Tuesday January 17, 2012

The DC Search-Part II

The DC Search-Part II
Yesterday we brought you some pretty interesting quotes from current and former college coaches that we asked about the Clemson defensive coordinator search.

Yesterday after I wrote that blog I talked to two more coaches and they shared some interesting insight on coaching searches.

One former coach said, "I don't know who the candidates are and I am don't know what Dabo is thinking about the direction he wants to take with this next hire. But I can tell you what I would do. I would sit my current defensive assistants down and get their input.

Remember at Clemson you have three pretty established defensive coaches that are already there. I would not let them make the hire but I would sit down and get their input.

In some situations that might not be the case. Sometimes you may have a young staff and are looking to hire an experienced guy. Sometimes a young staff might not have enough contacts or experience to know what advice to give the head coach and some experienced head coaches might not want their input.

But at Clemson on defense you have three guys who have been around the block and a young head coach. Cheese (Charlie Harbison) has been in it for twenty years. How many years was he at Alabama and LSU? (He was at Alabama twice and LSU once for a total of nine years). Hell he was in the SEC for at least ten years (Actually 11 counting Mississippi State). Look it up and tell me how many years Harbison has been at Clemson and the SEC (17 years).

How about Brooks? Hell he was at Florida in the early 1980s. That guy has been in the ACC and SEC for 25 years (28 to be exact). You think that guy doesn't know football? How could you not consult Dan Brooks.

I know Marion Hobby has over ten years of experience in the ACC and SEC. He has been around a lot of good coaches and is a guy that has NFL experience.

My point is that whoever is the new defense coordinator will have to come into a room with a lot of experience. There will be advantages and disadvantages for the new guy. The advantages are that the staff is experienced and professional. Those guys have handled this kind of thing before. This ain't their first rodeo.

But I have seen it where a new guy comes into a situation and the egos won't let it happen. Sometimes the chemistry just don't work for whatever reason. Man when you are in the same room with a group of guys for 70-80 hours a week then you need to be able to get along. I have seen some great times and some bad ones and chemistry is a key. You spend more time in that room with those three or four guys than anyone else in your life so it has to work. That's why I say I would get some input from Cheese, Brooks and Hobby. I am not saying they should make the decision but I would listen to what they have to say.

That is one thing Dabo really has going for him because Dan Brooks is a great guy that everyone should be able to get along with. Cheese is one of the most positive people you ever want to meet. Who can't get along with him? And I don't know Hobby well but everyone I know that does thinks a lot of him as a person and coach. It will make it easier on the new guy that he will be working with three real pros and good guys."

Another coach added this bit of caution, "On the subject of the media reports just be careful. One of my kids always tells me what these websites are saying about who is getting hired and they are usually wrong. This year they were dead wrong on almost every head coaching hire.

I have been involved with a few of these coaching searches and it seems like no one knows the facts of the interviews and negotiations but everyone wants to put out something. I would warn your listeners and readers that these things are seldom as they appear. I would bet you anything in the world the staff doesn't know who the new coach is yet. I never did on any staff when we had an opening. We used to ask each other, "What are you hearing?" and none of us knew. We would read the paper who tried to sell it as if they knew how the interviews were going. They can talk about negotiations and what each side wants but I doubt anyone outside of the head coach and the coaches he is interviewing know. I bet you less than a handful of people know all of the negotiations and who the candidates are and what the pecking order is. In this specific case I would think the Stoops and Venables know where things stand. I would think Shannon or whoever else that has been contacted have been told a little about where they stand and Dabo has been told by the candidates about where he stands but few others really know.

My wife and kids would read on the internet who the candidates were for our openings and how the interviews were going and I swear I had no clue what the head coach was thinking.

A lot of people will claim to know after the fact but only a handful of people know how it currently stands. This is the case at most major programs with most high profile hires. Someone ought to write a book about the process because there are some great stories ADs and coaches could share."

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Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:

If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.

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Those who need our prayers include:Finn Brookover, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Daniel Rosborough, The Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs,Perrin Seigler, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, the Nicolopulos family, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle family, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, the Thomas. V Family, Emary Claire Young, Kitty Bowers,Julie and motivateLocke, the Scheider family, Lauren Kittles' family, Frank Gentry, Joyce Bussey, Stacey McKeown, Mary Priester, Dale Childs, Larry Lentz, Jr, Carl Sharperson, Scott Hannon, William Perry, Tyler Swaney, Randy Anderson, Lillian, Matt Hogan, Mark Feit, David Frame, Chad Berry, the family of Matthew M. Watson, Nancy Taylor, the Dowis family, Shervin Messer, Alan Putnam, the Olivers, Lee Tate, Ronnie Abrams, Eddie Greene, Tricia Hood, the Jackson family, Bill Vader, Nancy Taylor, Tina DeWitt, Rock Horne, Christopher Tuten, Jimmy Head, Bobby Wayne Thomas, Emma and Danielle Carothers, Robert Ditty, Murray Smith, Dot Cartee, Ayden Mills, Millie Heatley, Lynn Martin and family, Michael Pinson, Jack Bailey, Jake David family, Janice Thompson, Angie Crowley, Rachel Graves, Ira, Elsie Taylor, Mike Tolson, Poly Wells, Dr. Muriel Bishop, Jack Cunningham, Emily Jefford Meister.