Dave Sez

Dave – the big bad chest has stalked the sideline at C-F for the last time. I have put together a little list of candidates and I would like your comments on it.

First off – the black list (folks that will be mentioned on talk radio that I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole):
-Rick Neuheisel
-Gary Barnett
-Mike Price
-George O’Leary

Now the good list (in order that I would call them):
-Bill Cowher (Steelers)
-Norm Chow (Titans)
-Bobby Petrino (Louisville)
-Paul Johnson (Navy)
-Jimbo Fisher (LSU)
-Jim Donnan (ESPN)
-Rich Rodriguez (WVU)
-Tyrone Willingham (Washington)
-Jim Grobe (WFU)
-Bud Foster (VT)

I a perfect Wolfpack world we could land Cowher as head coach, Chow as OC and Bud as DC. Hey, it doesn’t hurt to dream right?

As a huge fan and alumnus of NC State, I will always remember Chuck for the good things he did for us. Namely the improvements to C-F and the passion he injected into the fan base. I wish him the best, but at the same time look forward to moving on.

I'll take a crack. I agree with your blacklist, but I'll take a look at the others ...

-Bill Cowher (Steelers) - Not gonna happen

-Norm Chow (Titans) - Pretty unlikely. He's got things rolling in Tenn and might just stay in the NFL.

-Bobby Petrino (Louisville) - I really doubt it. He's in a good position at Louisville and can probably only be pried away by a first tier program, like maybe Miami.

-Paul Johnson (Navy) - Bingo! He's a guy you could get and should go after.

-Jimbo Fisher (LSU) - I really don't know much about him, but LSU has had a very good offense for a few years now.

-Jim Donnan (ESPN) - Is he really looking to come out of retirement? I don't think this would be a good idea.

-Rich Rodriguez (WVU) - See Petrino, but even more so.

-Tyrone Willingham (Washington) - Hmm, this is interesting. I doubt he'd want to change jobs yet again though.

-Jim Grobe (WFU) - I don't like the idea of raiding another ACC school. I guess it's a possibility, but I don't think Grobe would do that to Wake.

-Bud Foster (VT) - I've already said that I like this choice. Just look at how far this Tech team has progressed this year. This guy puts together elite defenses year after year. State fans could be wary of hiring a defensive assistant from a power program again.

Besides the obvious, why wouldn't George O'Leary be a resonable candidate for this job? Personally, I think he's served his time for the Application fiasco and is one hell of a coach, but I could be in the minority on this one.

Could you imagine how competitive the ACC would be if NC State landed a Paul Johnson/Jimbo Fisher and if Miami grabs Bobby Petrino away from Louisville? That would inject 20x more enthuaism from me when college football season rolls around...

Blind hog finds chesnut! Thanks for the props.

For any Willingham admirers playing up his NC roots, read this:
http://www.seattlest.com/archives/2006/11/16/huskies_mutiny_in_cyberspace.php
Raleigh isn't far from Pinehurst, so based on Ty's propensity for golf as reported by the bubbas at EDSBS, he may not be the most energetic coach they could find... Plus, do they want to hire someone who got beat by Stanford???

Bud Foster replied to Kyle Tucker's (Virginian-Pilot) question about head coaching vacancies with his usual statement about the great gig he's got in Blacksburg. Then he added "... And there's some real coach killers out there. I've had some opportunities to go get jobs, but... to be a head coach just to be a head coach doesn't flip my switch."

Behind the country demeanor, lies a balanced, analytical man. The coaching ranks are littered with the carcasses of "can't miss" assistants who jumped one job too far. Beamer is 59, Billy Hite is in his early 50s, Foster is 47, and Stinespring is 43. Demographically, I'd say Stinespring has the best chance of being in place when Beamer hangs it up. So, NCSU may have a shot...

With all the jobs opening up, wonder why this one?

http://colleges.beloblog.com/archives/2006/11/chizik_to_take_over_at_iowa_state.html

Time to GOOGLE...

Ed-Hoo wrote:

For any Willingham admirers playing up his NC roots, read this: http://www.seattlest.com/archives/2006/11/16/huskies_mutiny_in_cyberspace.php Raleigh isn't far from Pinehurst, so based on Ty's propensity for golf as reported by the bubbas at EDSBS, he may not be the most energetic coach they could find... Plus, do they want to hire someone who got beat by Stanford???

Good find. Bad move by Willingham. I hate it when coaches do that. Unless a player is being removed for some discipline or academic reason, it's pretty much never worth it. Sure, you might bring in some good freshman, but the odds are, that player won't offset the loss of the other players plus the ill will created when they were banished. It makes even less sense than normal in this case, because the two players sound like guys who get good minutes. Baffling.

A good example of this was Pete Gillen's terrible decision to chuck Majestic Mapp after he had worked so hard to get back healthy. It was the sign of a panicking coach and I think it lost him his team for good.