Do these SEC guys take a job up north until a better SEC job comes around?

[MNSpaniel]

I want a coach who wants to be here for the long haul. I'm fearful of a guy who has southern ties especially to that conference. Do they coach up here until a better SEC jobs comes along? Then we are in this search all over again.

 

[U2Gopher]

You may be on to something there. If we were able to lure Mullen, I'd be really worried about him leaving one day. On one hand, the fact that he's leaving an SEC school to come to Minnesota is very encouraging. On the flip side, if he does well here you can bet your mortgage he'll be on the list for any of the big SEC schools when they have their next vacancy. Georgia, Tennessee and LSU all have the potential to be looking for coaches within in the next 2-4 years. I think Calhoun would be here for the long haul.

 

[The 12th Man]

I think if Calhoun leaves Air Force, then he will leave anywhere. Minnesota included.

I don't think you can go into the hiring process worrying about those things. The football business is such that any successful coach will at least look elsewhere. There are only a handful of jobs in the country where that is not the case. The key to keeping the guy when successful is money.

Pay the money, get the best guy available, cross the "leaving for the SEC" bridge when the time comes.

 

[nsmike]

Let's get one thing straight Mullen is from New Hampshire (born in Pa grew up in NH) his wife is from Pennsylvania. To a certain segment of the population, in Mississippi, they're d@mn Yankees and always will be. It is still a very stratified society that is very class conscious, after about two years, the charm fades and reality starts showing through. There is a very good possibility that a SEC coach that is not born and bred in SEC country never goes back. The other possibility is that they make the transition a stay permanently either way there are no guaranties.

 

[Uffda]

Bolting Fears

I think if Calhoun leaves Air Force, then he will leave anywhere. Minnesota included.

I don't think you can go into the hiring process worrying about those things. The football business is such that any successful coach will at least look elsewhere. There are only a handful of jobs in the country where that is not the case. The key to keeping the guy when successful is money.

Pay the money, get the best guy available, cross the "leaving for the SEC" bridge when the time comes.

I don't see the logic that a coaching hire should be based on not hiring someone because they may get offered another job in the future. That should not play any factor in the decision. If you are worried, specify the terms in the contract with a buyout. If he achieves success and is in demand by other programs in the future, so be it. That means our program is looking much better.

I don't mind Calhoun, but the athlete he gets here won't need to maintain the same discipline that they exhibit at Air Force Academy. Can he recruit those athletes and can he demand that from our athletes? If he can, he will be very successful. I don't understand the " it quality " that Wheaton stated. Why does he have this and Hoke and Mullen don't have this?

 

[LongTimeGopher]

Great idea !!! Let's hire a mediocree coach that can maybe get us to the Music City Bowl someday because he has a better chance of staying here for the long haul.

Spend the money, get a name coach. If he leaves here it means he ressurected the program and there will be a line of coaches waiting to take over after we play in a New Years Day Bowl.

We don't want to settle - we want to get the best.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I don't really get the gigantic concern with wanting a guy who has some coaching in "SEC country". It would be one thing if he is a southern guy who has always coached down south, but Mullen is part of the New Hampshire Mafia (Chip Kelly, Gary Crowton and himself), so there wouldn't be any like heartstrings being pulled to go back home.

It would really come down to money and the kind of job it is. If he does really well and the Alabamas, Georgias, and Floridas come calling then that is a bridge we will have to cross. However, I am not sure that the fact that he has coached in the area would make him more likely to get a call than any coach who comes up to MN and made us a winner. These schools are only interested in elite level coaches. So, if (hypothetically), Troy Calhoun came to MN and won 10 games and brought us to a January 1 Bowl game, I'd imagine he would be coveted by SEC schools looking for a coach.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Im with you guys on this. Pay the guy and they will stay. Dont and he wont.

MSU might be a better job than MN, but do you think most coaches would rather coacher at MSU for 1.5 million or at MN for 2.1 million? I bet most take the 2.1 Million...