ND Coaching Search Megathread

[AlaskanIrish]

LSU 247 site saying expected to retain their DBs coach which would hopefully for us conflict with Mickens

I hope that's true. Seems that would be a positive sign for us keeping Freeman.

 

[greyhammer90]

Man I really wish there was a way to keep Rees while hiring Freeman.

 

[BoredIrish]

If it is Fickell or Freeman, the pressing question is the time. And Freeman certainly would have a shot clock given the LSU interest as well as HC interest elsewhere. My biggest concern is not who we hire but when

Campbell could start tomorrow, if he is the choice... and I'm starting to convince myself that he might be.

Fickell has won big at Cinci... but how many P5 teams has he beaten? Are we sure he isnt just the next Scott Frost? Also, I'd love to see how he does next year when Ridder is gone.

Freeman is a great recruiter... but there has probably been 10 teams that have hired HC's so far and none of them hired Freeman. "Winning is hard" and we have no idea whether Freeman can actually win or not.

Campbell is a P5 coach who has proven that he can win and develop talent. He has more top 10 wins than BK, which says alot to me. Plus he has been through a couple of iterations of players and has always been able to re-load and re-stock well. He wont be a lights out recruiter... but hopefully he can find some assistants who are.

 

[Free Manera]

If ND ends up with Freeman, Mickens, and Taylor
and can poach Hartline as OC,
and hire Cutcliffe as QB coach/associate head coach,
and keep Balis

This is probably an upgrade. I'm not even kidding. The raw talent of the roster would be a totally different level almost immediately.

 

[RDU Irish]

I don't hate it. There's no real alternative here for anyone who understands the stakes. Promote him TODAY so he can get to work on maintaining the integrity of our roster. Leave it to our f*cking admin to find some stupid reason not to do it though.

Maybe they want someone who looks more Irish. The only non-racist thing for Admin and BoD to do is hire Freeman. (half joking)

 

[GowerND11]

Has NDNation's 1994 based page been able to deal with all of this?

 

[GowerND11]

Campbell could start tomorrow, if he is the choice... and I'm starting to convince myself that he might be.

Fickell has won big at Cinci... but how many P5 teams has he beaten? Are we sure he isnt just the next Scott Frost? Also, I'd love to see how he does next year when Ridder is gone.

Freeman is a great recruiter... but there has probably been 10 teams that have hired HC's so far and none of them hired Freeman. "Winning is hard" and we have no idea whether Freeman can actually win or not.

Campbell is a P5 coach who has proven that he can win and develop talent. He has more top 10 wins than BK, which says alot to me. Plus he has been through a couple of iterations of players and has always been able to re-load and re-stock well. He wont be a lights out recruiter... but hopefully he can find some assistants who are.

Dude won 7 games this year when the pressure was finally on, with one of the best running backs in the country.

 

[ACamp1900]

Has NDNation's 1994 based page been able to deal with all of this?

It's great that we as a site can find the good in stuff......

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Maybe they want someone who looks more Irish. The only non-racist thing for Admin and BoD to do is hire Freeman. (half joking)

I'm sure there are a number of crusty assholes that Swarbrick reports to on the BoT insisting on some arbitrary "must have been a HC for at least 10 years" rule which will have to be worked around. And then a number of people on the BoF that see this as an opportunity to put the program back in its place before it becomes embarrassingly successful again. As always, we're our own worst enemy.

 

[hungryhippo]

If ND ends up with Freeman, Mickens, and Taylor
and can poach Hartline as OC,
and hire Cutcliffe as QB coach/associate head coach,
and keep Balis

This is probably an upgrade. I'm not even kidding. The raw talent of the roster would be a totally different level almost immediately.

This is almost exactly my pie-in-the-sky wish list if we go the Freeman route.

 

[ACamp1900]

I'm sorry everyone,... I just stated a few days ago that I finally believe BK can win a natty here.... I did this,... didn't I?

 

[Islandboi]

Anyone know if its true that Kelly didn't give ND the opportunity to match LSU's offer? If so. Thats a really shitty move. He must've really wanted out.

 

[ColinKSU]

Dude won 7 games this year when the pressure was finally on, with one of the best running backs in the country.

Campbell would be a disaster hire. It'd completely erase everything the program has built over the past five years.

 

[BoredIrish]

Dude won 7 games this year when the pressure was finally on, with one of the best running backs in the country.

Point taken.

But Kelly won 4 in 2016 and he just got $100M.

 

[Irish#1]

How much you want to be that Fickell’s agent called Jack last night and Jack is trying to see if he can keep Freeman as DC paired with Fickell.

I think that's a possibility.

IIRC, ND hasn't hired a coach that young since Rockne.

 

[tko]

I'm sorry everyone,... I just stated a few days ago that I finally believe BK can win a natty here.... I did this,... didn't I?

This is 100% your fault.

 

[NDdomer2]

That press conference was a train wreck. Maybe Jack has a good plan, was just unprepared to answer these questions, and thus felt the need to come out and misdirect the media. But taking his comments at face value: (1) he saw this coming and did nothing to prepare for it; (2) he doesn't have a list of candidates, or even a list of "traits" yet; and (3) there is apparently no sense of urgency, to the extent that we may not even have a named interim in place for our NY6 Bowl/ Semi-Final game.

What exactly did that presser accomplish other than to crush the confidence of those who are paying attention and understand the need to move quickly here? We'd have been better off had he just refused to comment.

I dont disagree that he either should have waited another 12 hours or day before going up there and I was certainly surprised by some of his answers.

However, just a day or so ago we were talking about Freeman being told he was HCIW. That sounds like planning/preparation for BK leaving. I am assuming the timeline is what really caught him off. I think they thought they had another year minimum. How much can we actual prepare this in the "last couple weeks", I believe was the reference, I dont know. you would like to think having that list of traits together is likely, but they may already know them.

He seemed please with the interest he had in the job when he spoke of that. Going back to list of candidates - he mentioned we dont need to make that list, I would think that is because the list makes itself. Here are the 5 guys that reached out about the job, here is what were looking for, add/remove from list, make an offer.

I just keep going back to do I want Swarbrick to win the press conference or win the coaching hire. The result here and timing is what truly matters and I will wait to see it. However, the timeline is crucial and I agree that if it isnt in place by end our NY6 game that is an epic failure. We just dont know yet and him looking like a tired old man after 12 hours notice isnt going to make me think they can't get it done appropriately.

the comment about if he were to name an interim HC they would not be a candidate for the HC job is because it would go to someone like Polian or Elston. Someone who has been around the program long enough to understand some of the immediate CEO like needs and doesnt need to be the face of our recruiting. This is a good thing if you want Freeman as HC imo.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/MrKeithJenkins/status/1465732186611470343[/TWEET]

He gone.

"There is no speculation. Is the job open? I guess it is. But I wouldn't know if somebody didn't tell me."

Lol the job isnt open and no speculation if you have already accepted it. the "I guess it is" sure came off as "well it's mine"

 

[Free Manera]

I'm sorry everyone,... I just stated a few days ago that I finally believe BK can win a natty here.... I did this,... didn't I?

Were you in Baton Rouge when you said it?

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Anyone know if its true that Kelly didn't give ND the opportunity to match LSU's offer? If so. Thats a really shitty move. He must've really wanted out.

Based on Sampson and Fortuna's discussions, BK has been asking for certain changes and investments for years and ND hasn't done them. I'm not sure he was interested in promises.

 

[ACamp1900]

"Jack,... you have a call on line 4 from someone saying they have interest in the coaching vacancy... they say their name is Guy Skillingham"

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

What does that tweet mean?

black smoke at the vatican means no new pope.

 

[Riddickulous]

Campbell could start tomorrow, if he is the choice... and I'm starting to convince myself that he might be.

Fickell has won big at Cinci... but how many P5 teams has he beaten? Are we sure he isnt just the next Scott Frost? Also, I'd love to see how he does next year when Ridder is gone.

Freeman is a great recruiter... but there has probably been 10 teams that have hired HC's so far and none of them hired Freeman. "Winning is hard" and we have no idea whether Freeman can actually win or not.

Campbell is a P5 coach who has proven that he can win and develop talent. He has more top 10 wins than BK, which says alot to me. Plus he has been through a couple of iterations of players and has always been able to re-load and re-stock well. He wont be a lights out recruiter... but hopefully he can find some assistants who are.

2018: UCLA, Virginia Tech
2019: UCLA, Boston College
2020: Lost by 3 to Georgia
2021: ND

The guy is a good coach and has that Cinci program humming after Tuberville derailed it. And remember he was a high level assistant at OSU for a decade. Gotta think he'll at least be a solid recruiter. If it's not Freeman he is an absolute no brainer second choice.

 

[Luckylucci]

Take all this FWIW but one LSU 247 mod thinks they get Freeman. Shea Dixon said that there are assistant coaches on the flight with BK. And, he'll be at the airport when they arrive so we'll know in short order who those are. I highly doubt Freeman would be one of the initial guys gone.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Anyone know if its true that Kelly didn't give ND the opportunity to match LSU's offer? If so. Thats a really shitty move. He must've really wanted out.

I can't imagine Swarbrick would just lie about that. So while LSU threw so much money at him he almost couldn't say no, it does imply that the dollars weren't the primary motivator in him leaving. I think he just wants a shot at winning at title or two before he retires, and he rightfully thinks that's more likely at LSU than ND.

 

[Free Manera]

Anyone know if its true that Kelly didn't give ND the opportunity to match LSU's offer? If so. Thats a really shitty move. He must've really wanted out.

It's true. But Swarbrick said he appreciated that. I mean it's kind of a tough situation as an employer. You don't really want employees coming to you every few years with an offer asking you to match. At some point, if you wanna go then GTFO.

 

[Riddickulous]

https://twitter.com/ppf_college/status/1465547816894447617?s=21

That's not a legit account.

 

[Free Manera]

Take all this FWIW but one LSU 247 mod thinks they get Freeman. Shea Dixon said that there are assistant coaches on the flight with BK. And, he'll be at the airport when they arrive so we'll know in short order who those are. I highly doubt Freeman would be one of the initial guys gone.

I think he goes 100% if he is not the ND head coach. And if that happens, were just screwed. Moses Freeman will lead the exodus to the bayou.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Take all this FWIW but one LSU 247 mod thinks they get Freeman. Shea Dixon said that there are assistant coaches on the flight with BK. And, he'll be at the airport when they arrive so we'll know in short order who those are. I highly doubt Freeman would be one of the initial guys gone.

If Freeman walks out in this stage of the process then it's hard to hold onto any faith in the administration.

 

[Kingbish01]

Anyone know if its true that Kelly didn't give ND the opportunity to match LSU's offer? If so. Thats a really shitty move. He must've really wanted out.

Jack also said in his presser that ND wasn't given the opportunity to match and he was happy about that.

 

[EvilleIrish]

Take all this FWIW but one LSU 247 mod thinks they get Freeman. Shea Dixon said that there are assistant coaches on the flight with BK. And, he'll be at the airport when they arrive so we'll know in short order who those are. I highly doubt Freeman would be one of the initial guys gone.

How bad is this about to get?