New Coach Thread

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

We can and do pay well for a coach but with far less return on our investment than other schools

[AtlantaTiger 202]

I've got a new name to throw in the mix for future HC consideration. Tyler Bowen, OC at Virginia Tech.  

Played his college ball at Maryland and evidently had a cup of coffee with Towson in 2013 as our TE coach.  Appears to have a good mix of coaching experience at all levels, FCS, FBS and NFL.  Maybe worth a look??

Tyler Bowen - Football Coach - Virginia Tech Athletics (hokiesports.com)

[mat1992 2,229]

1 hour ago, AtlantaTiger said:

I've got a new name to throw in the mix for future HC consideration. Tyler Bowen, OC at Virginia Tech.  

Played his college ball at Maryland and evidently had a cup of coffee with Towson in 2013 as our TE coach.  Appears to have a good mix of coaching experience at all levels, FCS, FBS and NFL.  Maybe worth a look??

Tyler Bowen - Football Coach - Virginia Tech Athletics (hokiesports.com)

He would have to take a pay cut since he's making $825,000. Don't see it. Also, he's the OC at Virginia Tech and their offense is horrific. Not saying it's all his fault. Maybe he'll be available in mid-November.

[omniland 31]

For various reasons I don’t have confidence that the President will make a well informed decision.  Guilty until proven innocent.  I don’t think this school had the personnel in place to make the move to division I in the first place.  We compete in the CAA and we ain’t even close to former ODU, JMU and current Delaware.  If you don’t want to compete with these types of programs then leave the CAA.  It is her decision through the AD.  If you are going to have a division I football program it needs to be important.  If it is not important then don’t have it.  Winning is everything.  You need to find a winner.  It can come from someone who is a coordinator but that only means so much.  Whoever they get will know enough X’s and O’s.  Recruiting and the philosophy of the type of player the coach likes and can realistically convince to come here is important.  Most coaches are not successful.  Not successful in our eyes (the folks that keep track of this program and look at the wins and losses).  You can also recruit from a lower division perhaps someone that dominated.  Most football coaches live and die with their ability to consistently find a QB.  QB is a tough position.  The most important position in any sport I can think of.  Everyone wants them and there ain’t enough of them.  I know I sound negative, however it is because I’m looking back at the history of athletics of the university.  We need to stop bringing up division II and III accolades.  The goal is to beat North Dakota State.   If you start out thinking that this is not possible then move to a lower division or at least a lesser conference.  We have an extremely weak local following and a season like this year is terrible for the program.

[mat1992 2,229]

3 hours ago, omniland said:

For various reasons I don’t have confidence that the President will make a well informed decision.  Guilty until proven innocent.  I don’t think this school had the personnel in place to make the move to division I in the first place.  We compete in the CAA and we ain’t even close to former ODU, JMU and current Delaware.  If you don’t want to compete with these types of programs then leave the CAA.  It is her decision through the AD.  If you are going to have a division I football program it needs to be important.  If it is not important then don’t have it.  Winning is everything.  You need to find a winner.  It can come from someone who is a coordinator but that only means so much.  Whoever they get will know enough X’s and O’s.  Recruiting and the philosophy of the type of player the coach likes and can realistically convince to come here is important.  Most coaches are not successful.  Not successful in our eyes (the folks that keep track of this program and look at the wins and losses).  You can also recruit from a lower division perhaps someone that dominated.  Most football coaches live and die with their ability to consistently find a QB.  QB is a tough position.  The most important position in any sport I can think of.  Everyone wants them and there ain’t enough of them.  I know I sound negative, however it is because I’m looking back at the history of athletics of the university.  We need to stop bringing up division II and III accolades.  The goal is to beat North Dakota State.   If you start out thinking that this is not possible then move to a lower division or at least a lesser conference.  We have an extremely weak local following and a season like this year is terrible for the program.

The AD will have the choice though a committee will be formed. Everyone said the AD was going to be this or that type of person but the committee chose Steve so he can make tough decisions like this one and she accepted it. Now you can say that 14 years ago that Caret made the pick because some donors were in his ear along with Herman, who didn’t have a lot of power. Same with PK. I don’t think she cares that much about it as long he doesn’t have red flags.

Not saying I know this will be the perfect choice but that’s why Steve was hired to make these decisions and at least bring a list of candidates. 

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

11 hours ago, omniland said:

For various reasons I don’t have confidence that the President will make a well informed decision.  Guilty until proven innocent.  I don’t think this school had the personnel in place to make the move to division I in the first place.  We compete in the CAA and we ain’t even close to former ODU, JMU and current Delaware.  If you don’t want to compete with these types of programs then leave the CAA.  It is her decision through the AD.  If you are going to have a division I football program it needs to be important.  If it is not important then don’t have it.  Winning is everything.  You need to find a winner.  It can come from someone who is a coordinator but that only means so much.  Whoever they get will know enough X’s and O’s.  Recruiting and the philosophy of the type of player the coach likes and can realistically convince to come here is important.  Most coaches are not successful.  Not successful in our eyes (the folks that keep track of this program and look at the wins and losses).  You can also recruit from a lower division perhaps someone that dominated.  Most football coaches live and die with their ability to consistently find a QB.  QB is a tough position.  The most important position in any sport I can think of.  Everyone wants them and there ain’t enough of them.  I know I sound negative, however it is because I’m looking back at the history of athletics of the university.  We need to stop bringing up division II and III accolades.  The goal is to beat North Dakota State.   If you start out thinking that this is not possible then move to a lower division or at least a lesser conference.  We have an extremely weak local following and a season like this year is terrible for the program.

Great points 

[mat1992 2,229]

On 10/3/2022 at 5:47 AM, omniland said:

For various reasons I don’t have confidence that the President will make a well informed decision.  Guilty until proven innocent.  I don’t think this school had the personnel in place to make the move to division I in the first place.  We compete in the CAA and we ain’t even close to former ODU, JMU and current Delaware.  If you don’t want to compete with these types of programs then leave the CAA.  It is her decision through the AD.  If you are going to have a division I football program it needs to be important.  If it is not important then don’t have it.  Winning is everything.  You need to find a winner.  It can come from someone who is a coordinator but that only means so much.  Whoever they get will know enough X’s and O’s.  Recruiting and the philosophy of the type of player the coach likes and can realistically convince to come here is important.  Most coaches are not successful.  Not successful in our eyes (the folks that keep track of this program and look at the wins and losses).  You can also recruit from a lower division perhaps someone that dominated.  Most football coaches live and die with their ability to consistently find a QB.  QB is a tough position.  The most important position in any sport I can think of.  Everyone wants them and there ain’t enough of them.  I know I sound negative, however it is because I’m looking back at the history of athletics of the university.  We need to stop bringing up division II and III accolades.  The goal is to beat North Dakota State.   If you start out thinking that this is not possible then move to a lower division or at least a lesser conference.  We have an extremely weak local following and a season like this year is terrible for the program.

On the one hand, you said stop bringing up the DII and III accolades. On the other hand, you talk about the move from D2 to D1AA 35 years ago. It's all part of the equation. The lack of insight to put enough resources into the program in terms of scholarships, facilities, etc. from a great D2 and 3 program. That was on the administration back there. Most of those people who made those decisions are long-retired or no longer with us. We've grown a ton and we still have ways to go. But I would consider myself a cynical optimist. I try and see the bright things in a bad situation and by the way, this is not that bad a situation due to the money available in terms of salaries, facilities, potential indoor facilities and field house expansion with a weight room, new amenities to the stadium, more dorms on campus. There's no way any of us who lived through the 1990 debacle of the administration trying to cut the team thought that we'd be here in 2022, looking for our fifth coach in school history and playing in what used to be (to an extent) the old Yankee Conference.

We should never stop celebrating our history, but we should also look forward. Yes, the goal is to beat Norfolk State, but also Richmond, Villanova and especially Delaware. That's who you need to beat first hand before you think about beating ND State, but how many FCS teams have beaten them in the last decade? A handful? It ain't easy. JMU beat them on the road in 2016 and now they are in FBS. I'm sure that propelled them to think they could make it. And boy are they making it. I don't believe we'll ever get to that level because nobody ever has, but could we ever beat them? Let's find out in a few years when we play them again.

And I appreciate some of those thoughtful comments. I just can't all of a sudden after following this program for 33 years that we can't do this or we can't do that. Being in Frisco on 2014 taught me that it is possible and you don't need a great QB to do that. A great RB and offensive line certainly helps. What we need to take the next step up is an aggressive DEFENSE and yes, a quaity QB would help.

[omniland 31]

Mat, I know that any one who cares about this program knows that without your efforts there would be no interaction about this program.  We are all thankful for what you do.   I want the best, but am a little doubtful based on the past.  I want to be pleasantly surprised.  Whoever they hire I'll certainly give a chance.  This type of collapse however is just terrible for the program.  Anything I have ever promoted about the football program to others locally has sort have gone down the drain by fielding a product like this.  RA should have been bought out his last year as you simply cannot recruit when you have no extension and no more years on your contract.  I think we would have been better off taking our best assistant and letting him get through this year as interim plus search for a new coach with the idea that he has a shot to get the job.  

As for the championship year, I actually have a more favorable opinion of Athens.  I think he had great accuracy, threw a perfect spiral, a strong arm and was a good athlete.  I'm not sure he really got the credit he deserved. 

[mat1992 2,229]

1 hour ago, omniland said:

Mat, I know that any one who cares about this program knows that without your efforts there would be no interaction about this program.  We are all thankful for what you do.   I want the best, but am a little doubtful based on the past.  I want to be pleasantly surprised.  Whoever they hire I'll certainly give a chance.  This type of collapse however is just terrible for the program.  Anything I have ever promoted about the football program to others locally has sort have gone down the drain by fielding a product like this.  RA should have been bought out his last year as you simply cannot recruit when you have no extension and no more years on your contract.  I think we would have been better off taking our best assistant and letting him get through this year as interim plus search for a new coach with the idea that he has a shot to get the job.  

As for the championship year, I actually have a more favorable opinion of Athens.  I think he had great accuracy, threw a perfect spiral, a strong arm and was a good athlete.  I'm not sure he really got the credit he deserved. 

I agree about Athens. We probably underrated him because Enders got screwed by the NCAA, West was the star of the team  and Athens hadn’t really played since his freshman season. When he got hurt against Eastern Washington that was just another thing that hurt us in the title game.

[AtlantaTiger 202]

Let's revive this thread.....any new or interesting coaching candidate suggestions from anyone??