Coaching Search

[MSTSatchmo]

I’m guessing Selmon doesn’t have any concerns with the Briles connection.   As far as bringing Durkin in, I wasn’t that impressed with his defenses at OM.  A&M was a little better, but they have a ton of talent.  
 

The coaching rumors are getting crazy today.  Day or Dabo to A&M.  Elko’s stock is dropping after a couple poor Duke performances.  
 

I was thinking Arnett was a good bit younger than Lebby, but they’re just 2 years apart, however Lebby was already the OQC coach at Baylor in 2007 and Arnett didn’t become a grad assistant until 2011, so Lebby does have a little more experience.   Still a “settle” hire to me.  

[Bulldogs4]

When I hear he gets three years I cringe.
This microwave way of hiring and firing coaches and players for that matter these days is making college football much worse IMO. 

 

If Lebby is indeed the new coach, I would like to see him have at least 5 years (through ups and downs). I know State contracts are maximum 4 years but as a State fan and alum for over 60 years, I would like to see some stability in the football program. We need someone in place for a while going forward. 
 

At least that is my opinion. And I know with NIL and the transfer portal, that constant turnover is here to stay. Leaves me disheartened about the current state of college football now and going forward. The overall product is going to decline precipitously. 
 

 

[Dawg83]

Mark Stoops to A&M appears to be happening. Wow. Didn’t see that one coming. Feels a little underwhelming, honestly. At least for a program with A&M’s expectations.

 

Jon Sumrall at Troy is likely the front runner at UK now.

[Dawg83]

I think the narrative that State is super impatient with coaching hires is a little misleading.

 

Yes, Moorhead and Arnett didn’t got long leashes. But both took over programs that were already in a good spot. And things were trending TERRIBLY at the time of their dismissals. Their task was to maintain, and they weren’t.

 

Make no mistake about it, Lebby has a rebuild in front of him. State is not in a great spot at the moment and expectations for 2024 won’t be high. I feel confident he will be allowed more patience, assuming no major off field scandal.

 

Very curious to see his portal approach, though. State is going to need a lot.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Dawg83

[MSTSatchmo]

29 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Mark Stoops to A&M appears to be happening. Wow. Didn’t see that one coming. Feels a little underwhelming, honestly. At least for a program with A&M’s expectations.

 

Jon Sumrall at Troy is likely the front runner at UK now.

How much is Bjork’s buyout?  

[MSTSatchmo]

33 minutes ago, Bulldogs4 said:

 

At least that is my opinion. And I know with NIL and the transfer portal, that constant turnover is here to stay. Leaves me disheartened about the current state of college football now and going forward. The overall product is going to decline precipitously. 
 

 

Just wait until there’s profit sharing with players and  a players union.  
 

I agree there needs to be more time given.  Look at Norvell at FSU.  It took a few years to get it straightened out and it took ignoring the chants to get rid of him after 5-7 in year two.  
 

I say at least 4 years since that’s the max contract.  Lebby will be gone if he has a couple good years at State and a better job comes up, but that’s a better scenario than firing someone because they’re not bowl eligible.  

[MSTSatchmo]

Back to Lebby at State, I guess he was higher in Selmon’s list than Fritz or even Elko?   Selmon bragged about his connections.  He better hope this hire is a hit, because State is his first AD job and it the first can make or break a career. 

[coastfootballfanman]

1 minute ago, MSTSatchmo said:

Back to Lebby at State, I guess he was higher in Selmon’s list than Fritz or even Elko?   Selmon bragged about his connections.  He better hope this hire is a hit, because State is his first AD job and it the first can make or break a career. 

I could be completely wrong, but I have a bad feeling about this if Lebby gets it. I just do not see him as the best candidate for the job unless 4-5 other people said no thanks. I have a feeling State will be hiring another coach in 3-4 years and it will not be because he was super successful 

[MSTSatchmo]

10 minutes ago, coastfootballfanman said:

I could be completely wrong, but I have a bad feeling about this if Lebby gets it. I just do not see him as the best candidate for the job unless 4-5 other people said no thanks. I have a feeling State will be hiring another coach in 3-4 years and it will not be because he was super successful 

That’s what I was wondering.  It’s almost a known fact that Chadwell turned it down.   All the talk was that Fritz would take it if offered, but I have a hard time believing that Selmon had Lebby higher on his list than Fritz because of the emphasis on HC experience.  Maybe Fritz turned it down.  Maybe the Oklahoma connection had Lebby higher in Selmon’s list.   I’m sure fans would like to know, but we will get the “he was our guy all along” response. 

[Dawg83]

Hold the phone on A&M, the Stoops deal appears to be falling apart. Ross Bjork is doing his best 2017 Tennessee coaching search impression.

[Dawg83]

19 minutes ago, MSTSatchmo said:

That’s what I was wondering.  It’s almost a known fact that Chadwell turned it down.   All the talk was that Fritz would take it if offered, but I have a hard time believing that Selmon had Lebby higher on his list than Fritz because of the emphasis on HC experience.  Maybe Fritz turned it down.  Maybe the Oklahoma connection had Lebby higher in Selmon’s list.   I’m sure fans would like to know, but we will get the “he was our guy all along” response. 

The first guy almost never gets hired. If I recall, Kiffin wasn’t even OM’s first choice. They wanted Norvell initially but he chose Florida State pretty quickly.

 

I am sure State got told no thanks a few times. Probably by Elko, Leipold, Chadwell, and Lashlee. I think each of those guys preferred to wait for something higher profile. That’s fine, it happens.

 

I know for a fact that Fritz and Sumrall were interviewed. But I believe there was concern about either one being able to get just a ton of fan support. Fritz is older and took a while to get going at Tulane. Sumrall is a defensive guy who also has heavy ties to Kentucky and could bolt for that job when it opens.

 

State wanted an offense guy, and I think of the interested candidates, Lebby fit the bill the best.

 

There is no sure thing with these things, especially for someone like State. You’ve gotta take some risks no matter what. I have no problem with chasing upside, which Lebby does have. Maybe it doesn’t work, but I don’t mind doing something different and trying to fix a badly broken offense.

[MSTSatchmo]

Instant offensive upgrade in my opinion.  It will be interesting to see what they do in the portal.  

[Dawg83]

Not surprised to see some State people pearl clutching over this hire. The same people magically won’t care about it anymore and will be right there in the Lebby bandwagon if he starts putting up points and winning games.

[pancho]

7 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

Hold the phone on A&M, the Stoops deal appears to be falling apart. Ross Bjork is doing his best 2017 Tennessee coaching search impression.

Is Bjork being instructed to go for Lane?

[coastfootballfanman]

54 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Not surprised to see some State people pearl clutching over this hire. The same people magically won’t care about it anymore and will be right there in the Lebby bandwagon if he starts putting up points and winning games.

Winning cures everything. Just because they do not like the hire now (I am one of those), does not mean they will not jump on board and support if he starts winning (I will… LOL). 

[MSTSatchmo]

5 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

Not surprised to see some State people pearl clutching over this hire. The same people magically won’t care about it anymore and will be right there in the Lebby bandwagon if he starts putting up points and winning games.

 

With the debacle happening at A&M, some have reported that A&M is considering the interim coach Robinson who was the DL coach.  Also mentioned was Elko as HC and Robinson as DC.  
I know Durkin has been mentioned as State’s DC, but if Robinson gets away from A&M he could be a candidate for State.  They’d probably have to give him his first shot at a coordinator position, but he seems to be a coach players love to play for.  

[MSTSatchmo]

So Elko to A&M.  For now.  
 

And that would answer the Robinson question.   Elko probably moves him up to DC to keep players and recruits.  Being a former DC himself, he could always keep an eye on the defense at the same time. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by MSTSatchmo

[Bulldog 71]

Lebby just announced as coach by email to alumni by Selmon. 

[MSTSatchmo]

Now that it’s official, who would State fans like as DC? 

[Dawg83]

31 minutes ago, MSTSatchmo said:

Now that it’s official, who would State fans like as DC? 

Durkin is not my first choice but would be a decent option. I think the first call should be Jim Leonhard (former Wisconsin DC, current Illinois analyst). But there are some good G5 DC’s that could work too. Shiel Wood at Tulane and Scott Symons at SMU immediately come to mind.

 

Not DC related, but there are rumors that Kendal Briles could be coming to State as OC. Apparently he’s not getting along great with Dykes at TCU.

 

You wanna talk pearl clutching, a staff of Lebby-Briles-Durkin would bring haters out of the woodwork. Even if they’re all good coaches, people don’t like them for fairly obvious reasons.

[rebmus]

Tom Allen fired from Indiana as HC, he'll land somewhere as a DC at a P5 school or HC at a G5 school. 

 

[coastfootballfanman]

42 minutes ago, MSTSatchmo said:

Now that it’s official, who would State fans like as DC? 

I have always like Lance Guidry who is at Miami. Tulane got him for about a week last year before Miami came and got him. Not sure if it would be possible, but he is a Louisiana boy. His defenses are typically solid. 

[Bulldogs4]

I hope he keeps some of the current staff such as Knox, Turner, Hughes and Bumphis. 
Those four are solid coaches who are good recruiters. Plus there would be some continuity with the returning players. 
 

I do like the hire. I am sure some people will criticize it because he is not a sitting HC. So there is some risk here but that is a given. 
 

Hopefully we can turn a new page and put the last twelve months in the rear view mirror. 

I can envision Lebby being similar to the AZ situation where they struggled in year 1. Continued to struggle in year 2 but in the second half of the season, saw some improvement and now this year, they have blossomed in to a very good team. I can see him doing that at State. 

[MSTSatchmo]

1 hour ago, Dawg83 said:

 

You wanna talk pearl clutching, a staff of Lebby-Briles-Durkin would bring haters out of the woodwork. Even if they’re all good coaches, people don’t like them for fairly obvious reasons.

Lol.  That would definitely get some attention.  

[Dawg83]

13 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

I hope he keeps some of the current staff such as Knox, Turner, Hughes and Bumphis. 
Those four are solid coaches who are good recruiters. Plus there would be some continuity with the returning players. 
 

I do like the hire. I am sure some people will criticize it because he is not a sitting HC. So there is some risk here but that is a given. 
 

Hopefully we can turn a new page and put the last twelve months in the rear view mirror. 

I can envision Lebby being similar to the AZ situation where they struggled in year 1. Continued to struggle in year 2 but in the second half of the season, saw some improvement and now this year, they have blossomed in to a very good team. I can see him doing that at State. 

I think if Lebby only goes 5-7 or 6-6 next year but State looks clearly better on offense then you won’t hear much complaining at all. 

 

I don’t think State’s ceiling in 2024 is that high because of how tough the schedule is but there are winnable games. Two gimme nonconference games and then Arizona State and Toledo in September will be tests (Toledo is 11-1 this year). SEC home schedule (Mizzou, A&M, Arkansas, Florida) has some games you can absolutely win but the road schedule (Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Ole Miss) is a nightmare potentially, will definitely be underdogs in all four.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Dawg83