Most Desirable HC Job/Opening: Washington, Wash St, Colorado, Tennessee, or Barn?

[Relayer]

Ok, I know that, of these, only the Washington job is officially open now, but for argument's sake, lets say they all were, as of right now, also available.

(Yes, Syracuse's Coach Robinson is probably gone by year's end, but that job is not in the same "high visibility" league as the above schools)

Which one and why?

 

[mikes12]

I'd add Clemson, since a good coach could potentially own the ACC.

 

[Relayer]

I'd add Clemson, since a good coach could potentially own the ACC.

Dang it!

I had the feeling I was forgetting something.

Probably the best choice of all of them, too.

 

[Redwood Forrest]

Colorado for sure. Play Nebraska and Missouri for the Big 12 North each year and only Texas and Oklahoma on a rotating basis. Seems the easiest to me.

 

[prattvilletider]

I say UT just for history/tradition sake. If not then probably UW.

I haven't followed Colorado that much this year, is Hawkins in trouble now? I thought he had that program on sort of an upswing...

 

[Tidewater]

Colorado for sure. Play Nebraska and Missouri for the Big 12 North each year and only Texas and Oklahoma on a rotating basis. Seems the easiest to me.

Is Colorado available (or projected to be)?

 

[NYBamaFan]

TN, by a large margin...

 

[IH8Orange]

I think that it's Washington.

Washington State: It's hard to get talented kids to come to the middle of nowhere.

Colorado: Colorado is probably fairly enticing to recruits, but they have to compete regionally with Oklahoma, the Texas schools, Arizona and Arizona State for players.

Tennessee: Traditional power, but the recruiting is tough when you've got to go head-to-head with Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and a resurgent North Carolina for players or you're faced with having to try to pull recruits from every corner of the U.S. (where you're then competing with those regional powers).

The barn: Same problem recruiting as UT, plus no matter how good the program gets, they're still second fiddle to Bama.

Washington: Decent tradition. No real competition in the state for players because 3/4 of the state's population lives within an hour. There's no real static powerhouse team in the conference: the power of the conference seems to bounce between USC and UCLA with periodic shifts to the other teams.

 

[rolltidescott]

Tennessee and Clemson.

 

[Crimson Cat]

Tennessee and Clemson.

Yep.

 

[Relayer]

Hawkins is not really going anywhere this year, he just signed a contract extension in early Oct. However... reference Bowden at Clemson.

I know the situation is different, but Hawkins is something like 12-21 in his third year. He will probably eke out a winning record this year. If next year doesn't pick up (and hard to imagine it will) who knows

 

[lafella]

Hawkins out at Colorado?

I didn't even know he was on the hot seat.


anyhow

UT - SEC can make or break a coach, and they have plenty of talent, good tradition, and a good solid fan base.

Colorado ( if it's true) the Other top conference.

Clemson - talent on the team, decent conference to handle.

Washington - could get a foot in the door to some recognition

The Barn - again a coach could get some recognition by getting his foot in the door in the SEC, still who wants to play second fiddle and fight for scraps of the rest of the SEC.

Washington State.

 

[Pluck and Grit]

An average to above average coach can win (win = consistently get bowl eligible) at any of those schools except Washington St. That is a tough place to get it done. Mike Price had to have had something on the ball to accomplish what he did there.

Although when I think about it, I can't recollect Colorado ever accomplishing much of anything before or after Bill McCartney's tenure. Neuheisel managed to keep them on the + side for 3 years or so after that, until all McCartney's recruits were gone, and soon after that Neuheisel was gone too. But the Big 12 North certainly isn't the toughest division to play in here lately.

So I'd say the best of the bunch are Tennessee and Washington. Don't have to fight another instate power for recruits as you do at Clemson or Auburn. Both have won NCs as recently as the 1990s. Pretty good tradition at both. Arguably great tradition at Tennessee. Recruiting at those places isn't always easy, but sometimes life's a female dog and you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[bayoutider]

This is only Dan Hawkins third year at Colorado.

 

[bamaga]

USC,yeah, the Trojans. since we are speaking Hypothetically

 

[BamaDMD]

I hate to beat a dead horse here but I've not heard anyone say anything about Colorado. :beatdeadhorse5:

 

[Relayer]

I hate to beat a dead horse here but I've not heard anyone say anything about Colorado. :beatdeadhorse5:

Oh, go ahead if it makes you feel better.:biggrin:

 

[RobK]

To a West Coast guy with recruiting ties and a background there, Washington is a very appealing job. It's a major market (Seattle), a beautiful setting (Pac Northwest), loads of money (Microsoft, Starbucks in the neighborhood), and place where it's been proven you can win big.

For an Southern or Eastern coach, it has to be Tennessee, followed by Clemson and then Barn. UT has the statewide fan/recruiting base, ample money, decent tradition, and at least some recruiting appeal outside the region. Clemson and Auburn both share their small state with rivals from the SEC (though USC casts a much smaller shadow than UA) and both are known for somewhat delusional boosters and fans. The opportunity to potentially dominate in the ACC plus not having Bama and Coach Saban next door makes Clemson the more appealing of the two.

I wouldn't discount the possibility of the Penn State job coming open and jumping to the front of the line. Following JoPa will be tough, but whomever they hire will inherit a loaded team, a gigantic fan/booster base that doesn't need to be jump-started, and boatloads of dough.

 

[TiderB]

If Tennessee can keep its recruiting lines open around the country there's no reason why it can't get back to a national power. Let's face it, they've had a lot of talent over the years. They just need someone in charge who knows how to mold that talent and keep it out of trouble.

 

[OCtide]

I might say Clemson over Tennessee. At Clemson you can recruit SEC talent and compete against the ACC. At Tennessee you can also recruit SEC talent, but have to compete against Florida, Georgia, Bama, etc every year. Clemson has to beat out FSU, Maryland, Wake, NC St, FSU and BC every year to make it to the ACC title game. That looks manageable.

On the West Coast, the Washington job is actually a very good job. They have been pretty bad for a while, but they do have some good tradition and have the resources to have a solid program.