Coaching Hot Seat Rankings (10-6-15)

[Coach Bill Lewis]

http://www.coacheshotseat.com/CoachesHotSeatRanking.htm

 

 

 

 

[mattmartin817]

HOORAY!! We are almost in the top 25 for something!!! USA USA USA!!

[KingDL1]

Coming in at 26^th and getting hotter.

 

Is there an AD hot seat? I figure RV has to be at least a Top 5. Good to be top of something. 

[MeanGreenTexan]

I wouldn't mind taking the guy sitting in the seat just under McCarney if he were to be available at the end of the year.  

Plenty of Texas connections, very successful offensive pedigree, still fairly young...

[Harry]

Clearly the salary discrepancies are shocking between p5 and g5.  But there are lessons to be learned here.

What's interesting is Mac is being paid in the same vicinity of HC's at Tulsa (Montgomery), Norm Chow (Hawaii), Todd Monken (USM), Stockstill (MUTS), Baliff (Rice), Anderson (Ark State), Skip Holtz (La. Tech), Jeff Brohm (WKU), Doc Holiday(Marshall), and Matt Campbell (Toledo).

Another interesting point is EVERY AAC team is paying at least $1- 2 million for their head coaches.  The difference in coaching salaries between C-USA and AAC is also dramatic.  the Mountain West has some $1 Million a year guys but not as many.  Still they pay on average higher than C-USA.

So while we don't pay near what the top schools pay, we appear to be competitive in the C-USA.  Given our situation and history I wonder if that is enough.  I also think assistant salary pool is huge perhaps more important than head coaching salary.

What do our peers offer the top candidates?  A stepping stone to gold and lifetime financial security job at the p5's basically.  Look at Arkansas State -- they bring in Gus Mahlzan, he makes 750K, wins and moves on to Auburn where he now makes $4 million a year guaranteed for a period of time.  The problem we face is we haven't had that happen.  The best post-UNT head coaching career we have right now is Darrell Dickey who is the OC at top 25 Memphis.  Ark State can sell coaches on the fact that they have place two head coaches at bigger jobs, Mahlzan, Hugh Freeze (now making 4.3 Million at Ole Miss) and Bryan Harsin (Making 1.5 mil at Boise). 

I think the boilerplate for us should be Memphis.  they hire Fuente, a young, rising head coach and OUTSTANDING recruiter from TCU.  They step up their salaries to be HIGHLY COMPETITIVE (Fuente makes 1.4 Million) and hire an outstanding group of assistants who ALSO CAN RECRUIT.  His first two years were tough but last season he shared the AAC championship and right now they are top 25 and 5-0.  They had a plan and stuck to it.

[risinggreen]

We've always been a head coaches graveyard. Nobody but Fry and Moore were ever heard from again, and the same fate awaits McCarney. Well, Rod Rust ended up as HC at New England to the tune of 1-15.

[untjim1995]

Clearly the salary discrepancies are shocking between p5 and g5.  But there are lessons to be learned here.

What's interesting is Mac is being paid in the same vicinity of HC's at Tulsa (Montgomery), Norm Chow (Hawaii), Todd Monken (USM), Stockstill (MUTS), Baliff (Rice), Anderson (Ark State), Skip Holtz (La. Tech), Jeff Brohm (WKU), Doc Holiday(Marshall), and Matt Campbell (Toledo).

Another interesting point is EVERY AAC team is paying at least $1- 2 million for their head coaches.  The difference in coaching salaries between C-USA and AAC is also dramatic.  the Mountain West has some $1 Million a year guys but not as many.  Still they pay on average higher than C-USA.

So while we don't pay near what the top schools pay, we appear to be competitive in the C-USA.  Given our situation and history I wonder if that is enough.  I also think assistant salary pool is huge perhaps more important than head coaching salary.

What do our peers offer the top candidates?  A stepping stone to gold and lifetime financial security job at the p5's basically.  Look at Arkansas State -- they bring in Gus Mahlzan, he makes 750K, wins and moves on to Auburn where he now makes $4 million a year guaranteed for a period of time.  The problem we face is we haven't had that happen.  The best post-UNT head coaching career we have right now is Darrell Dickey who is the OC at top 25 Memphis.  Ark State can sell coaches on the fact that they have place two head coaches at bigger jobs, Mahlzan, Hugh Freeze (now making 4.3 Million at Ole Miss) and Bryan Harsin (Making 1.5 mil at Boise). 

I think the boilerplate for us should be Memphis.  they hire Fuente, a young, rising head coach and OUTSTANDING recruiter from TCU.  They step up their salaries to be HIGHLY COMPETITIVE (Fuente makes 1.4 Million) and hire an outstanding group of assistants who ALSO CAN RECRUIT.  His first two years were tough but last season he shared the AAC championship and right now they are top 25 and 5-0.  They had a plan and stuck to it.

I think this is spot-on--we need to pay more to help alleviate the past issues that haunt us in recruiting and with the fans and media.

But I just cannot see us doing that. There was gnashing of teeth when we hired McCarney at $650k, which was more than double the previous head coach and close to triple to what we paid Dickey most of his tenure here.

[Withers940]

I wish we could pony up the coaching salary to bring someone in here worth a damn

[Got5onIt]

Throwing more money at something definitely makes it easier. Our situation just proves that better decisions need to be made on who we're hiring. We had some big names apply for the job at the last go around. There will be a line banging at the front door to get a chance to coach UNT.

[KingDL1]

I wish we could pony up the coaching salary to bring someone in here worth a damn

That is what a good AD gets accomplished.  

[greenjoe]

What do you get (other than winning, somebody's going to say) by paying a coach a ton of money ?  Do successful coaches just not apply for a $750K job ?  Does a coach making $2mil get out on the recruiting road more than a guy at $750K  Does a $2mil man think better under pressure and thereby calls better plays ? 

 

I thought by paying a coach more than anyone in the history of North Texas we'd get better results.  Do we get a guarantee with a guy we pay $2mil or just a louder groan if the next guy doesn't succeed ? 

 

Or is it a question of "who he is" rather than "what he does ?"

[Got5onIt]

Let's make it a contest to see which O'fer coach get's canned first:

 

1. O'Leary - UCF  0-5

2. Martin - NMSU 0-4

3. Bohl - Wyoming 0-5

4. McCarney - UNT 0-4

5. Beaty - KU   0-4

 

[NTXCoog]

What do you get (other than winning, somebody's going to say) by paying a coach a ton of money ?  Do successful coaches just not apply for a $750K job ?  Does a coach making $2mil get out on the recruiting road more than a guy at $750K  Does a $2mil man think better under pressure and thereby calls better plays ? 

 

I thought by paying a coach more than anyone in the history of North Texas we'd get better results.  Do we get a guarantee with a guy we pay $2mil or just a louder groan if the next guy doesn't succeed ? 

 

Or is it a question of "who he is" rather than "what he does ?"

What do you get with more money?  A better resume.  That's it.  Might not be a better coach, especially a coach on the downside of his career. 

If you're below market value for a coach, you'll get one of 2 things: 

1)  A coach without much of a track record, but could turn out to be great 

2)  A coach with a good track record, but one that no one is willing to pay market value for, an indicator that he's past his prime.

The coaches in group 1 have a huge risk, but the possibility of a huge reward.  They may turn into the next big thing, or they may totally bomb. 

The coaches in group 2 GENERALLY (sorry UNT fans) don't completely collapse, but they will almost never be as big as they were before.  For example, Coker at UTSA will never be as good as Coker at Miami, but if he gets 3/4 of the way there, that's pretty solid for them.  Maybe that's the problem for UNT.  At UNT, McCarney may never be as good as he was at Iowa State, and since he wasn't that great at Iowa State, 3/4 as good isn't saying much.

And while others were talking about AAC coaching salaries, don't forget that's just head coaches.  Assistant salary pool is almost as important.  Briles was good at UH, but Briles got MUCH better at UH when his assistants were paid better and his staff talent level improved.  Same with UH's last 2 coaches.  Not only did UH go cheap on Levine, the staff was even cheaper, and it showed.  Now Herman isn't one of the higher paid head coaches in the AAC, but his staff pool is the highest in the G5.  That gives Herman a much better chance to succeed which leads to a better salary for him, either at UH or at another school.

[foutsrouts]

What do you get (other than winning, somebody's going to say) by paying a coach a ton of money ?  Do successful coaches just not apply for a $750K job ?  Does a coach making $2mil get out on the recruiting road more than a guy at $750K  Does a $2mil man think better under pressure and thereby calls better plays ? 

 

I thought by paying a coach more than anyone in the history of North Texas we'd get better results.  Do we get a guarantee with a guy we pay $2mil or just a louder groan if the next guy doesn't succeed ? 

 

Or is it a question of "who he is" rather than "what he does ?"

Yeah, it's all pretty much a crapshoot. We cant afford the 2-3 million dollar man, so all we can do is grab an experienced and successful big school coordinator, a successful FCS, or an older guy (or disgraced guy) with success but also failure (McCarney) on his resume. Since we can't afford the 2-3 million dollar man, it's probably not going to matter much if we offer him 600K or 1.2 million. The key is getting the right guy interested and in the door. He can be compensated further when he shows proof that he is building a program, and that's where we knee jerk F'd up with McCarney after the bowl win with TD's players.

[NTXCoog]

Let's make it a contest to see which O'fer coach get's canned first:

 

1. O'Leary - UCF  0-5

2. Martin - NMSU 0-4

3. Bohl - Wyoming 0-5

4. McCarney - UNT 0-4

5. Beaty - KU   0-4

 

O'Leary will probably be gone at the end of the year, but that was likely the case no matter what happened this season.  Keep in mind he is also currently the interim AD at UCF.   So he probably won't fire himself until the season is over.  Before the season, he said he wanted to step down from coaching at the end of the year, but wanted to become the permanent AD

[Got5onIt]

O'Leary will probably be gone at the end of the year, but that was likely the case no matter what happened this season.  Keep in mind he is also currently the interim AD at UCF.   So he probably won't fire himself until the season is over.  Before the season, he said he wanted to step down from coaching at the end of the year, but wanted to become the permanent AD

Well, that's job security for you. I'd want him gone permanently if I were a Central Florida booster.

[NTXCoog]

Well, that's job security for you. I'd want him gone permanently if I were a Central Florida booster.

Curious why.  He's had some horrible seasons including an 0fer in his first year, but he also has 4 conference championships/co-champs.  Finished ranked twice, the first 2 times in school history including a top 10 ranking.  Has a 57% winning percentage there. 

Unless you think he's a bad guy (which is possible), he's been wildly successful for them.

[Got5onIt]

Curious why.  He's had some horrible seasons including an 0fer in his first year, but he also has 4 conference championships/co-champs.  Finished ranked twice, the first 2 times in school history including a top 10 ranking.  Has a 57% winning percentage there. 

Unless you think he's a bad guy (which is possible), he's been wildly successful for them.

Hey, he lied on his resume. That's stake & pitchfork time in my book!

 Sorry, I'm in a college football rage at the moment. Maybe O'Leary would be willing to take Dan off our hands?

[10Eagle10]

Let's make it a contest to see which O'fer coach get's canned first:

 

1. O'Leary - UCF  0-5 Like NTXCoog mentioned, he's gone at the end of the year.

2. Martin - NMSU 0-4 In his 3rd year. NMSU hired an energetic AD, who graduated from NMSU, at the beginning of this year. There's a chance that he lets Martin go and is allowed to make his own hire. NMSU appears to have a better AD than us.

3. Bohl - Wyoming 0-5 Only in his 2nd year at Wyoming, and based solely on his success at NDSU, I expect him to get at least 2 more years

4. McCarney - UNT 0-4 Has 3.5 years remaining on his contract; I don't think we've ever fired a coach with that much left.  Let's get RV out of here first and let the new AD bring in the next football HC.

5. Beaty - KU   0-4 First year coach. Least likely to be canned.

 

I think your order is pretty much right. I think I'd rank em in order of getting fired, from most likely to least likely as:

O'Leary

Martin

McCarney

Bohl

Beaty

[akriesman]

Todd Berry has a better record at ULM than Mac does at North Texas.  That guy probably has the worst recruiting situation in FBS and a 43% win PCT is pretty damn good IMO. He has also managed to knock off a few big boys along the way.