December 20th, 2008 at 3:22 PM ^
I've heard rumors that Casteel isn't going to join us, Chavis, maybe?
Foster, probably not. He enjoys being the only reason VT is good every year.
December 20th, 2008 at 10:35 PM ^
I'll never get over Beaver.
December 20th, 2008 at 11:19 PM ^
Van-der-lin-den. *clap, clap, clap clap clap*
Van-der-lin-den. *clap, clap, clap clap clap*
December 21st, 2008 at 11:22 AM ^
I would be shocked if that were to happen. If it did, however, I would consider that a HUGE coup for Michigan. Vanderlinden is a terrific coach.
December 21st, 2008 at 12:48 PM ^
Is that just a wish, or do you have a hunch?
December 21st, 2008 at 3:25 PM ^
Just a wish, unfortunately. There was some smoke (not a lot of it) during the DC search last year that Vanderlinden was interested, but obviously nothing came of it.
Pipe dream, probably.
December 22nd, 2008 at 8:21 AM ^
I love pipe dreams
December 21st, 2008 at 12:48 AM ^
How about Chuck Martin? He's got a long history of great defenses.
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:25 AM ^
I hope he at least gets a look too.
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:45 PM ^
No, he's the head coach at Grand Valley State.
His teams have been very solid defensively, and he knows how to win. Here are some of his stats from his career at GVSU both as a defensive coordinator and as head coach:
GVSU DC years:
2000: I was unable to get the scores from that season to crunch the numbers on, but the team went 7-4 with a nearly all sophomore team and after losing the first three games.
2001: Again, don't have the scores from the season for number crunching, but the team went 13-1 overall and won a National Title, and outscored opponents by over an average of 48 points per game which indicates a pretty solid defense regardless of the offense.
2002: 16.5 PPG allowed on average, 10-0 regular season record, 14-0 overall record and a National Title
2003: 13.3 PPG allowed on average, 10-1 regular season record, 14-1 overall and another National Title.
GVSU Head Coaching Years:
2004: 11.9 PPG allowed on average, 10-0 regular season, 12-1 overall record
2005: 12.2 PPG allowed on average, 9-0 regular season, 13-0 overall record and ANOTHER National Title
2006: 15.5 PPG allowed on average, 11-0 regular season, 15-0 overall record, and ANOTHER National Title
2007: 14.5 PPG allowed on average, 10-0 regular season, 12-1 overall record
2008: 12.6 PPG allowed on average, 10-0 regular season, 11-1 overall record.
The guy is 63-3 and his teams have been defensively solid (the numbers don't lie), if you look at the DC years in addition to this, 111-9 overall record, and (at least from 2002 on) never had a season where they allowed more than 17 PPG on average... that's 7 years of this kind of defensive numbers.
December 23rd, 2008 at 6:08 AM ^
Gotcha, the way this forum is set up is confusing. His response was directly under mine. Anyway, Vanderlinden would be a great hire, UM needs a focus on LBs. They can make or break a defense.
I wonder if he was hired, what that would do for Jelani Jenkins? I know we're a huge longshot, but that would certainly help. I guess we can only hope.
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:49 AM ^
should have been a little more clear with my question...
December 23rd, 2008 at 7:34 AM ^
Looks like Hopson gets it by default. RR is so into his O that D is an afterthought. No top guys are interested.
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:31 AM ^
I'm too lazy to right now but do yourself a favor and look up some of WVU's defensive numbers in the past 3 years and then try to make that same statement.
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:35 AM ^
By all accounts, Casteel isn't interested. The reason why he stayed at WVU, it seems, was because he didn't want to make his kids move schools. That, obviously, is unchanged.
Hopson is pretty much a done deal. This is all per Rivals.
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:16 AM ^
If it is, indeed, Jay Hopson, then Rich Rod is settling, imho. He obviously has asked a couple different coaches if they are interested and was turned down.
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:20 AM ^
"He obviously has asked a couple different coaches if they are interested and was turned down."
Was this reported somewhere that I didn't see?
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 AM ^
Yes. Rich Rod made a run at Jeff Casteel again last week and was turned down (Strong rumor. Even Bill Stewart had admitted in an interview last week that another program had contacted Casteel about their DC vacancy. It's not hard to figure out which program that was, is it?). Also, if you look through the pages here on the MGoBoard, you will see an article posted from the Michigan Daily about a guy that RR used to coach with who turned down the opportunity to interview for the job.
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:36 AM ^
I think the Casteel rejection is legit, as his reasons for not coming last year are unchanged.
As to the other guy, Jay, I sincerely doubt that guy was approached about shit. It's like when Brady Hoke held a press conference to say he wouldn't interview for the Michigan HC job - it's a way to increase his visibility and seem elite. That's why I joked that I, too, wasn't interested in the DC job - it was about as meaningful as that guy saying it.
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 AM ^
I'm not so sure about that, Chitown. Rich Rod will have a difficult time hiring someone from outside of the program right now if he is insisting that the new DC must retain the position coaches. Any new coordinator will want control over scheme and position coaches. (And rightly so)
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:09 PM ^
I'm not sure why you think that, Chi. Yeah, so we've never heard of this guy before. But he's clearly successful as EKU is a solid FCS program, and his connections make it entirely possible he was contacted. If Brady Hoke was asked to be our Defensive Coordinator, wouldn't that have seemed a lot more likely?
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 PM ^
They guy never even says he was contacted. He's saying that if he were to be contacted, he wouldn't be interested.
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 PM ^
Actually, he didn't say that.
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:32 PM ^
But Jay, isn't saying that he's not interested in the job prior to being contacted about the job essentially saying that? Again, there is no indication that he was contacted. He is stating, out of the blue, that he's not interested.
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 PM ^
Chitown,
The article doesn't say that he wasn't contacted. That's kind of the point I'm making. It is a very reasonable assumption that he WAS contacted about the vacant DC position at Michigan seeing as though he worked with Rich Rod previously, wouldn't you agree? I doubt the writer of the article would just contact Hood out of the blue for no reason at all. I'm sure he/she had gotten word that somebody within the UM football program had contacted Dean Hood to gauge his interest.
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:28 PM ^
It is a very reasonable assumption that he WAS contacted about the vacant DC position at Michigan seeing as though he worked with Rich Rod previously, wouldn't you agree?
No, I guess that's the disconnect.
First, he wasn't contacted by the daily. He released a public statement. This is why I liken it to what Hoke did. Hoke declared he wasn't a candidate despite never being contacted.
And this: The article doesn't say that he wasn't contacted.
treads that whole "can't prove a negative" thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_proof
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:59 PM ^
We'll agree to disagree, Chitown. For the life of me, I don't understand why you think its out of the realm of possibility that Hood was contacted by Michigan and told them he wasn't interested, unless you fear that it further embarrasses Rich Rod and the program to have a relative unknown like Dean Hood reject the DC position and, thus, find it difficult to accept. If Rich Rod were going to hire Jay Hopson all along, (except, of course, if Casteel would've taking the job) he probably would've just said so by now. This is what makes me believe that Hopson is nothing more than a fall back hire if it happens because Rich Rod couldn't find anybody better to accept the job.
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:37 AM ^
Here is the Michigan Daily article. The coach's name is Dean Hood.
http://thegame.blogs.michigandaily.com/2008/12/18/hood-not-interested-i…
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 AM ^
What about Joe Barry? Hahahaha sorry I had to.
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:48 AM ^
What about one of the Mallory brothers? That would at least quell the talk about the lack of Michigan connections that seems to pervade the media. Mike is the Asst Special Teams coach for the Saints; Curt is co-DC at Illinois; and Doug is co-DC for LSU.
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:11 PM ^
Curt, who played here, is the lead candidate at Miami U. And Doug isn't that popular in Baton Rouge right now.
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:23 PM ^
= FILLED