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CU officially hires Mel Tucker as new Head Football Coach

ahoelsken said:
Yes it is. We have mountains. They don't. The end. Can we stop with the MM hate now? Dude did what he was brought here to do-and set us up to go hire a guy like CMT.
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Have you been to Georgia?
Pretty nice, I was surprised.
North Atlanta was surprisingly hilly and has trees. My point is that kids would not be shocked, kinda like a Cali beach kid isn’t.
 
MacIntyre lightly recruited Georgia. CU could probably snag some players from there. It won’t be a focus, but getting some defensive linemen out of there would be good since Colorado doesn’t produce much in that way, and CU has seemingly abandoned poly recruiting.
 
HighlandsBuff said:
A


apparently Sky Valley, which was in Georgia, has closed. There is however one called Cloudmont in Alabama... can't imagine what that'd be like o_O
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So the mountain is about the same height as the trees. Cool.

111617_best_small_towns_in_winter_slide_1_fs.max-784x410.jpg
 
Glenbuff95 said:
Asking for honest opinions here: I keep seeing that "For years in the NFL, Mel was considered not only a top coordinator but a head coaching candidate". The only program I know of that he was named a candidate for was Tennessee. If he has been considered a candidate for years why has it taken this long for him to become a head coach?? That seems odd..
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Are you familiar with Ian Rappaport? He’s on the same level as Adam Schefter. Here’s what he said after Mel went to UGA in 2016 (h/t DawgNation):

“For years in the NFL, Mel was considered not only a top coordinator but a head-coaching candidate,” said Ian Rappaport, NFL Network national insider. “He’s been an interim coach in Jacksonville, and really commanded the respect of players. Sharp, diligent, he always got the most out of his guys.”

Rappaport said Tucker simply got stuck in a bad situation in Chicago and got stuck in the middle when the Bears cleaned house.

“The talent he was coaching was awful, it was a bad atmosphere and the product was bad,” Rappaport said. “He fell off the map in the NFL, as did everyone else in that regime. For him to be available and not yet working as a DC in the NFL and college is pretty amazing.”
 
Random notes:
- "When Tucker finished his playing career at Wisconsin, he signed a deal with the Canadian Football League.But he came down with the chicken pox and was ultimately cut. According to Ohio.com, Tucker spent time going door-to-door selling steaks for a while."
- "Only 42, Tucker passed on a chance to be the head coach at the University of Wisconsin"
- "In particular, it’s Tucker’s ability to develop defensive backs that has gained him such acclaim"
- "University of Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker is a candidate for the head coach opening down the road at Georgia State University. "
-"Mel Tucker’s ever-bending Bulldog defense can be maddening to watch as it surrenders first downs by the bucketful"
Saban on Tucker:
"He’s got a great personality, the players are really attracted to him. He’s enthusiastic and smart. He’s one of the best coaches we’ve ever had on staff here."
Tucker on Saban:
"He gave me my first job at Michigan State and most of what I learned as a defensive backs coach came from him"
 
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Coaches that need to stay with the program in some facet:
1. Chev (receivers??)
2. Drew Wilson
3. Hagan (RB's or ??)
4. Drake?????? (this will be interesting, players coach, up and coming, firey...)
5. Roper (depending on how much he values the relationship with Montez)
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CaliBuff901 said:
Race is probably a small factor? I mean, it has to at least be a factor. Only 3 of the 25 highest paid CFB coaches are black. #10 Willie Taggert & Lovie Smith tied at $5 million/year. #20 David Shaw at $4.3 million/year. Given how many black assistant coaches there are isn't it odd?
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I don't doubt that race played at least some role but I think it also may have to do with his presentation of himself. If you watch that interview with Mark Johnson, Tucker says the right things and seems like a nice guy but his presence does not really dominate the room. He's understated. Compare that to a Jimmy Lake who has half the experience but we are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, partly because he looks the part of a leader. Tall, winning smile, articulate, etc.

We meet someone like J. Lake and we are more willing to take a chance. Someone like Tucker and we look more to what the've proven of themselves, which takes longer. That's why I compare him to Lovie. I think they have had similar successes and challenges in getting to the top.
 
Glenbuff95 said:
Coaches that need to stay with the program in some facet:
1. Chev (receivers??)
2. Drew Wilson
3. Hagan (RB's or ??)
4. Drake?????? (this will be interesting, players coach, up and coming, firey...)
5. Roper (depending on how much he values the relationship with Montez)
20100204__05dcsbuf_200.jpg
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You want Tucker to keep 5 former coaches? That is a little crazy.

I would keep Chev as WR/co-OC (no play calling) so there is continuity and because he is a good recruiter and everyone else is a new face.
 
ahoelsken said:
I think Tucker has ideas for coordinators already-I think he'll find a way to keep DC here, but it won't be as the play caller.
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Better not be. People keep talking about keeping current coaches.

We lost to Oregon state

Oregon State people.

Tucker is SEC badass coach to the core. He might just not be interested in keeping a staff that is comparable to Oregon State, Arizona and Arizona State. We brought him in to WIN. Not be a good guy that keeps average coaches employed.

Hell, that the biggest thing that got the last coach fired.

I’m ok with Chev as a RC. Maybe WR AC. Nothing more. I think he needs to work and learn from a good OC for a couple of years before he’s even named as an AOC. And definitely not ‘CO-OC’. Hagen can be in the admin. Not seeing a single thing that says and SEC team would hire him as a RB coach.

I guess I think Tucker will have the same baseline for coaches as kids they recruit. If the coach wouldn’t be good enough to get hired by Washington or USC, then we won’t have them on staff. And I haven’t seen the recruiting out of anyone but DC that tells me they will be retained. And honestly, that (plus him as RC trying to hold the class together) will be the reason he’s retained. Not what he’s done with the WR core. Definitely not what he did as an OC.
 
Glenbuff95 said:
Coaches that need to stay with the program in some facet:
1. Chev (receivers??)
2. Drew Wilson
3. Hagan (RB's or ??)
4. Drake?????? (this will be interesting, players coach, up and coming, firey...)
5. Roper (depending on how much he values the relationship with Montez)
20100204__05dcsbuf_200.jpg
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Did you say Drew Wilson?
 
hawg1 said:
Did you say Drew Wilson?
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I did. Look at the change in the size of this team since his arrival in 2015. That says it all, great and under rated coach.

yes 5 guys, Chev is the best recruiter and a Buff, Hagan brought us a championship and is a legacy guy, Roper coached Manning and has a strong relationship with Montez. Drake? who knows he seemed like a promising up and coming coach see original post
 
*ss hat Kizla sure got it right didn't he:

"But what Colorado needs is a coach who understands the territory, feels at home in the Rocky Mountains and views a beautifully quirky college campus that’s ambivalent about football as a challenge rather than a reason to complain"

Get that guy out of here.
 
Glenbuff95 said:
I did. Look at the change in the size of this team since his arrival in 2015. That says it all, great and under rated coach.

yes 5 guys, Chev is the best recruiter and a Buff, Hagan brought us a championship and is a legacy guy, Roper coached Manning and has a strong relationship with Montez. Drake? who knows he seemed like a promising up and coming coach see original post
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I love the he coached Eli Manning argument for Roper. Good point, guy never would have amounted to anything without that expert tutelage!
 
onealcd said:
I think it was pretty much just one bears fan.
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ahoelsken said:
He worked for Trestman (who didn't have a clue) with the Bears right?
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Jens1893 said:
Any time his name has come up on Reddit you've had multiple Bears fans chime in on how terrible he was in Chicago.
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Just some food for thought on this subject. Tucker was the DC on 3 seperate NFL teams- 2008 in Cleveland, 2009-12 in Jacksonville, and then 2013-4 in Chicago.
  • In Cleveland, the defense ranked 23rd in DVOA before he got there, 20th during his one season at the helm, and 30th the season that he left.
  • In Jacksonville, the defense was 26th the year before, 28th his first year, 31st his second year, then it shot up to 5th in 2011, back down to 28th his last year and 28th the year after he left.
  • In Chicago, the defense was 1st in DVOA the year before he showed up, 25th his first year, 28th his second year, and 28th the year he left. It's worth pointing out, though, that the best player on that defense was probably a 32 year-old Jason Allen who was 1 year from retiring, and that only 4 starters from that defense haven't washed out of the league altogether. It's probably fair to say he was a bit hamstrung by the personell
With that said, I doubt there's any corelation between how well his NFL defenses performed and his ceiling as a college HC.
 
From Reddit by the one who doesn’t **** on him

The Bears defense was full of good/great players that all declined at the same time. Urlacher had just left, Tillman suffered a season ending injury in the first few weeks of the season, Briggs was washed at that point, and their was zero young/impact talent on that side of the ball. They're just now good again defensively because it took 4-5 years to rebuild the defense from nothing.
Mel Tucker took a lot of heat for his brief Bears tenure, but that team was awful. I'm a huge Bears fan, but I don't blame him one bit for those two dumpster fire seasons. The talent just wasn't there.

Yes. They had just hired Marc Trestman, traded for Brandon Marshall a year before, signed Martellus Bennett, among other things. Overall, it was a brutal 2-3 year stretch with a lot of bad decisions.
The previous GM had 4-5 horrendous drafts in a row, the next GM (Phil Emery) had 3 awful drafts, and the only worthwhile defensive prospect they had was Kyle Fuller (who's now really good, but was a Rookie, in Tucker's last year).
Granted, the defenses Tucker led there were the two worst in Bears history, but fans are being very unreasonable if they put it all on him. He's clearly a decent coach if he has the talent, like he's had at Bama and Georgia. He may also be a guy that's just more suited to the college game as well.
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