New Head Coach? THREADS - ALL OF THEM

[REDSTEEL]

HC TO

DC McBride

RB Solich

WR Brown

OL Unlce Milt

QB Gill

 

DL Samuals

LB Steele

DB Darlington

ST Young

 

RC Pud(That's right Pud)

 

 

I would call that old skool...

[np_husker]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200...;u_sid=10169558

 

Should there be a change at NU, there're plenty of choices

BY DIRK CHATELAIN

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

 

Only Tom Osborne knows what's in Tom Osborne's head. Let's get that straight now. Osborne may retain Bill Callahan at the end of the season. He may choose to re-hire Frank Solich. Who knows? But if Osborne is in the market for a coach a month from now, there's a good chance he'll consider these hot names. If he's not looking, many an athletic director will be.

 

Bo Pelini - LSU Defensive coordinator

 

Few college coaches have churned through the rumor mills longer than Pelini.

 

Pelini carried an interim tag for one game in 2003, leading Nebraska to an inspired 17-3 win in the Alamo Bowl. A week later, Steve Pederson passed over Pelini and picked Bill Callahan.

 

Pelini's been a hot prospect ever since. Meanwhile, the list of respected coaches for whom he's worked has grown: Pete Carroll, George Seifert, Mike Shanahan, Hayden Fry, Bob Stoops.

 

Now he's at LSU, where his defenses consistently rank among the nation's best.

 

Pelini, 39, can make players do things they otherwise couldn't. One year after Nebraska finished 55th in total defense, Pelini's version finished 11th. He does it with scheme, but more impressively, he inspires.

 

Could Pelini play the role of poised CEO with the same skill in which he coordinates a defense?

 

Remember, he confronted Bill Snyder at midfield for running up the score — not exactly protocol for head coaches — and he accused Pederson of tampering with his chance to get the Pittsburgh job in 2005.

 

Still, several A.D.s would gladly risk a little to acquire Pelini's skill. Don't expect another winter to pass without Pelini making a move.

 

Greg Schiano - Rutgers Head coach

 

Cut from the same cloth as defensive-minded motivators like Bill Parcells, the Rutgers coach is quickly becoming an icon on the East Coast.

 

But would he leave his home state of New Jersey?

 

Last year, Schiano removed his name from consideration for the Miami head coaching job — he's a former Hurricanes defensive coordinator. So he either really likes Jersey or he's waiting for Joe Paterno to retire at Penn State — Schiano assisted Paterno in the '90s.

 

Schiano, 41, took over at Rutgers before the 2001 season. He went 3-24 in conference games his first four seasons. But Schiano recruited Florida hard. He prioritized in-state talent.

 

He followed a 7-5 mark in 2005 with a 9-0 start in 2006, including a nationally televised upset of No. 3 Louisville. An 11-2 record earned Schiano several national coach of the year awards.

 

His Scarlet Knights are 5-2 in 2007, including an upset of then-undefeated South Florida.

 

When Schiano took over one of the worst programs in Division I-A, he enlisted Sopranos star James Gandolfini to help advertise Rutgers football. They made commercials. They made billboards. They tried to generate interest.

 

Six years later, Tony's run is over. Schiano's is just beginning.

 

Jim Grobe - Wake Forest Head coach

 

Grobe is known to bring his assistants breakfast every morning. He is known for trekking to the local big box store to buy soap for the coaches' locker room.

 

Understand why just two assistants have left Grobe in seven years?

 

In the process, the 2006 Associated Press national coach of the year has revolutionized Wake Forest football.

 

Before the Demon Deacons won 11 last year, including the ACC championship, they hadn't had a winning conference record since 1988.

 

Before Grobe did that, he turned around a dreadful Ohio program in the 1990s. Before that, he assisted Fisher DeBerry at Air Force.

 

It was DeBerry who told Grobe he was committing career suicide going to Ohio, where the previous two coaches had combined to go 17-89-4. Grobe proved him wrong, winning eight games in just his third year.

 

His tricky misdirection offense and keen eye for spotting raw talent have made Wake a major player in the ACC. Grobe, 55, signed a 10-year contract extension in February, but suitors will come knocking anyway.

 

Jim Leavitt - South Florida Head coach

 

He isn't obsessive-compulsive like his old boss, Bill Snyder, but the South Florida coach has more personality.

 

Maybe you saw him running sprints on the field before the Bulls faced Rutgers a few weeks ago.

 

Maybe you heard he once awoke a player during winter break by jumping on his bed.

 

"Get up! Go lift weights!" Leavitt shouted.

 

Leavitt, 50, grew up in St. Petersburg, just across the bay from South Florida. But he was a graduate assistant at Missouri before coordinating the defense at Morningside College in Sioux City. That's where Leavitt was when he drove Tom Osborne to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes function, taking the scenic route so he could pick Osborne's brain.

 

In 1990, Leavitt followed Snyder to Kansas State and, with Bob Stoops, constructed a stalwart defense.

 

After the 1995 season, he signed up to coach the first South Florida football team. Using K-State as a model, Leavitt built slowly.

 

A year ago, he won at West Virginia. This year, his Bulls won at Auburn and rose to No. 2 in the country two weeks ago.

 

Alabama reportedly considered Leavitt twice for its coaching job. Repeatedly, he has talked about his desire to finish his career in Tampa. But major programs could offer more attractive resources.

 

Gary Patterson - Texas Christian Head coach

 

In his free time, he enjoys sitting around and playing country music on his guitar. But get Patterson on a sideline and he's not so gentle.

 

His face turns red. His voice goes hoarse. TCU starts winning.

 

He didn't build the Conference USA power — Dennis Franchione deserves credit for that. But Patterson, who took the reins in December 2000, has developed TCU into one of the country's most consistent mid-majors.

 

Patterson, 47, has coached in five bowl games in six years. He's won 11 games three of those seasons and 10 in another. He finished the 2005 season ranked ninth in the coaches' poll.

 

He has won five of his last six games against Big 12 competition, including an upset of Oklahoma in 2005.

 

Patterson, who was born in Kansas and played at Kansas State, coordinated the defense at New Mexico and TCU before taking over the Horned Frogs.

 

TCU started this season ranked 22nd in the AP poll, but has struggled to a 4-3 start. After a last-minute interception that cost TCU the game against Air Force in September, Patterson said this: "You can find any little old lady on the street who would've told you that we shouldn't have thrown the ball."

 

Looks like the coach can write lyrics, too.

 

Paul Johnson - Navy Head coach

 

One of the country's best offensive minds employs a spread option attack which he compares to West Virginia and Florida. Nothing new there.

 

But Johnson, 50, has proven capable of completely altering his offensive focus to fit personnel.

 

At Hawaii, where he coordinated the offense, he aired it out and set school passing records. At Navy, he operates a potent triple option that regularly leads the nation in rushing.

 

Johnson won two consecutive Division I-AA national championships at Georgia Southern.

 

In Annapolis, he took over a program that had lost 19 of its last 20 games. Johnson flipped its fortunes. Navy has since appeared in four straight bowls.

 

Heading into the 2005 Poinsettia Bowl, Johnson heard all week about how boring his offense was. On the first play, he threw deep for a 55-yard touchdown. Navy beat Colorado State 51-30.

 

"People try to throw new wrinkles at him, and he adjusts so fast," a Navy assistant told a Baltimore news outlet. "I don't know if anybody is better at game management."

 

Johnson, a native North Carolinian, seemed a natural candidate for positions at North Carolina and North Carolina State last year.

 

UNC chose Butch Davis; NC State took Tom O'Brien.

 

Will Muschamp - Auburn Defensive coordinator

 

Auburn's 36-year-old defensive coordinator makes Bo Pelini look like an introvert.

 

Muschamp bloodied his hand last year when he punched a board. He got caught this year on ESPN yelling congratulatory obscenities at his players. You can see him regularly jumping into his players' arms after third-down stops.

 

Muschamp played safety at Georgia, before entering coaching. His big break came in 2001, when he hooked up with Nick Saban at LSU. He later became defensive coordinator.

 

After a season assisting Saban with the Miami Dolphins, Muschamp returned to the SEC and Auburn.

 

His Tigers shut down Nebraska's offense in last year's Cotton Bowl, holding the Huskers scoreless on 63 yards in the second half. More impressive is this year's defense, which allowed Florida just 312 total yards at the Swamp.

 

Two weeks ago, Auburn gave up a combined 85 rushing yards to Arkansas' Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

 

Does Muschamp have the experience to lead a major Division I program? Like Pelini, there's no way to know for sure.

 

But his intensity is contagious and half the battle, as Nebraska has learned, is motivating players.

 

Brian Kelly - Cincinnati Head coach

 

He hadn't coached a game at Cincinnati when he showed up at Big East Conference media day in July.

 

But Kelly wasn't shy about ridiculing Cincinnati reporters who didn't make the trip to Rhode Island.

 

"I am still going to coach the team and we are still going to compete for a Big East title," Kelly said. "But it is sad for the fans of Cincinnati to not have a legitimate, credible local media outlet."

 

Ambitious. Fearless. Candid.

 

He isn't Bengals megaphone Chad Johnson, but Kelly is doing his best to make Cincinnati pay attention. He won his first six games this season and moved into the Top 20, Cincinnati's first appearance in 31 years, before dropping his last two.

 

Kelly, 46, worked as a press agent for Gary Hart's presidential campaign in 1988. Three years later, he took over at Division II Grand Valley State.

 

In 13 seasons, he won 118 games and two national titles. Then he moved to Central Michigan and lifted a struggling program to the MAC championship in his third year.

 

He succeeds with his own brand of spread offense that has averaged 38 points a game in 2007.

[2nd to Nunn]

Paul Johnson gets my vote.

[huskerfan500]

I like them all except Patterson, but my top other than Bo would be Schiano I think we need to get a defensive guy and then run a simple offense

[T_O_Bull]

All I hear is Bo P and I agree I think he would be great but who am I and who are You ??? LPOet's face it our oppinion doesn;t count for squat. Maybe Bo doesn't want to come back. Who else are we looking at?

 

...T_O_B

[hack]

All I hear is Bo P and I agree I think he would be great but who am I and who are You ??? LPOet's face it our oppinion doesn;t count for squat. Maybe Bo doesn't want to come back. Who else are we looking at?

 

...T_O_B

 

osborne is looking at navy's johnson.

 

...

 

whut?

[Danimal]

I'd be interested in Johnson but I'd have to know who he'd bring-in as D-staff. I'd actually like to see co-DC's with Dan McCarney coaching d-line and Marvin coaching d-backs. Phil Bennett could be worth looking-at too.

 

 

I like Grobe, Wake is a tough place to win at. If Skinner had stayed healthy they'd probably be a 1-loss team now.

 

 

Leavitt and Schiano I don't think are realistic options. They have been wooed before and shot 'em down.

 

 

What Michigan does could affect us. If Carr steps down who do they go for? The most common rumor is Miles, second is Kelly(beloved in that state due to Grand Valley and CMU success). Miles would definitely be the tougher get since LSU is a major power but if he goes Bo likely becomes LSU-HC. If Mich goes for Miles then Kelly could definitely be worth making a run at, helluva coach.

 

Somebody told me Peterson from Boise really likes it there and has a kid in a local hosptal that actually specializes intht particular disease. If true that could make him a hard get, but if he'd be open to an offer I'd definitely be interested. Dude has run one of the most productive and balanced offenses in football for years and consistently wins games with average WAC-recruiting. He flat-out schooled Bob in the bowl, that impressed me.

[chamrocck]

Please say "No" to Sarkisian. He's a good young OC but not ready to be HC here at NU. I was reading some of the USC boards after thier loss at Oregon today. Lots of questioning his playcalling, doesn't use the right players in the right situation, maybe he should be kicked up to the box instead of being down on the sideline. Thought it was funny cuz don't we have similar situation already!?

 

Bo Pelini is my guy...I don't think any other candidate will match the energy Bo will require from his players. I desperately want to see energy and effort from our team. I think Bo will bring that back big time and there will be an instant jolt to the team. BC is looking for perfect execution and sometimes you see the beauty when that happens. But I think a lot of times our execution is too tough to perfect and we lose intensity and raw energy. Watching Ohio State tonight and Tressel has them playing with good execution and energy...no surprise they are doing well.

[zoogs]

Please say "No" to Sarkisian. He's a good young OC but not ready to be HC here at NU. I was reading some of the USC boards after thier loss at Oregon today. Lots of questioning his playcalling, doesn't use the right players in the right situation, maybe he should be kicked up to the box instead of being down on the sideline. Thought it was funny cuz don't we have similar situation already!?

 

Bo Pelini is my guy...I don't think any other candidate will match the energy Bo will require from his players. I desperately want to see energy and effort from our team. I think Bo will bring that back big time and there will be an instant jolt to the team. BC is looking for perfect execution and sometimes you see the beauty when that happens. But I think a lot of times our execution is too tough to perfect and we lose intensity and raw energy. Watching Ohio State tonight and Tressel has them playing with good execution and energy...no surprise they are doing well.

 

Fans always have discontent. If Bo doesn't do well here, it'll bring up all the negatives about him, and then we'll be saying he's just another good coordinator but bad coach. When things go well, our perception of the coaches is good. When things don't go well, we tend to think worse of them.

 

As long as we're talking about energy, how about the energy we showed today?

 

We've had some tough times this year...but we've seen a lot of energy in this program in the past few years. Gosh, it's hard to remember to the days when we weren't getting routed on a weekly basis, isn't it?

 

Anyway, my point is that's not necessarily an indictment on Sarkisian. Of course they'll question his playcalling, and when he succeeds, they won't say anything. But maybe he wouldn't be a good choice, regardless.

 

Anyway...

[TrojanAlum]

Sarkisian is not even a good OC much less any sort of coach. USC feels the same about Sarkisian as you do you Callahan. I really dont understand why Pete keeps this guy around, as soon as USC has a good season he will be looking to jump ship like he tried to last year. Why not bring in a more mature OC who actually knows how to call plays. If only PC would have given Norm Chow some credit, who knows how many national championships we could have won. I enjoy watching Nebraska football and would hate to see you fall even further by hiring such a piece of sh** like Steve Sarkisian.

[Captain K]

I know some of you are tired of names being bandied about, and that TO makes the decision and not us. I'll also admit I only looked this guy up because of their big win today, which certainly doesn't mean he'll win here. But, this guy has a few things going for him. The resources are not as bad as at Buffalo, but the guy has done some impressive things for UConn. If interested, look up his bio on the UConn website. Highly rated D, which I know we've become sensitive about. Also, great offense. This also isn't their first time near the top of the Big East rankings.

 

I just think it is important for us to look at guys who have head coaching experience, not just up and coming coordinators. Even if they have won a game for us as head coach. There is a big difference between those two jobs.

[real'97champs]

I think this post will get added to the coaching prospects thread in the near future....

[Foppa]

 

It's all about sharing, man.

[Captain K]

I think this post will get added to the coaching prospects thread in the near future....

Of course it will, but who the hell would have seen it had I just posted it onto the end of that four pager. I hadn't seen his name mentioned before, and he has a chance. I just don't believe TO is going to take BP like everyone hopes. Remember TO is not in this for the long haul and gets one shot at this. He is not going to take any chances with guys who have not proven them delves yet. Hold on while I pour another beer. What was I saying? Oh scrwew it!

[real'97champs]

I think this post will get added to the coaching prospects thread in the near future....

Of course it will, but who the hell would have seen it had I just posted it onto the end of that four pager. I hadn't seen his name mentioned before, and he has a chance. I just don't believe TO is going to take BP like everyone hopes. Remember TO is not in this for the long haul and gets one shot at this. He is not going to take any chances with guys who have not proven them delves yet. Hold on while I pour another beer. What was I saying? Oh scrwew it!

 

damn that was faster than i thought