speedtoburn
New member
The favorites for Head Coach at the University of Nebraska next year seem to be Turner Gill and Bo Pelini.
Some have mentioned Cincinnati's Brian Kelly. After doing a little statistical work, he is the obvious choice.
Turner Gill is the emotional favorite. He is a good man and a Husker through and through. But he only has two years coaching experience at a MAC school. Yeah, they have improved a great deal, but you know who else brought a MAC school from the bottom to the conference championship game in two years? Another guy who was a good man and a Husker through and through, Frank Solich. Maybe Gill would be a good hire. But not two years out. He hasn't done enough for me to risk the entire Husker program on him for the next four years.
Bo Pelini looks to be a great defensive mind. But you only have to look as far as Mike Stoops and Bob Davie to find coaches with similar pedigrees that haven't done so well at the helm of major programs. Bo also may do well. I really wouldn't be upset with giving him a chance.
But lets look further at Brian Kelly.
We know recruiting is important. But we have also learned, painfully, that it is not the only thing. You have to coach players up, not simply expect them to perform.
I did a little excercise to see who was the best at coaching their players up.
First I found the average recruiting rank of all BCS schools over the last five years. (I used various scheme to weight each class, but the results didn't vary much.) Then I found the current Sagarin ratings for each BCS conference team. I then subtracted their Sagarin position from their recruiting position. If the resulting number was positive, the coaches were doing very well with the raw material they had. If the number was negative, the coaches were doing very poorly with that material. Based on that analysis, here at the best and worst coaches of 2007.
Best
1. Cincinnati +57
2. South Florida +45
3. Kansas +45
4. Connecticut +44
5. West Virginia +39
Worst
62. Nebraska -34
63. Mississippi -35
64. Florida State -37
65. Notre Dame -45
66. Miami -50
Over the last 4/5 years Cincinnati ranked DEAD LAST in the BCS Conferences in recruiting according to Rivals. They are currently NINTH in the Sagarin ratings (PREDICTOR method). 66-9=57
Brian Kelly has come in and in ONE YEAR turned probably one of the least physically talented teams into one of the best teams in the nation. Plus he has won championships at other levels.
This guy is GOOD!!! Turner Gill? Bo Pelini? Very risky relative to Brian Kelly.
Lock him in today, Tom.
Some have mentioned Cincinnati's Brian Kelly. After doing a little statistical work, he is the obvious choice.
Turner Gill is the emotional favorite. He is a good man and a Husker through and through. But he only has two years coaching experience at a MAC school. Yeah, they have improved a great deal, but you know who else brought a MAC school from the bottom to the conference championship game in two years? Another guy who was a good man and a Husker through and through, Frank Solich. Maybe Gill would be a good hire. But not two years out. He hasn't done enough for me to risk the entire Husker program on him for the next four years.
Bo Pelini looks to be a great defensive mind. But you only have to look as far as Mike Stoops and Bob Davie to find coaches with similar pedigrees that haven't done so well at the helm of major programs. Bo also may do well. I really wouldn't be upset with giving him a chance.
But lets look further at Brian Kelly.
We know recruiting is important. But we have also learned, painfully, that it is not the only thing. You have to coach players up, not simply expect them to perform.
I did a little excercise to see who was the best at coaching their players up.
First I found the average recruiting rank of all BCS schools over the last five years. (I used various scheme to weight each class, but the results didn't vary much.) Then I found the current Sagarin ratings for each BCS conference team. I then subtracted their Sagarin position from their recruiting position. If the resulting number was positive, the coaches were doing very well with the raw material they had. If the number was negative, the coaches were doing very poorly with that material. Based on that analysis, here at the best and worst coaches of 2007.
Best
1. Cincinnati +57
2. South Florida +45
3. Kansas +45
4. Connecticut +44
5. West Virginia +39
Worst
62. Nebraska -34
63. Mississippi -35
64. Florida State -37
65. Notre Dame -45
66. Miami -50
Over the last 4/5 years Cincinnati ranked DEAD LAST in the BCS Conferences in recruiting according to Rivals. They are currently NINTH in the Sagarin ratings (PREDICTOR method). 66-9=57
Brian Kelly has come in and in ONE YEAR turned probably one of the least physically talented teams into one of the best teams in the nation. Plus he has won championships at other levels.
This guy is GOOD!!! Turner Gill? Bo Pelini? Very risky relative to Brian Kelly.
Lock him in today, Tom.
