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Official CU Head Coach Search Thread - Primetime

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ahoelsken said:
What's your take on Garrett Riley? I like all three of the Big 12 coordinators we're talking about, but Riley's really, really intriguing to me. I'd rank them Riley/Grimes (1/1a) and Dunn 3, but I wouldn't hate a Dunn hire.

On Tom Herman-Jake Schwanitz from DNVR in his podcast said TH has a lot going on in his life right now, and that's why he's not coaching. No specifics, but the way it sounded led me to believe he might be a backburner candidate at best here.
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I think CU would be insane to hire Riley right now. Full-on insane.
 
The Alabaster Yak said:
Dunn's resume is better than Garrett Riley's at this point, but I'm not sure that will remain the case after the 2023 or 2024 season if they are both still in their current positions.
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I mean Dunns 20 years older than Riley. One would expect he’d have a better resume. It would be interesting to see how many “successful” head coaches got their first HC chance after the age of 50. Obv there’s some but I’m curious of the hit rate
 
brockbuff said:
I mean Dunns 20 years older than Riley. One would expect he’d have a better resume. It would be interesting to see how many “successful” head coaches got their first HC chance after the age of 50. Obv there’s some but I’m curious of the hit rate
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The success rate for all types of coaches is low.

With elite schools where the funding, desire, and tradition are there to compete (Ohio State, Alabama, etc.), the hit rate is higher because they are fishing for known commodities. It was not a risk to hire Nick Saban at Alabama or Urban Meyer at Ohio State. And when they do make a mistake, the problem gets resolved quickly.

I don’t think there is an established pattern that would suggest hiring younger versus older has a better or worse hit rate.

On the older side, there have been a lot of coaches that got their first head coaching position late in life that turned out to be pretty good. I don’t think you see much “elite” success from this group because the Alabama’s of the world aren’t going to poach your 57 year old coach that was successful at CU for three years after you hired him at age 54.

Sonny Lubick is an example of good HC that got a shot late. Ralph Friedgen was probably one of the better head coaches at Maryland over the decades and was known for getting passed over. More recently, Sam Pittman is in his 60s and looks to be doing ok at Arkansas thus far.
 
Buffnik said:
Bronco's still my number 1. We need a program model and culture. We need to be great at development and retention. We need someone who can succeed within what CU is as the slow process of changing things happens.
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Of all the realistic candidates on the CU hot board, Mendenhall may be the lowest risk option. That’s not a bad thing, given where CU finds itself. I’d be happy if he were the choice.
 
Duff Man said:
Sell me on Garrett Riley.
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I see Garrett Riley as having been the OC only for a couple of years (under offensive minded head coach Sonny Dykes at SMU and then TCU). Sort of the same risk as Kasey Dunn, but none of the other established characteristics of Dunn (known good recruiter, been an AHC for many years, knows how to run a P5 program at OSU, players love him). Riley may in fact be a terrific head coach one day, but of the two, Kasey Dunn seems like the more established choice presently. Which is probably your point.
 
Duff Man said:
Sell me on Garrett Riley.
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1. Texas recruiting ties, and Dallas-Fort Worth in particular. I'd argue his last name could benefit us recruiting wise too.
2. Connections to multiple coaching trees-his brother. App State (Worked for Eli Drinkwitz in 2019). SMU/TCU (through Dykes). I think he might have worked for David Beaty at KU.
3. He's the play caller for the 3rd ranked offense in CFB right now. TCU could very well go undefeated.

I wouldn't hire him if the recruiting restrictions aren't removed. If they are he might be a home run though. Definitely worth looking into.
 
Creebuzz said:
The success rate for all types of coaches is low.

With elite schools where the funding, desire, and tradition are there to compete (Ohio State, Alabama, etc.), the hit rate is higher because they are fishing for known commodities. It was not a risk to hire Nick Saban at Alabama or Urban Meyer at Ohio State. And when they do make a mistake, the problem gets resolved quickly.

I don’t think there is an established pattern that would suggest hiring younger versus older has a better or worse hit rate.

On the older side, there have been a lot of coaches that got their first head coaching position late in life that turned out to be pretty good. I don’t think you see much “elite” success from this group because the Alabama’s of the world aren’t going to poach your 57 year old coach that was successful at CU for three years after you hired him at age 54.

Sonny Lubick is an example of good HC that got a shot late. Ralph Friedgen was probably one of the better head coaches at Maryland over the decades and was known for getting passed over. More recently, Sam Pittman is in his 60s and looks to be doing ok at Arkansas thus far.
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. . . and the old crypt keeper himself--Bill Snyder.
 
ahoelsken said:
1. Texas recruiting ties, and Dallas-Fort Worth in particular. I'd argue his last name could benefit us recruiting wise too.
2. Connections to multiple coaching trees-his brother. App State (Worked for Eli Drinkwitz in 2019). SMU/TCU (through Dykes). I think he might have worked for David Beaty at KU.
3. He's the play caller for the 3rd ranked offense in CFB right now. TCU could very well go undefeated.

I wouldn't hire him if the recruiting restrictions aren't removed. If they are he might be a home run though. Definitely worth looking into.
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Here is where I have some skepticism:

1. 2022 is his first season at the P5 level outside of the Kansas stint (when Kansas was legitimately the worst P5 program in the country).

2. He has three years of OC experience. Granted, those three years have been very good (although I discount 2020 a bit due to COVID).

3. Recruiting connections. How much recruiting is he actually doing?

I think Riley is due for a very nice move to a blue blood as OC, but I am not seeing anything screaming head coach on his resume right now.
 
Feels like Riley is a year away and has three realistic paths right now.
1. Stay as TCU OC and continue building his resume
2. Go to a big P5 program as OC (aTm was mentioned) to build his resume out from under Dykes
3. Take a G5 HC job

I just don't see him as a legitimate P5 HC candidate this year. If he succeeds in any of the 3 options above, maybe even after just one more season, I think he could be viewed as a legit P5 HC.
 
The Alabaster Yak said:
Feels like Riley is a year away and has three realistic paths right now.
1. Stay as TCU OC and continue building his resume
2. Go to a big P5 program as OC (aTm was mentioned) to build his resume out from under Dykes
3. Take a G5 HC job

I just don't see him as a legitimate P5 HC candidate this year. If he succeeds in any of the 3 options above, maybe even after just one more season, I think he could be viewed as a legit P5 HC.
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I suspect part of the reason we’re talking about Riley now is that in a season or two he may well be out of reach for a program like CU. So we’re maybe forced to look at guys a year or two early to have a chance. I put Walters in that category too.

There are still probably 8-9 guys I like better for CU right now than Riley, but I understand why he’s being talked about.
 
SINKRATZ said:
I suspect part of the reason we’re talking about Riley now is that in a season or two he may well be out of reach for a program like CU. So we’re maybe forced to look at guys a year or two early to have a chance. I put Walters in that category too.

There are still probably 8-9 guys I like better for CU right now than Riley, but I understand why he’s being talked about.
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I see why Riley is discussed too.Given the binary choice between Dorrell and someone like Riley, I wish CU had hired the up and comer in 2020. CU is in a different place today and I think there are more established candidates out there where CU doesn’t have to accept so much risk.
 
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I have read some Okie St boards and quite a few people want Dunn gone. Also apparently Gundy still runs the Offense and makes most of the play calls.

Dunn seems like the candidate where you create a criteria and find a candidate that fits. Do not want. I’d be very fearful if we hire him (I don’t think he will even be considered)
 
slider said:
I have read some Okie St boards and quite a few people want Dunn gone. Also apparently Gundy still runs the Offense and makes most of the play calls.

Dunn seems like the candidate where you create a criteria and find a candidate that fits. Do not want. I’d be very fearful if we hire him (I don’t think he will even be considered)
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That’s the risk you run when hiring a coordinator that has a head coach closely aligned with that side of the ball. Again, that’s why I like Grimes. There is no question he ran the O at his last two stops, and he has a Midas touch with the offensive line. Unfortunately, if Auburn hires John Hartwell as its new AD, then he seems like he may target Grimes for that position.
 
Darth Snow said:
Riley is the hail mary pass. High risk, high reward. I get the attraction. He's the kind of candidate you go to after all your A candidates don't work out iyam.
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I see it as the leader of your "Plan C".

You start with your Plan A Hail Mary of trying to get a guy like Petersen.

Then it's your group of guys you'd want but have other HC options this cycle based on whatever criteria and fit you're looking for (Bronco, Grimes, etc) and see as low risk with a solid upside.

Then you go to the high risk/ high reward guys.
 
The Alabaster Yak said:
He knows Colorado is interested? That’s certainly something
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The way it was worded and he stumbled a bit almost seemed like he meant it more along the lines of “I think Colorado would be interested” but idk maybe he does know something
 
It didn't feel like there was a whole lot of substance in that podcast but who knows, Bruce often knows more than he lets on when mentioning names, but he made it sound like Joseph was the favorite at Nebraska - which surely can't be right. Sounded more to me like he thinks CU would be someone that's interested (later mentioning he thinks CU wanting a name candidate would make sense) not necessarily a concrete fact, but that he didn't think CU was a likely destination and GT/Auburn were more likely. I do think RG having interest in Deion makes a lot of sense given the names available and his personality/some of the boxes he checks, but are we doing anything that would make CU attractive to him (especially in the short term)? Because he needs significant access to the portal and a lot of freedom in NIL. Whether it's to Deion or someone else, I hope we have a lot more to sell as far as a short term and long term plan than it appears from the outside.
 
Jeric said:
It didn't feel like there was a whole lot of substance in that podcast but who knows, Bruce often knows more than he lets on when mentioning names, but he made it sound like Joseph was the favorite at Nebraska - which surely can't be right. Sounded more to me like he thinks CU would be someone that's interested (later mentioning he thinks CU wanting a name candidate would make sense) not necessarily a concrete fact, but that he didn't think CU was a likely destination and GT/Auburn were more likely. I do think RG having interest in Deion makes a lot of sense given the names available and his personality/some of the boxes he checks, but are we doing anything that would make CU attractive to him (especially in the short term)? Because he needs significant access to the portal and a lot of freedom in NIL. Whether it's to Deion or someone else, I hope we have a lot more to sell as far as a short term and long term plan than it appears from the outside.
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huskercorner.com

Nebraska Football: Rumored coaching search angle could spell disaster

An approach that might surprise Nebraska football fans is reportedly underway when it comes to the head coach search and it mean doom for the program.
huskercorner.com huskercorner.com

Yeah that makes what I read in the piece I linked. The nubs want somebody on an incentive laden deal (it could be worse-Trev Alberts could be our AD), and about the only guy who is apparently open to that is Joseph.
 
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