Follow up on the interim head coach thread

[NUCat320]

Tossing names out there.

Manny Diaz - failed head coach, stud coordinator

Tommy Rees - young high profile coordinator

Sherrone Moore - OC at Michigan, been there since 2018, 36 years old

Curt Cignetti - 8 losses in four seasons at James Madison, 62 years old, including 13-3 in the Sun Belt

The Colorado OC who came from the MAC


Actually, Cignetti and a ‘in-waiting’ arrangement would be great. He’s an offensive mind.

Moore would be interesting.

But all are unknowns, like Braun is. And all have upside, like Braun does.

All I know is this: There is nobody I trust less to make a good decision than Derrick Gragg.

 

[leathercat]

These guys all come with question marks, Rees was not loved at ND, Diaz failed at Miami. Drop the interim tag and elevate Braun. He has handled a difficult situation with class. If you bring someone else in no way he stays as DC. Organizations just don't work that way. Let him get started on recruiting as Head Coach. Why let the NU brain trust chose another candidate?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Tossing names out there.

Manny Diaz - failed head coach, stud coordinator

Tommy Rees - young high profile coordinator

Sherrone Moore - OC at Michigan, been there since 2018, 36 years old

Curt Cignetti - 8 losses in four seasons at James Madison, 62 years old, including 13-3 in the Sun Belt

The Colorado OC who came from the MAC


Actually, Cignetti and a ‘in-waiting’ arrangement would be great. He’s an offensive mind.

Moore would be interesting.

But all are unknowns, like Braun is. And all have upside, like Braun does.

All I know is this: There is nobody I trust less to make a good decision than Derrick Gragg.

I’ve grown increasingly fond of Charles Huff from Marshall in concept — younger black coach with a reputation as a strong recruiter, significant P5 experience, and experience as a HC at Marshall. His OC/QB coach at Marshall is Clint Trickett, who’s got buzz as a rising star within the industry.

Sean Lewis is the OC from Colorado, still a fan and have been on that train for a while. Would have to be paired with a very strong DC, though Braun could be tailor-made for that pairing.

Beyond them, I think you have to at least make a call to Lance Leipold to see if there’s interest. I don’t necessarily see many reasons he would leave Kansas right now, but you gotta check. The other “culture builder” coaches I like in that vein are Craig Bohl/Wyoming, Chris Creighton/EMU and Jason Candle/Toledo. Dickert/Washington State has midwest ties, but that’s about it. Willie Fritz/Tulane still seems like a weird culture fit to me.

Brian Hartline or Sherrone Moore would be great candidates, but I have a hard time seeing that happen. Tommy Rees has previous ties to Fitz, hard to see that one getting too far off the ground.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I’ve grown increasingly fond of Charles Huff from Marshall in concept — younger black coach with a reputation as a strong recruiter, significant P5 experience, and experience as a HC at Marshall. His OC/QB coach at Marshall is Clint Trickett, who’s got buzz as a rising star within the industry.

Sean Lewis is the OC from Colorado, still a fan and have been on that train for a while. Would have to be paired with a very strong DC, though Braun could be tailor-made for that pairing.

Beyond them, I think you have to at least make a call to Lance Leipold to see if there’s interest. I don’t necessarily see many reasons he would leave Kansas right now, but you gotta check. The other “culture builder” coaches I like in that vein are Craig Bohl/Wyoming, Chris Creighton/CMU and Jason Candle/Toledo. Dickert/Washington State has midwest ties, but that’s about it. Willie Fritz/Tulane still seems like a weird culture fit to me.

Brian Hartline or Sherrone Moore would be great candidates, but I have a hard time seeing that happen. Tommy Rees has previous ties to Fitz, hard to see that one getting too far off the ground.

These are good suggestions. A little higher on Rees than most and believe Hartline and Moore are very interesting.

 

[phatcat]

Braun doesn't hold a candle to the Toledo coach

 

[Yeswecat]

How many national championships has the Toledo coach been an integral part of?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

How many national championships has the Toledo coach been an integral part of?

1) He’s making a poor pun/joke based on his name.

2) 5 (2 as a player, 3 as a coach) at Mount Union.

 

[Deeringfish]

I’ve grown increasingly fond of Charles Huff from Marshall in concept — younger black coach with a reputation as a strong recruiter, significant P5 experience, and experience as a HC at Marshall. His OC/QB coach at Marshall is Clint Trickett, who’s got buzz as a rising star within the industry.

Sean Lewis is the OC from Colorado, still a fan and have been on that train for a while. Would have to be paired with a very strong DC, though Braun could be tailor-made for that pairing.

Beyond them, I think you have to at least make a call to Lance Leipold to see if there’s interest. I don’t necessarily see many reasons he would leave Kansas right now, but you gotta check. The other “culture builder” coaches I like in that vein are Craig Bohl/Wyoming, Chris Creighton/EMU and Jason Candle/Toledo. Dickert/Washington State has midwest ties, but that’s about it. Willie Fritz/Tulane still seems like a weird culture fit to me.

Brian Hartline or Sherrone Moore would be great candidates, but I have a hard time seeing that happen. Tommy Rees has previous ties to Fitz, hard to see that one getting too far off the ground.

Do you think anyone is really doing this? Checking out interest and doing some preliminary out reach? Feels like the Administration is pretty apathetic about the future.

 

[phatcat]

1) He’s making a poor pun/joke based on his name.

2) 5 (2 as a player, 3 as a coach) at Mount Union.

A true punster prefers the following reactions, in order of preference a) groan b) eye roll c) blank stare d) laughter

 

[EvanstonCat]

Tossing names out there.

Manny Diaz - failed head coach, stud coordinator

Tommy Rees - young high profile coordinator

Sherrone Moore - OC at Michigan, been there since 2018, 36 years old

Curt Cignetti - 8 losses in four seasons at James Madison, 62 years old, including 13-3 in the Sun Belt

The Colorado OC who came from the MAC


Actually, Cignetti and a ‘in-waiting’ arrangement would be great. He’s an offensive mind.

Moore would be interesting.

But all are unknowns, like Braun is. And all have upside, like Braun does.

All I know is this: There is nobody I trust less to make a good decision than Derrick Gragg.

Out of those I’d take Sean Lewis in a heartbeat. Rees and Moore look good to me as does Hartline at dOSU. Would love hot and successful up and coming coordinates from national championship caliber programs. That worked the best for us in our own past.

As I noted earlier, I’d go after Mike Elko too. I think most head coaches out of the B1G and SEC are not out of reality and worth a shot.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Do you think anyone is really doing this? Checking out interest and doing some preliminary out reach? Feels like the Administration is pretty apathetic about the future.

Supposedly DHR (an experienced search firm) is engaged, they would be doing that initial preliminary outreach.

 

[Yeswecat]

1) He’s making a poor pun/joke based on his name.

2) 5 (2 as a player, 3 as a coach) at Mount Union.

Sorry I missed the pun, thanks for the info. (I'm embarrassed.) I don't dispute that that the Toledo coach is an excellent prospect with an impressive background. As has been pointed out, there are many potential good coaches out there. I also think we have an excellent coach who it would seem, likes coaching at Northwestern. While there are no guarantees, a championship pedigree tends to begat success at any level. And so does a good fit. I believe Braun is that guy. We'll see. The effort is there, he seems to have good rapport with his players, and for what it's worth, I'm impressed by the depth of his knowledge at his press conferences.

 

[NJCat]

As I noted earlier, I’d go after Mike Elko too.

And what do you think NU has to offer Elko that Duke doesn't? Loser academic standards? A better recruiting footprint? More student support? A better school academic ranking?

The fantasy that Elko or Clausen would even think twice about moving to NU is just ludicrous. Truth be told, NU is the absolute worst Power 5 job. Kansas, Duke, Wake, Stanford, Vandy, BC, even Cal are all better jobs. NU will go after a second tier head coach candidate like they did with Barnett and Walker and hope they catch lightning in a bottle like they did with those men.

 

[JournCat]

And what do you think NU has to offer Elko that Duke doesn't? Loser academic standards? A better recruiting footprint? More student support? A better school academic ranking?

The fantasy that Elko or Clausen would even think twice about moving to NU is just ludicrous. Truth be told, NU is the absolute worst Power 5 job. Kansas, Duke, Wake, Stanford, Vandy, BC, even Cal are all better jobs. NU will go after a second tier head coach candidate like they did with Barnett and Walker and hope they catch lightning in a bottle like they did with those men.

I wasn’t paying that much attention at the time, but a national championship winning OC or a MAC head coach/culture guy don’t seem that bad in retrospect. And we have way more advantages now.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

And what do you think NU has to offer Elko that Duke doesn't? Loser academic standards? A better recruiting footprint? More student support? A better school academic ranking?

The fantasy that Elko or Clausen would even think twice about moving to NU is just ludicrous. Truth be told, NU is the absolute worst Power 5 job. Kansas, Duke, Wake, Stanford, Vandy, BC, even Cal are all better jobs. NU will go after a second tier head coach candidate like they did with Barnett and Walker and hope they catch lightning in a bottle like they did with those men.

BTN $$$