Four interviewees confirmed....

[lcitsh]

Ok, I'll give you someone else to berate. I agree: it's not an impressive list of interviewees. "Impressive" will have something of a WOW factor in it. To me, the WOW factor would be "Wow, I didn't think that guy would be interested in coming here." None of these men have that "touchdown" look to him. "First down", but not "touchdown". Now the one chosen may work himself into a "touchdown" appearance, but, to me, these guys simply have the look of people trying to get out of subordinate positions and become the boss. Nothing wrong with that, but there are things lacking in each resume that many of you have pointed out, but few are choosing to accept.
The only one I'm against making our next head coach is Crowton, but I have nothing against any of the others, if this is the best we can get right now. I don't think you can point at any of these candidates and say "this guy will bring us immediate success and can sustain it over several years." That is part of the problem with being a program that has no history of success. Whoever is chosen will have to prove himself, that he can get the job done and continue to get the job done. I am hoping that the one chosen will be able to do that, but until I see him do it, I'm not going to be sure he can. I will support him, cheer for him and hope the best for him. I certainly will not insult him, call him names or denigrate him in any way, even if I don't agree with what he is doing or how he is doing it. Here's hoping for the best.

[Phant]

It seems like we have some candidates with great potential.

None are sure things at this point as in completely proven commodities, but all present strong possibilities.

I guess I feel that Coach Brewer grades out slightly higher overall, when evaluating the candidates in a similar manner to when I hire a key employee.

First of all, his name is Gunter not Gunner. He is from a life long football family, and understands the reality of the life he has chosen and the commitment required to be successful. He is a family man with a great family. He is an expert in his chosen field as a WR coach and is likely the highest paid college coach in the country for this position, considering he receives additional revenue because other coaches are actually willing to pay him for sharing his coaching expertise. He has a significant contact base across college coaching, highschool coaching, and the NFL. He is a student of the game, and an innovator of sorts with a superior conceptual understanding of offense. His resume demonstrates not only the ability to be successful at good programs, but the consistent ability to successfully recruit and develop good players. There is no reason to assume that this same level of excellence will not be achieved at the next level as a head coach. He seems to have been patient with regard to career advancement, as opposed to accepting any and every opportunity that came his way.

On the negative side of the ledger, he has demonstrated potentially poor decision making when it comes to pets, the family Dachsund will be little or no help when duck hunting.

http://www.gunterbrewer.com/bimages/gbvideo.htm

[lcitsh]

_ If Brewer was to be named head coach, would Deforest come along with him as his DC _

Doubt it. Would you go to work for one of your subordinates at another company?

[Clutch0364]

_ Doubt it. Would you go to work for one of your subordinates at another company? _

I got an idea and we have done it before...CO HEAD COACHES. lol

[Turbine]

If you read my 'Big Name' thread you know I feel about WOW hires. They have a very small guaranteed wow window.
Don't get stuck on wow.

jmo
igeaux.mobi

[zephyr]

_ Crowton is certainly the biggest name of the bunch, and he's had some success at schools much like our own in BYU and LaTech, but as Jay mentioned, his best year is usually his first and it's downhill from there. That's a scary proposition, especially if he can't find a QB to fit his system.

Brewer definitely has the "feel" of a guy that we're looking for. Fairly young, has prior head coaching/coordinator experience, is an offensive guy who's spent time working with another hot commodity (Holgorsen), has football in his blood. I have the feeling that he'll be in top 2 consideration when it comes down to it.

Mark Hudspeth is the most ready to succeed here now and in the long-term, I think. Of all the candidates, he reminds me most of Bob Marlin and that "type" of hire. He was ultra-successful at North Alabama, so he knows what it takes to win at a school with budgetary and recruiting constraints like our own, and he's got some connections having spent a year in the SEC. He's also fairly young...I just question if we'll have the opportunity to grab him before somebody swoops in with a bigger, better offer.

Joe Deforest is, for me, the most intriguing candidate. He's got no head coaching or coordinator experience, which makes the thought of handing the program over to him very scary because it could be very bad for us long-term if he isn't successful. However, if we take that risk and he DOES pan out, it'll be an absolute home run. He's a local guy, he'd bring an upgrade to the weaker parts of our team (special teams and defense), he's the recruiting coordinator at one of the best, most talented teams in the Big XII, and he REALLY wants to be here, which lets me know that, if nothing else, he wouldn't be lacking in the effort department as head coach at our university. If he doesn't get the head job, I'd hope that he's considered for job on the staff, perhaps as defensive coordinator, because he's an exciting young talent.

All in all, I love that group of candidates. They all have their flaws, but they could also all easily succeed here if they had the right support. It's going to be an exciting couple of weeks. _

Deforrest would be a bit lower on my list for the reasons you stated. I'm not sold on a "name" guy any more than I am on a guy that has had NO head experience or meaningful coordinator experience at a top school. I know he is supposed to be able to recruit but so can Crowton, Hudspet and Brewer and they've had more quality experience IMO. I'd go with either of them over Deforrest at this point.

BTW, I'd like to see Jenkins interviewed along with Garrick McGee who was initially thought to be a potential candidate.

[zephyr]

_ Hudspeth still has the least amout of D1 experience. And come on man, coaching and recruiting at Navy is not the same as recruiting at other D1 programs. _

Actually, you could argue that Deforest has the least experience since he's never been a head coach or head coordinator.

[rhineaux]

Many people on the board gave me a hard time when I was pumping Coach Viator from McNeese. Most people said he is coming from a D1AA program and he will have a hard time recruiting D1 players. Well with that logic Hudspeth has spent most of his coaching career at a D2 school. So what, 1 year of coaching WR at a D1 program and the guy can all of a sudden recruit D1 athletes. Give me a break. In a way he has the least amount of D1 experience of all the candidates. _

Hudspeth has more FBS experience than your boy.

[CajunRed]

I'm still wondering about something. A few have said none of these candidates are impressive enough and that we need to hire a "big name"...but none of those people have come on here and given ONE name of someone with some WOW that we could get and that they would want. Please name at least ONE! I already checked --Urban ain't coming!

igeaux.mobi

[Turbine]

I'm still wondering about something. A few have said none of these candidates are impressive enough and that we need to hire a "big name"...but none of those people have come on here and given ONE name of someone with some WOW that we could get and that they would want. Please name at least ONE!

igeaux.mobi

Thankyou.
igeaux.mobi

[BirdofParadise]

_ Thankyou.
igeaux.mobi _

Coaches are interviewed because something in their resume gets the attention of the decision makers.

Coaches are interviewed because, in addition to their resumes, their peers look upon them with respect.

But coaches are hired because they simply score a knockout during the interview process.

Whomever winds up the choice will probably deliver the same knockout blow to the fans after he is hired.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is, the guy with the best look on paper doesn't always get the job. But, if Scott and David do their diligence as they did in the basketball hire, the choice will be the right choice for the future of UL football.

I can't wait to see how this plays out. A lot of us may be surprised when the annoucement is made.

[BirdofParadise]

_ Deforrest would be a bit lower on my list for the reasons you stated. I'm not sold on a "name" guy any more than I am on a guy that has had NO head experience or meaningful coordinator experience at a top school. I know he is supposed to be able to recruit but so can Crowton, Hudspet and Brewer and they've had more quality experience IMO. I'd go with either of them over Deforrest at this point.

BTW, I'd like to see Jenkins interviewed along with Garrick McGee who was initially thought to be a potential candidate. _

The lack of coordinator experience, while true on paper, doesn't mean that much.

If you don't believe that, Mario Cristobal just won a Sun Belt Championship. That lack of coordinator experience worked out okay for FIU. In fact, if you go by resumes, DeForest has a much better resume than Cristobal did when he was hired.

That's not an endorsement by me of that particular candidate. I'm just sayin the resume never tells the whole story.