Head Coach Candidates?

[Mathew81]

I'm not sure it would be a disaster, he does have coaching experience, just obviously none in college.

He's almost as old as DE and has never recruited a day in his life. Plus, he's never wanted to put in the work to become the head coach. He refused to start at the bottom and work his way up. He's always just wanted the job handed to him. That's not an attribute I want in a HC. But even if he did work out OK, it would be even worse than if he was a complete failure. If he got a lot of 6-6, 7-5 years he'd be able to stick around forever because he's Danny White and nobody would want to fire him.

 

[Mathew81]

There remains the question whether Erickson will be fired or not. If he beats UA and Cal, he might survive another season.

The problem with not firing him is that they'd have to extend him. He only has a year left on his contract so he'd be a lame duck coach next season. The question the AD has to ask is not whether a South Division title earns him another year. It's whether it earns him another 3-4 years.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

He's almost as old as DE and has never recruited a day in his life. Plus, he's never wanted to put in the work to become the head coach. He refused to start at the bottom and work his way up. He's always just wanted the job handed to him. That's not an attribute I want in a HC. But even if he did work out OK, it would be even worse than if he was a complete failure. If he got a lot of 6-6, 7-5 years he'd be able to stick around forever because he's Danny White and nobody would want to fire him.

He's certainly older than I would prefer, and he does have some health issues. However, with his name alone, he could easily start recruiting kids to ASU. He has a ton of college/NFL connections and could put together a good staff, but again, extremely doubtful he would be a HC due to his inexperience. I just hope ASU looks at someone younger, who has had success at the FBS level. Seems like the last 5 years or so, ASU has been very predictable on both sides of the ball, so we need someone who is innovative, and actually able to put forth a competent gameplan.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

The problem with not firing him is that they'd have to extend him. He only has a year left on his contract so he'd be a lame duck coach next season. The question the AD has to ask is not whether a South Division title earns him another year. It's whether it earns him another 3-4 years.

ASU will get absolutely murdered on the recruiting trail in December and January if they let him go into a lame duck year. My guess is you'd see at the very least five commits flip to a situation where they know a coach will be around beyond the upcoming season.

Gadd's stuff on Lisa Love is interesting. I was wondering how stable her job situation is considering her resume consists of extending Koetter, hiring Sendek, and hiring Erickson.

 

[Gaddabout]

The problem with not firing him is that they'd have to extend him. He only has a year left on his contract so he'd be a lame duck coach next season. The question the AD has to ask is not whether a South Division title earns him another year. It's whether it earns him another 3-4 years.

If you're broke, a lame duck year is a better option than firing this staff and having to dig through the sofa to come up with money to pay the next one. There's no Ira Fulton to make this happen this time. ASU is bereft of "sugar daddies." The Barretts et al have been tapped for the new basketball practice facility. If ASU fans want a new coach, there will have to be many coming together with checks in hand. Checks that won't bounce.

My best guess is the low-end of this buyout and hiring a new one will require $5 million.

 

[Gaddabout]

FWIW, if it did happen, I think you'd be looking at someone like Robin Pflugrad.

 

[Tyler]

FWIW, if it did happen, I think you'd be looking at someone like Robin Pflugrad.

He is intriguing to me.

Your comments about LL blow me away. I have not heard that in any of my travels. She has to go just for alienating the people that care the most.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

FWIW, if it did happen, I think you'd be looking at someone like Robin Pflugrad.

That could be a realistic possibility. Robin has a lot of coaching experience in the Pac-12, and he was a recruiting coordinator also. He's done pretty well at Montana with his up-tempo offense, so that could easily transition over with ASU's personnel. As long as Bray isn't in his staff, I would be happy with him as a coach.

 

[Gaddabout]

Your comments about LL blow me away. I have not heard that in any of my travels. She has to go just for alienating the people that care the most.

Love has angered so many people, I think it's inevitable she's fired. It's just hard to tell if the people she's angered donate enough money to matter to someone like Crow. I can't imagine she's popular enough to be given the lead on finding a new coach -- and definitely not enough to give Erickson an extension.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Really? If there's enough pull to force her hand into not giving an extension surely there's enough to get rid of her. Sounds like you are looking at a situation like when we hired Sean Miller where Livengood "hired" him when in reality it was boosters behind the scenes who got it done because he lost place at the table.

It does give me satisfaction after hearing from ASU fans how awful the UofA job is and our names are guys like Leach and Bellotti while you discuss Robin Pflugrad or a lame duck year of Dennis Erickson. Somehow Byrne is selling the crap out of UA's WAC-level facilies, lukewarm fanbase, and almost non-existent recruiting base.

 

[Gaddabout]

Really? If there's enough pull to force her hand into not giving an extension surely there's enough to get rid of her. Sounds like you are looking at a situation like when we hired Sean Miller where Livengood "hired" him when in reality it was boosters behind the scenes who got it done because he lost place at the table.

It does give me satisfaction after hearing from ASU fans how awful the UofA job is and our names are guys like Leach and Bellotti while you discuss Robin Pflugrad or a lame duck year of Dennis Erickson. Somehow Byrne is selling the crap out of UA's WAC-level facilies, lukewarm fanbase, and almost non-existent recruiting base.

Love isn't an AD, she's the Veep of Athletics. It's a mess Crow created for a variety reasons, namely because he wanted to keep Love under some kind of tabs, then ignored it.

You won't get an argument out of me over who is the better managed athletic department.

 

[HooverDam]

Pflugrads name popping up made me think of this dream team for the new ASU Coaching staff:

HC: Ron English

DC: Phil Snow

D-Line: Jim Jeffcoat

O-Line: Juan Roque

OC/WRs: Robin Pflugrad

Now I know going from a Head man to an OC is unlikely for a guy unless he's canned, but I'd imagine the OC slot at ASU pays a lot more than the HC slot at Montana. Plus to my knowledge Pflugrad hasn't been an OC anywhere before, maybe he'd want the shot at doing it at a big time place.

 

[Gaddabout]

Pflugrads name popping up made me think of this dream team for the new ASU Coaching staff:

HC: Ron English

DC: Phil Snow

D-Line: Jim Jeffcoat

O-Line: Juan Roque

OC/WRs: Robin Pflugrad

Now I know going from a Head man to an OC is unlikely for a guy unless he's canned, but I'd imagine the OC slot at ASU pays a lot more than the HC slot at Montana. Plus to my knowledge Pflugrad hasn't been an OC anywhere before, maybe he'd want the shot at doing it at a big time place.

If Phil Snow were ASU's DC, I'd probably have to disown my Sun Devil fandom. Never again. Never freakin' again. There's a guy who greatly benefitted from a few great athletes for two years, and the defenses were still smoked with regularity.

Pflugrad was the assistant head coach at Wazzu before going to Montana. He probably makes twice as much as Montana's HC (I'm guessing between 250K to 300K) than he would as ASU's OC.

 

[Dback Jon]

If Phil Snow were ASU's DC, I'd probably have to disown my Sun Devil fandom. Never again. Never freakin' again. There's a guy who greatly benefitted from a few great athletes for two years, and the defenses were still smoked with regularity.

Pflugrad was the assistant head coach at Wazzu before going to Montana. He probably makes twice as much as Montana's HC (I'm guessing between 250K to 300K) than he would as ASU's OC.

Now 52 and entering his 29th season of college coaching, he'll make a base salary of $155,000 under the terms of a three-year contract. Additional money for media obligations ($40,000) and performance could take his salary to well over $200,000.



Read more: http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_8bd3441e-fcd4-11de-bb85-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1dueS25tN

 

[HooverDam]

If Phil Snow were ASU's DC, I'd probably have to disown my Sun Devil fandom. Never again. Never freakin' again. There's a guy who greatly benefitted from a few great athletes for two years, and the defenses were still smoked with regularity.

Hm well being only 27 I was pretty young when Snow was here but it always seemed like the D was good and had lots of stars. I also seem to recall his UCLA defense ranking towards the top of the Pac in some statistical categories, but perhaps thats a hazy memory.

But if you're in the Ron English camp, I think you may have to resign yourself to the idea of Snow returning. Obviously he's very close with English.

Pflugrad was the assistant head coach at Wazzu before going to Montana. He probably makes twice as much as Montana's HC (I'm guessing between 250K to 300K) than he would as ASU's OC.

Whats Mazzone making? I guess I had assumed it was in the 500K range for no real reason other than it seemed reasonable.

E: Found this site http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2010-coaches-contracts-database.htm

Looks like Mazzone made $206,500 which is much less than what I had assumed. But my thinking in the $500K range was right in line with what the top flight guys at the big programs get.

DOUBLE EDIT: Hahahah Gregg Smith gets $220K (tied for tops among the assistants) for continually having a horrible offensive line AND not recruiting? Brilliant use of resources.

 

[Gaddabout]

Hm well being only 27 I was pretty young when Snow was here but it always seemed like the D was good and had lots of stars. I also seem to recall his UCLA defense ranking towards the top of the Pac in some statistical categories, but perhaps thats a hazy memory.

But if you're in the Ron English camp, I think you may have to resign yourself to the idea of Snow returning. Obviously he's very close with English.

Yeah, I know if English came he'd be the DC, but just to be sure, we already know English won't be coming if Love is in charge.

Snow's defenses were always big in perception, short on actual production. That "great" defense in 1996 gave up 42 to Washington, 27 to Oregon, 34 to UCLA, 35 to USC, and, of course, the Rose Bowl fail. That was with 9 NFL draft picks in the starting lineup, including the entire linebacking corps.

I defended Snow at the time because he was thrown into a situation where Snyder wanted an aggressive scheme without recruiting cornerbacks who could play it. In fact, the Rose Bowl fail was directly attributed to the fact ASU had only 3 scholarship cornerbacks going into the game, and only 1 of them was of high Pac-10 caliber.

But Snow never did anything innovative or tried anything new in his four years as DC was aggravating, ESPECIALLY after watching the 1998 and 1999 seasons. The 46 and, really, Base 40 fronts in general were becoming passe' because it was so hard to find personnel -- particularly 1-gap tackles and corners, but ASU, Snyder and Snow were stuck in an era 10 years prior. People had that defense figured out. You can't just go balls to the wall on defense if you don't have a Mike Richardson at corner. You just can't. It's insanity. And, I'm sorry, unless you play zone enough that your linebackers and safeties know what to do during the season, you can't suddenly throw out a 3-deep zone in the Rose Bowl and expect it to work.

In 1998 they started the season with some considerable hype. That defense gave up 42 to Washington, 26 to the worst BYU offense in my lifetime, 35 to a mediocre USC offense, 38 to Stanford, 51 to Oregon and 50 to UA. In 1999 they started the season with similar kind of hype, with '98 considered a fluke. I can't even list all the defensive attrocities that season, but I will never be able to forget the 35-7 thrashing on our home field to New Mexico Freakin' State, a team that finished 6-5 --3-3 in the Big West! NMSU got bombed by Idaho (IDAHO!) 42-14 that year, but an alleged good Pac-10 couldn't stop that option to the tune of 200+ yards.

I could go on, but I won't. I'm sick again just from thinking about that game.

 

[HooverDam]

Yeah, I know if English came he'd be the DC, but just to be sure, we already know English won't be coming if Love is in charge.

Love's gotta get canned soon I imagine. I was a huge supporter of Sendeks, but now it looks like post Harden he has the program right back to near Rob Evans levels. You can't have your two money making programs suffering so much and retain your job, she needs to be shown the door, and the sooner the better.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Love's gotta get canned soon I imagine. I was a huge supporter of Sendeks, but now it looks like post Harden he has the program right back to near Rob Evans levels. You can't have your two money making programs suffering so much and retain your job, she needs to be shown the door, and the sooner the better.

Love will only be around for another year, at the very most. It's no secret that the entire ASU fanbase wants her gone, and now the media is starting to catch on as well, so it's only a matter of time. She's had more than enough time to establish a solid foundation for the football and basketball programs, but they continue to regress, and most of that has to do with the coaches she hired. Seems like this is the last year for Erickson, Sendek, and Love, unless something remarkable happens...

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Erickson will most likely be fired on Monday, from what I'm hearing. This will give ASU time to find a good coach to give recruits incentive to commit. Love won't last much longer either with the failure of Sendek.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Why not go after the LSU coordinators?

 

[AsUdUdE]

apparently DE is telling all his coaches that he will retire after this year.. I think this is a tatic not to get canned on Monday..

either way, let the search begin..

 

[Tyler]

apparently DE is telling all his coaches that he will retire after this year.. I think this is a tatic not to get canned on Monday..

either way, let the search begin..

That has been debunked.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Why not go after the LSU coordinators?

SEC coaches typically stay in the SEC. Although, my #1 coaching choice would be John Chavis, the DC for LSU. Just don't see ASU offering a lucrative contract for any big names, unfortunately.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

SEC coaches typically stay in the SEC. Although, my #1 coaching choice would be John Chavis, the DC for LSU. Just don't see ASU offering a lucrative contract for any big names, unfortunately.

Just read Chavis has made it very clear he doesn't want to be a head coach.

Here's a list of 20 top assistants:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/732651-college-football-2011-nations-20-best-assistant-coaches


1. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

2. Bud Foster, Virginia Tech

3. Norm Chow, Utah

4. Kirby Smart, Alabama

The top 2 guys look like they would be awesome head coaches.

Why not offer a lucrative contract for a big name? Hiring these half ass coaches is a bad financial decision. When you fire them, you have to pay the rest of their contracts. You lose TV revenue when your team sucks. You lose the support of Alumni, like me. You lose the PR for your school. You lose ticket sales. Its just all around bad. SPEND THE EXTRA !! AND BRING IN A KICK ASS COACH PLEASE!

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Here's another list:

http://www.coachwatcher.com/tier-1--top-40-jobs-major-programs.html