Thoughts on Dana and the Future

Ive come to a conclusion about Holgorsen after thinking about it the last few days. Holgerson should not be the Coach past this season, he can not lead us into the big 12 (not saying it will happen, just my hope for the program)… I feel I have to say this now because we are likely about to go on a winning streak and it will be difficult to expand on this on a later date.
I’m saying that i think he will win the next few games, so its not all about win and losses

Here is the flat truth that many here wont like to admit; Dana is a bad recruiter (talking overall classes, not 1 or 2 players. its just a fact).
Recruiting has always been secondary to me, i don’t care what your recruiting rankings look like as long as you are winning. Sampson was not great at recruiting the 1st 3 years but he was winning at a high level without it, so it didnt matter

I’ve come to accept dana doesnt win enough to excuse the poor recruiting. if we were staying in the AAC i could maybe see dana figuring out how to be on top of the league in 2-3 seasons (STRONG MAYBE), but dana will never be an elite-level big 12 coach (on a consistent basis). if everyone here is honest they’d agree with that, even the Dana supporters. The BEST case scenario is regularly 7-9 wins, once every 6 years maybe pushing it to 11. that might not sound bad, but that is a “best-case scenario” realistic is far worse.

why now? why not wait and see how he does before pre-judging? Conference realignment is a mega catalyst for recruiting and a moment that can only be captured once… buzz created by switching conferences is electric and under the right recruiter is program changing…it is not the same as recruiting after 3 years of mediocrity in the big 12 and the buzz of the invite is gone…a guy like Herman would have already started plotting a top 15 nationally recruiting classs and a top 10 transfer class the moment the big 12 news drops.
even if we finished 9-3 on the season my opinion would still likely not change on this … i at least want the “potential” of future dominance to be there

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Who could you see as a potential replacements going into the big 12? Would fritz be a guy you’d have faith in?

K.C. Keller from Sam Houston.

Price would be right and a proven winner in every level he coached.

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Please I would love that

Lincoln Riley’s brother at Smu OC might be an option. Garrett Riley

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I don’t want anyone attached to the B12 or any foundering p5 program. As soon as that job opens they go home. Its the reason our timing on Riley killed us and would have killed us later.

I’d prefer a detached hotshot, maybe someone from out west, who makes their name at lower levels and comes from an FCS background. Someone who scrapes and fights their way to the top. Someone who is admired for building programs one level at a time.

I don’t know if that person exists but it would be better than a former OU or UT player/staffer that makes his name riding stronger programs’ coaching staffs only to win a few games here and go home after three seasons.

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There are many options to replace Dana if we were to move on from him. I’d want a leader type who wants to prove themselves and will work hard. They also need to recruit well, especially in Houston. Build that fence around the city. Options below

Current head coaches: Billy Napier, Bill Clark, Sonny Dykes, Jeff Traylor, Kliff Kingsbury (might get fired at AZ), KC Keeler

Current assistants: Jeff Lebby, Rhett Lashlee, Todd Monken, Alex Grinch, Mike Elko, Marcus Freeman, Phil Longo, Graham Harrell

I would agree Dana is not a good recruiter. That’s pretty evident at this point. I also don’t think he is the guy to lead the program into the B12. Fritz and Kliff (if he’s available, of course), would be at the top of my list.

It’s not just a matter of HC but also the staff they bring in. For my criteria I would use as a template CBY:
Someone with unassailable personal character.
A charismatic person who inspires media, alums, donors, players and recruits.
A football innovator.
A good judge of person and talent in staff and players.
Someone with a devotion and loyalty to our university
Hard to find? Absolutely, but specified criteria should be the start.

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I like those criteria.

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Sampson signed players with talent & upside while not having any facility benefit & having to overcome the fact that our program was in the toilet. Dana’s recruiting shortfalls are caused by something that needs the AD to review.

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Dana doesn’t throw the ball. His play calls don’t dictate to throw into double or triple coverage. Tune has done so season after season. But also Dana has not brought in his own qb recruit that can out preform tune. Isn’t that worst case scenario when a new coach comes in? He’s gonna bring in his recruits from his previous stint. He has done nothing to improve at that position. Guys in waiting behind tune now might not get to play under Dana considering all the negative black lash.

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I wonder if Bill Obrien would take it.

Would allow his family to stay in Houston and it would be at a Power school.

He’d also be allowed to be more of a dictator in college than in the NFL

And I was NOT a BOB Texans fan but he may just be better at college…he does have something to prove.

No BOB!

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I really think Hugh Freeze needs to be our first call.

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Never on Bill O’Brien.

Didn’t Freeze get fired at Ol’ Miss for breaking rules?

Looked him up in Wikipedia. No thanks. This sounds like what I remember:

Under Freeze, the Ole Miss football program committed various recruiting and academic violations that figured in the NCAA’s decision to expunge 27 of Freeze’s wins and ban it from post-season play for two years.[4] He resigned from Ole Miss after officials discovered that he had used a university cellphone to call escort services multiple times over the course of five years.[5]

I actually think O’Brien would be a good college coach. Sports writers wouldn’t be happy though. Ha!

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Ya he got fired for breaking rules, his ability to coach was never in question. Who also got in trouble for rule breaking, Kelvin Sampson.

I think Freeze has learned from his mistakes and his time at liberty is proving he can still coach very well. I think Freeze is going to be hungry to prove he can coach at a high level again as well as clean up his reputation.

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Clay Helton? He’s been on the “hot seat” for years…would he like to come here?

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You’re going to compare Freeze to Sampson?

Sampson made too many phone calls (or texts?). The rule Sampson broke is no longer a rule–coaches do it all the time now.

Why am I not surprised that he ended up at Liberty where their president was just removed for a lot of the same things? They were made for each other. I don’t want to break them up.

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