Now no this is not a bash Fisher thread, or is it one to say we're better off without him. What being turned down DOES do is force Ross to take the best candidate based on the process.
KB has pointed out for awhile how Mike Tomlin blew the old regime away with a GREAT interview but we had to hire an offensive guy. The only offensive guys we even interviewed back then were Cam Cameron and Chan Gailey. Instead of hiring a guy who came in and laid out a great plan to build the team, we went with an offensive guy because Saban, Wanny, and JJ were all defensive guys.
How bout when Sparano was hired. Do you guys remember who else we interviewed? Leslie Frazier and Jim Schwartz. reportedly both ended up being GREAT interviews and had Bill Parcells in awe over what they wanted to do. Why did he hire Tony? Because Tony would do what Parcells wanted to do with the team.
Nick Saban was another farce interview process. Where we interviewed guys like Art Shell to go with the Rooney Rule and then hire Saban rather than actually have a legitimate search.
I understand a great interview doesn't equal success, but let me tell everybody a little story about my favorite college team, the University of Michigan. In 2008 Lloyd Carr retired and we needed a new coach. Needless to say, the hiring process was a debacle, but it looked like Michigan had hit a homerun with the hiring of West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez. Rod had been a winner everywhere he'd been from Portland State, to the OC of Tulane and CLemson, to West Virginia. Everybody thought the hire would be great... it wasn't.
Now flash forward to January 2011. Every Michigan outlet was reporting Michigan was working to close the deal on the Ultimate Michigan Man; Jim Harbaugh. You guys remember all the Harbaugh hype here? Well with Michigan fans, Harbaugh's hire was confirmed in November, but he wanted to coach the bowl game we were told. It was all just a formality, and after winning the Orange Bowl he'd head to Ann Arbor and lead us back to glory... that didn't happen.
Instead, David Brandon contacted guys like Pat Fitzgerald, and Gary Patterson before advisors around him encouraged him to interview San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke. Now Brady was a long time assistant at Michigan who had been at Ball State from 2003 to 2009 and had spent 2 seasons at SDSU. But Brandon didn't think Hoke was qualified for the job. Before becoming the Ball State HC he had only been a DL coach. He was a DC for a high school for 2 years in the early 80's but otherwise he was a DL coach. His record as a HC also wasn't that impressive with only 3 winning seasons, one of which was admittedly a 12-1 season with Ball State. But even with 3 winning seasons in 8 years as a head coach, he still had a losing record. Brandon was conflicted. But he agreed to meet with Brady, who was begging for a chance.
Brady had a great interview and took the job on the spot. Not only did Michigan go to a BCS bowl in his first year, but we are about to have our best recruiting class IN TEN YEARS. And not many Michigan fans liked the hire, feeling it was just hiring somebody cause he was a Michigan Man, but he proved he knew how to coach in a big environment.
Now I understand the pro and college games are different from each other, but the point I was trying to make is that Brady Hoke was not Michigan's first, 2nd, or even 3rd choice (depending on who you talk to) but he interviewed and impressed his future boss. He also won over skeptics and united a fractured family when coming to Michigan.
In not getting a big name like Jeff Fisher, our Front Office is now forced to decide based on the actual interview process. Some of the best coaches in the league came out of nowhere. Andy Reid was never an Offensive Coordinator before being hired by Philly. We've all head John Harbaugh's story. Herm Edwards (who has only 2 less winning seasons than Jeff Fisher in 9 less years) was never a Defensive Coordinator. All of them won the interview process.
How about Mike Tomlin? When Bill Cowher retired, many felt that the Steelers would hire Ken Wisenhunt or Russ Grimm. The word from Pittsburgh was Tomlin was just to satisfy the Rooney Rule, but he won the interview process.
This may all sound like rambling, but good coaches can be found if you have an opened mind during the process. All that glitters is not always gold. Sometimes you need to search, and that is one reason why I am looking at this coaching search with optimism.
KB has pointed out for awhile how Mike Tomlin blew the old regime away with a GREAT interview but we had to hire an offensive guy. The only offensive guys we even interviewed back then were Cam Cameron and Chan Gailey. Instead of hiring a guy who came in and laid out a great plan to build the team, we went with an offensive guy because Saban, Wanny, and JJ were all defensive guys.
How bout when Sparano was hired. Do you guys remember who else we interviewed? Leslie Frazier and Jim Schwartz. reportedly both ended up being GREAT interviews and had Bill Parcells in awe over what they wanted to do. Why did he hire Tony? Because Tony would do what Parcells wanted to do with the team.
Nick Saban was another farce interview process. Where we interviewed guys like Art Shell to go with the Rooney Rule and then hire Saban rather than actually have a legitimate search.
I understand a great interview doesn't equal success, but let me tell everybody a little story about my favorite college team, the University of Michigan. In 2008 Lloyd Carr retired and we needed a new coach. Needless to say, the hiring process was a debacle, but it looked like Michigan had hit a homerun with the hiring of West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez. Rod had been a winner everywhere he'd been from Portland State, to the OC of Tulane and CLemson, to West Virginia. Everybody thought the hire would be great... it wasn't.
Now flash forward to January 2011. Every Michigan outlet was reporting Michigan was working to close the deal on the Ultimate Michigan Man; Jim Harbaugh. You guys remember all the Harbaugh hype here? Well with Michigan fans, Harbaugh's hire was confirmed in November, but he wanted to coach the bowl game we were told. It was all just a formality, and after winning the Orange Bowl he'd head to Ann Arbor and lead us back to glory... that didn't happen.
Instead, David Brandon contacted guys like Pat Fitzgerald, and Gary Patterson before advisors around him encouraged him to interview San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke. Now Brady was a long time assistant at Michigan who had been at Ball State from 2003 to 2009 and had spent 2 seasons at SDSU. But Brandon didn't think Hoke was qualified for the job. Before becoming the Ball State HC he had only been a DL coach. He was a DC for a high school for 2 years in the early 80's but otherwise he was a DL coach. His record as a HC also wasn't that impressive with only 3 winning seasons, one of which was admittedly a 12-1 season with Ball State. But even with 3 winning seasons in 8 years as a head coach, he still had a losing record. Brandon was conflicted. But he agreed to meet with Brady, who was begging for a chance.
Brady had a great interview and took the job on the spot. Not only did Michigan go to a BCS bowl in his first year, but we are about to have our best recruiting class IN TEN YEARS. And not many Michigan fans liked the hire, feeling it was just hiring somebody cause he was a Michigan Man, but he proved he knew how to coach in a big environment.
Now I understand the pro and college games are different from each other, but the point I was trying to make is that Brady Hoke was not Michigan's first, 2nd, or even 3rd choice (depending on who you talk to) but he interviewed and impressed his future boss. He also won over skeptics and united a fractured family when coming to Michigan.
In not getting a big name like Jeff Fisher, our Front Office is now forced to decide based on the actual interview process. Some of the best coaches in the league came out of nowhere. Andy Reid was never an Offensive Coordinator before being hired by Philly. We've all head John Harbaugh's story. Herm Edwards (who has only 2 less winning seasons than Jeff Fisher in 9 less years) was never a Defensive Coordinator. All of them won the interview process.
How about Mike Tomlin? When Bill Cowher retired, many felt that the Steelers would hire Ken Wisenhunt or Russ Grimm. The word from Pittsburgh was Tomlin was just to satisfy the Rooney Rule, but he won the interview process.
This may all sound like rambling, but good coaches can be found if you have an opened mind during the process. All that glitters is not always gold. Sometimes you need to search, and that is one reason why I am looking at this coaching search with optimism.
