(11-29-2022, 08:22 AM)msqueri Wrote: Honorable mention:
* Greg Roman: I get it, he's an offensive genius and shaped some of the best offenses in Stanford history, I just don't get what that has to do with the rest of being a college football head coach
* Mike Bloomgren: I don't want this but if we're being honest he's extremely plausible given the partial truth and narrative (fueled by the Athletic article) that he was a of immense proportions part of the secret sauce of Shaw's success, coupled with his credible performance at Rice in light of the circumstances, and I do think he could succeed....thought hard about putting him on the ranked part but it's my list and I don't want to
* Lance Anderson: Another guy it's only realistic to acknowledge may get a look, though the case for a continuity candidate is awful under the circumstances and would be pretty galling....I don't know if Anderson would bring in a good coordinator or handle it himself but in a CEO role I acknowledge an outside chance of success, just not the juice I think we want/deserve
* Tavita Pritchard: Ditto
* Garret Riley: I'm not a big fan of the hire the 33 year old hotshot coordinator as a head coach model, but Riley sure is interesting and is a scorching hot name not only because of his brother but because of TCU's success this year
* Bronco Mendenhall: Again I'm a sucker for multi-stop success and I also have a soft spot for defensive specialists, but it just feels like an uninspired choice
* Paul Chryst: Ditto, except for the defense part
* Kalani Sitake: I've long found him attractive but am troubled by what he's allowed to happen to BYU's defense despite ostensibly being a defensive specialist
* Jeff Traylor: Probably a bad fit but UTSA is really good
* Bryan Harsin: Intriguing buy-low opportunity for a program as far away from SEC boosters as possible, both geographically and temperamentally
* Jeff Monken: Multi-stop success and navigating admissions at Army are appealing but I'm just not feeling it
* Jay Hill: He seems like a really good coach but FCS is a gigantic leap and he's only got experience in Utah
* Sherrone Moore: He seems great but just really unseasoned to get a Power Five head coach job at this point
Every guy I mentioned in the ranked portion is LFG territory for me (and several in honorable mention would be too if I'm honest). I'd be so pumped to get any of these candidates. I'm prepared for the actual hire to come from my honorable mention list or the field and that might be ok, but obviously I hope one of my preferred candidates gets it or else I wouldn't have done this list.
I view Swinney, Quinn, Garrett, and O'Brien as big swings with low likelihoods of making contact. I just think we need to take the swing. I really surprised myself having such an NFL flavor at the top of this list as that is definitely not my predisposition, but a) the names I listed have such intriguing competence/fit, b) the research I've done on successful Power Five turnarounds showed an excellent track record of former NFL head coaches turning around struggling Power Five programs (Chip Kelly, Jim Mora, Nick Saban, Butch Davis, Steve Spurrier, Rich Brooks, Pete Carroll, Dennis Erickson), c) the name recognition and cachet would help with recruiting and trying to secure a position at one of the big boy tables in college football, and d) to the extent Shaw has tried to establish a pro-style program, getting one of these true pros would solidify approaches and styles Shaw was only cosplaying.
If we miss on those big swings I think we should be able to get a proven Power Five winner and my preferences would be Clawson, Brohm, Petersen, Klieman, Fleck, and Campbell. Honestly I'd be surprised if the search had to go beyond my top ten in the fanciful world in which Muir adopted my list whole cloth, but I'm glad there are many more than ten candidates I'd be stoked with.
As I make this list something I am cognizant of and troubled by is the lack of racial diversity at the top of my list. I think this is a problem in the sport generally, at both the college and pro levels. I wish my process came up with a different result but when I try to rack and stack based on my sense of merit and fit this is where I come down. But I did list numerous people of color and there are good options out there of all races, levels of major college football, offensive/defensive persuasion, geography, age demographic, and so forth. A national search should get us a hire we can be excited about. Fingers crossed.
Boil this down to ten and I promise to give it serious thought. This isn't a wish list so much as a laundry list. With more than a few "non-starters" so to speak. Jim Mora? TAVITA??? Oy.
What we DO NOT want at this moment is the Andy Geiger "safe choice" hire, Jack Elway.
Life is too short to waste on crap football.