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Leftwich

Are there any MU former players who are succeeding in college coaching who might be candidates for the MU head job once Doc hangs it up?
 
I hope not. Just believe it’s time for new blood w/o a Marshall connection. Maybe I should say a WV connection. Clean slate - start fresh

Well, that depends...because everyone lost their minds over a former wvu guy coaching here.

I don't get the emphasis on being from MU to be a HC.
Leftwich is probably the only real qualified former MU player for the HC position, but he'll still be in the pros even if Tom Brady implodes.

The last HC MU had who played at MU, was a pretty terrible one.
The only problem I see with someone who isn't connected to WV, is they're going to bolt the second they can.
For a P5 school, thats not a problem, but for MU? Just look at teams within the conference and how badly they struggled to find a replacement HC once their hotshot young one left.
Also, you don't necessarily need to win a conference championship or have a stellar record to even get bumped to a higher level, you just need to look like you know what you're doing.

Thats my only concern. MU could roll the dice and find someone who wins a title in 2 years...and then takes 5 more years to get to a winning record since the coaching changed so drastically.
Its a constant financial and, with a fickle fanbase as MU, gamble that MU can't afford to mess up too often on.
 
The only problem I see with someone who isn't connected to WV, is they're going to bolt the second they can.

Agreed, but that's our reality. We had all the planets in alignment with Pruett. We aren't ever going to be able to pay an elite coach what they're worth, so go for talent, then keep trying to reload. Maybe, just maybe, we get enough money flowing to keep one for a little while or he holds off for a big time spot somewhere.
 
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I'd say we will pay the next coach around 1 Mil. That should find us a solid hire from the FCS HC ranks or an established young coordinator wanting to be an HC, willing to sacrifice a little income for the title and experience. Hopefully that person has success and stays 4-5 years. Then do it all over again. jmo
 
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Just have to hope that Hamrick is paying attention to all the coaching talent that is looking for a head position. Every AD should have a list of people they will interview in the event they lose their head coach. And with Doc's contract running out, Hamrick should have been looking at young talent in the coaching ranks for the past year or two. Hope he has.
 
Just have to hope that Hamrick is paying attention to all the coaching talent that is looking for a head position. Every AD should have a list of people they will interview in the event they lose their head coach. And with Doc's contract running out, Hamrick should have been looking at young talent in the coaching ranks for the past year or two. Hope he has.


As much as I would like to see a national and thorough search, I think Mike has a list of 3-4 guys he knows that will be targeted. Will those guys be the best candidates, not confident they will be.
 
I'd say we will pay the next coach around 1 Mil. That should find us a solid hire from the FCS HC ranks or an established young coordinator wanting to be an HC, willing to sacrifice a little income for the title and experience. Hopefully that person has success and stays 4-5 years. Then do it all over again. jmo
How many of you hoped Doc would stay "4 or 5 years" and then move on to something bigger? Careful what you wish for.
 
How many of you hoped Doc would stay "4 or 5 years" and then move on to something bigger? Careful what you wish for.
We are a stepping stone or a last chance coaching school. The quicker our fan base understands that the better off we will be
 
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How many of you hoped Doc would stay "4 or 5 years" and then move on to something bigger? Careful what you wish for.


I theory that’s the way it should be for a G5. The HC has success and moves on to a better gig.
No one seems to have wanted Doc so he stayed. I like the guy, but it’s obvious other schools didn’t see enough to lure him away.
 
I'd say we will pay the next coach around 1 Mil. That should find us a solid hire from the FCS HC ranks or an established young coordinator wanting to be an HC, willing to sacrifice a little income for the title and experience. Hopefully that person has success and stays 4-5 years. Then do it all over again. jmo

Well, there's a chance we may not know how good Kiffin's replacement is for a while but places like WKU have seen 2 coaches in 3 years with losses to FCS schools and losses to lowly Marshall, no title gane appearances since.
Southern Miss when Fedora left in 2011, had a pretty bad string of losing seasons. 4 wins in 3 years.
Finally made the conference title game, lost, with a 9-5 record...but records don't matter, they made the title game. Monken left after 3 seasons.
New coach since, 7-6, 8-5, 6-5, 7-6.
WMU went 6-6, 7-6, 7-6 since Fleck rowed his boat out of Kalamazoo.

MU would be lucky to get a HC for 3 years on a rotating basis...and with some of these records, this board would lose their minds.
 
There are hundreds of assistant coaches across the country who would love to be the head coach at MU. The challenge is to pick the one who can move the program forward and do it in a way that pleases the fans and donors. Hamrick's legacy will be determined on how successful the next football coach is.
 
I theory that’s the way it should be for a G5. The HC has success and moves on to a better gig.
No one seems to have wanted Doc so he stayed. I like the guy, but it’s obvious other schools didn’t see enough to lure him away.

Of he simply didn't want to leave. Not saying he was rejecting calls from teams/schools but its a 2 way street. A school can send feelers out to potential coaches and evaluate them before anything is formal. I'm sure Doc got said folks from P5's or other places, but simply gave them the feeling he wasn't interested.
Coaches who have won far less, have gotten upgraded jobs because they literally reached out and made it known they wanted out.
Doc, in my opinion, didn't do that and his resume would be valued enough where if he wanted to, he could.

Did Pruett ever have known offers to other programs while he was at MU? Just curious.
 
Of he simply didn't want to leave. Not saying he was rejecting calls from teams/schools but its a 2 way street. A school can send feelers out to potential coaches and evaluate them before anything is formal. I'm sure Doc got said folks from P5's or other places, but simply gave them the feeling he wasn't interested.
Coaches who have won far less, have gotten upgraded jobs because they literally reached out and made it known they wanted out.
Doc, in my opinion, didn't do that and his resume would be valued enough where if he wanted to, he could.

Did Pruett ever have known offers to other programs while he was at MU? Just curious.
Houston was close to a done deal
 
Of he simply didn't want to leave. Not saying he was rejecting calls from teams/schools but its a 2 way street. A school can send feelers out to potential coaches and evaluate them before anything is formal. I'm sure Doc got said folks from P5's or other places, but simply gave them the feeling he wasn't interested.
Coaches who have won far less, have gotten upgraded jobs because they literally reached out and made it known they wanted out.
Doc, in my opinion, didn't do that and his resume would be valued enough where if he wanted to, he could.

Did Pruett ever have known offers to other programs while he was at MU? Just curious.


Well Doc knows he has about as much job security here as anywhere. If you are getting paid 850K and pretty much have no threats to your job status, yeah, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to go anywhere either.
 
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There are hundreds of assistant coaches across the country who would love to be the head coach at MU. The challenge is to pick the one who can move the program forward and do it in a way that pleases the fans and donors. Hamrick's legacy will be determined on how successful the next football coach is.
Does Doc get his contract renewed after the season.
 
Given the chance I believe Lefty will make a good head coach at the pro level.

Also may be just wishful thinking that he returns to Marshall..he is where he want's to be for now.
coaching college is different with the recruiting. Looking back the thing that made Pennington and Leftwich were both very smart players. Im sure Leftwich learned a lot from Pennington but to me that is what set those two apart.
 
We are a stepping stone or a last chance coaching school. The quicker our fan base understands that the better off we will be
you may be correct. However, BP stayed here 9 years and retired. Doc has been here now 11 and IMO will retire here as well. So we have had 3 coaches in the past 25 years. I get the point you make but not sure the shoe fits here based on the past 3 hires.
 
you may be correct. However, BP stayed here 9 years and retired. Doc has been here now 11 and IMO will retire here as well. So we have had 3 coaches in the past 25 years. I get the point you make but not sure the shoe fits here based on the past 3 hires.
Pruitt quit he didn’t retire. My point is we should embrace the stepping stone moniker. We aren’t the media darling of the 90s early 2000. That ship sailed. Find a young up and coming coach he does well and moves on find another one.
 
It amazes me that with all the success that he achieved here at Marshall, so many fans can't spell his name, It is PRUETT, There is no (i) in it.

Of course I can say the same with basketball fans. The name is HUCKABAY. His son Ricky, did change his to Huckaby with his dad's blessing so that radio stations would pronounce it correctly
 
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Mid-majors do best with a consistency of philosophy that supersedes individual coaches or hires. Knowing your coach will likely leave if they are successful means you should focus more on hiring in a chain, with a stated over-arching philosophy that all coaches you hire fit within. You need to prevent the bottom from dropping out once every 5 years, setting you back to zero, because that's the kryptonite on this level.

Its changing the approach from hiring a mad scientist to make magic happen to hiring a competent person to do a prescribed job.
 
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