One curiosity for me: who else did Chun interview for the job?
- Thread starter ttowncoug
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Supposed interviews: Urban Meyer, Chris Petersen, Harsin, Rolovich.
We turned down those 3 for Rolo.
We turned down those 3 for Rolo.
Depends on what you mean by interview. For example, Chun talked to Urban Meyer. Whether the conversation went beyond “are you interested in the job” and Urban saying no, then switching to Rolovich and Urban’s thoughts about him, we will never know.
I still think Grinch was allowed to bow out gracefully. Chun seems to want people with head coaching experience.
Chun contacted me, but despite a wonderful conversation over some Bourbon, I withdrew my name when it became apparent that Chun wasn't a fan of my Wing-T offensive roots.
Funny, I had the same deal, except I was pitching running my peewee league offense: hand it off to the RB and have him run into the back of the OL and fall down.
You probably need to ask Theo or check his older stories.
He is only beat writer covering the team anymore - Brand X was the peddler of the Mora rumor (along with Mora's agent getting it out on twitter). Their credibility has taken some major hits and has never been any good on coach searches.
Things are done through intermediaries these days (agents/handlers/search firms) these days and this was bad time to do a search (not as bad as Colorado's at present)
Don't recall other candidates with Smith for men's hoops or the new baseball coach.
My best guess is that Chun did not use intermediaries and instead made personal calls. It strikes me as being his personality.
Who knows exactly who he spoke with? I'd bet a few guys we are not even thinking of, but Harsin seems likely as well as Grinch. He also probably called a few friends from his network to ask for input, and while there may have been some "ripple effect" from those calls, it probably did not extend to the point of "intermediaries approaching others". Some of this is a rather fine distinction, but that is true of any hiring expedition.
The one thing I believe is that Chun knew that CML would jump if he had the right offer, particularly after the blow up with the fat Spokesman hack. Chun seems pretty on the ball, and it is unlikely that he was not maintaining enough of a connection with various potential candidates that they would not be willing to take his call. The relatively decisive way that the hiring was handled suggests that nobody was really caught by surprise and there were probably at least a couple of "Plan B" outlines ready to pursue.
Who knows exactly who he spoke with? I'd bet a few guys we are not even thinking of, but Harsin seems likely as well as Grinch. He also probably called a few friends from his network to ask for input, and while there may have been some "ripple effect" from those calls, it probably did not extend to the point of "intermediaries approaching others". Some of this is a rather fine distinction, but that is true of any hiring expedition.
The one thing I believe is that Chun knew that CML would jump if he had the right offer, particularly after the blow up with the fat Spokesman hack. Chun seems pretty on the ball, and it is unlikely that he was not maintaining enough of a connection with various potential candidates that they would not be willing to take his call. The relatively decisive way that the hiring was handled suggests that nobody was really caught by surprise and there were probably at least a couple of "Plan B" outlines ready to pursue.
Chun's Plan B, C, D and E list was longer than Moos' No-Bowl Ticket list.
As quickly and as quietly as the hire went down, I wouldn't be surprised if Chun pulled the trigger on Rolovich without doing any other actual interviews. It took a total of four days for us to hire Rolovich after Leach bailed on us. I can't imagine that Chun had time to pull off more interviews in that short of a time span.
My curiosity is..."why does it matter now"? Is it just to provide ammo for sniping later, if things aren't great after the first year?
This is the kind of speculation that usually takes place within a short period of time (days/week or two) after the hire. Not at a point where the second LOI day has come and gone, spring practices are on the verge and the new hire has been "most visible" in the greater Coug community, preaching the gospel.
To me, this sort of suggests than there may have been other, better candidates who were overlooked. Of course that's always possible.
But the situation really suggests to me that the AD was aware of Leach's proclivities (no matter what Chun said publicly) and had his ducks in a row, in case a move had to be made.
Look at the struggles Colorado is having with their hire. First, their coach leaves them in the lurch. Then the top replacement candidate (in most people's minds) looks like he wants to stay with the NFL. Then it seems they had maybe settled on "Cutty Sark", only to have him decide 'Bama was the place he wants to be, after all. The Air Force coach was another main target, supposedly. It was said he would shift away from the triple option and was a very strong candidate for the job.
I haven't looked at what news is out there yet today, but yesterday it seemed like they might be back to reopening interviews and exploring further candidates? Most of the names thrown around are "the usual suspects"...i.e.- many of the same names bandied about when we were looking.
So....what's the big deal? Do we REALLY CARE who else was interviewed? Or are we actually happy Chun acted quickly and avoided and couple of weeks of shet-show, with a program twisting in the wind? Maybe things work out spectacularly for them in the end? Maybe it would have for us, too, if more time was taken and more/other names considered? Maybe it did and we are seeing it unfold in front of our faces?
On balance, I don't care. We got a guy who seems like he's a good fit (as you said) and seems like he has the energy and enthusiasm to do the job for us. Can he WIN at WSU?? Time will tell. And that's the bottom line, anyway. Doesn't matter now even one whit who else was considered, or interviewed.
Curiosity is one thing. Reality is another. Maybe it's just a dead period before spring ball? Otherwise, why does it matter?
Four days doesn't give Walden & Putin time enough to agree on THEIR candidate, reserve library computers for their paid trolls, ghostwrite a column for the fat SR hack columnist, organize radio interviews for Walden, find dog pictures to email to Jim Moore or wire Wulff his bus ticket.
The Mora story was at least a start....
PositivesJohn L. Smith
1. Would lure back Clambake Mary, Nitz, Pirate Girl
Negatives
1. Would break more hearts than Tony Bennett when he leaves.
2. Will make pitch for new facilities difficult:
"If they cant afford a new carpet for CJLS why are they asking for new field turf or a replacement for the bubble?"
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