-tier SEC experience while still having decades left for dream jobs... but he was selfish, irresponsible, and didn't give 2 craps about the mess he left behind...

 

So, no, I wouldn't hire him for an important leadership position, simply because for a job like that, I would only hire somebody I trusted and whose judgment I trusted.  Based on what little I know of Kiffin, I don't think he's trustworthy and I don't think he's got good judgement... just because he can draw up points-scoring plays, that doesn't mean he's really equipped to run anything important, much less build a program over time.  What MD needs is not just a couple seasons of scoring more points until he moves on to his next job... what MD needs is a solid guy who is both capable and committed to spending a decade or more putting MD on the football map....Kiffin might well have talent, but he ain't solid enough for that...  

 

It will be interesting to see how long he keeps any single top-tier job... no way to know, but my hunch is that it won't be very long...  of course, maybe he'll prove otherwise and I'll eat crow...

[Mackus]

I think this is much ado about nothing.  Kiffin will get another head coaching job, but I don't think it will be at a program like Maryland.  I think he'll aim higher.  Maybe Maryland's profile now in the Big 10 and with UA and the new facilities pushes it up into a category he'd consider, but I still think we need to get good before we start getting consideration from the top guys.

 

And that goes for all the top guys available, not just Kiffin.  We'd obviously all love a big hire, I just don't think the big hires will all love Maryland at this point.  Unless UA and Cole and the Big 10 carry a lot more weight than I'm thinking they do.

[PD24]

I think this is much ado about nothing.  Kiffin will get another head coaching job, but I don't think it will be at a program like Maryland.  I think he'll aim higher.  Maybe Maryland's profile now in the Big 10 and with UA and the new facilities pushes it up into a category he'd consider, but I still think we need to get good before we start getting consideration from the top guys.

 

And that goes for all the top guys available, not just Kiffin.  We'd obviously all love a big hire, I just don't think the big hires will all love Maryland at this point.  Unless UA and Cole and the Big 10 carry a lot more weight than I'm thinking they do.

 

What are some comp schools that you'd compare MD with? What about my example of Narduzzi leaving Mich St for Pitt. Is Pitt really considered a better program than MD?

[Mackus]

What are some comp schools that you'd compare MD with? What about my example of Narduzzi leaving Mich St for Pitt. Is Pitt really considered a better program than MD?

 

I'd lump us in with most of the perpetual bottom feeders of the biggest conferences at this point.  Behind some of the mid- and certainly the upper-tier teams of the slightly smaller conferences.  Ahead of a top school from some non-big 6 conference, but those are places that don't get hot names anyways, hot names are instead built with success at those types of schools.

[PD24]

I have no idea what happened between him and Al Davis... I can easily believe Davis fired him when he was in a snit about something... at the same time, I can also imagine his firing having been part of a 2-person tango... no idea which it was...  so, given that Al Davis was goofy towards the end, that really doesn't say much about whether Kiffin had any part in it... not saying he did, just saying I don't know...

 

As for Tenn, if he really had a dream job in the southern part of california in his mind, then he should have had a clause put in his Tenn contract about that... since he didn't do that, it means he was happy to have guaranteed money but not willing to honor his part of it... IMO, he should have told Tenn what he wished to do, explored with them to see if there was any way to work out a mutually agreeable way for him to leave early, and then go by the outcome of that... and if that meant staying, well, that's what it meant.   As you say, he was quite young at the time, so it's not like honoring his 2 year commitment, while also gaining lots of SEC HC experience, would have hurt his career any... it might well have helped him be better prepared for the next job...

 

As things turned out, it looks like he could not only have been a respect-worthy guy who earned a rep as being honorable, it also seems likely would have had a shot at his dream job after his Tenn commitment was up... but with some substantial top-level HC experience under his belt, which might have enabled him to succeed instead of failing...  but he didn't do that.  Instead, he said, "screw you" to Tenn and jumped.   Just because we can name a few others that did something similar, that doesn't mean it's either right.or necessary... it's not like he was in a burning building and had to get out or die... and it's not like he was nearing the end of his career and faced a now-or-never moment... to the contrary, he was young, had a chance to get valuable top-tier SEC experience while still having decades left for dream jobs... but he was selfish, irresponsible, and didn't give 2 craps about the mess he left behind...

 

So, no, I wouldn't hire him for an important leadership position, simply because for a job like that, I would only hire somebody I trusted and whose judgment I trusted.  Based on what little I know of Kiffin, I don't think he's trustworthy and I don't think he's got good judgement... just because he can draw up points-scoring plays, that doesn't mean he's really equipped to run anything important, much less build a program over time.  What MD needs is not just a couple seasons of scoring more points until he moves on to his next job... what MD needs is a solid guy who is both capable and committed to spending a decade or more putting MD on the football map....Kiffin might well have talent, but he ain't solid enough for that...  

 

It will be interesting to see how long he keeps any single top-tier job... no way to know, but my hunch is that it won't be very long...  of course, maybe he'll prove otherwise and I'll eat crow...

 

Appreciate your well thought our response. Only thing I highly disagree with though is that MD needs a guy who is committed to spending a decade putting MD back on the map. That person is not attainable unless they have extreme ties to MD or all of a sudden Maryland builds a new stadium and starts paying coaches on par with the top coaches in the SEC. Which is clearly a long-shot. 

 

If a coach was to stick around for 10 years it would be because he doesn't suck bad enough to get fired but wins just enough to get by.

 

If Ralph wasn't a MD alum, he would have been long gone after his 3rd year at MD at the latest. No one is going to pass over the higher programs calling to stay at MD. It's just not realistic. 

[RShack]

Appreciate your well thought our response. Only thing I highly disagree with though is that MD needs a guy who is committed to spending a decade putting MD back on the map.

 

Tangential question... was MD ever on the football map (in the last 50 years)?   If so, I must have missed it...

 

I always think of MD and Cal being similar in this regard... they're both traditionally huge-enrollment state-name universities that should be  sleeping giants, just waiting for the right guy to come along and wake them up... which never quite happens...

[RShack]

Appreciate your well thought our response. Only thing I highly disagree with though is that MD needs a guy who is committed to spending a decade putting MD back on the map. That person is not attainable unless they have extreme ties to MD or all of a sudden Maryland builds a new stadium and starts paying coaches on par with the top coaches in the SEC. Which is clearly a long-shot. 

 

If a coach was to stick around for 10 years it would be because he doesn't suck bad enough to get fired but wins just enough to get by.

 

Well, Bobby Bowden took over a worse situation at FlaSt and he stayed put... there was no tradition of that at FlaSt... yes, he wound up making big bucks, but he created the reason why that happened...  

 

Now, I realize that Bobby Bowden's don't grow on trees... but he's the profile of guy they should be looking for... he went to FSU after success at a then-nobody place called WVU... which he also put on the map...  yet, he was still enough of a nobody that Bama wouldn't even let him come for an interview (which he was dying to get)...

 

So, my question is, who might be like that these days?

[BSLMikeLowe]

Tangential question... was MD ever on the football map (in the last 50 years)?   If so, I must have missed it...

 

Depends on your definition of "on the map." If you mean a consistent Top 25 team (or Top 20, as it was back in the day), then those periods have been few and far between....a few years in the 70s under Jerry Claiborne, a few years in the 80s under Bobby Ross, and 3 years in the 2000s under Ralph Friedgen. That's pretty much all I remember. They won a national championship, but that was way back in 1953.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Well, Bobby Bowden took over a worse situation at FlaSt and he stayed put... there was no tradition of that at FlaSt... yes, he wound up making big bucks, but he created the reason why that happened...  

 

Now, I realize that Bobby Bowden's don't grow on trees... but he's the profile of guy they should be looking for... he went to FSU after success at a then-nobody place called WVU... which he also put on the map...  yet, he was still enough of a nobody that Bama wouldn't even let him come for an interview (which he was dying to get)...

 

So, my question is, who might be like that these days?

 

And once Bowden did finally get interest from Alabama, he had already built FSU into something that was much better, at that time.

 

As for today's version of Bowden, I think you'd have to look to the HC's that have had success at one of the non-BCS conferences. But with the way coaches move around much more these days, and administrators being less patient in waiting for someone to build a program, I doubt an exact equivalent exists.

[PD24]

Bo Ryan in basketball is another example. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Can his ass tonight.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Sounds like things got really ugly at Edsall's post-game presser. He was pretty indignant in his responses, then got up and stormed out of the room. As he did, there was applause....allegedly from UM boosters. LOL.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Lol. Good riddance.

[BSLChrisStoner]

http://thebiglead.co..._medium=twitter

[Markus]

What a choad.

So long Ellerson.

[DJ MC]

[BSLMikeLowe]

I'd say he is definitely someone who looks like he coached his final game.

 

The applause from boosters was interesting. Two plausible scenarios:

 

1) They were happy that was likely the last time they'd see Edsall as the UM coach.

 

2) While they don't necessarily want him to stay, they felt sorry for him having to answer nothing but questions about his job and were glad he decided not to take it anymore.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Yuck. He might by a great guy but he seems like a total try hard douche who's always been in way over his head to me.