Lessons Learned - Hiring SEC Coaches. Let me start by saying I'm 100% Gator and I do have some wisdom to share. Back after the 2000 season when SOS shocked Gator Nation - our infamous athletic director Jeremy Foley - had to find a new coach. In a phrase - he panicked. Our first choice - Bob Stoops - depending on which thread you believe - accepted the job and then backed out. Whatever - he didn't take the job. Ole Jeremy then flew to Denver to **try** and hire Mike Shanahan. Huh? To no avail of course. On the way back to Gainesville, the plane stopped in New Orleans and we got our new coach - Ron Zook. In a phrase - he panicked. Lessons Learned: - Do not rush the hire. Take the hit on recruiting. You're making a decision which will (has to??) last 5 years. (see notre dame and uf for excpetions) - Under no circumstance, we learned the hard way, do you hire a coordinator which has never been a head coach. Great coordinator != Great Head Coach. For every Bob Stoops there are 10 Ron Zooks. Way too risky. The SEC is too tough a battleground for virgin head coaches. - Do not fall for the line - "... he's a great recruiter". That is double talk for - his game day preparation is suspect. His X and O's Monday thru Friday are probably found on the refrigerator. In an era of limited schollys and limited practice time, being able to coach is the #1 concern. - Storm the athletic office if any candidate is a "players coach." Players coach is double talk for - NO DISCIPLINE. See 2004 Gators and 2004 Miami Dolphins. Zook and Wannestadt are both regarded as players coaches - both teams are terribly disciplined. In fact in South FLorida, where I live, callers want a return to Shula dictatorship roaming the sidelines. In Gainesville, we just want a coach to have less than 4 offsides penalties in the first half. Ron Zooks teams were terribly disciplined. On another note, SOS and Saben are similar in demanding perfection. If they can't get it through embarrassment or other means - hit the bench. FWIW - this philsophy works in football. - Stay away from candidates which **like** the off season booster circuits. Ron Zook was famous for talking everyones' ear off from March thru July. Whatever. Football coaches coach - they don't like small talk with armchair quarterbacks. They certainly don't like any advice. - Public speaking is paramount. We went from SOS to Ron Zook. SOS was a master at using the media to take the attention off the team and put it all on himself. Ron Zook was great at not communicating at all. Or when he tried to - he spoke 70 mph. In an era of ESPN sound bites and reaching the top tier athletes - your coach has to communicate. Many of these points should seems obvious; however, our AD a very short time ago wiffed on these bullet points. All in all - thanks for listening. You'll find a good coach. I enjoy our annual LSU game - seems to have returned to the 80s when the visiting team wins. C ya next October. GatorWes
Thanks for the advice, and I think a big part of UF's problem was the fact that SOS gave you guys zero notice of his intentions. Zook was most definitely a "panic" hire (he contacted UF about the gig, not the other way around, if I remember correctly). One positive about Saban's annual NFL flirtations and his drawn-out process with the Dolphins is it gave LSU time to plan and prepare. I doubt you'll see anything close to a reach or panic hire out of the Tigers. :lsug:
Bertman deffinately isn't a panic type man. He deliberates over everything that he does, so i'm confident that we'll get a good head coach that has all of the qualities required, because skip won't have less.
he also stated that Nick gave him a short list of coaches he recommended. If he was headed to another college, I'd trash the list but since he's headed to the NFL, I'd value it with my life. I trust Little Nickie's football acumen.
Good post. I would like to think LSU learned from the Mike Archer experience, which I know has been discussed on this forum over the past several days. Not that hiring him was a panic move (maybe?), as much as it was Arnsparger's doing. Bottom line is we have a great foundation to continue building upon, and I have faith that Skip will make the right move.
