What about I-AA (or FCS) Coaches?

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Several made the jump successfully - Tressel, Harbaugh, Paul Johnson - though they made the jump in territory they already knew well. Any coaches out there that work for the U? Any I-AA coaches at successful programs with connections to Minnesota?
 

I can't really give you many names. The CAA is really the hotbed of FCS athletics right now and that is primarily an east coast league with few connections to MN. The coach at New Hampshire has to be great, they make the playoffs every year and I'm sure Mankato and St. Cloud have nicer facilities. If Bohl keeps winning games in the playoffs and Mautri keeps getting turned down that could be a possibility.

I still think the Gophers should take a strong like at Casey Bradley, D-Cord for the Seattle Seahawks. He has a great personality and can really coach. Monte Kiffen raved about him while he was in Tampa and he has been a lifelong assistant so I'm sure he is ready to take the next step. He is from Zumbrota and was a long time NDSU assistant for both Bohl and Bob Babich.
 

We might've been able to go the 1-AA route after Mason, but now we need a guy who has done it before.
 


Tressel went to Ohio State. It is not as if he went to Vanderbilt and turned it around. Having a hotbed like Ohio to recruit is definitely big. Plus, there was talent already there at Ohio State before he got there. Cooper just could not win the big games.

Harbaugh is the real deal. A family tradition sure helps though.

Paul Johnson had to go to Navy before getting Georgia Tech. Besides George Welsh, not many coaches survive the academies (Navy and Army that is)

There are plenty of examples of IAA blowups like Terry Allen at Kansas, Wulff at Washington State and many more. Yeah, there are a few that have made it but location helps because you need the recruiting base.
 


If Maturi hired a FCS coach there would be a mutiny amongst boosters and fans.
 

IDFM - Fair point on Tressel taking over Ohio State and I considered Johnson's tenure at Navy as an amazing success. I think you last sentence is the key - the coach has to have some sort of recruiting base established in order to have a successful program.

awag777 - Yes. There would burning torches marching down University Avenue.
 

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