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howeda7

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Edit: Yes, I'm aware of the typo in the title. I still don't get why you can't edit the header.

Having researched a few of the most commonly mentioned candidates, I'm not as optimistic as I was, as it may prove trickier to get some of these guys to take the job then it seems. However, I do believe it can be done. Here is my short list:

Tier 1:

Mark Richt- He is likely to be out at UGa by season's end, and if he somehow survives, he will likely feel like Tubby did when he came here...that it's better to leave one year to soon then wait for them to force you out. Will he come to MN? Unknown, but he's not going to have any top-shelf schools falling all over him. He would be a home-run hire, IMO.

Gary Patterson-TCU: He rebuked us in 2007. No real reason to think he'd change his mind, but it couldn't hurt to ask. Would have to bring the $$$.

Tier 2:

Al Golden-Temple: There are really no marks against him, it's a questions of whether he would take the job. If he feels he's in line for Jo Pa's job, he won't. If not, he might.

Greg Shiano-Rutgers: His stock isn't as high as it once was and he's in his 50's. He passed up a chance at the Michigan job though, so one wonders if he was waiting on PSU or just doesn't want to leave. If he wants a shot in a league higher then the Big East, he will probably listen as his window is closing.

Randy Edsall-UConn: He's also getting up there in years. He may simply not want to leave UConn but it is again worth a shot.

Troy Calhoun-Air Force: Again, not sure he would come here, but an excellent young coach.

Added: Kyle Whittingham-Utah: See above.

Tier 3:

David Cutcliff-Duke: Also getting along in years. Further, he rebuked Tennessee last off-season so it seems he's not looking to leave. But a solid coach nevertheless and it is Duke after all. He'd probably at least listen.

Kevin Sumlin: Houston: He'd be an ideal candidate, but I would have reservations about trying his type of offense again.

Jeff Jagodzinski: He had great success at BC, but now finds himself in the UFL. Something doesn't smell right there.

Tommy Bowden: Fired at Clemson, but had decent success.

Phil Fulmer-former UT head coach. He's 60 and may not have any desire to coach again.

Tier 4:

Bud Foster-DC Virginia Tech. I'd much prefer someone who's been a HC, but it's time to look at top coordinators. He's turned down HC opportunities in the past.

Brent Venables: DC, Oklahoma. Solid candidate. Can probably do better if he wants to be a HC.

Mike Shula-QB Coach Jacksonville, former Alabama head coach. I always thought he didn't get a fair shake with the Tide, but he'd have been a better candidate 4 years ago then he is now.

Others considered but not viable:

-Mike Leach-The admin. wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pole.

-Jim Leavitt: See above

-Mark Mangino: See above. Plus, whether he can coach or not, this program still does need to be sold to the public and while we don't want BrewII, that's not the image we need.

-Tony Dungy: No explanation needed.

-Jim Harbough: See above.

-Chris Petersen: See above

-Mike Belotti-Most likely too old/not interested

-Will Muschamp, DC-Texas: He's Mack Brown's successor-in-waiting and if he wants a job before that, he can do much better than MN.
 

If Maturi hires the next coach it will likely be the Denver Bronco's tight end coach... is his name on your list? It should be. Bob Ligashesky.
 

sec105 said:
If Maturi hires the next coach it will likely be the Denver Bronco's tight end coach... is his name on your list? It should be. Bob Ligashesky.
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I'm a Broncos fan, so I'm aware. I'm pretty sure Mike Shanahan won't endorse him though. ;)
 


I would also be very interested in Kyle Whittingham at Utah
 


I believe Brewster was the Denver Bronco's tight end coach so I would imagine that would be the first place Joel would look. After all it worked out so well...
 


Unregistered User said:
I would move Venables much higher on the list.
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That's a valid position. After Brew, I just really, really would prefer someone who is/has been a head coach. If we must go the coordinator route, he's a great choice though.
 

GopherGod said:
I would also be very interested in Kyle Whittingham at Utah
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Good catch. Meant to add him with Troy Calhoun. I have some reservation that he just rode Urban Meyer's coattails, but it's been long enough now, he's proving himself.
 



In no particular order, I'd add these to the list (I'm not necessarily endorsing any of these, but you will hear some of these names):

--Dan McCarney (former head coach at Iowa State, rebuilt them; now Urban Meyer's Associate Head Coach at Florida, won a national title there; was at IA when Fry rebuilt, was at Wisky when Barry rebuilt, is a Big Ten guy at heart, would take the job if offered)

--Darrell Bevell (Vikings offensive coordinator, Big Ten guy, knows the Minneapolis market)

--Les Miles (falls in the Mark Reicht camp, played in the Big Ten, MN could be a nice landing spot for him if he is fired, although his 4-0 start has cooled his hot seat for now)

--Scott Linehan (offensive coordinator Lions, was Vikings offensive coordinator, was head coach at Rams, may want to be head coach again, enjoyed living in Minneapolis)

--Paul Chryst (offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, wants a head coaching job)

--Leslie Frazier (defensive coordinator with Vikings, wants head coaching job, not sure he wants a college gig, will probably get an NFL head coaching job if he holds out)
 

tjgopher said:
In no particular order, I'd add these to the list (I'm not necessarily endorsing any of these, but you will hear some of these names):

--Dan McCarney (former head coach at Iowa State, rebuilt them; now Urban Meyer's Associate Head Coach at Florida, won a national title there; was at IA when Fry rebuilt, was at Wisky when Barry rebuilt, is a Big Ten guy at heart, would take the job if offered)

--Darrell Bevell (Vikings offensive coordinator, Big Ten guy, knows the Minneapolis market)

--Les Miles (falls in the Mark Reicht camp, played in the Big Ten, MN could be a nice landing spot for him if he is fired, although his 4-0 start has cooled his hot seat for now)

--Scott Linehan (offensive coordinator Lions, was Vikings offensive coordinator, was head coach at Rams, may want to be head coach again, enjoyed living in Minneapolis)

--Paul Chryst (offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, wants a head coaching job)

--Leslie Frazier (defensive coordinator with Vikings, wants head coaching job, not sure he wants a college gig, will probably get an NFL head coaching job if he holds out)
Click to expand...

All interesting candidates.

On McCarney, I just think we can do better somehow. He feels like he's the Mason of Iowa State. And I'm not sure of his age, but that's a factor too. The fact that he's been at Florida helps a bit though.

-Bevel: I'm sorry, but having the former Wisconsin QB as our head coach is not OK with me. I don't care what his other qualifications are. Period.

-Les Miles: I think he's much, much further away from getting fired then Richt, and if he did, he'd probably have some really high-level offers. Whatever his faults, he won a national title less then 4 years ago. I don't think he's a realistic candidate.

-Linehan: It's intriguing, but he hasn't coached in college in 8 years and we really have no idea if he can recruit. I think we can do better.

-Chryst: See Bevel without the Vikings coating to make it slightly more tolerable.

-Leslie Frazier. Will get an NFL job very soon. He wouldn't even consider it.
 

howeda7 said:
All interesting candidates.

On McCarney, I just think we can do better somehow. He feels like he's the Mason of Iowa State. And I'm not sure of his age, but that's a factor too. The fact that he's been at Florida helps a bit though.

-Bevel: I'm sorry, but having the former Wisconsin QB as our head coach is not OK with me. I don't care what his other qualifications are. Period.

-Les Miles: I think he's much, much further away from getting fired then Richt, and if he did, he'd probably have some really high-level offers. Whatever his faults, he won a national title less then 4 years ago. I don't think he's a realistic candidate.

-Linehan: It's intriguing, but he hasn't coached in college in 8 years and we really have no idea if he can recruit. I think we can do better.

-Chryst: See Bevel without the Vikings coating to make it slightly more tolerable.

-Leslie Frazier. Will get an NFL job very soon. He wouldn't even consider it.
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McCarney is 57. That works against him, but not totally. If he finds some success, you could get 8-12 years out of him. In today's coaching world, that's a lot. He certainly belongs somewhere on your list (upper end of Tier 3, certainly ahead of Cutcliffe, Bowden or Fulmer, IMO).

Bevell/Chryst, I'm not as opposed to hiring a Badger as you are, but would just as soon not. Neither is probably a legit candidate, but you will hear their names.

Frazier, name will come up, Dungy endorsed him last time around and was a little miffed that the U never called Frazier. Likely holds out for NFL.

Miles, obviously has to be fired to be a candidate. Probably won't be fired. If he is, however, I'm not sure there will be a lot of high level openings for him to take. What will be open? Hard to answer, but it isn't like multiple elite level jobs are just popping up every year. I think we make a nice landing spot for a guy who is a Big Ten guy. He has to struggle the final 8 games at LSU and get released and then I think he is a legit candidate.

Linehan, you say we can do better. Great if we can. I have my doubts. If he wants the job, it would be tough to not offer it to him, IMHO. My guess is he doesn't want the job.
 

The whole Leach-James ordeal was blown way out of proportion. I would personally love to see Brewster fired Monday, and announce Leach on Tuesday. Leach is still fairly young and can coach the kids up. People say, well he also had the luxury of recruiting Texas HS kids. Well, he was still only getting Longhorn leftovers. Brew has been doing the same thing. LEACH FTW!!!
 



DrinoneMays9 said:
The whole Leach-James ordeal was blown way out of proportion. I would personally love to see Brewster fired Monday, and announce Leach on Tuesday. Leach is still fairly young and can coach the kids up. People say, well he also had the luxury of recruiting Texas HS kids. Well, he was still only getting Longhorn leftovers. Brew has been doing the same thing. LEACH FTW!!!
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Correction, Brewster has been getting at best TCU leftovers.
 

If a winner is what we want, we need an administration with the guts enough to pursue that goal. Mike Leach is the answer!
 

charlesbenjamin7 said:
If a winner is what we want, we need an administration with the guts enough to pursue that goal. Mike Leach is the answer!
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Aside from tying for one lone south division title in 10 years, what has Mike Leach won?

Lining up against the Hawkeyes on Thanksgiving weekend and we're going to throw the ball 60 times?
 

Maximus said:
Aside from tying for one lone south division title in 10 years, what has Mike Leach won?

Lining up against the Hawkeyes on Thanksgiving weekend and we're going to throw the ball 60 times?
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Leach stood toe-to-toe with teams that had 10x the resources than he did at Tech.
 

charlesbenjamin7 said:
Leach stood toe-to-toe with teams that had 10x the resources than he did at Tech.
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I like Leach and his unorthodox approach to football but he won't play nice with the M club and with Maturi. I don't expect him to be considered and I don't know if he'd want to go to Minnesota anyways.
 

Love your thinking Benjamin! Mike Leach is the goods. He would definitely bring a Big 10 championship to Minnesota within 5 years.
 

Maximus said:
Aside from tying for one lone south division title in 10 years, what has Mike Leach won?

Lining up against the Hawkeyes on Thanksgiving weekend and we're going to throw the ball 60 times?
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If throwing the ball 60 times gets us a W then count me in.
 

Is it so outlandish to make a pull-out-all-the-stops run at Harbaugh?

What is he making? Can we double it?
 

howeda7 said:
All interesting candidates.

On McCarney, I just think we can do better somehow. He feels like he's the Mason of Iowa State. And I'm not sure of his age, but that's a factor too. The fact that he's been at Florida helps a bit though.

-Bevel: I'm sorry, but having the former Wisconsin QB as our head coach is not OK with me. I don't care what his other qualifications are. Period.

-Les Miles: I think he's much, much further away from getting fired then Richt, and if he did, he'd probably have some really high-level offers. Whatever his faults, he won a national title less then 4 years ago. I don't think he's a realistic candidate.

-Linehan: It's intriguing, but he hasn't coached in college in 8 years and we really have no idea if he can recruit. I think we can do better.

-Chryst: See Bevel without the Vikings coating to make it slightly more tolerable.

-Leslie Frazier. Will get an NFL job very soon. He wouldn't even consider it.
Click to expand...

Very comprehensive list. I thought from watching them last year that Edsall at UConn wasn't all that old. One observation. Not many African American candidates on these lists. I'm sure there are some qualified ones out there. Its worth considering for several reasons:

1.There should be at least one AA coach in the BT.
2.You would think a black coach could connect with the majority of recruits.
3.It would be a good PR move if done correctly
4.It would literally tie one hand behind the back of the media azzclowns in this town.

The downside is how the passive-aggressive Minnesota fanbase would cotton to this. And we shouldn't hire someone just because they're a minority. Look at how well that worked out for MSU with Barry Williams.
 


Too Long in the Wasteland said:
Very comprehensive list. I thought from watching them last year that Edsall at UConn wasn't all that old. One observation. Not many African American candidates on these lists. I'm sure there are some qualified ones out there. Its worth considering for several reasons:

1.There should be at least one AA coach in the BT.
2.You would think a black coach could connect with the majority of recruits.
3.It would be a good PR move if done correctly
4.It would literally tie one hand behind the back of the media azzclowns in this town.

The downside is how the passive-aggressive Minnesota fanbase would cotton to this. And we shouldn't hire someone just because they're a minority. Look at how well that worked out for MSU with Barry Williams.
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From this aspect our timing is the reason. Charlie Strong and Turner Gil would both have been great candidates a year ago. Alas, they're no longer available and it is true thier aren't many in the current group.
 

why does everyone keep tossing out dungy's name like its defined that he would just sneer at us and reject it? who knows unless you try. he should be in 'pie in the sky' tier. not tier 4.

the only names with any kind of heft that i see are in your tier 4. really, the admin wont touch them? do you forget that bruininks is gone? and hopefully someone will oust maturi with him?
 

gopherphan said:
why does everyone keep tossing out dungy's name like its defined that he would just sneer at us and reject it? who knows unless you try. he should be in 'pie in the sky' tier. not tier 4.
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Yeah, why didn't they call him in 2007? Oh that's right they did. And since then he has made it clear again and again and again and again and again and again that he will never be, does not want to be head coach of the Golden Gopher football team.

Now, I do hear Mike Hohensee is interested.
 

gopherphan said:
why does everyone keep tossing out dungy's name like its defined that he would just sneer at us and reject it? who knows unless you try. he should be in 'pie in the sky' tier. not tier 4.

the only names with any kind of heft that i see are in your tier 4. really, the admin wont touch them? do you forget that bruininks is gone? and hopefully someone will oust maturi with him?
Click to expand...

He's not on tier 4. He's not on any tier. I was just listing those people those names that get tossed around that we either have no shot at, or wouldn't hire. Dungy is one of those. He has no desire to coach college football. He has said so over and over. There's virtually a zero % chance. It's not worth wasting time discussing. If Tony Dungy wanted to coach the Gophers he can let it be known to the admin and have the job in about 48 hours.
 


My top choice would be Jon Gruden, great with the media, would give us a ton of national exposure, and you know damn well he would be one hell of a recruiter! His interest in coaching at the college level would be the question, but it couldn't hurt to ask
 

I just heard that Joel maturi put a call into John Gruden who declined and told him to hire the first Women Div 1 men's football coach. I heard from a solid Source (shhh,....Cheryl Littlejohn) that Pam Borten was the first Girl on his list and he actually made the call!

Guys, get real--Gruden, Dungy, etc are not coming here. With this collection of leadership the best we can hope for is to look for a top young assitant and roll the dice.....
 

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