Matt Wells in 13-17 overall at TT. Fired in the middle of his 3d year. How many years do you think it will take HCKD to get to 13 wins?
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The 2021-2022 Coaching Carousel
- Thread starter DeNiro
- Start date
GoBuffs08
Well-Known Member
I'm assuming Rick George will extend him at the end of the season, so I'm guessing by year 7
They care about their football program.
Besides getting out of PA, why would Tomlin be interested?
Tomlin's had a good long run. And he's smart enough to know that breaking in a young QB means lean times ahead with Ben retiring.
Mike Tomlin would be the most USC hire ever. Trying to catch the Pete Carroll lightning in a bottle over and over again. Seems to me the strategy of hiring an NFL guy for a college job backfires more often than not. It worked spectacularly for USC, once. That’s enough to make them keep trying, I guess.
I think Tomlin has everything you'd want in a big time college coach, especially at a place like USC, with the exception of recent college coaching/recruiting experience. He's very charismatic, clearly a good head coach, has instant credibility with any recruit in the country and is a household name. Like anything, it would all come down to the staff he assembles.
We have an NFL guy…
That stuff is kind of important.
Maybe it would work out, but history would suggest otherwise.
History would suggest that any archetype for a good HC hire is flawed since most hires don't work out.
It's important for his staff, but less important for him.
Ok. Of the top of my head, I know four ex NFL coaches that went to the college game: Pate Carroll, Bill Callahan, Bill Walsh and Chuck Fairbanks. Three of those guys sucked as College Head Football coaches. One was a Hall of Famer. I’m sure there are other examples, but I honestly can’t think of a single NFL coach who went to College and did well outside of Carroll. That doesn’t mean Tomlin would suck at USC, but if I were them, I’d be looking for a guy who is more connected to the college game and has at least recruited a player at some point in the last year or two. Have to figure the vast majority of any Tomlins coaching connections that he’d want to bring as assistants would also be NFL guys. USC doesn’t need to take that kind of risk.
Lou Holtz did OK
probably too soon to make a judgement, but things could work out for that Saban guy.
Lou Holtz was an NFL coach for all of 10 months in between stints as a college football coach at NC State and Arkansas. I think that’s a very poor example.
Again. A guy who spent a very short time in the NFL between stints at LSU and Alabama. These are very poor examples.
Maybe Tomlin’s agent needed something to spice up contract talks.
Well, he would be welcomed in Denver. Pretty sure Rodgers would enjoy having an experienced, winning coach available as well.
Bill O'Brien went from New England to Penn State and parlayed that back into the NFL, although he was a college guy before that.
Herm Edwards is the most recent example, and I envision Tomlin at USC basically like that on steroids.
Herm Edwards is the most recent example, and I envision Tomlin at USC basically like that on steroids.
Herm Edwards is doing well right now.
Bill O'Brien kept Penn State winning & the program from tanking after the Sandusky scandal.
Jim Mora Jr was much better at UCLA (won the division/ winning record) than he'd been with the Seahawks.
June Jones, Al Groh, Dave Wannstedt, Lane Kiffin.
Back in the day, Dan Devine left the Packers and did great at Notre Dame.
Did you just bring up an NFL coach who was actually hired by USC and subsequently fired by USC as an example of a guy they should look as at somebody who made a successful transition to the college game from the NFL?
Yes. Firing Lane was a mistake. He's a very good college coach. A complete clown, but a very good college coach.
I don’t think USC is looking to hire the next Lane Kiffin.
All this to say, the other names on that list - Franklin, Campbell, et. al. all make more sense to me and represent a much lower risk with basically the same top end potential as Mike Tomlin.
SerenityBuff
Well-Known Member
This would be unlike any hire USC has made, in more ways than one. Tomlin has been very successful and a Super Bowl champion. Carroll was a mediocre NFL coach before going to USC. They are not the same.
Didnt Dan Devine screw over Rudy?
You often see really successful, championship level college head coaches try their hand in the NFL (Saban, Meyer, Spurrier, for example). Rarely do you see top notch NFL head coaches go for a college job. In fact, Bill Walsh in his 60s is the only one I can think of, and he did it only after being out of coaching for a half decade and in his hometown. If Tomlin went to USC it would be a major surprise and perhaps the highest profile coach to take a college job still in his prime at age 49.
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And he was a better man for it.
The one I had expected to happen and didn't was Bill Cowher. He and his wife retired in North Carolina (had an offseason home there) and are big with NC State. Speculation was that there was mutual interest & it would happen. He left the NFL pretty dang young, but I guess ultimately decided that the money the network wanted to throw at him for a zero stress job beat the hell out of a 24/7/365 coaching job.
