That is why I think give Todd Dodge (Westlake, the #4 HS team in the country) a shot at it and maybe he can bring his son Riley (HC Southlake Carroll) with him. Those two were the head coaches in the 6A championship game last year. Will have many established recruiting connections in central Texas and D/FW areas. I know his time at North Texas was an ultra-dumpster but I would like to give him another shot at it if he would be interested in it.
Thoughts on potential candidates to replace Jake Spavital
- Thread starter San Antonio Bobcat
- Start date
LSU Bobcat
Active member
Todd already failed miserably at UNT with Riley at QB. No way.
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Bakertxst04
Guest
I'm inclined to agree on this one. Todd may be a great HS coach, but his tenure at UNT was not great.
I guess he's going out on top. Nix that idea.
Hope so - 3Peat would be nice! Go Chaps Go!
LT Spider
Active member
This will be an unpopular opinion but after a lot of thought, I am now in favor of a retread experienced coach looking for his last job before retirement a la Fran. I DONT want that to be our long term strategy, but I think it’s necessary until we have a functional athletic department.
There are so many obstacles to overcome within our athletic department, I don’t think it’s realistic to ask somebody with only coordinator experience to learn to be a HC while simultaneously working around the mess. I actually think Spav is a decent coach but he’s in over his head right now.
When we go FCS, it’s likely going to be a guy coming from a much more functional program, even if it has a smaller budget.
The most success we had at this level was easily with Fran. He wasn’t a particularly great coach but had been around enough athletic departments to figure out a way to make it work. We need to get back to that basic functional level then we can go get the next hot shot coordinator.
There are so many obstacles to overcome within our athletic department, I don’t think it’s realistic to ask somebody with only coordinator experience to learn to be a HC while simultaneously working around the mess. I actually think Spav is a decent coach but he’s in over his head right now.
When we go FCS, it’s likely going to be a guy coming from a much more functional program, even if it has a smaller budget.
The most success we had at this level was easily with Fran. He wasn’t a particularly great coach but had been around enough athletic departments to figure out a way to make it work. We need to get back to that basic functional level then we can go get the next hot shot coordinator.
Bobcat2010
Active member
Love it.
I could live with this. Look at what Terry Bowden has done for ULM. 0-10 last year and as of today they are 4-3. They have App St, Louisiana, TXST, Arkansas St and LSU left on their schedule. If they can beat us and stAte they'll be 6-6 and have a chance to go bowling. Pretty impressive if you ask me.
DrumCat
Active member
I don't hate the idea because in our history it's clearly the only way we've found success at this level.
However, I have two main issues...
1) What is the retread coach motivated by? If they were moderately successful throughout a long career, they should have hefty retirement savings - they don't *need* the paycheck, and they're probably not looking to step up from here.
I understand that those things aren't crucial to success and motivation to win, but it brings me to my other concern...
2) How do you end on a positive note? The best case scenario at the G5 level is that a coach is successful and hired away because that means we're in a good spot for someone to come in and build on that momentum. What retread coach is going to take a team to a pair of 10 win seasons and ride off into the sunset? Either they're unsuccessful and forced into retirement, or they experience unsustained success and eventually get ran out anyways a la Fran. I'm sure there are examples of this scenario going well, but I'd imagine they're far and few between.
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Bakertxst04
Guest
1) For some coaches, it's simply the life they've known and they find themselves bored with retirement. Tommy Bowden is getting paid half of what Spav is being paid for twice the wins. They look for a low-expectations situation and work to improve it. They get the credit for the turnaround and get to enjoy the coaching life again. It's a shame that Fran only lasted two years before everything fell apart for him. I wish we would have had a better plan in place than "who's next on the coaching roster" and could have built on that success.
2) Tommy Bowden is the most recent example that I can think of off the top of my head, so we'll go with him. If he can produce three winning seasons in three years with ULM, I think nearly everyone involved would call that a success. He doesn't have to go 12-0 or even 10-2 to be successful. 8-4 or 7-5 with bowl games would be huge for that program. He's certainly on track to accomplish this depending on their schedule for next year. I doubt a P5 school would be interested because they seem to desire a more "flashy" hire than someone like Tommy Bowden or Fran. It's all about winning the water cooler war for them, and old-school guys that aren't already a huge success are more likely to be passed over.
I don't know how well his tenure will turn out at ULM. He's off to a good start in his first year, but we will have to see how he does with the next 2-3 years.
SWTRefugee
M&G Gift Contributor
I cannot believe you made it out of here alive with the FCS comment but I agree wholeheartedly with it.
As for the next coach, what about "recycled/rehabilitated" vs retread? Lane Kiffin and Bret Bieliema fit that definition. Coaches who flamed out at the head coach level, went back down to a lesser job and are now good coaches. Arky State is trying that experiment with Butch Jones. Maybe too close to Spav with the WV tie, but what about Rich Rod? A recycled coach who can use us for a stepping stone?
Not at our current level but Dave Bailiff's current situation might fit the successful retread definition. They have received some coverage here in D/FW and it appears he and his team are having a blast. Don't see why he would want to go anywhere else until he retires.
Bobcat1
Active member
At this point, and I never thought I'd say this......Bailiff would be the hands down best candidate given all the factors people have mentioned. I can almost guarantee you he would bring back Barrick Nealy in some capacity and possibly Tom Herman as OC & Craig Naivar at DC.
Don - do you need me to get Tom Herman’s phone number for you. I was excited when we hired Spav, but after seeing improvement last year, this year we have taken two maybe three steps backward. I don’t think we can afford to wait for the new president to come on board - we have to put this fire out now!
Goldievirtuoso
M&G Gift Contributor
Buyout Spav’s Contract, organized by Tyler Emanuel
Hello, for years now Texas state has failed as a football program and recently it has fallen bec… Tyler Emanuel needs your support for Buyout Spav’s Contract
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SWTRefugee
M&G Gift Contributor
Buyout Spav’s Contract, organized by Tyler Emanuel
Hello, for years now Texas state has failed as a football program and recently it has fallen bec… Tyler Emanuel needs your support for Buyout Spav’s Contractwww.gofundme.com
Send the link to dc32@txstate.eduBuyout Spav’s Contract, organized by Tyler Emanuel
Hello, for years now Texas state has failed as a football program and recently it has fallen bec… Tyler Emanuel needs your support for Buyout Spav’s Contractwww.gofundme.com
