Unless it was Kiffin, any other coach would not have done what Herman did.
Ironically Holgorsen came close in 2021, but it took a season of a lifetime from Cincinnati for that to happen.
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Ok. I get that Hunter was our AD at the time, but I don’t see where McGuire fits into Major being hired/Kiffin not being hired.
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100%.
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I disagree that Todd Orlando would have made a better head coach than Major Applewhite. Performance wise, under Herman, both were successful. While maybe a good defensive coach, Orlando was not known as a good recruiter, did not necessarily like recruiting, and was less charismatic than Applewhite, which is saying something. Statewide, Applewhite had more name recognition than Orlando due to his UT affiliation, and had some endorsements from high school coaches. It appeared that Applewhite could open some recruiting doors that were previously closed. Applewhite seemed to be a better face of the program.
Todd Orlando is a good defensive coach, but not head coach material. Since leaving UH, I’m not sure Orlando has even interviewed for another head coaching position. Applewhite is now head coach at South Alabama.
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To be honest, a good offensive coordinator will get more interviews than a good defensive coordinator.
It’s no different than a QB is more known than the middle linebacker.
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He was the one that spearheaded the letter from the Texas high school coaches that recommended Major be hired at Houston. It supposedly was very influential in the decision making process.
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Appeared and seemed but wasn’t. Not even close. What’s more the hiring of Mark D’Onofrio was an unmitigated disaster. UH went from 30th in team D in 2016 to 119th in 2018.
Keeping Orlando would probably have mean we got to keep Applewhite too because of his scandal at UT. There was a decent chance the program just kept rolling IMHO. Way better than there was with Major and O’fer.
If you hire Orlando there is no chance Applewhite stays. We agree Applewhite’s head coaching here was a disaster. My point wasn’t to assess the results; it was to rationalize the hiring decision.
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They wanted Kiffin, but he didn’t want the job.
When Kiffin balked at the buyout, it was abundantly clear he was a short timer.
That facepage group is atrocious.
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I don’t think Orlando would have the connections to hire a quality OC either so it’s a moot point.
Personalities - guys like Tillman can’t work well with other egos and are boisterous who want the same things he has
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CMA would have definitely been a good OC for sure
Uh…… NO !!
Answer to the original question in the thread title…. OUCH!
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He said “ouch”?
Where was he going? Given the scandel that was in the news at the time Herman could not take him.
Also, doesn’t matter. He wasnt that good of an OC either.
Orlando was a much better DC than Applewhite was an OC. Losing Orlando was huge. Losing Applewhite would not have had the same consequence.
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Orlando would have bombed the OC hire anyways, I doubt he had a network of connections.
Whether you believe it or not, coaching hires are more often about who you know instead of what you know.
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The real bomb was running Kiffin off
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