Stepping Stone School

[Outlaw]

1 hour ago, OnTheBus said:

It’s not about retaining a coach, it’s about retaining a culture. But you have to build one first…

We had a culture then they destroyed it by firing Leavitt. We have had zero coaching with any lasting success at USF since then.

[Triple B]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

We'll all be on edge until we hear who becomes the next guy to give it a go...but I hope you have considered the cycle we are entering likely leads to inconsistency and worse, failure.  We need to make a hire that has truly transformational impact, not a Band-Aid on a dying Bull. 

It would be nice to get someone who will ultimately create a transformational impact but reality is no one comes with that guarantee ...... and I'm not informed enough to know if there are candidates out there with experience taking over a program like ours and making that impact.

One of a Band-Aid's primary functions is to stop the bleeding so that wouldn't be a bad thing ..... and the Bull isn't dying. It will always be here ...... but obviously, and expectedly, some fans may not.

[12inchtaint!]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

Since so many fans here embrace the belief that we are a stepping stone school and treasure the thought that "if a coach leaves us better that he found us, he was a success".  

This will be our first hiring cycle with the portal and no transfer sit out rules.  Have those that embrace the shiny new object coach and/or up and comer candidate (that just has to make us better) how this fits in a stepping stone plan when every player brought in can transfer out after the shiny new object achieves his goals for success and moves on?

Obviously had Jeff Scott been wildly successful and moved on to a P5 school, we would see the effects...perhaps Battie, Horn, Brown, etc. go with him.

So, just how do we build success (don't tell me UCF did it, because the rules have since changed), if we are to possibly experience player flows in and out as frequently as coaches - unless of course the coach is a failure (then we're stuck with both).

I'm not looking for the regular clatter about Deion or the routine put down of Scott, Taggart or Leavitt.  Those people can ignore this.  

This isn't a deep philosophical question either.  It's just the game has changed - are you considering it?  MK must be.  I hope.  If we can't figure out how to retain a coach, it will be a very long road to consistent success.  I think MK knew this and saw the potential in Scott being a foundational coach that would stay.  Unfortunately, Scott came up short.

Tenure is important in other vocations and industries.  It retains knowledge, creates efficiency and protects assets and markets.  

We'll all be on edge until we hear who becomes the next guy to give it a go...but I hope you have considered the cycle we are entering likely leads to inconsistency and worse, failure.  We need to make a hire that has truly transformational impact, not a Band-Aid on a dying Bull. 

 

If the program is built right, the guys you lose would probably be the ones you would not want around as a new coach. 

If battie is really coming back, he is the exact type of player that you want. He is gifted physically, but more importantly he understands how to be part of a team. Yesterday solidified him as an all time great Bull, Brown takes a late hit and Battie was the first person in to defend him. 
 

Want a winning team? Bring in guys who will be team first and hold each other accountable.  I feel like CJS did that on the offensive side. He just failed terribly on the other side of the ball. 

[hm101]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

In case you missed it, it was not a call for doom and gloom.  It was a call for some real thinking and not drive-by flotsam (not saying that is what you posted). 

Since you seem to have a grip on the CFB landscape, what would be your primary considerations?  how would you choose and how would you build the program back?

It may be too deep for a message board.  Seems everybody wants to skate right past the situation we're in, yet retain rights to ***** about it.

No theyre good points wasnt shooting you down. Fans must stay engaged (donate and show up) but demand excellence at the same time. And we need to be realistic. UCF went from getting beat consistently by us to investing in their program and then surpassing. We are on the first phase of that.

Settle in and enjoy the new coach, the new conference winnable games, and new stadium. There is no "there" there. 

[Rex Havoc]

11 minutes ago, hm101 said:

No theyre good points wasnt shooting you down. Fans must stay engaged (donate and show up) but demand excellence at the same time. And we need to be realistic. UCF went from getting beat consistently by us to investing in their program and then surpassing. We are on the first phase of that.

Settle in and enjoy the new coach, the new conference winnable games, and new stadium. There is no "there" there. 

It’s hard to stay engaged and excited when USF Athletics does very little to show they can turn things around. 

[Bull Matrix]

Think the Larry Scott & Marquel Blackwell coaching package will be interesting If USF moves in that direction….

[Dave_Glaser]

20 minutes ago, Bull Awakening said:

Think the Larry Scott & Marquel Blackwell coaching package will be interesting If USF moves in that direction….

We talk and talk about finding a guy who can keep those 4* Tampa/St. Pete/Sarasota kids home. Only Deion has the potential to do that right now.

[Outlaw]

56 minutes ago, 12inchtaint! said:

If the program is built right, the guys you lose would probably be the ones you would not want around as a new coach. 

If battie is really coming back, he is the exact type of player that you want. He is gifted physically, but more importantly he understands how to be part of a team. Yesterday solidified him as an all time great Bull, Brown takes a late hit and Battie was the first person in to defend him. 
 

Want a winning team? Bring in guys who will be team first and hold each other accountable.  I feel like CJS did that on the offensive side. He just failed terribly on the other side of the ball. 

The gifted offensive mind was canned and the offense instantly improved with a special teams coach running the team. CJS was the guy holding this team back.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Outlaw

[thekidnapper]

I think the answer to this conundrum is answered by the manager across the bay, Kevin Cash. The Rays gave him a unique contract that gave the Rays leverage and Cash incentive to succeed with the realization that he was an unknown commodity with upside. If you want to ensure the coach stays, maybe we backload it so the contract is more valuable later while giving ourselves the ability to opt-out if we want. That probably means we have to get an FCS coach that would relish the opportunity to come up. The money would be life changing compared to FCS and he would have more reason to sign a contract that is more weighted to USFs advantage.

[Ghostbuster]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

If we can't figure out how to retain a coach, it will be a very long road to consistent success.  I think MK knew this and saw the potential in Scott being a foundational coach that would stay.  Unfortunately, Scott came up short.

Tenure is important in other vocations and industries.  It retains knowledge, creates efficiency and protects assets and markets.  

We have 1 FBS win in 4 seasons; I'm not worried about consistent success, I'm worried about any success before we're too much of a joke for players and fans to care about.

Now if you want a real answer to the problem of how to handle head coaches leaving and starting over, @puc86 had an idea about ditching the traditional head coach paradigm and making things more interchangeable.  I can't do it justice but he could probably recap.

If his idea is too bold, then find someone not named Michael Kelly to identify prospective coaches.  Other NCAA teams have coaching turnover but they don't end up worst in the nation (both football & basketball)