Grade a Calhoun hire

Grade a Calhoun hire

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dpodoll68

dpodoll68

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From reading the tea leaves on the board, friends of "insiders" are apparently convinced that Calhoun is the guy. What grade would you give this hire?

I won't say I'm displeased with it, but I would give it a B, B+ at best. He just seems like a "safe" hire when this University is not in the position to do that. We need to strike out for someone who can return us to national prominence. With Calhoun, I feel like we are guaranteed to be dependable and reliable every year, but never in the mix for the big stuff. Think 9-3 (5-3) in a good year, 7-5 (3-5) in an average year. Mason-like, is I guess what I'm trying to say.

Unless Golden has pulled himself out for one reason or another (which doesn't appear to be the case), he should be the guy. If we come to find out that Golden was open to accepting the job, and they still gave it to Calhoun, I for one will be very upset.

Sorry for the limited number of options - the poll software will only allow 10 choices.
 

Fundamentally people have different reasons why they are interested in different coaches. I've had some different criteria on hand that I hope that would happen. A sitting head coach, would bring his staff with him, has a defensive background, runs an odd front defense, plays a big play type offense (in that order).

In the case of Calhoun I like the pick. I have no idea if his staff will come with him, or will he have to hire people. That is always my concern. As the coaching group will have to gel, get up to speed, and learn their roles. I love football enough that I treasure different offensive sets. I would enjoy any type of option (flex bone, spread etc) as much as a typical pro style, or a wide open air raid. So I don't get caught up in that. I really want to shut down the teams of lesser talent on defense. I want us to be able to consistently get 3 and outs on teams that are not at the same "perceived" level as us.

As far as grading I would give it an A. I like Calhoun, and my only concerns would be the translation of recruiting guys that are willing to go into the military to guys that want to go to the NFL.
 

I really hope he's not the best they can do...really would not be my first choice :/ I don't see people getting excited about the program for him. I agree he would be the "safe" hire :/ proly wouldn't even be in my top 5 to be honest...
 

I'd say a solid B. Not an "electric" hire, but a safe choice who could surprise.
 

Since the poll is whole letter grades, A would be too high, but a B would be too low for me. Right in the A-/B+ range for me. I'm a big Calhoun guy. I still remember watching the end of the 1st half of their bowl game last year against Houston just before leaving for the pregame scene at the Insight Bowl and watching Air Force, with no timeouts, tackled in-bounds, and then in complete unison, everyone running off the field while the FG team ran on to get a last second FG before the half and the complete discipline that was excuted. I remember screaming at the TV "I WANT THAT FROM MY FOOTBALL TEAM!" The question is: was that coaching or disciplined Air Force players that have been screamed at since the moment they stepped foot on campus in early July as freshmen reporting for basic training? I think the players have a lot to do with that, but I also think it can be done with the right football coach that preaches discipline.

A head man is only as good as his staff though. Hopefully he'd have the right staff. But I like Calhoun. I like him over Sumlin or Golden. My current top 4:
1) HR that nobody is talking about (still have a feeling of Gary Pinkel)
2) Mullen
3) Calhoun
4) Hoke
 


I gave the higher a B, but think it would probably be a b-/C+ type higher. In my mind Glen Mason would be a B grade for what he did here and Tim Brewster was a C-/D+ probably a D from the standpoint of a whole letter grade. I wouldn't be terribly excited with this hire as I think they still need someone that at least exceeds Glen Mason.

My Concerns:
1. Recruiting - Can he relate to athletes who are not at a service academy? I think that people who go to a service academy and skilled position players in Division 1 are different types of people, can he relate to the latter
2. Offensive Style - My understanding from this board is that he runs some variation of the option. Will that style work in the BigTen.

What I perceive as his strengths:
1. Ability to coach and lead young men - he is a graduate from the AFA and is able to lead and coach up his players who most likely have a limited skill set (compared to all of D1 football) and limited time constraints (extra requirement of the academy).
2. Understands who he is - He understands what type of offense his talent can run to be successful. He sticks with one philosophy and tweaks it to suit his players.


Overall I would be relieved but not excited by this hire and would be relying on hope for the next couple of years. I guess that would be the same no matter who they hire.
 

I think he'd be a solid B hire.
I see him as a smart coach, knowing down and distance, situations, etc. He'd bring a high football IQ to the position. I think he'd simply bring a disciplined attack to all sides of the ball.

His D-coordinator is no joke either, a legit 3-4 guy who has been a hot commodity and considered for several jobs. I think Calhoun would lean on his Wake Forest connections and possibly Mountain West ones as well to put together a staff that is up to date on recruiting and can land some top recruits.

Bottom line, he'd bring a smart calm to the program IMO. Does anyone think he'd make as many emotional whoops decisions as we've seen the past 4 years, or meltdown late in games?
He'd run the ball, play games close and smartly, win by being a stable and disciplined team.
 

I would say A from the standpoint of the administration, he has the experience, record, style and reputation they want. He may not excite the average fan, but I think in general he would be acceptable.
 

no message (I read Calhoun, but was thinking Sumlin when I typed my original response).
 



monk10 said:
Fundamentally people have different reasons why they are interested in different coaches. I've had some different criteria on hand that I hope that would happen. A sitting head coach, would bring his staff with him, has a defensive background, runs an odd front defense, plays a big play type offense (in that order).
Click to expand...

This made me think that looking at Calhoun's current staff could be instructive. I have no idea whether he'd bring along some/none/all of them, but let's look anyway:

Assoc. HC/OC/OL: Clay Hendrix (Furman '86) - Originally from GA, played for Furman (I-AA), coached there 19 years as OL coach (1988 I-AA national title) before coming to AFA

Assoc. HC/DC/ILB: Matt Wallerstedt (Kansas St. '88) - Originally from KS, played under Snyder at K-State (HM All-America '87), coached at Wyoming, Akron and K-State (was recruiting coordinator there for one season) before coming to AFA

Asst. HC/DC/Secondary: Charlton Warren (AFA '99) - Originally from GA, earned an MBA while deployed, participated in NFL minority internship program in 2007

OC/QB: Blane Morgan (AFA '99) - Originally from TX, winningest QB in AFA history, led team to only outright conference title in '98

OC/WR: Mike Thiessen (AFA '01) - Originally from NE, played pro baseball while deployed, advancing as far as high-A, played QB at AFA

Notes:

- 3 OCs and 2 DCs? Who actually does the playcalling?

- Only one coach from upper Midwest; how will they do in recruiting this area?

- Only one coach w/ BCS conference playing/coaching experience

- Staff is very young (3 coordinators age 33 or younger) - how would they do against more seasoned, experienced staffs?

One more thing - can any GT experts tell us how much (if any) of his staff Paul Johnson brought along with him? How have they made the adjustment to BCS football?
 

I say an A-.

I really like Calhoun. I think people were much higher on him in the beginning than right now, but as I have stated some people on these boards have too high of expectations.

Calhoun has done good (not great) things at the Air Force. He is a Air Force grad meaning he understands discipline better than most.

He has recruited well enough to win games with more restrictions than I think most of us realize.

Now I understand that these two sports are totally different, but look at coach Mike Krzyzewski over at Duke. He is a service academy grad (Army) and has been one of the greatest coaches in College basketball over the past 30 years.

Now, Calhoun isn't going to simply bust the doors of TCF down and bring us to a Rose Bowl. But I think he can lead us with enough discipline and integrity only learned at a service academy to at least compete with our two biggest rivalries.
 


dpodoll68 said:
One more thing - can any GT experts tell us how much (if any) of his staff Paul Johnson brought along with him? How have they made the adjustment to BCS football?
Click to expand...

Well, the DC at GT is Al Groh. He just got there this year.

After doing a quick scan on the GT site, it appears that Johnson has a mixed bag of new hires, loyal assistants and holdovers from the previous GT staff. It is interesting. There is no offensive coordinator listed (I assume Johnson handles that) and the coaches who are loyal assistants are on the offensive side of the ball.

I think Calhoun differs from Johnson because of the fact that Calhoun was an OC in the NFL, so he would not be married to the flexbone, triple option scheme like Johnson is.
 






I went with C. Once you get past the A-listers, everybody else is a crapshoot. I put Calhoun, Sumlin, Hoke and the Navy guy whose name I can't spell -- among others -- in that group. BCS athletic directors will throw them all against the wall over the next few years, and one will probably stick. Hopefully, it's the guy Maturi chooses.

With most everybody else voting B, I should point out that C is an average, not overly low, grade. He has proven he can compete without elite athletes. But we do need some of those here, and I'm concerned with his ability to recruit here. Not that he can't do it, but nobody knows. Everybody talks about the disadvantages of recrutiing to Air Force, but I don't look at it that way. He's not recruiting football players, he's recruiting officers and leaders. He doesn't have to -- or isn't able to -- recruit elite athletes. It's a different world. We won't know much until he gets here.
 

positively4thstreet said:
Tongue firmly in cheek.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by that....

Calhoun has done good things at a tough place to do them. What can he do in the Big 10 with much more free reign?

Lets not forget, he plays against better competition on a regular basis than Al Golden (Still both worse than the Big 10 obviously).

BYU, TCU, Utah, and San Diego State is better competition than Ball State, Ohio, Eastern Michigan and Bowling green.
 

Wheaton said:
Not sure what you mean by that....

Calhoun has done good things at a tough place to do them. What can he do in the Big 10 with much more free reign?

Lets not forget, he plays against better competition on a regular basis than Al Golden (Still both worse than the Big 10 obviously).

BYU, TCU, Utah, and San Diego State is better competition than Ball State, Ohio, Eastern Michigan and Bowling green.
Click to expand...

It was a pretty fundamentally sound use of the phrase "tongue-in-cheek"; I wasn't being serious. Good grief.
 

Wheaton said:
BYU, TCU, Utah, and San Diego State is better competition than Ball State, Ohio, Eastern Michigan and Bowling green.
Click to expand...

This year, Ohio is as good as any of those teams except TCU.

And if you're going to name the top MWC teams, you should name the top MAC teams as well, instead of the bottom-feeders. Central Michigan (not this year, but usually), Northern Illinois, Miami (OH), and Toledo are all solid teams and worthy opponents in most years. You should also mention that Temple gave Penn St. everything they could handle, and probably would have beat them, in Happy Valley, if not for their stud RB getting hurt in the 2nd half.
 

dpodoll68 said:
This year, Ohio is as good as any of those teams except TCU.

And if you're going to name the top MWC teams, you should name the top MAC teams as well, instead of the bottom-feeders. Central Michigan (not this year, but usually), Northern Illinois, Miami (OH), and Toledo are all solid teams and worthy opponents in most years. You should also mention that Temple gave Penn St. everything they could handle, and probably would have beat them, in Happy Valley, if not for their stud RB getting hurt in the 2nd half.
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Put each team in the MAC up against the Mountain West and the Mountain West is going to win every time. And it is arguably going to get better with Boise State coming in and Utah leaving.

I'm not saying Golden is a bad coach. I would be very happy with that hire. I just feel like people on these boards have been starting to write off Calhoun, while still hold Golden to a much higher acclaim. I feel they are quite equal with Calhoun being the better option.
 

MWC Not Getting Better

Wheaton said:
Put each team in the MAC up against the Mountain West and the Mountain West is going to win every time. And it is arguably going to get better with Boise State coming in and Utah leaving.

I'm not saying Golden is a bad coach. I would be very happy with that hire. I just feel like people on these boards have been starting to write off Calhoun, while still hold Golden to a much higher acclaim. I feel they are quite equal with Calhoun being the better option.
Click to expand...


You gain Boise St (Good) and lose BYU (Bad) and Utah (Very Bad) and you don't get better. The MWC, if anything doesn't change, will continue to be mired in the minds of most people as an afterthought. TCU will likely move on if something is offered. There are 4 really bad programs in the MWC in New Mexico, UNLV, Wyoming and Colorado State. I doubt any one of these could stay in a game with Northern Illinois or Ohio let alone beat them.
 

Every so-called expert that has discussed Calhoun on national television are in agreement that he is a fantastic coach. He's been a coordinator at the NFL level, so he is not an option guy, he coaches to his talents' strenghts. He would be a great hire.
And I don't consider anyone who turns down a program like Tennessee to be a second tier guy.
We'd be lucky to have him, but I remain skeptical about this happening.
 

Calhoun would be an excellent hire

If he is the one hired I think Gray stays at WR and we see more of a pro-style set with Parish or Alipate as the QB. If a coach Like Fedora is hired I think we see Gray at QB. I'd like to see Gray at QB but I would be happy with either of those coaches.
 

The Mountain West is better than the MAC but not by a whole lot (besides TCU and no one competes with them).

I don't think there is much difference between BYU, Utah, and San Diego State as opposed to Northern Illinois, Ohio, Miami (OH) and Temple this season.
 

Saragin lists the MWC as #8, behind the BCS conferences and the independents, and lists the MAC as #12, behind the I-AA Colonial Conference (but still above the Sun Belt). The MWC has been knocking at the door of the BCS for a while.
 

I think Calhoun is a good coach, but I can only give it a B grade. He's from a service academy where they recruit players that are already smart, disciplined and motivated. How many of the current Gopher's could even sniff an academy appointment? I'm willing to bet you can count them on one hand. I'm not saying Troy can't have an immediate impact here, I'm just saying it's different enough that it may take some time to adjust.
 

I look at it from a different standpoint

WAGopher said:
I think Calhoun is a good coach, but I can only give it a B grade. He's from a service academy where they recruit players that are already smart, disciplined and motivated. How many of the current Gopher's could even sniff an academy appointment? I'm willing to bet you can count them on one hand. I'm not saying Troy can't have an immediate impact here, I'm just saying it's different enough that it may take some time to adjust.
Click to expand...

Calhoun is at a major disadvantage because of height and weight restrictions, few can get into an air force academy, football is truly 2nd or even 3rd in these players life (academics first and service to the academy 2nd). What football star wants to go to a college where they are required to serve their military after playing in college. He has won consistantly with highly intelligent, hard working overachieving football players brought out to play their best by their coach. We need a motivator and a coach who can pull the very best out of his players, Calhoun can do that.
 

SDGopherFan said:
Calhoun is at a major disadvantage because of height and weight restrictions, few can get into an air force academy, football is truly 2nd or even 3rd in these players life (academics first and service to the academy 2nd). What football star wants to go to a college where they are required to serve their military after playing in college. He has won consistantly with highly intelligent, hard working overachieving football players brought out to play their best by their coach. We need a motivator and a coach who can pull the very best out of his players, Calhoun can do that.
Click to expand...

Mason had it right about coaches. You're either a schemer or a fundamentalist. We need a fundamentalist. Brewster schemed his way to the unemployment line.
 

gophmeister said:
Mason had it right about coaches. You're either a schemer or a fundamentalist. We need a fundamentalist. Brewster schemed his way to the unemployment line.
Click to expand...

So are you saying Calhoun is a schemer or a fundamentalist?
 

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