1. No head football coach has ever left the U for another College Job.
2. Al Golden thought his Alma Mater was a better job than the one he currently fills.
3. Penn State decision makers believed James Franklin was a better candidate and coach than Al Golden.
4. Al Golden has proven to be an excellent CEO and face of a program.
5. We generally all like Al until the game starts, then _______.
6. It is in Al Golden's short term and long term interests to win big at Miami.
7. It is in UM's selfish interests to win big. There is a mutuality of interests, we all need to win.
This is where we are at the moment. If I was Al, I would post the recruiting cycle, have a presser and openly discuss the entire Penn State situation and what he needs to do to put this program back as relevant BCS type team. The fan base will be receptive if he does not B.S. and provides a game plan for success. If it is "continuity, sticking with the process, coaching them up better, etc" it will cause more harm than good. Jimbo Fisher had 6 new coaches this year, that is not continuity. Rather, it is finding better coaches than he had before. I believe this fan base wants to win so badly, and want to believe in their coaching staff. Imagine what might happen if game 1 we give up 500 yards in offense to Petrino? It will be toxic!
So here is Golden's speech that I think would appease and help provide optimism to a pessimistic and indifferent base:
I did not seek out the Penn State Head Coaching position. I was contacted by my Alma Mater and asked to listen to what they had to offer. As you know, Penn State is the school I attended. I captained their football team, met my wife there and basically the years at Penn State playing for Joe Paterno, shaped who I am as a person and coach. I felt I owed it to the school, my ex teammates and long time Penn State alums to at least listen. We met, the talks never went beyond the casual discussion level, and it was decided by both parties that we should not move forward.
I have spent the past three years at the U trying to survive a situation that was not caused by me or my staff. We gave our blood, sweat and tears to recruiting during this difficult period, and I look forward to leading the U now that the conjecture and fear tactics utilized by our competitors are totally behind us. The challenges have been great, but we look forward to battling now that the playing field has been leveled. This will require even greater effort and reaching out to all of the South Florida Community to assist us in making this a Championship program once again.
Finally, we believe all three phases of our team needs significant improvement. After careful consideration, I have decided to adopt a different defensive model for this program. This approach will be more synergistic with the scheme previously run by the school with some moderate alterations. It will be an aggressive in your face downhill scheme, predicated on forcing the issue and attacking with press coverage and disciplined blitz packages. This will require our DB's to be physical and at times on islands. I believe this defensive model is best suited for our current personnel and the type of student athlete playing high school football in South Florida.
Offensively, we will also be making some modifications, and we will focus upon extending drives and improving our performance on third downs. This will require a more robust playbook, allowing our QB's greater line of scrimmage freedom and frankly better play calling on first and second downs to avoid our many 3rd and long issues.
Now, let's all unite and work together in getting us back to where we belong!
2. Al Golden thought his Alma Mater was a better job than the one he currently fills.
3. Penn State decision makers believed James Franklin was a better candidate and coach than Al Golden.
4. Al Golden has proven to be an excellent CEO and face of a program.
5. We generally all like Al until the game starts, then _______.
6. It is in Al Golden's short term and long term interests to win big at Miami.
7. It is in UM's selfish interests to win big. There is a mutuality of interests, we all need to win.
This is where we are at the moment. If I was Al, I would post the recruiting cycle, have a presser and openly discuss the entire Penn State situation and what he needs to do to put this program back as relevant BCS type team. The fan base will be receptive if he does not B.S. and provides a game plan for success. If it is "continuity, sticking with the process, coaching them up better, etc" it will cause more harm than good. Jimbo Fisher had 6 new coaches this year, that is not continuity. Rather, it is finding better coaches than he had before. I believe this fan base wants to win so badly, and want to believe in their coaching staff. Imagine what might happen if game 1 we give up 500 yards in offense to Petrino? It will be toxic!
So here is Golden's speech that I think would appease and help provide optimism to a pessimistic and indifferent base:
I did not seek out the Penn State Head Coaching position. I was contacted by my Alma Mater and asked to listen to what they had to offer. As you know, Penn State is the school I attended. I captained their football team, met my wife there and basically the years at Penn State playing for Joe Paterno, shaped who I am as a person and coach. I felt I owed it to the school, my ex teammates and long time Penn State alums to at least listen. We met, the talks never went beyond the casual discussion level, and it was decided by both parties that we should not move forward.
I have spent the past three years at the U trying to survive a situation that was not caused by me or my staff. We gave our blood, sweat and tears to recruiting during this difficult period, and I look forward to leading the U now that the conjecture and fear tactics utilized by our competitors are totally behind us. The challenges have been great, but we look forward to battling now that the playing field has been leveled. This will require even greater effort and reaching out to all of the South Florida Community to assist us in making this a Championship program once again.
Finally, we believe all three phases of our team needs significant improvement. After careful consideration, I have decided to adopt a different defensive model for this program. This approach will be more synergistic with the scheme previously run by the school with some moderate alterations. It will be an aggressive in your face downhill scheme, predicated on forcing the issue and attacking with press coverage and disciplined blitz packages. This will require our DB's to be physical and at times on islands. I believe this defensive model is best suited for our current personnel and the type of student athlete playing high school football in South Florida.
Offensively, we will also be making some modifications, and we will focus upon extending drives and improving our performance on third downs. This will require a more robust playbook, allowing our QB's greater line of scrimmage freedom and frankly better play calling on first and second downs to avoid our many 3rd and long issues.
Now, let's all unite and work together in getting us back to where we belong!
