http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/col...ster-candidates-list-in-texas-coaching-search
Here's the list of who Texas considered. Now tell me who exactly should have gotten the job that wanted it:
Art Briles
Gus Malzahn
David Shaw
Jimbo Fisher
Les Miles
Kevin Sumlin
Charlie Strong
Jon Gruden
Todd Graham
James Franklin
Mike Gundy
Kirby Smart
Dabo Swinney
Mark Dantonio
Jim Mora Jr
Now let's be blunt and say this is the most ridiculous list in the history of coaching searches
and not only because I'm wondering, "How did they leave Houston Nutt off a list that long?"
A list this long out there means a BUNCH of coaches immediately made clear they didn't even consider your job important enough to talk about. You could LITERALLY scratch off ALL of the NFL coaches plus O'Brien from this list at phase one. Ditto Saban and Meyer. The only possible choice, Chip Kelly, had a show cause and they weren't going to hire him anyway.
So now let's see what is left:
Art Briles
Gus Malzahn
David Shaw
Jimbo Fisher
Les Miles
Kevin Sumlin
Charlie Strong
Jon Gruden
Todd Graham
James Franklin
Mike Gundy
Kirby Smart
Dabo Swinney
Mark Dantonio
Jim Mora Jr
Now......if you know ANYTHING about Texas football, you can scratch three more names off of their list - Briles, Sumlin, and Mike Gundy. Why? They flat out WILL NOT admit they need to go grab a coach from another TEXAS school that is directly competitive with them - it's a pride issue, and you really have to have lived here to witness it firsthand. Alumni WOULD NOT STAND for them hiring any of those three, period. You can scratch Gruden as well since no guy who coached in the NFL and is making a fortune NOT coaching is missing the notion of college recruiting that much.
And you could also scratch Malzahn and Fisher since they were prepping for a big championship game and you were running the risk of getting turned down late. I think a SMART Malzahn takes the big money and runs, but can you REALLY say you think Gus Malzahn is any better of a coach than Strong as a head guy?
I don't buy that.
Shaw turned them down and so (by implication) did Dantonio. They were NOT going to hire Kirby Smart after getting dumped by Saban; such would have been a revenge hire, and I guarantee you those two were joined at the hip on this.
And do you REALLY think Miles was coming? And Graham was automatically ruled out as noted. So now you're down to:
Charlie Strong
James Franklin
Dabo Swinney
Jim Mora Jr
Can you REALLY say that in 2013 Strong was any worse or better than the ACTUAL REAL POSSIBLE CHOICES above?
Sure, Dabo looks good NOW - what about then?