In today's Chicago Tribune(online), Teddy Greenstein suggests some candidates for a new Cats OC. Besides Kafka, names he mentioned include Matt Canada, Tom Rees and Kevin Johns. Hope Fitz actually dumps McCall
OC Candidates
- Thread starter purplebirder
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From what I hear Kevin Johns is a no go, so this list is suspect. Now Matt Canada is very interesting.
Yep. Make him one of the top paid OCs, promise him sovereign control over the offensive side of the ball, and maybe he bites.
Matt Canada is a fine coach and very much wants to be a head coach sometime in the future. He does some very interesting things offensively, but McCall might survive.
That is my concern as well, I would assume word would come out soon? If there was interest in Canada, you would think there would be contact from third parties already, as he is not working.
Bingo, the inclusion of Johns on that list makes this entire article not credible. There was certainly no corroboration or collaboration from anyone within NU’s program.
How do you get corroboration or collaboration from inside the program when someone is still sitting in that position they are talking about?
Canada should still be HC at Maryland. They gave that job to Locksley and have gone in the tank.
It’s called anonymous sources. If a change was truly coming and someone from within the program wanted to foreshadow that change, they would plant this story and provide a few viable names.
You don’t have to be a journalism major to know that Teddy didn’t get any input from anyone within the program to come up with this list. You just have to know that Fitz fired Johns once and that makes it extremely unlikely that he would hire him back as his OC. It’s common sense.
Do you have any examples of a college football program tipping off a beat reporter ahead of firing a coordinator and anonymously providing a list of potential candidates?
"It’s called anonymous sources. If a change was truly coming and someone from within the program wanted to foreshadow that change, they would plant this story and provide a few viable names."
None of us has any reliable information on whether the OC will be retained or not. I believe that no one within the powers to be would leak information to Teddy as it serves no purpose. If you were a trusted Fitz source would you leak info that you know would piss him off?
I do agree that Johns inclusion was a misstep that hurts the believability of the other names on the list. I also believe this issue dragging on will hurt recruiting in the offensive side of the ball. This isn’t a few pissed off no nothing fans calling for a change. We trumpet the fact that recruits and come to NU and know who their Coach will be their entire year, yet it works the other way too. A recruit would need to have their head in the sand to not realize that the vast majority of fans want an OC change, former players are critical, and the media consistently mocks the results of NU’s offense. This is a hot seat that is on fire. Recruits may still come here with McCall as OC but I have a hard time believing they come here BECAUSE of McCall.
I think the Medill grads on this board would agree that you know nothing about how news reporting really works.
That's exactly my point. Anyone looking at this article as a signal that change is forthcoming would be reaching the wrong conclusion. This article is pure speculation on Teddy's part and bad speculation at that given the inclusion of Johns as a potential candidate.
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I would think it would be done quickly. This is not something you would want to drag on.
He may not fire him. He may have suggested all season that it’s a great time to retire and step down voluntarily, and hopefully with an emphasis on making a decision quickly.
The Matt Canada suggestion is very interesting, even if the Johns inclusion was a mistake. Teddy making this his main story in the Tribune right after a victory over our in-state rival is encouraging to fans who want and expect accountability.
I would think that Greenstein would have a window into NU happenings then us board folks. True the inclusion of John's makes the list a bit iffy but who knows, maybe Fitz and Kevin have buried the hatchet. Canada looks like the likely #1 choice but maybe the fact that Morris would bring along his 4* QB son might be tempting. An interesting name is Will Hall, who is doing big things as OC at Tulane.
The only name on that list that I think is intriguing and possible is Tommy Rees. I think he is an outstanding coach based on what I have heard from a lot of people i talk to that are close to the ND program and familiar with him on the recruiting trail.
If so, that's too bad, as NU needs both a OC and top flight QB. Where do you think they're headed?
FWIW in his follow up article about the dismissal of McCall, the two candidates mentioned by Teddy G (among the 9 names in the prior story) are Canada and Rees
