Chuck Martin

[Stan The Caddy]

Long time reader, first time poster here at the gopherhole. The coaching search finally pushed me over the edge and convinced me to join in the fun.

I know everybody has varied opinions on what direction the U should take. Even though Chuck Martin has a slim chance of getting the job, he would be someone I would be extremely happy with if hired.

The case for: Defensive coach. Proven track record as a head coach. Martin was the coach who succeeded Brian Kelly at Grand Valley State in Michigan. I know it is DII. However, his record was 74-7 in 6 years and he won 2 National Titles. He is now the DB coach and recruiting coordinator at ND with Kelly. I know DII to DI is a huge jump, but the guy can coach and he clearly can win and he at least has a year under his belt at ND. Age is no issue, he is 42. I also know that DII and 1-AA are different animals, but it is well documented that Jim Tressel had no issue making the jump after a successful run at 1-AA Youngstown State.

http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/martin_chuck00.html

I look forward to all the speculation and joining in the fun here at the 'hole.

 

[MrGopher]

The guy, if hired, seems like could do well here. It's a good idea, but we simply are in no position to hire a relatively unknown whose head coaching experience at the DI level is not impressive. Under normal circumstances the suggestion would be great, but we must energize the fanbase with a big name with experience.

 

[grunkiejr]

IMO this is too big of a hire to take a chance on someone making this big of a jump (DB Coach to HC). We don't have to go cheap. We don't have to get creative. As a Big Ten program that just built a brand new stadium and is raking it in with incremental revenue coming from the BTN and adding a Championship game our budget should have increased greatly from just 5 years ago. It is time we act like it and hire a proven winner instead of getting cute and taking chances.

No disrespect to your suggestion and welcome to the board.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

No disrespect at all. The funny thing is I laugh at the Bob Nielson suggestion, yet would support Martin. Martin must have left GVSU to go to ND for some reason, my guess would be to get DI experience to eventually be a HC at the DI level.

This hire could go in many different directions. If my stories are correct, Patterson was offered the job last time. What if Joel burns through his first 5 choices and they all say no, he may have to start looking at guys like this.

I am not advocating Martin to be the #1 guy, he just that "under the radar" candidate who in my opinion is going to be successful at the DI level at some point.

 

[grunkiejr]

No disrespect at all. The funny thing is I laugh at the Bob Nielson suggestion, yet would support Martin. Martin must have left GVSU to go to ND for some reason, my guess would be to get DI experience to eventually be a HC at the DI level.

This hire could go in many different directions. If my stories are correct, Patterson was offered the job last time. What if Joel burns through his first 5 choices and they all say no, he may have to start looking at guys like this.

I am not advocating Martin to be the #1 guy, he just that "under the radar" candidate who in my opinion is going to be successful at the DI level at some point.

The pool is much deeper than that.

Harbaugh, Bellotti, Leach, Golden, Calhoun, Hoke, Kill and that is just people with head coaching experience. Then you get in to BCS or NFL coordinators: Frazier, Linnehan, the DC for the Seahawks, Venables (OU DC), Wilson (OU OC), McElwain (Bama OC), Smart (Bama DC), Watson (Neb OC), Pelini (Neb DC), Boise OC, Chryst (Wisc OC), MSU OC, etc. That is just a list of guys that I would be content with and I left off people like Fulmer, Mangino, etc that don't excite me in the least.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

I understand "the pool" is deeper than 5 candidates. However, the initial smoke signals that Joel is putting out is that he wants somebody with HC experience. The completely eliminates your list of BCS or NFL coordinators (other than Linehan).

Like I said, I am not taking the position that Martin should be the #1 guy. Most likely he is going to have to take the same route as Kelly going to a non-BCS school first as a HC. My guess is that he is going to be successful and in 5 years will be an up and coming candidate.

I understand why Joel would be afraid to hire him right now.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I think in a previous thread that I had Martin as my third favorite candidate (behind Bellotti and Calhoun). I would obviously pick HArbaugh and Patterson over MArtin as well, but I don't think they are realistic.

Martin is almost the "perfect storm" as a candidate goes in my books.

Head Coaching experience: He has quite of bit of experience. This is important because it shows he has the ability to assign tasks and admin a big time program. For me, what he did at Grand Valley State absolutely counts as experience.

Recruiting: One of the main reasons why Brian Kelley was so big on Martin is because he was a known recruiter. I like the fact that we would have a guy who would continue working tirelessly trying to bring in as much talent as possible, and someone who is known to be good at it.

For me, he is essentially a combo of Nielson and Brewster. He would have the positives of a hire of Nielson (coaching experience, winner, etc.) but he would still be an exciting recruiter.

Now, I kind of think the U will look for someone with a bigger name. Unfortunately, I think Paul Chryst and Trestman probably have a better chance than Martin. But assuming the big shot coaches aren't interested (Harbaugh, Calhoun, Patterson, etc.), I would be cool with the U taking a long look at this guy.

 

[50PoundHead]

After reading about Martin, he's going to be a head coach somewhere and soon. Wonder if he'd be interested in moving up to a defensive coordinator position with us if someone like Sumlin were to get the job?

Interesting guy. The big problem with the Brewster debacle (and I think it's safe to call it that even though I supported the guy) is that it really limits any chance for creativity. Maturi has to get his "kill shot" and that is going to mean someone who is currently (or recently has been) a head football coach at a major program. This is the type of guy Maturi should have hired last time around.