Hiring a New Coach

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Duluthguy

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A lot of guys on this board are very fearful about Maturi getting another shot at hiring a new head coach, and obviously some of their fears are justified given his track record with hiring Brewster. However, I'm not sure the situation is as dire as some make it out to be. I was out of the country when Brewster was hired, so I may have totally wrong perceptions about what happened, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong. (Like that's a problem here.)

(1). During the search process Maturi said that cost was not a factor in who he would hire.
(2). Maturi tried going after Dungy and several other very high profile coaches, but didn't get any interest back.
(3). After trying to hit a homerun, Maturi narrowed the list down to Kiffin, Charlie Strong and Brewster. (Strong sure seems like the best choice now.)
(4). Brewster had a killer interview and convinced Maturi that recuiting was more important than coaching experience. It was also obvious that Brewster was the one candidate who would be a great cheerleader for the program.
(5). When Brewster was hired, I was a member of GI at the time. Though I thought it was a terrible hire, everyone on that board was really excited (perhaps rationalizing) about Brewster. There were very few skeptics saying Maturi had screwed up.

If my perceptions are right, Maturi tried to get a top level coach. I think where he really screwed up was firing Mason so late in the season. Assuming he doesn't screw that up again, I don't think we'll see him hire a new coach with so little experience. In fact, I think he'll feel tremendous pressure to try for that homerun again - pressure that we should all help him feel. Am I rationalizing, or is there reason to think Maturi has learned from his mistakes?
 

I think the difference is that Joel will know well before the bowl season if he's going to make the move this year.
 

You are rationalizing. Allowing Joel Maturi to make the next hire would drain any tiny bit of remaining credibility from this program. It would just scream "we don't care about football!" If Joel is allowed to have any input on the hire I would just as soon keep Brewster for another year.
 

Rotundo said:
You are rationalizing. Allowing Joel Maturi to make the next hire would drain any tiny bit of remaining credibility from this program. It would just scream "we don't care about football!" If Joel is allowed to have any input on the hire I would just as soon keep Brewster for another year.
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I agree that Maturi shouldn't be allowed to make the hire, but what do you suggest as an alternative? It's obvious from statements made by both Maturi and Bruininks that he will be around for a few more years at least. How do you still have Maturi as the AD and not have him involved in the hiring of one of his subordinates?
 

Rotundo said:
You are rationalizing. Allowing Joel Maturi to make the next hire would drain any tiny bit of remaining credibility from this program. It would just scream "we don't care about football!" If Joel is allowed to have any input on the hire I would just as soon keep Brewster for another year.
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Who else would make the next hire? Maturi is going to be the athletics director. He's not going anywhere until after Bruininks retires.
 


Yeah, that is pretty much it. The thing about firing Mason so late was that he didn't really give an overwhelming reason to do it until after the Texas Tech game. The NDSU game really turned up the heat, but other than that, it wasn't a terrible season and he ended it with an uncharacteristic 3-game winning streak, including one over Iowa. I was a Mason supporter, but when he got fired after the greatest bowl game choke in NCAA history, I couldn't argue.

Brewster was the hire that was supposed to alleviate all the criticisms of Mason: poor recruiting, no passion for the program, low standards. Check, check, and check. All of Gopher Nation was overjoyed and chose to ignore the red flags (like the whole "can't coach" thing). Then again, what else is there to do in Year 1 of a new coach but get on the bandwagon -- it's not like moaning about the hire is going to accomplish anything.
 

If the football program reaches a terrible crisis then Joel's return can't be taken as a given. If it is then that is another piece of evidence that this University doesn't care about football. If we end up 2-10 then Bob might just have to do the difficult thing and fire Joel. If Joel were caught with a meth lab in his basement we would have a new AD before Bob retires. So it can be done.
 

My fear no matter who would be making the next hire is who would be considered a home run hire? As much as I would like Kevin Sumlin, Al Golden and Randy Edsall to be hired, I don't think anyone would be saying they are home runs. Any of those three would be solid, solid hires but would any of them get the casual fan to go "wow"? I guess I feel to get the casual fan interested again and get some positive buzz going, they would have to make a Tubby type of hire and I just don't know who that would be. Heck, I don't even know if a national title winning coach like Phil Fulmer would get a "wow" from the casual fan.
 

I don't WANT a home run hire. I want a good, solid double. The thing about going for a home run is that you tend to strike out. Brewster was a swing for the fences, in the hope that recruiting would get us the home run. We just need a coach who - in no particular order:

Knows what he wants to do.
Knows what the team can do.
Knows how to scout talent.
Knows how to develop players.
Knows how to coach defense.

Recruiting is important, but it's not everything. Major changes in team's philosophy should be limited. The spread was enough of a change, but then we made yet another radical change just a couple years in. I think if Brewster were to get another chance with another team, he might be able to pull it off, but too many rookie mistakes were made.
 



Don't get me wrong Rodent, I agree with you 100%. Like I said above, I personally would love to see any of the following three Kevin Sumlin, Al Golden (he would be my top choice) or Randy Edsall. I feel all three of them would fall exactly into your description of what you would like to see. I guess my point is, the casual fan has probably never heard of any of them and it wouldn't get the casual fan excited.
 

Couldn't the regents put together an ad-hoc search committee to hire an athletics director?
 

I've seen a lot of bagging on Maturi over the last week about the Brewster hire, and the fear of him hiring again. But he's not an abject failure in this realm, as some would paint him. He locked up Tubby Smith, which was a slam dunk of a hire and a terrific fit that gave our B-Ball program instant credibility on a national level. So if there is a 'Tubby Smith of Football' out there, I see no reason Maturi won't attempt to make that kind of hire for football, should the time come.
 

SMU GOPHS FAN said:
Don't get me wrong Rodent, I agree with you 100%. Like I said above, I personally would love to see any of the following three Kevin Sumlin, Al Golden (he would be my top choice) or Randy Edsall. I feel all three of them would fall exactly into your description of what you would like to see. I guess my point is, the casual fan has probably never heard of any of them and it wouldn't get the casual fan excited.
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If we can get a good solid coach, I won't care if the casual fan gets excited. That's a whole lot better than the casual fan getting excited, only to be disappointed.
 



An example within the Big Ten (MSU)

"How do you still have Maturi as the AD and not have him involved in the hiring of one of his subordinates?"

There is some precedent within the Big Ten. Ron Mason, former successful hockey coach and then Athletic Director at Michigan State, led the search committee that landed MSU John L. "The Cowboy" Smith after the Bobby Williams disaster. We all know how that worked out for Sparty football (not well).

After the Cowboy was fired, Mason was still AD but he basically had no say in who the next football coach would be. The school didn't want Mason anywhere near making the next (and very crucial) football hire. The MSU president (Lou Anna Simon) and big-wig trustees were in charge of the hiring that landed Mark Dantonio.
 

RodentRampage said:
Who else would make the next hire? Maturi is going to be the athletics director. He's not going anywhere until after Bruininks retires.
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There is an air of resignation around here that's a little disheartening.
 

Rotundo said:
You are rationalizing. Allowing Joel Maturi to make the next hire would drain any tiny bit of remaining credibility from this program. It would just scream "we don't care about football!" If Joel is allowed to have any input on the hire I would just as soon keep Brewster for another year.
Click to expand...


I've said this before and I'll say it again, I don't care who hires the next coach if they don't get someone who has already been there done that type of thing as far as a head college FB coach goes, I guess you could possibly include an assistant in there depending on what program he comes from, then they will be wasting there time and will end up where they left off.
 

I agree with you on the Tubby hire. The one thing Maturi does well is work the back channels and politics. That's how we landed Tubby, and Maturi's patience and politicking played a large part in getting TCF approved. Also, I think Maturi was instrumental in making sure we didn't get worked in the new B10 realignment (we fared better than Wisconsin).

The key is that Maturi will need time to find the right coach. If we wait until after the Iowa game, then you're in a feeding frenzy with all the other schools who've just S-canned their coach. And most of them will be bigger or more attractive positions. Last time Maturi was searching for a coach after NYD, and we all saw how that turned out.

The loss against USD is a strong argument that Brewster should be fired, but it isn't proof he should be fired NOW. OTOH, if we get blown out by USC, that case gets a lot stronger. Losing to N. Illinois and Brewster better start cleaning out his desk. At that point I would hope Brewster would man up and voluntarily turn in his whistle.

Don't get me wrong, I hope Brewster and the team turn things around and upset USC. But if I were in Vega$ right now I'd be laying a Benjamin on the Trojans to cover.
 

I'm still not sure if I got the hiring process right? Am I right in remembering that Maturi said cost was not a factor and that he went after Dungy and a few other high profile guys before he settled on Brewster? Seems to me that he made it clear both before and after the hire that he wanted Dungy. Any way, it seems to me that Maturi knows he would have to make a signature hire or become a signature failure.
 

I'm not sure if Maturi was after Dungy or he just had to deal with the millions of questions about it. Dungy was pretty clear he was not a candidate.

Most top HC's don't take a job based on the money. They won't take one without the money, but what they really want is the best chance to succeed. Being a HC of a losing program is a career ender. You can't get one of these guys unless they think they will win.
The budget (facilities and recruiting) and community support (endorsements, media support) are big issues for these guys.
 

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