Official The OC Candidates Thread 2.0

[bobbydigius]

Couple of things.

I don't think it was ignored by Mario. I think it wasn't known. Mario tends to trust his own impressions/instinct more than anyone else's. I don't think he sought out any kind of "personality-based" input on Gattis, and I think he values his own impressions based on interviews/conversations, etc. For comparative purposes, I have asked a number of people close to UM's program why Mario was so surprised by the way the returning players bailed on what he was asking from them. And I think it's simple, when a guy is very convincing in a one-on-one conversation with Mario, he tends to believe that the person will do what the person is promising.

I think that Mario projects that other people will treat challenges and opportunities as he does. But as we saw, there were a bunch of soft returning players that didn't do what they told Mario they would do, and I think it's not a huge leap to comprehend that Gattis spun a load of bullcrap about what happened at other jobs, and Mario was convinced. Clearly, that kind of "failing upwards" with a good interview has worked for Gattis more than once.

As for Mario's "exhaustive vetting process", I've said this before, whether people have picked up on it or not. Mario's long interviews have focused on the on-field stuff (schemes), the "ability to teach your system to players", and a stated commitment to recruit like a demon. WHETHER THE CANDIDATE ACTUALLY BELIEVES ALL THAT, or is just saying what the interviewer wants to hear, is a different subject. When it comes to things like "getting along well with others" and "doing what you actually promise to do", I think that Mario is the functional equivalent of Major Applewhite at Houston, and Mario's job candidate are the functional equivalent of D'Onofrio's horrible letter promising to do great things at Houston. Saying you want to be great and doing what it takes to be great are two different things.

And that's where Mario needs to have "evaluating job candidates" taken out of his portfolio. I've talked about Alonzo doing that part of the job, not because I just have an opinion, but based on very specific traits that Alonzo has that Mario does not have.

I still think that Mario can succeed. But if he has proven nothing else, he has definitely shown that he can IDENTIFY TALENT in coaches, but that he also has a terribly insular and paranoid approach to conducting interviews with coaching candidates and making decisions on said coaching candidates.

Insular is the word here. He seems obsessed in keeping things air tight with no leaks. Thats great but in order to do that you have to keep a small hiring circle and that includes the hiring pool. So when things go south he is almost back to square one. It appears that is what happened last year. He had the right idea but no contingencies when options 1-3 evaporated and that can and will happen when you go after top tier guys who will be highly sought after.

Like you said, he can identify but the approach sure appears insular. I agree this is a perfect reason why we hired Alonzo. If the hiring process isnt working, you need to overhaul it, and at this point its at best questionable.

 

[cway313]

.

Couple of things.

I don't think it was ignored by Mario. I think it wasn't known. Mario tends to trust his own impressions/instinct more than anyone else's. I don't think he sought out any kind of "personality-based" input on Gattis, and I think he values his own impressions based on interviews/conversations, etc. For comparative purposes, I have asked a number of people close to UM's program why Mario was so surprised by the way the returning players bailed on what he was asking from them. And I think it's simple, when a guy is very convincing in a one-on-one conversation with Mario, he tends to believe that the person will do what the person is promising.

I think that Mario projects that other people will treat challenges and opportunities as he does. But as we saw, there were a bunch of soft returning players that didn't do what they told Mario they would do, and I think it's not a huge leap to comprehend that Gattis spun a load of bullcrap about what happened at other jobs, and Mario was convinced. Clearly, that kind of "failing upwards" with a good interview has worked for Gattis more than once.

As for Mario's "exhaustive vetting process", I've said this before, whether people have picked up on it or not. Mario's long interviews have focused on the on-field stuff (schemes), the "ability to teach your system to players", and a stated commitment to recruit like a demon. WHETHER THE CANDIDATE ACTUALLY BELIEVES ALL THAT, or is just saying what the interviewer wants to hear, is a different subject. When it comes to things like "getting along well with others" and "doing what you actually promise to do", I think that Mario is the functional equivalent of Major Applewhite at Houston, and Mario's job candidates are the functional equivalent of D'Onofrio's horrible letter promising to do great things at Houston. Saying you want to be great and doing what it takes to be great are two different things.

And that's where Mario needs to have "evaluating job candidates" taken out of his portfolio. I've talked about Alonzo doing that part of the job, not because I just have an opinion, but based on very specific traits that Alonzo has that Mario does not have.

I still think that Mario can succeed. But if he has proven nothing else, he has definitely shown that he can IDENTIFY TALENT in coaches, but that he also has a terribly insular and paranoid approach to conducting interviews with coaching candidates and making decisions on said coaching candidates.

What's the latest from Ferman he seems to be the only one with any clue?

 

[crossover22[]_[]]

I do know ****. It's called @crossover22[]_[] . Absolute ****.

 

[jnf2257]

There are a million offenses scoring a million points in college football these days. There are brilliant offensive minds all over the sport. Current coordinators and up-and-comers who are coaching a position. We've got a war chest of money.

It doesn't need to be this hard.

 

[crossover22[]_[]]

 

[Hurracanes]

Ignore me if its been mentioned as I've only been paying attention here for 2 days now.. but assuming the OC coaches QBs - a good option for WR coach will be Adam Henry from Indiana. He's been with the Cowboys, Browns, Giants, 49ers, Raiders, and at LSU. Coached OBJ, Landry, CeeDee Lamb, etc.

Tons of connection to the staff:
1 - Played 1990-1993 at McNeese State - same exact time frame that Lance Guidry played there
2 - Coached at McNeese State from 1997-2006 - Guidry was there from 2000 to 2003. Henry recruited several players from Guidry's HS programs he was coaching at from 1997-1999.
3 - With the Cleveland Browns in 2018 and 2019 - same exact time frame that Alonzo Highsmith was VP of Player Personnel.

Obviously there's also some overlap with Doug Nussmeier in Dallas - however, talking to Nuss could have been a way of vetting Henry for our staff as well and had nothing to do with Nuss as OC.

Mario wants Coley at WR coach, I believe.

 

[Negro-Wan Kanobi]

Yep very rare that any coach makes a hire where you can't easily connect dots.

Mario to Steele was easy

Mario to Gattis was through Saban. Don't think he got enough info from Saban to connect the dots to know the terms the guy was leaving these places. Lack of connection wasn't the only reason it failed but it's likely the reason for the lack of a true background and why the red flags didn't come up.

I met Josh Pate in Knoxville this year and we talked about Gattis for half an hour. He knew it wasn't going to work because he's got several connections who immediately reached out (most notably James Franklin and Ricky Rahne - 2 FBS head coaches tying back to Penn State) to him and said this isn't going to work like they think it is (Gattis to Miami). And it was more than just those 2 that told him that.

Welcome back, missed your posts, but....

 

[Negro-Wan Kanobi]

Hey guys, I’m new on Twitter. If guys are following Brian Johnson, is that a good thing?

Also, I am not new on Twitter. Just figured I would stir the pot and get this thread poppin again.

 

[Negro-Wan Kanobi]

I guess my worry is how much of that can be attributed to the offensive guys he’s worked with. Is he ready to run his own show?

That's fair.

 

[JayCane20]

This is 0 information and just a gut feeling but my sights are set on someone either from the NFL or some kind of NFL influence. Last year it was all Joe Brady, Dorsey, and Coen (1 year removed from the NFL) until Gattis came into the picture. The college guys were quickly weeded out because they ride coattails of guys like Heupel, Riley, Dykes, etc.

It's easier to vet NFL candidates because teams aren't holding guys back from "promotions" to OC even in college and you have connects in guys like Zo who knows everyone. Mario is also tight with Darren Rizzi and Dennis Allen from the Saints, McVay, and others at that level. It's a lot easier to vet and get feedback on those guys.

I'd be surprised if the OC isn't in that mold: Joe Brady, Dan Pitcher, Shea Tierney, Rob Calabrese, Drew Petzing, Parks Frazier, David Girardi, Bo Hardegree, Kevin Patullo, Brian Johnson, Andrew Janocko, Chris O'Hara, TJ Yates, Ronald Curry, Cam Turner, Spencer Whipple, Jake Peetz - only a few of those guys have legit reasons to hold up any longer because they're still playing.. some still in the conversation for NFL OC jobs. Could be another reason.

Also wouldn't be surprised to maybe pivot to seasoned NFL vets that aren't coordinating an offense right now similar to Georgia hiring Monken - Greg Roman, Freddie Kitchens, Darrell Bevell, Mike McCoy, Jay Gruden, Greg Olson, etc. - doubt many/if any of them would go for it aside from maybe Freddie Kitchens who is on staff at USCjr

 

[TRick72]

 

[TheEye]

Hey guys, I’m new on Twitter. If guys are following Brian Johnson, is that a good thing?

Also, I am not new on Twitter. Just figured I would stir the pot and get this thread poppin again.

Brian Johnson said “Money Talks”

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4f55acc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5414x3614+0+0/resize/768x513!/format/webp/quality/80/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F66%2F5d%2Fd609190545fc8bd24cfd9ad5e4e6%2Fmusic-brian-johnson-54189.jpg

 

[JayCane20]

Mario wants Coley at WR coach, I believe.

Also wouldn't surprise me.. but I hope not. Never want to see him in orange and green again. As WR coach I guess I could come around to it with the right OC

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Insular is the word here. He seems obsessed in keeping things air tight with no leaks. Thats great but in order to do that you have to keep a small hiring circle and that includes the hiring pool. So when things go south he is almost back to square one. It appears that is what happened last year. He had the right idea but no contingencies when options 1-3 evaporated and that can and will happen when you go after top tier guys who will be highly sought after.

Like you said, he can identify but the approach sure appears insular. I agree this is a perfect reason why we hired Alonzo. If the hiring process isnt working, you need to overhaul it, and at this point its at best questionable.

Absolute truth.

What we are facing is what several NFL teams have struggled with. THE REASON YOU HAVE A GENERAL MANAGER in football is to deal with personnel issues. But when you get a powerful HC who "wants to shop for the groceries", that doesn't mean the HC is a great shopper.

That's what we have here. Dan and Alonzo need to have a come-to-Jesus moment with Mario, because Mario has a career-long history of only having coordinators for either one year or two years. So this **** will either repeat forever, or get fixed ASAP.

I have a lot of respect for Mario, but we can all be honest and say that he's not great at everything. Particularly "hiring". It's kinda why HR Departments were invented (along with the "firing" part).

 

[RealRussellPumps]

Also wouldn't surprise me.. but I hope not. Never want to see him in orange and green again. As WR coach I guess I could come around to it with the right OC

Is this from your own experience or do you just think he is not a great coach? His recruiting prowess would be valuable IMO.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

.
What's the latest from Ferman he seems to be the only one with any clue?

Honest question, do you think that Ferman was the only one with a clue on Guidry when Manny Navarro reported something hours earlier than Ferman did?

Because those receipts are time-stamped.

Mario tips off national reporters first

Manny Navarro got a tip this morning from Ari Wasserman that Lance Guidry could be the guy. He was on the Big O show talking at length about it. Funny how no local person had a clue.

www.canesinsight.com

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Mario wants Coley at WR coach, I believe.

Mario wants Coley on staff, period.

If the NCAA created a Long Snapper coach position tomorrow, Mario would give it to Coley.

 

[Felonious Monk]

I have a lot of respect for Mario, but we can all be honest and say that he's not great at everything. Particularly "hiring". It's kinda why HR Departments were invented (along with the "firing" part).

I thought it was to keep the educated, but still only marginally competent from trying to "help" other parts of an organization.

 

[TexasCane90]

My understanding on how we got to Gattis, which I was told in about April-May, was we waited out Dorsey's decision to be sure he was getting an NFL gig out of respect. We had Candle in our back pocket (who wanted to stay through signing day out of respect for Toledo anyway) and then he got cold feet slightly before the Dorsey situation played out fully. There was 1 other candidate we were going to pivot to if/when Dorsey got an NFL job, which I don't know who it was for sure.. but 75% sure it was Liam Coen (who left for the rams in mid-February anyway).

But as all of this was playing out, so was the Harbaugh and NFL situation when it looked like he was going to leave. That situation rubbed Gattis the wrong way in itself, plus as they were planning Harbaugh's successor, just in case, because Michigan was in the dark, he learned of his standing within the program and that he wasn't next in line and really wasn't highly thought of internally. He reached out to Mario and basically said if it's gonna happen it has to be ASAP and Michigan can't know - I think that is what got him through the door without Mario having a chance to uncover it.

Won't say Mario panicked and hired him but he saw the accolades and jumped the gun without vetting him as he does with others

Jesus it’s amazing the hard on that Mario has for candle it appears two off-seasons in a row.

That’s because at his best I just think he’s a good OC candidate not some elite guy like a Kliff K or Monken that should be given this respect

 

[JayCane20]

Is this from your own experience or do you just think he is not a great coach? His recruiting prowess would be valuable IMO.

Recruiting prowess is the only valid reason. Mostly for positions other than ones he actually coaches as he's a legit ace recruiter that can land anyone at any position.

However, look at his room at A&M.. lots of talent that he's whiffed on the eval or not developed. He's not a value add coach. As sad as it is.. his best position that he coaches is QB where he is somewhat decent.