I just don’t think that’s the case. I’m not defending Alleva with all guns blazing, but I think the idea that only three people were considered is a false narrative. The search didn’t start at the end of the season.
actually, we don’t know that. you’re just assuming those guys would have had the same record here that they did at their current schools. and it just doesn’t work that way. according to every “insider” report and even Alleva himself (as well as O’s comments after the fact), this is exactly what happened.
Not that it matters because we are stuck with the fucker for better or worse but compared to who? He was a better option than who? Any of the other assistants or actual head coaches around the NCAA?
I feel like I’ve had this conversation before; I don’t remember the outcome. I seem to remember quite a few candidates vetted. I don’t think it was Fisher, Herman, and Eaux out of a hat.
i don’t have any inside info, but the timeline of how it all played out tells me Joe never made it past those 3. he rushed to the altar and married O less than 12 hours after Herman requested to speak to Texas. before anyone else’s season was even over. so either he secretly interviewed guys (which i doubt considering the amount of leaks this administration has had the last few years) prior to their season ending (and before offering Herman), or in his “vetting” process, he determined that Ed Orgeron was so far and away a better coach than any other human being on the planet that no other interviews were even necessary.
“Vetting” might not mean interview, or direct interview. I don’t know the depths of back-channel communications. I, for one, am fine with the vetting and ultimate selection of Eaux. After that was a bunch of young up-and-comers, without the passion for the program on top of a pretty solid interim run. It was a choice, they made it. Scrutinizing why Fleck or Fuente wasn’t selected seems to be nitpicking.
the way it went down is a bigger problem than the decision itself. the decision is a symptom. the process is the disease. and O’s “passion for the program” started when he was campaigning for the job. prior to that, he was all about USC. even when not employed by USC. wearing USC gear to his son’s football games. calling USC his “home” and “family”.
