My goodness, I remember the media floating the notion that we were under some sort of obligation to hire "a black head coach" simply because Notre Dame hired Ty "Can't Coach Worth A Damn" Willingham. Croom was somehow 'entitled' to the job because we 'need to get with the 20th century now that it's the 21st.'
And if we had and then had to fire him, guess what?
Agreed - Armageddon. I remember being particularly dissappointed in Croom for his comments after MSU hired him, putting the UA decision off on race. It was VERY Unfair. As noted, HIRING an AA coach is hardly the problem - I'm certain Sly would have been fully embraced by the fans. Its FIRING an AA coach that's the problem, and Sly would have made a media circus out of his inevitable firing by UA.
A la Chizik 2010, McElwain has been lucky and for much the same reason. While not having a Cam Newton (and that team DID have more than just Cam), he had enough talent in place to survive close calls.
uh... Yea - BUT. Coach Mac was steadily IMPROVING the talent situation there after Muschump Destroyed UF's roster...
They had no choice with Pat Dye, he was involved in severe sanctions.Bowden was allegedly boffing Lowder's relative, they were trying to run off Tuberville as early as 2003, and Chizik was a joke who never should have been hired in the first place. (Auburn also got FAR LESS grief for hiring Chizik and his 5-19 record at Iowa St than we did for hiring Mike Shula).
I've always believed Dye's "Glorious Retirement" was part of aub's "Deal" with the NZAA to avoid any meaningful penalty for the Grotesque cheating they were engaged in. Pretty savy deal on their part.
Tater Tot - well, that's a matter of which camp you choose to believe. It might have been the daughter thing. It might have been the slipping record. It might have been Terry Firing Wayne Hall and some of the other Dye-Mafia that Lowder intended to keep in charge, and keep reporting directly to his office. All depends on who you ask. IMO, likely a combination of some or all of that.
Jean Cheatnik was a "joke" - but the joke was on Alabama and the rest of CFB. Jean was hired because he knew how the aub payroll system worked and was COMFORTABLE with it, AND because he was willing to Look the Other Way at "Strategic" moments in the recruiting process. Which he did with aplomb!
In the case of Fulmer, though, they had not been a good team since 2001. He's bungled along for seven years, and even in 2007 they weren't 'really' the best team in the division.
No question. phil got LOTS of "rope" to hang himself... in part because he knew where ALL the skeltons were buried, and they need some of the "Statute of Limitations" to pass before they could get rid of him.
9 win seasons in 13-game schedules ain't the same as nine wins in ten or 11-game schedules, though.
Yup
The funny thing with Miles is that they could have fired him in 2015 and instead signed him to a big contract and then fired him after 3-4 games. I
still think it was more an emotional reaction to losing to Auburn the same way they'd already lost to Ole Miss (2009) and nearly lost to Tennessee (2010).
One would think smart coaches wouldn't make the same mistake.
In Richt's case, well, he'd been there for 15 years and always gotten just close enough to blow it.
Agreed again.
. . . .
That's because Bill O'Brien took over a train wreck at Penn State and went 15-9. Urban Meyer took over a Buckeyes team on probation and won his
first 24 games.
Ok - gotta chime in here. To discuss Alabama re. Shula and O$U re. Meyer in the same thread, (IMO) some SERIOUS explanation is needed.
Shula took over an Alabama team REELING with very harsh sanctions that were just beginning to kick in, as the Fourth Coach less than 4 seasons - and NONE of his predecessors had recruited worth a "darn".
Urban took over a team chock full of Top-10 talent and depth, (#6 in 2011, #5 in 2009) having come off a ONE year "Slap on the Wrist" penalty. Had the O$U Admin not bungled the timing of the penalties, Urban LIKELY would have faced and beaten ND in the 2012/13 BCS NC game. (thank you, Dr. Gee!!!)
I'm NOT saying Mike Shula necessarily wins ANYTHING had he inherited what Urban did at O$U - but its Still Two VERY DIFFERENT Circumstances.
The problem with McElwain wasn't even the record, it's HOW they were achieving their success. They were walking on a rickety plank and barely surviving
teams they should have boat raced.
The "problem" with Mac, IMO, was his QBs' tendency to be injured, the fact that a major criminal Fiasco went down on "his watch" and gutted an otherwise promising team, and the raw impatience of an AD who didn't see Mac as "his" coach.
You may recall, Mac's hiring was something of a bizarre "one man crusade" by Jeremy Foley, who chose to retire after Mac's first season (perhaps due to "buyer's remorse?).
Its practically a "Rite of Passage" these days for new AD's at big schools to fire coaches and hire "their guys" (or gals as the case may be). Stricklin, as an "outsider" is simply "marking his territory", and(for all we know) might even have been hired for the express purpose of bringing his close friend (and UF "hero") Dan Mullen back to Gainesville.....
I'm sorry, but this won't fly save in the cases of LSU and perhaps Florida.
The problem is that nobody wants to remember context. Shula was, in large part, an extension of TWO other coaches, Franchione and Price (technically three, since
his tenure was largely held hostage by sanctions DuBose brought). If Franchione doesn't leave when he did, he hangs around for 3-4 more years and gets canned. Tennessee had no way of knowing Kiffin was going to fly the coop, either. Dooley looked pretty good at La Tech, he just didn't work out.
Agree and Agree.
The McElwain case, I agree, stinks quite a bit. There's something we're not being told.
AGREE Completely - My "Theory" is above.
But Les Miles had over a decade and Mark Richt had even longer. Both failed some pretty basic requirements to keep their jobs. The issue where LSU is concerned is this.......can anyone with a straight face SERIOUSLY argue that Ed Orgeron is a BETTER head coach than Les Miles? Did anyone think that at the time?
Nope! FWIW, this is why I'm kinda hoping Randy Shannon Runs the table at UF, and Strickland is "Shamed" into giving Shannon "a chance"... LOL!!! 
Five years is plenty enough time for a guy to recruit HIS players and invoke HIS system. The thing with Tennessee is that they literally have NO offense at all. One doesn't have to have delusional expectations to fire a fifth-year head coach who has a horrid offense.
