2022 College Football Coaching Carousel

Agree again. Nebraska fans are as faithful as they come. In fact I wish we had half their dedication and could make Yager the Red Pond like they’ve made Memorial the Red Sea. But they are not one good hire away from a Big 10 championship any more. With the end of divisions, their upside is probably a very occasional upper half Big 10 finish with a bowl game - maybe the Quicklane.

Some programs and their fans have to realize that college football has changed dramatically and they can’t live in their past glory years and assume they can get back there quickly. Nebraska and Miami (FL) are 2 of those programs. Nebraska was an early pioneer of strength and conditioning. But they don’t have any natural recruiting advantages, especially in the Big 10 and got rid of their coach after good, but not great seasons, thinking they could find someone to take the next step. They’ve never been as close to factoring in the national race since. The Hurricanes built their advantage through recruiting and arguably one of the greatest home field advantages in college football, the old Orange Bowl, 6 miles from campus and in the city. In the 80s, as people were just starting to migrate to Florida, the major Florida universities got all of the best players. Now, everyone gets players from Florida and the Hurricanes play in Hard Rock Stadium, 20 miles away from campus in suburban Miami Gardens. Just because Mario Cristobal is back at his alma mater doesn’t mean he’ll be able to just wave his U-shaped magic wand and bring them back.

Programs and their fans have to acknowledge the structural changes in college football: the Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited access to TV which eventually led to the conference TV networks which gets to the millions of dollars power 5 schools make that drive the separation. That money allows the power 5 schools to hire NFL-like support staffs and assistant coaches for top dollar, taking away some head coaching prospects. Population movements southward, increasing enrollments at southern universities. There are fewer school-age children coming through the Midwest than in years past. Then there’s NIL, the portal, conference realignment, the playoff, the power of the networks. All of this has happened since 1984 (the Supreme Court decision). The glory days for some of these programs won’t return until the structural changes are addressed.

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Auburn is now in talks with Hugh Freeze at Liberty. So it could be true, a former sole Miss coach could be the next head coach at Auburn. For the second time.

Matt Rhule is a quality hire. Nebraska won’t be an easy fix but I like their chances to get back to respectable.

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Nebraska, the U, etc. are in a weird middle ground. In terms of fan support/facilities/history they’re Definitely above middle P5 programs like NC State and Purdue, but well behind elites like Bama and OSU. Obviously their on-field results are behind even the middle ground, but their advatages are such that they’re theoretically in a position to compete again if they hired the next Saban. That’s a pipe dream at this point, but it’s hard to tell old-school fans to reconcile expectations with reality.

Also one could argue the same effect applies to us, just on the G5 level instead of the national stage.

Good points but with NIL, both UM and UN are positioned quite well if they play the game. UN has very deep pockets and can compete $wise (already have great facilities/planned). UM has a bit more catch up work - sounds like they’ll have an on or near campus stadium within 5 yrs as well as much needed facility upgrades. Can UM do both at the same time- raise facility $ and play NIL game? They’ve been pretty aggressive in NIL this yr.

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Sorry, I can’t follow. Who is UM?

Univ of Miami - referring to previous post about them

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Tyou! I thought you meant Michigan. That makes way more sense now!

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Miami of Florida

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The Coral Gables Institute of Oceanography of Florida

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FAU dumps Willie Taggart. Great job in Boca with incoming AAC membership.

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Bummer. He’s a great coach. Last couple years not withstanding.

He’s coached at 5 schools and he had a losing record at all of them except Oregon, where he went 7-5 in his one season. His career record without Quinton Flowers is 53-73.

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So, if I am hearing you right, (and I think I am) you admire the masterful observations I’ve once again put forth. Glad to serve!

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Looks like Arizona State will be hiring Oregon OC Kenny Dillingham to replace the fired Herm Edwards as early as tomorrow…

I am stunned (STUNNED!) that the Herm Edwards experiment didn’t work.

Or I’m stunned that he lasted there that long. Yeah, it’s the latter.

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I think the latter…

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David Shaw resigns as Stanford’s HC after loss to BYU.

Loved the guy. Class act. Sorry to see him go. That is a tough job. Only a few have had success. A guy named Harbaugh was one of the few…

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