FAU's Got Their New Coach

[Mean Green 93-98]

Arkansas defensive line coach Charlie Partridge has agreed to become Florida Atlantic's coach, a source told ESPN's Brett McMurphy.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10139059/florida-atlantic-hires-charlie-partridge-arkansas-razorbacks

Umm . . . okay.

As an aside, when did McMurphy go to work for ESPN? I think it was just a couple of days ago I read something he wrote for CBS Sports.

[outoftown]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10139059/florida-atlantic-hires-charlie-partridge-arkansas-razorbacks

Umm . . . okay.

As an aside, when did McMurphy go to work for ESPN? I think it was just a couple of days ago I read something he wrote for CBS Sports.

McMurphy left around this time last year actually. Serious win for ESPN, as he is clearly the most plugged in reporter you can find. It's a long time since i saw something he posted turn out to be totally wrong, and he covers almost all of the nation.

[UNTFan23]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10139059/florida-atlantic-hires-charlie-partridge-arkansas-razorbacks

Umm . . . okay.

As an aside, when did McMurphy go to work for ESPN? I think it was just a couple of days ago I read something he wrote for CBS Sports.

They didn't even get a coordinator? I think they could have done better than a position coach.

[All About UNT]

They didn't even get a coordinator? I think they could have done better than a position coach.

Um.....Mac was a position coach

[UNTFan23]

Um.....Mac was a position coach

And Mac has also been a head coach before.

[PlummMeanGreen]

And Mac has also been a head coach before.

Thank God for that, too. It can make a big difference as all can see now.

Still not sure why we did't do this kind of hiring 20 or so years ago. It could have

really saved us much grief and prevented the dummy-ing down of our football program

as to we where we would accept just about anything that was dished out to us.

GMG!

PS Unrelated to thread and wish it were different, but they just don't hand out NCAA national

championships for keeping your varsity venues construction updated, either. They just assume

most all NCAA FBS level schools are already supposed to be on top of that kind of thing as it is.

GMG!

Edited December 15, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[Harry]

It actually sounds like a solid hire. Partridge is a rainmaker in Florida recruiting and is already getting praise from the high school coaches there. He is a d-line guy like Mac. He helped recruit and develop stude NFL lineman JJ Watt. Coaching today is ALL about recruiting and much less about X's and O's. ALL he has to do is hit on some key recruits in his own backyard and that program will explode.

[Mean Green 93-98]

It actually sounds like a solid hire. Partridge is a rainmaker in Florida recruiting and is already getting praise from the high school coaches there. He is a d-line guy like Mac. He helped recruit and develop stude NFL lineman JJ Watt. Coaching today is ALL about recruiting and much less about X's and O's. ALL he has to do is hit on some key recruits in his own backyard and that program will explode.

I disagree. Why is Coach Mac a better coach than Dodge? We've seen our share of recruiting aces on the basketball side as well, and seen how well that's worked out.

[Mean Green Matt]

Um.....Mac was a position coach

He was also the assistant head coach when we hired him.

[untjim1995]

They didn't even get a coordinator? I think they could have done better than a position coach.

Its probably all they could afford, since they just fired Carl Pelini with years left on his contract.Whether it is a settlement or continued payout to Pelini, I doubt a school like FAU could afford too pay a whole lot for their new coach.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Its probably all they could afford, since they just fired Carl Pelini with years left on his contract.Whether it is a settlement or continued payout to Pelini, I doubt a school like FAU could afford too pay a whole lot for their new coach.

They fired Pelini with cause, thus are not required to pay out his contract. He's trying to fight it, but he doesn't have a leg to stand on.

[NTXCoog]

They didn't even get a coordinator? I think they could have done better than a position coach.

Um.....Mac was a position coach

And Mac has also been a head coach before.

Art Briles was RB coach at Tech when UH hired him as head coach. Briles was a head coach in high school if you want to make that argument.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Art Briles was RB coach at Tech when UH hired him as head coach. Briles was a head coach in high school if you want to make that argument.

Sometimes it works, and works well. See Bill O'Brien at Penn State and several other examples. I just think your odds are better hiring someone with experience as a coordinator or HC, as the job responsibilities are so vastly different between position coach and HC.

EDIT: Actually, O'Brien spent some time as a coordinator, so he doesn't work as an example. But the revered Hayden Fry does.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Mean Green 93-98

[UNTFan23]

Art Briles was RB coach at Tech when UH hired him as head coach. Briles was a head coach in high school if you want to make that argument.

After some hires I am leery if the coach does not have any HC experience at the college level. We're reaping the benefits right now in basketball and football has just recovered from our previous non-HC experienced hire.

[NTXCoog]

After some hires I am leery if the coach does not have any HC experience at the college level. We're reaping the benefits right now in basketball and football has just recovered from our previous non-HC experienced hire.

At UH, Bill Yeoman had no HC experience, Jack Pardee had no college football coaching experience at all, and Kevin Sumlin had no HC experience. Throw in Art Briles, and none of the great UH coaches had head coaching experience at the college level.

OTOH since the 1960s, the only coach UH has hired with college head coaching experience was Dana Dimel, and he has the worst winning percentage in UH history at 24% (8-26) and has UH's only winless season.

[Mean Green 93-98]

How did this turn into a Houston thread?

[NTXCoog]

How did this turn into a Houston thread?

It became a discussion on needed experience for a college HC. Just pointing out one school's experience from a perspective I know.

Feel free to look at UNT's history, but one school is kind of limiting.

[Green Mean]

It became a discussion on needed experience for a college HC. Just pointing out one school's experience from a perspective I know.

Feel free to look at UNT's history, but one school is kind of limiting.

In the end hiring a coach is usually a crap shoot. I think when a coach has it he just has it...doesn't matter where he came from and how.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Partridge's deal is $2.76 million for 5 years. Unless that's counting bonuses and incentives, they're paying him more than they were paying Pelini.

[Mean Green 93-98]

It became a discussion on needed experience for a college HC. Just pointing out one school's experience from a perspective I know.

Feel free to look at UNT's history, but one school is kind of limiting.

Our recent history is also one of hiring coaches with no experience as a college coordinator or HC. And, let me tell you, it's not been pretty.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Good hire. Was Co-DC at Wisconsin. Like defensive-minded hires.

[Dr. Seuss]

It actually sounds like a solid hire. Partridge is a rainmaker in Florida recruiting and is already getting praise from the high school coaches there. He is a d-line guy like Mac. He helped recruit and develop stude NFL lineman JJ Watt. Coaching today is ALL about recruiting and much less about X's and O's. ALL he has to do is hit on some key recruits in his own backyard and that program will explode.

ALL about recruiting??? Tell that to Mack Brown, UT would never lose more than 2 games in a season if it's all about recruiting

[NTXCoog]

Our recent history is also one of hiring coaches with no experience as a college coordinator or HC. And, let me tell you, it's not been pretty.

I think at least co-cooridinator is an ideal minimum although there are exceptions. UNTFan23 said he wasn't comfortable hiring a coach who didn't have HC experience at the college level which is where I branched off. Of course Dickey had coordinator experience, but he had not had HC experience. While his overall record wasn't stellar, at least he won 4 conference championships.

Current UH coach Levine had never been a DC or OC. He was special teams coordinator and assistant head coach which has often caused great debate on the UH board. Is Special Teams Coordinator at a similar level to OC or DC? It's rare that ST coordinators get promoted to the head job, but John Harbaugh has helped blaze that trail to some extent.

[GrayEagle]

It's a crapshoot when you hire a coach with no head coaching experience. Some will work out; some won't.

The only real success that FAU has had was with a (very) veteran coach...Howard Schnellenberger. He cleaned our clock the first few times we played them. They had a pretty good idea of what they were getting when they hired him.

People will always point out position coaches and coordinators that have made it in FBS football and they're right. Some do, but the odds are better when you hire proven success. Check them all and you'll find that the rule has a greater percentage of success.

We do the same with the low-rated recruits and point to their successes. Again, a lot are successful but the majority never see the field.

Partridge has a good reputation and I do like defensive coaches. He is inheriting a pretty decent defensive team and he should make them even better. If he can find an offensive coordinator that he trusts he should do well.