Coaching Carousel Thread
Maybe I’m just adding to the thread madness but I thought we could summarize it all in here as it stands today and not have a new thread every rumor. If not, neg away.
Riley to USC, Kelly to LSU, Pry to Virginia Tech, Stoops signs extension at Kentucky, Clawson signs extension at Wake Forrest, Washington gets Deboer, Florida signed Billy Napier and obviously Franklin and Mel signed extensions at their schools.
Notre Dame and Oklahoma are currently the big openings that will continue to the domino effect. who will they get and what falls from there. Miami and potentially Oregon could be in this soon if the new AD doesn’t keep Diaz.
November 30th, 2021 at 3:21 PM ^
I don't disagree that changing schools purely for money is bad for college football.
But in any job-change situation (and any profession), there may be other factors. Kelly may feel like he's unappreciated, or maybe his relationship with leadership isn't great. Maybe his family wants to live elsewhere. Or maybe he just feels like he's done all he can do at ND and wants a new challenge before he's too old (and playing in the SEC is certainly more challenging than the ACC). Nothing wrong with that. It would also be kind of exciting to know you can focus your recruiting efforts within your state/region and get just about everything you need.
It would be fascinating to know the actual/real motivations for all these moves.
November 30th, 2021 at 3:43 PM ^
According to ESPN, his players and the AD found out after the story had already broken. Kelly called a brief meeting this morning to tell his players and that was it. He doesn't strike me as the sentimental type, someone who feels attachment to his players. He's 60 so maybe he's feeling his days are numbered and sees the SEC as the next and possibly last mountain to climb. And of course, he wants to be paid what other top tier coaches are getting paid these days.
November 30th, 2021 at 9:32 PM ^
This has to be about money for Kelly. He just finished building a large, new home in South Bend. They have barely moved into their new house!
November 30th, 2021 at 3:27 PM ^
Could not agree more Erik. Very well said.
November 30th, 2021 at 9:28 PM ^
I agree regarding college coaches/cultures. This same issue kind of ruined pro sports for me - especially baseball. I lost interest when players started moving around after staying with a team for only 1 - 3 years. (Of course, I am old and still miss the '68 Tigers!)
November 30th, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^
Kelly to LSU is a bad fit that won't end well for anyone involved. You just hate to see it.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:32 PM ^
Really? Kelly’s sometimes purple face matches LSU’s purple and gold.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:34 PM ^
Especially their Assistant Cameraman...
November 30th, 2021 at 2:37 PM ^
I actually think that one will work. He's been successful everywhere and he's a shady guy that's going to be allowed more room to operate LSU. I don't think not being native to that area makes much of a difference for that job.
November 30th, 2021 at 9:35 PM ^
A lot of ND fans were unhappy with Kelly. I think that after a year or 2, the fans will become impatient with him. He calls a lot of bonehead plays.
November 30th, 2021 at 3:40 PM ^
Safe to say that assistant coach prob isn’t heading to Baton Rouge with them. Kelly is and has always been a snake!
November 30th, 2021 at 2:45 PM ^
Where's the popcorn? I don't think BK will relate well to the Cajun Nation.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:52 PM ^
It does seem like a very odd match. Kelly is from Massachusetts and hasn't been outside of the Midwest since he spent four years at his alma mater, Assumption University (seriously, that is the name of a college).
I look forward to seeing his face match the LSU shade of purple when he loses 3-4 games a season.
November 30th, 2021 at 4:46 PM ^
That would explain why Kelly has made an ass out of himself
...and me?
November 30th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
I think it’s a win-win for him. He’s 60 and this is his best chance of winning a NC — he’s a better coach than 2 of the 3 that have won NCs at LSU in recent years. And if it doesn’t work out, he retires with a huge golden parachute courtesy of a 10-year agreement.
November 30th, 2021 at 5:08 PM ^
I agree with you Kelly to LSU probably won't work well, but I can't say I hate to see bad things happening for Notre Dame and LSU.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:34 PM ^
Please UM keep your assistants together.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:35 PM ^
Never been more glad to have Harbaugh (and Howard) leading Michigan forward.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:39 PM ^
Almost made a thread about this earlier. The stability of keeping Harbaugh is going to pay dividends for the health of our program for the next decade.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:35 PM ^
If Fickell were to take the ND job, there would be two potential CFP teams without coaches for the playoffs. That is mindblowing.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:52 PM ^
BK left because he knows they won't make the playoff.
Fickell won't take the ND job until after the playoff. And ND, like a lot of people, will respect that about him. If they really want him, and they do, they can and will wait for him to finish his business.
November 30th, 2021 at 3:20 PM ^
This logic seems specious. ND is currently on the outside looking, but doesn’t need a to. Of chaos to find themselves invited to the party.
They need two things to happen:
1. Have OSU lose to Baylor.
2. Have any one of Bama (vs UGA), UC (vs UH), or UM (vs Iowa) lose.
or just have any two teams listed in #2 lose.
I think most agree Bama should lose to UGA, so the help of getting one more team ahead of them stumble puts them in. Heck, even a narrow, somehow unimpressive win by either UC or OSU may allow ND to jump one of them as well. The decision will be based on TV $$, and ND is a big draw. The committee finding a way to get them in isn’t really a stretch.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:35 PM ^
Oregon is not going to move on from Cristobal because they've had a really good year and he's a solid recruiter, but I wonder if all the insanity has bought Diaz another year at Miami because at this point you'd be fighting against ND and OU for the scraps leftover. Might make sense to sit it out a year and take your chances with a new batch of coaches next year.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:38 PM ^
Heard via SZD (Split Zone Duo) Alonzo Highsmith is the key in that hunt. If he’s involved with YTM’s search they’re pulling out all the stops for him.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:37 PM ^
1. Really hope Freeman follows Kelly to LSU. Heard they’re willing to pay him HC money and be the highest paid coordinator in CFB.
2. Hope Fickell heads to ND. He’s not the scariest coach but not having him as a coach in waiting at OSU would be nice.
3. The biggest and funniest rumor I’ve seen as someone tied to Chicago, is the Bears hunting Ryan Day. The Bears are an old school franchise and don’t want to fire Nagy in-season. This means OSU would have to try to make a hire AFTER all the top candidates have been hired. Here’s to hoping guys!!!
November 30th, 2021 at 2:39 PM ^
Hmmm Hutchinson on the Lions going up against Day on the Bears...I like it.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:45 PM ^
It would be just our luck if Day leaves for Chicago, Meyer flames out after one year at Jacksonville and comes back to Columbus after claiming to be "humbled and rehabilitated".
November 30th, 2021 at 2:49 PM ^
That’d suck a lot and admittedly hasn’t crossed my mind. However I do have to think he’d at least stay 2 years if he’s not long for the NFL like Saban did. Coach competition brain can be a irrational sort of thing.
November 30th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
Don’t speak that evil into existence. Not to mention that Urban is more likely to want to come back to college for ND than OSU though. Dude was so pissed he was forced to apologize for that fiasco. Maybe he’s at a point where he’d be okay going back since he’s had a minute away, but he seems like the type of guy who would hold a grudge.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:55 PM ^
As for #3. Yea, that's what's been going around. Having Day back with Fields sounds enticing. The Bears defense has been fine, but the offense sucks ass. Strangely Nagy couldn't fix it, but maybe a Day-Fields could.
BTW, Harbaugh to Bears was floating around for a few weeks here. That's obviously dead in the water now.
November 30th, 2021 at 3:01 PM ^
I’m admittedly not a bears fan (quit on them in high school; could only handle 1 BPONE sports environment) but it seems like it’d be a good fit. They seem like a franchise trying to get near the modern version of football and Day seems like a guy who could do that in the NFC north.
November 30th, 2021 at 4:48 PM ^
Is this "modern version of football" the one where your massively overtalented defense goes whole games without a TFL or a QB pressure and can hardly even get to second down, much less get off the field?
November 30th, 2021 at 9:51 PM ^
Lol I’m not disagreeing but the OSU offensive performance on Saturday probably would have been the best Bears offensive performance ever
November 30th, 2021 at 3:20 PM ^
I feel it’s a matter of time before Day ends up in the NFL, he’s an NFL type coach, where I feel Meyer is a college coach. Day has no previous ties to OSU. He may want one more shot at Michigan next year though. I’d say he’s gone if he beats us next year or probably either way. He loses two in a row, he’s gonna get pushed out.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:40 PM ^
Why would Kelly leave ND for LSU? I am just genuinely curious.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:48 PM ^
- Kelly's teams have generally played to their recruiting level. It's easier to recruit at LSU than at ND.
- Kelly wants a national championship and has watched 2 people he probably considers idiots (Les Miles and Ed Orgeron) win one each at LSU while he's been coming close but not that close on several occasions. He probably figures his ceiling is higher at LSU.
- Pay bump
I think it's a bad fit for a lot of reasons but there are at least some reasons I see he made the move
November 30th, 2021 at 3:04 PM ^
#2 - "...he probably considers idiots (Les Miles and Ed Orgeron)..." -- LMAO!!! Probably true, though...
#3 - Pay bump? -- He's getting ~$12M more per year at LSU! That's something I would say is slightly more than a bump...
November 30th, 2021 at 4:24 PM ^
I thought the contract was $9.5M a year? Was Notre Dame charging him a couple mil to coach?
November 30th, 2021 at 4:49 PM ^
IIRC, Les Miles was a damn strong football coach.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:48 PM ^
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Fertile recruiting grounds.
Challenge of SEC.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:53 PM ^
Well, $$ for one.
But who knows what the relationship is between Kelly and the school at ND. Dream job only goes so far if your bosses suck (or employee).
November 30th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
That's another factor. The administration and the fans never liked Kelly that much. Kelly is Notre Dame's all-time winningest coach (if you add back in his vacated wins) but will never receive the same level of adoration as their other coaching legends. I'm sure that was a factor in him seeking greener pastures.
November 30th, 2021 at 3:04 PM ^
He saw the pics of cajun Ed in the hot tub with some LSU hotties....
November 30th, 2021 at 3:49 PM ^
Yeah, it's a head scratcher...
.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:43 PM ^
Freeman and Fickell are the two most likely names for the ND job. It's interesting to think that the two of them could be competing for the ND job this season and for the OSU job (Freeman's alma mater) in like 5 years.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:49 PM ^
"F" Notre Dame!
November 30th, 2021 at 2:54 PM ^
I hope Fickell stays put at Cincinnati a few more years. Helps us because he can dilute OSU's instate recruiting advantage.
November 30th, 2021 at 2:57 PM ^
I thought the theory was that Fickell was scooping up the Ohio kids that used to come to Michigan. I think OSU gets whoever they want instate for the most part.
November 30th, 2021 at 3:19 PM ^
Name a single player Fickell has yoinked from OSU.