Mike Leach had the most influence on him.
and mike had 100% of those poor habits
but there were others that could get up for a big game (usually not the biggest rivalry game though) and sometimes win that big game, but also manage to flub one away in the same season…that same coach could get crosswise with big money people and was not really a big alumni glad hander…but he was extremely loyal to players though especially when he was 40…he also never seems to recruit to the level of performance he gets from his team so you know he works hard
dana was “investigated” while at WVU and that is how he got the head coaching position at least a year early, but he was also disloyal to the one that was the head coach…and that head coach was running an older style offense which is why he had dana forced on him in the first place
Sumlin of course liked the sauce as well
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Looking back, all he had to do was beat Rice and Cincinnati and he couldn’t even do that. He has nobody to blame but himself. I wish him well but his head coaching days are likely over.
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@Person’s post summed it up beautifully.
Dana literally bragged that he had an “impossible” buy out. Along with all his hubris and arrogance, he had no incentive to do better or work harder.
When someone tells you who they are, believe them.
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Thank you for the link. Those WVU fans knew from experience what we learned… from experience.
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All of CDH’s problems were between his ears. He had the ability to succeed but did not put in the time to finish what he started. He was the kid in class everyone knew was smart but also the kid who never turned in his homework.
“Only things I like to do are coach and drink”
Now he has more time for one of them
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When he called out his players once I got ticked off.
When he called out his players for the second time I lost respect for him.
Good/Great coaches keep that “in house”
Apart from that I was not in the locker room and will never judge another HC without knowing all details.
From afar it looked like he could not effectively delegates and gauge how his Assistant Coaches performed. That is evident from our ups and downs performances. Terrible recruiting and bad portal recruiting was just the confirmation for me of what I wrote above.
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Dana simply was in over his head and covered it up by being an ass.
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Being in sales and sales management/sales staff management for my career, one of the very first things I learned was in order to be successful in this field it was an absolute must that you develop a relationship with your client. You must search for common ground in order to open communication. CDY didn’t know this, instead he berated the fans (“Fu*% the fans!”), never thanked them for anything, acted like they owed him something and whined when they didn’t show up. Compare this to the CBY era of always being thankful when fans came to the game-no matter how few or how many. I really miss those days.
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CDH didn’t have Case Keenum making him look like a play calling genius.
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Bottom line, it was time for him to go.
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in response to OP question: work ethic.
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See results of 2021, when he called plays, and other seasons where he didn’t call plays.
See how Coogs played against Rice compared to UT or WVU.
It is clear he only tries sometimes. He could be great if he wasn’t so lazy.
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That was the least exciting 12-2 team ever
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NIL is going to drain a lot of coaches if something doesn’t change.
I am sorry but I am pretty sure DH was legit dumb/incompetent. Routinely misjudging his personnel/teams, never having answers for anything and incapable of making the right calls. Far from smart… He just about admitted it, every time he opened his mouth.
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Maybe Dana can go to New Mexico and have them “competitive” for 4 years.
https://twitter.com/skhanjr/status/1729176422420480450?t=ixlQGoEYIzNF1x4SoQFdoQ&s=19
Sam Khan ( UH Alum) offers his opinion on what went wrong during CDH 5 years at UH.
The Athletic = paywall. Well worth 1.00/mo imo.
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He came here and we were elated because it showed that we were serious about stepping up not with just facilities, but willing to bring a “big time” coach in.
I believe that he thought that he did not have to recruit much after that due to the vast amount of quality D1 players in the metro (over 150 signed each year), so even with the leftovers, he could have a good team. Very few came.
The “Covid Season” affected EVEY team in the country.
The 2022 season was about as easy a schedule as you could ask for, but lack of coaching/preparedness/stupid penalties/etc. led us to a “lucky” 8-5.
No adjustments at half time. Virtually all games.
No assistant coaching responsibility (see arm tackles, stupid game/drive killing penalties).
Going for it instead of the points (FG) when you don’t have the team to get those yards.
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