(10-18-2020 11:23 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  Well, regardless of what the particular numbers are, this is where we--administration and boosters alike--decide if we want to be somewhat serious about football or just bompy-domp along happy to field a team.

I'm hearing McClain has been kicking butt raising money since he arrived. Dare I say we may finally have an A.D. who knows the difference between selling and begging. Can he hit 7 figures for an impact hire, who knows, but I fully expect we'll be able to pay more than we did Johnson & Monken, which was $700k/year (Hopson's $500k/year was more a function of how cheap he was willing to work than what we could pay if we actually tried).

Also, an interesting read here:

https://andywittry.substack.com/p/what-l...ing-change

There's some Hopson talk in there, but nothing we haven't already heard. The part about Freeze is intriguing for a few reasons. Other known current applicants via a VOIA email request are Kansas State assistant Van Malone and UAB DC David Reeves. Neither of those does much for me given our experience with handing the keys to defensive coaches.

Interesting that Freeze was almost our next coach back then. Martha was on to something and we all thought she wasn't a very good president. The other interesting part is the racial aspect of hirings. I didn't know it was that bad, but you can see now an AD had to deal with those aspects too.

(10-18-2020 11:23 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  Well, regardless of what the particular numbers are, this is where we--administration and boosters alike--decide if we want to be somewhat serious about football or just bompy-domp along happy to field a team.

I'm hearing McClain has been kicking butt raising money since he arrived. Dare I say we may finally have an A.D. who knows the difference between selling and begging. Can he hit 7 figures for an impact hire, who knows, but I fully expect we'll be able to pay more than we did Johnson & Monken, which was $700k/year (Hopson's $500k/year was more a function of how cheap he was willing to work than what we could pay if we actually tried).

Also, an interesting read here:

https://andywittry.substack.com/p/what-l...ing-change

There's some Hopson talk in there, but nothing we haven't already heard. The part about Freeze is intriguing for a few reasons. Other known current applicants via a VOIA email request are Kansas State assistant Van Malone and UAB DC David Reeves. Neither of those does much for me given our experience with handing the keys to defensive coaches.

Interesting for sure. Those names are nothing to get excited about. I really am holding out hope that we get a homerun hire. Tennessee and Auburn may be available soon and I believe one will offer freeze. Although I believe Tennessee is paying three different coaches so they may be stuck with Pruitt for a few more years.

(10-19-2020 11:02 AM)SouthernMiss3613 Wrote:  Interesting that Freeze was almost our next coach back then. Martha was on to something and we all thought she wasn't a very good president.

I find that particular part of the story difficult to believe given all that was said and what we saw around the time of Johnson’s hiring. I’ve always been told by everyone with any sort of relative inside knowledge and it’s even been stated in public forums that Johnson was Saunders’ man from jump and the hiring committee was a farce. Some of that could be people covering for Hammond, but even people critical of him pinned the hire on Saunders and blamed him more for just making a bad situation worse. Also, someone’s first choice being a fresh up-and-comer and their 2nd choice being a 60-year-old career assistant doesn’t exactly add up, either.

Do recall she was literally the only administrator to speak at EJ’s introduction. She seemed all too happy to own that decision.

(10-19-2020 11:43 AM)Kbateman Wrote:  

(10-18-2020 11:23 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  Well, regardless of what the particular numbers are, this is where we--administration and boosters alike--decide if we want to be somewhat serious about football or just bompy-domp along happy to field a team.

I'm hearing McClain has been kicking butt raising money since he arrived. Dare I say we may finally have an A.D. who knows the difference between selling and begging. Can he hit 7 figures for an impact hire, who knows, but I fully expect we'll be able to pay more than we did Johnson & Monken, which was $700k/year (Hopson's $500k/year was more a function of how cheap he was willing to work than what we could pay if we actually tried).

Also, an interesting read here:

https://andywittry.substack.com/p/what-l...ing-change

There's some Hopson talk in there, but nothing we haven't already heard. The part about Freeze is intriguing for a few reasons. Other known current applicants via a VOIA email request are Kansas State assistant Van Malone and UAB DC David Reeves. Neither of those does much for me given our experience with handing the keys to defensive coaches.

Interesting for sure. Those names are nothing to get excited about. I really am holding out hope that we get a homerun hire. Tennessee and Auburn may be available soon and I believe one will offer freeze. Although I believe Tennessee is paying three different coaches so they may be stuck with Pruitt for a few more years.

Not sure if Auburn will cut Gus loose or not. Found this on the web. Malzahn’s buyout as of Dec. 1 of this year stands at $21,450,000. Other jobs could come open.
South Carolina. - Time for them to move on.
Tennessee. - Not sure if UT would pull the plug this quickly.
Vanderbilt - He is terrible.
Texas. - Buyout is probably terrible. Didn't look it up.
Auburn - Buyout is terrible.
Michigan. - Buyout is not too bad.
Minnesota - Fleck could move on to a bigger job.
USC - He is out if he doesn't come at least close to winning the conference.
Shoot even the Jets could go after Freeze. He is worth it and the Cardinals showed us that teams will think outside the box.

Jeremy is the real deal. If he is able to make the decision, we will have a great hire. Hope Bennett stays the hell out of the way. If fans would put up, I think we can get Freeze. He is exactly who and what we need right now. Its now or never time for USM football. Still uneasy about how the buyout would work bc no way we can afford it. Though he may be able to slip out of the full buyout somehow.

(10-19-2020 07:48 PM)Reggie Favre Wrote:  Jeremy is the real deal. If he is able to make the decision, we will have a great hire. Hope Bennett stays the hell out of the way. If fans would put up, I think we can get Freeze. He is exactly who and what we need right now. Its now or never time for USM football. Still uneasy about how the buyout would work bc no way we can afford it. Though he may be able to slip out of the full buyout somehow.

For real Bennett needs to keep his butt out of this decision.

(10-19-2020 07:48 PM)Reggie Favre Wrote:  Jeremy is the real deal. If he is able to make the decision, we will have a great hire. Hope Bennett stays the hell out of the way.

That’s happening. He dug his own hole to fall in with the Briles fiasco. That whole episode wouldn’t have ever gone down had he just left things between Mitchell & Hopson. He’s learned his lesson.

Speaking of Briles, I’d be tempted to call the NCAA and ask them just how the hell much more time they think they’ll need to wrap up that Baylor investigation. I don’t want to hire a guy with sanctions possibly dropping on him at any moment, but, damn, he could win 30 games first at the rate they’re going.

Some things I've heard from a few sources:

1. There's a long list of people being interviewed. Currently, administration is calling potential candidates they like and figuring out what it would take to get them here if they were the person we wanted to go with. They're quickly coming to the blistering reality that the type of coach we want will cost about $1.5 million a year to bring in. Adding in assistants, it'll cost over $3 million, and that's money we just don't have. (Personal thought: I wouldn't be surprised if a more intentional financial campaign started soon, but that's just me talking, no knowledge there)


2. After the past couple of defensive hires, offense is on administration's minds. Don't expect a defensive guy to get the call. They want an exciting brand of football that can sell tickets, not a low-scoring slugfest.


3. You'd be surprised how many interesting candidates have interviewed, from former coaches to former players to top assistants across the country. I can't name specific names I've heard, but they aren't bad in my opinion.


4. Don't expect a hire until mid to late December. Even if we do come up with the money, a lot of potential coaches aren't interested in signing a deal until things shake out at Auburn and other potential jobs. No one wants to be locked in with us and a better job come available. We're most likely going to wait until the rest of the major jobs shake out to see who our top guys are that are left.

If they didn't already know the $$ from #1, then they really are clueless.... How could they NOT know that going in.

I believe they were hoping for something closer to $800k with incentives pushing them over $1 million. But I agree, to be competitive, this should have been obvious.

By what i am hearing this will most likely be a minority hire. I don't care what color the guy is as long as he can coach but to hire someone based on race and not coaching ability will be a mistake.

(10-20-2020 11:28 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  By what i am hearing this will most likely be a minority hire. I don't care what color the guy is as long as he can coach but to hire someone based on race and not coaching ability will be a mistake.

I don't care either. However, at this point we need the best person. If we say minority hire then we are no longer seriously considering a lot of good candidates. If the minority hire is the best candidate then by all means hire the man. Saying minority hire before the formal process begins then we have a political statement situation brewing. We know how that has worked out with another position at USM.

(10-20-2020 11:28 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  By what i am hearing this will most likely be a minority hire. I don't care what color the guy is as long as he can coach but to hire someone based on race and not coaching ability will be a mistake.

mandating is as stupid as it gets...

good luck with that...

#fireBenneTTTNOW

(10-20-2020 11:52 AM)dothaneagle Wrote:  

(10-20-2020 11:28 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  By what i am hearing this will most likely be a minority hire. I don't care what color the guy is as long as he can coach but to hire someone based on race and not coaching ability will be a mistake.

I don't care either. However, at this point we need the best person. If we say minority hire then we are no longer seriously considering a lot of good candidates. If the minority hire is the best candidate then by all means hire the man. Saying minority hire before the formal process begins then we have a political statement situation brewing. We know how that has worked out with another position at USM.

See FSU

3. You'd be surprised how many interesting candidates have interviewed, from former coaches to former players to top assistants across the country. I can't name specific names I've heard, but they aren't bad in my opinion.

Why can't you name names? You are just a random guy on a discussion board.

4. Don't expect a hire until mid to late December. Even if we do come up with the money, a lot of potential coaches aren't interested in signing a deal until things shake out at Auburn and other potential jobs. No one wants to be locked in with us and a better job come available. We're most likely going to wait until the rest of the major jobs shake out to see who our top guys are that are left.

Wouldn't this timeline wreck this recruiting cycle?

(10-20-2020 11:52 AM)dothaneagle Wrote:  

(10-20-2020 11:28 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  By what i am hearing this will most likely be a minority hire. I don't care what color the guy is as long as he can coach but to hire someone based on race and not coaching ability will be a mistake.

I don't care either. However, at this point we need the best person. If we say minority hire then we are no longer seriously considering a lot of good candidates. If the minority hire is the best candidate then by all means hire the man. Saying minority hire before the formal process begins then we have a political statement situation brewing. We know how that has worked out with another position at USM.

We just need to hire the best guy available, but I could see this going south in the current climate.

(10-20-2020 11:28 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  By what i am hearing this will most likely be a minority hire. I don't care what color the guy is as long as he can coach but to hire someone based on race and not coaching ability will be a mistake.

This has been said for every hire since Bennett got here. Has never actually happened.

(10-20-2020 11:52 AM)dothaneagle Wrote:  

(10-20-2020 11:28 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  By what i am hearing this will most likely be a minority hire. I don't care what color the guy is as long as he can coach but to hire someone based on race and not coaching ability will be a mistake.

I don't care either. However, at this point we need the best person. If we say minority hire then we are no longer seriously considering a lot of good candidates. If the minority hire is the best candidate then by all means hire the man. Saying minority hire before the formal process begins then we have a political statement situation brewing. We know how that has worked out with another position at USM.

This.

We have two people saying opposite things on the same page of this thread. One- Bennett staying out, Two - minority hire. I see #2 being a Bennett thing, bc no way Jeremy would make that the #1 priority. He just wants the best man for the job bc it will make him look the best. If a minority is the best, great, get him and lets get on with things. But as someone said, if you start with that as the goal... forget about it. You def wont come up with $1.5 mill bc the fans and most donors want the BEST hire. I can see it now..... "USM hired a minority but they are paying him the lowest amount of any coach in their conference and in the entire country. What racist they are"!


I also cant imagine USM is waiting for how all the other hires shake out before making an offer. That is the dumbest thing ever. Im not saying make the hire at the end of November, but you cant let all the good coaches get away. I say hire him as soon as possible (after giving Walden most of the season of course) and have a huge buyout clause. If someone wants him that bad let them buy him out and we use that money to hire the next guy.

(10-20-2020 01:47 PM)SouthernMiss3613 Wrote:  3. You'd be surprised how many interesting candidates have interviewed, from former coaches to former players to top assistants across the country. I can't name specific names I've heard, but they aren't bad in my opinion.

Why can't you name names? You are just a random guy on a discussion board.

4. Don't expect a hire until mid to late December. Even if we do come up with the money, a lot of potential coaches aren't interested in signing a deal until things shake out at Auburn and other potential jobs. No one wants to be locked in with us and a better job come available. We're most likely going to wait until the rest of the major jobs shake out to see who our top guys are that are left.

Wouldn't this timeline wreck this recruiting cycle?

Because naming names can potentially ruin relationships and result in coaches pulling out. I’d prefer to not speak publicly about certain people and just give a general statement.


And probably, but that’s the reality of this year.

(10-20-2020 11:14 AM)EagNBran Wrote:  I believe they're hoping.

Plan A