I think it’s important to remember where we are in the pecking order here, folks. We have two options — go for a “safe” hire where you know what you’re getting or roll the dice and take a risk. If you’re satisfied with 8-4, go ahead, play it safe with a guy who has been a head coach for a while, maybe even a guy who has flopped before as a P5 head coach. But if you want the big payout, you are going to have to take a risk. That’s the reality we face as a non blue-blood program.
Look at the non blue-bloods who have risen to double-digit wins this year: Minnesota hired P.J. Fleck, who had one excellent season at Western Michigan but is a young, energetic guy that can change the fortunes of a previous middling program through sheer force of will. Baylor hired Matt Rhule, who had proven slightly more at Temple (two consecutive 10-win seasons) but was barely over 40 when Baylor hired him.
If you want the big payout, you have to take the risk on a relatively unproven young guy.
So given the options out there, who is the closest approximation that we can realistically get?
It’s Will Healy, who turned one of the worst programs in FCS history, Austin Peay, into a playoff team, and who turned a brand new FBS team into a bowl team. How? From what I’ve seen, he did it in very Fleck-like fashion: by bringing into the program a youthful energy that resonates with both current players and recruits.
We’ve all seen the videos of Healy's interactions with his players. Tell me these guys aren’t having fun. Tell me these guys aren’t bought in. Watch the man speak. Watch the way his team reacts. Tell me he doesn’t have a little bit of Dabo in him.
Coaching college football isn’t brain surgery. It’s about two things: getting good players and getting them to do what you tell them to do consistently enough to win football games. It’s pretty clear to me that Healy can do both of those things, and I think he’d continue to do so at Mizzou with a nice little southern down-home charm that would play tremendously in living rooms from Texas to Florida.
You want to pass that up to hire Lane Kiffin, who may be amusing on Twitter but couldn’t harness the talent at a recruiting powerhouse like USC and has Joey Freshwater stories following from Tuscaloosa to Boca?
Healy is a relentless recruiter, he builds to last even after he’s gone (Austin Peay in the playoffs and won Rd. 1 over traditional FCS contender Furman), he’s getting top talent to consider Charlotte — a school that’s been in the FBS for like 5 minutes —
I’ve heard people say “You didn’t fire Barry to hire Will Healy.” Well, you didn’t fire Barry to hire anyone; you fired Barry because this team could have and should have won 10 games this year and instead won six. If it had won eight, he’d still have a job, but you’d all still be disappointed. So don’t hire someone you think is going to win eight games.
The sooner we accept what we are and roll the dice, the sooner we will be back where we want to be, competing for division titles and maybe more. It’s the only way. Otherwise we are doomed to mediocrity, just the way it is for those schools outside the top tier.
Don’t just accept destiny. Embrace it. Hire Healy.
Look at the non blue-bloods who have risen to double-digit wins this year: Minnesota hired P.J. Fleck, who had one excellent season at Western Michigan but is a young, energetic guy that can change the fortunes of a previous middling program through sheer force of will. Baylor hired Matt Rhule, who had proven slightly more at Temple (two consecutive 10-win seasons) but was barely over 40 when Baylor hired him.
If you want the big payout, you have to take the risk on a relatively unproven young guy.
So given the options out there, who is the closest approximation that we can realistically get?
It’s Will Healy, who turned one of the worst programs in FCS history, Austin Peay, into a playoff team, and who turned a brand new FBS team into a bowl team. How? From what I’ve seen, he did it in very Fleck-like fashion: by bringing into the program a youthful energy that resonates with both current players and recruits.
We’ve all seen the videos of Healy's interactions with his players. Tell me these guys aren’t having fun. Tell me these guys aren’t bought in. Watch the man speak. Watch the way his team reacts. Tell me he doesn’t have a little bit of Dabo in him.
Coaching college football isn’t brain surgery. It’s about two things: getting good players and getting them to do what you tell them to do consistently enough to win football games. It’s pretty clear to me that Healy can do both of those things, and I think he’d continue to do so at Mizzou with a nice little southern down-home charm that would play tremendously in living rooms from Texas to Florida.
You want to pass that up to hire Lane Kiffin, who may be amusing on Twitter but couldn’t harness the talent at a recruiting powerhouse like USC and has Joey Freshwater stories following from Tuscaloosa to Boca?
Healy is a relentless recruiter, he builds to last even after he’s gone (Austin Peay in the playoffs and won Rd. 1 over traditional FCS contender Furman), he’s getting top talent to consider Charlotte — a school that’s been in the FBS for like 5 minutes —
I’ve heard people say “You didn’t fire Barry to hire Will Healy.” Well, you didn’t fire Barry to hire anyone; you fired Barry because this team could have and should have won 10 games this year and instead won six. If it had won eight, he’d still have a job, but you’d all still be disappointed. So don’t hire someone you think is going to win eight games.
The sooner we accept what we are and roll the dice, the sooner we will be back where we want to be, competing for division titles and maybe more. It’s the only way. Otherwise we are doomed to mediocrity, just the way it is for those schools outside the top tier.
Don’t just accept destiny. Embrace it. Hire Healy.
