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The OC Candidates Thread

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Um, didn’t Mario know Gattis wasn’t coming back since November? Considering we did not pull a Clemson, it appears he HAS taken his time. Surely it isn’t a situation where we didn’t start looking until after Gattis was officially gone, right?
 
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canesfanmpls said:
Jim Leonard is unemployed right now. His only job has been at Wisconsin but he did well there and took over the interim head coach position when Chryst got canned. I could see him trying for a head coach position though too. He became their full time DC in 2017 (stats below). A little surprised Fickell didn’t retain him.

“In his year off between retiring from the NFL and being named DB coach for the Badgers, Leonhard spent his time studying college film with then-Wisconsin Defensive Coordinator Dave Aranda and familiarizing himself with schemes that exist in college football that aren't prevalent in the NFL”

2021 – 1st in total defense (5th in passing yards per game, 1st in rushing, 4th in PPG allowed) – 2nd nationally in yards per play (4.17).

2020 – 5th in total defense (31st in passing yards, 5th in rushing, 9th in PPG allowed)

2019 – 8th in total defense (16th passing yards, 8th in rushing, 10th in PPG allowed)

2018 – 41st in total defense (38th in passing yards, 56th in rushing, 43rd in PPG allowed)

2017 – 1st in total defense (4th in passing yards, 2nd in rushing, 3rd in PPG allowed)
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I really am cool with promoting strong to full-time DC. However, Leonard would be a home run hire for that position.
 
Tru C said:
Um, didn’t Mario know Gattis wasn’t coming back since November? Considering we did not pull a Clemson, it appears he HAS taken his time. Surely it isn’t a situation where we didn’t start looking until after Gattis was officially gone, right?
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Honestly, we may have been slow playing, yes.

If the Gattis issue was headed towards litigation, any BOT or AD is going to cut backchannel talk - at least to the point of plausible deniability.

Picture this - Gattis wants to build a defense that he was forced out even before “cause” was established. Say he plays a race card or something.

All his attorney has to do is subpoena and request a deposition - Mario, did you talk, email, text or otherwise engage other coaches prior to XYZ date? Alonzo, how about you?

What then?
 
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Jassid82 said:
The longer this takes, the more pressure that is on him to hit a Grand Slam. Especially since rumors have been flying that Gattis was fired 2 months ago he was just doing him a solid by trying to let him find a landing spot. So technically Mario is almost 3 months into his coaching search.
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Aside from us die-hard fans who spend our spare time on this message board I highly doubt Mario is feeling any pressure at all.

The ‘23 class is complete, the portal is closed, and spring practice is a month away.

He’s obviously been looking around for potential OC’s and my hope is he’s included Zo in that process. The timing of the hire is irrelevant and has nothing to do with last year's miss.

Every person in a leadership position makes bad hires and must learn from them. It doesn't mean you abandon the philosophies that made you successful in the first place.
 
Zanecane said:
Aside from us die-hard fans who spend our spare time on this message board I highly doubt Mario is feeling any pressure at all.

The ‘23 class is complete, the portal is closed, and spring practice is a month away.

He’s obviously been looking around for potential OC’s and my hope is he’s included Zo in that process. The timing of the hire is irrelevant and has nothing to do with last year's miss.

Every person in a leadership position makes bad hires and must learn from them. It doesn't mean you abandon the philosophies that made you successful in the first place.
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This past year alone I’ve hired and fired 3 people within my little company. Sometimes they ace an interview, have references that check out and first day on the job **** the bed.
 
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We won't hire Leonard lmao, a) would it be a step back for him and b) schematically, everything would be changed from top to bottom. He would want to install all of the assistants he wants to have to get the change done as smoothly as possible.
 
passitback said:
There is absolutely no reason why anyone has to give Mario any benefit of any doubt with his "timeline." He did the same stupid **** last year, and still **** the bed by hiring the worst OC many of us have ever experienced in our lives!!! Mario deserves every ounce of skepticism directed his way.
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Facts. He’s been around way too long as an Assistant and HC to be operating the way he is. This isn’t Manny Diaz learning on the job as a first time HC. Mario looks a clown right now in every aspect of being a HC besides recruiting.
 
D_G87 said:
Facts. He’s been around way too long as an Assistant and HC to be operating the way he is. This isn’t Manny Diaz learning on the job as a first time HC. Mario looks a clown right now in every aspect of being a HC besides recruiting.
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I really don't get it. You telling me he doesn't know who is qualified before interviews? It 100% costs his top candidates because he is so **** slow. Schools often move at a fast pace and do just fine. I don't know how Rad doesn't call him on it.
 
The failures and dysfunction of the offensive staff were so massive that it’s hard to even look at the defense. However, I do think we have some redundancy on our defensive staff. Both Steele and Strong are lifetime LB coaches who have both been DC. That’s great for experience but we mostly play two LBs at a time while only having one DB Coach that on occasion will have 5 to 6 players on the field.

To alleviate that, we had the guy who’s coached DB’s for 1 year out of a 40 plus long coaching career help out with that. Could that be why we saw so many coverage bust? Maybe. Could that be why we struggled recruiting safeties? Don’t know. I like both Steele and Strong but think we would be best served with 2 DL, 1 LB and 2 DB coaches with one of those 5 coaches serving as DC. How we work that out with the current staff and possible replacements or even if we do it this offseason I don’t know but I do think we need to improve that room as well.
 
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Tru C said:
Um, didn’t Mario know Gattis wasn’t coming back since November? Considering we did not pull a Clemson, it appears he HAS taken his time. Surely it isn’t a situation where we didn’t start looking until after Gattis was officially gone, right?
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Depending on who you want to believe, there were rumors circulating that Brian Hartline was lined up to be the next OC but it fell through at the last minute when OSU promoted him to be their OC. Not saying I believe it but it would explain the delay.
 
TRick72 said:
The failures and dysfunction of the offensive staff were so massive that it’s hard to even look at the defense. However, I do think we have some redundancy on our defensive staff. Both Steele and Strong are lifetime LB coaches who have both been DC. That’s great for experience but we mostly play two LBs at a time while only having one DB Coach that on occasion will have 5 to 6 players on the field.

To alleviate that, we had the guy who’s coached DB’s for 1 year out of a 40 plus long coaching career help out with that. Could that be why we saw so many coverage bust? Maybe. Could that be why we struggled recruiting safeties? Don’t know. I like both Steele and Strong but think we would be best served with 2 DL, 1 LB and 2 DB coaches with one of those 5 coaches serving as DC. How we work that out with the current staff and possible replacements or even if we do it this offseason I don’t know but I do think we need to improve that room as well.
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I thought the 2 DL coaches was odd. I feel like most teams only have 1 and its becoming more common to have an inside linebackers coach and an outside coach as well.
 
Zanecane said:
What's the difference at this point? Spring practice is a month away and the ‘23 class is complete. No one new is entering the portal.

If it was a quick hire he’d have gone with one of his boys. Arroyo would have been the pick. I for one am glad he’s taking his time at this point.
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There’s a very real possibility he takes his time and STILL hires “one of his boys.”
He took his time hiring Gattis. I’m just wondering what he eliminated with all of that time.
 
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filmcane said:
I really am cool with promoting strong to full-time DC. However, Leonard would be a home run hire for that position.
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Would be the best thing to happen to the university in a long time.. Hope it happens but we havent been that lucky in 20 years
 
Wake_Cane said:
my grandad developed a good chunk of the punta gorda side of charlotte harbor in the 70s/80s. Fisherman's Village, Emerald Pointe, office buildings along marion etc. I usually presume people I talk to have no idea what charlotte harbor or punta gorda even is so its funny to run in to a bunch of people talking about the area in detail and the home depot in PC etc in this thread lol.
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Love the area, grew up close by in Cape Coral....SWFL Sh*ts on any other area of FL. From Sarasota to Naples.
 
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JimmyJohnsonsHair said:
Depending on who you want to believe, there were rumors circulating that Brian Hartline was lined up to be the next OC but it fell through at the last minute when OSU promoted him to be their OC. Not saying I believe it but it would explain the delay.
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Guy gets "linked" to OC jobs and his current team promotes him to OC. Tale as old as time.
 
soddyCane said:
I thought the 2 DL coaches was odd. I feel like most teams only have 1 and its becoming more common to have an inside linebackers coach and an outside coach as well.
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I thought the same thing when we assembled the staff but were playing only 2 LBs most of the time as are most teams. Many of those teams are running a 3/4 base were the OLB coach handles OLB and DEs. I think it’s also a function of getting the most elite recruiters on your staff for some of those teams. Either way I do think you need 2 DB coaches with todays game.
 
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