Briles would be a fool not get out of Baylor while his name is hot and cash in, whether that's Arkansas, Tennessee, Auburn, or Kentucky. He would be able to bring Texas recruits with him.
Briles would be a fool not get out of Baylor while his name is hot and cash in, whether that's Arkansas, Tennessee, Auburn, or Kentucky. He would be able to bring Texas recruits with him.
http://diamondvisits.blogspot.com/ My Minor League stadium review site.
Bill O'Brien and Butch Jones are probably two "get out of dodge" fast candidates too...
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
I don't see why Jones would be in that category. There's no reason he can't keep winning at UC and wait for the right opportunity to come along. It's more obvous to me why Briles and O'Brien would want to leave now (though O'Brien basically has a four-year hallpass after this year and given the sanctions).
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
Well, maybe they're desireable to him, and maybe they're not. Who knows? Kentucky is not desireable. Arkansas may be undesireable to some people. Auburn is generally an excellent job, but who knows what that's going to look like if the NCAA really is moving in. And it sounds like the whole athletic department down there is a mess. Could be a bad situation. Tennessee is generally desireable, and the expectations might even be manageable there for now given how bad they've been. I'm not sure Purdue is a particularly good job. NC State might be a good job, but your potential boss (Debbie Yow) is apparently an idiot.
So maybe Jones is interested in one of those jobs, and maybe he's not. In the meantime, if he's a good coach, he'll keep winning until something he wants is available. It's not like Briles who might lose a bunch of games at Baylor even if he's doing a good job just because the competition is so severe.
Jones turned down jobs with better situations after last season than UK and Purdue. If he goes, I'd expect it to be for something higher profile.
By the way, my Purdue colleagues were convinced they were getting Brian Kelly three years ago. Kelly had already turned down UCLA and Tennessee by that point, and he's going to go to Purdue? Really?
All models are wrong. Some of them are useful.
Current Coaching Job Vacancies:
Auburn
Out: Gene Chizik
In:
Arkansas
Out: John L. Smith
In:
California
Out: Jeff Tedford
In:
Colorado
Out: John Embree
In:
Boston College
Out: Frank Spaziani
In:
Tennessee
Out: Derek Dooley
In:
Idaho
Out: Robb Akey
In:
Kentucky
Out: Joker Phillips
In:
NC State
Out: Tom O'Brien
In:
Purdue
Out: Danny Hope
In:
UTEP
Out: Mike Price
In:
Western Michigan
Out: Bill Cubit
In:
Southern Mississippi might be added to this list. I wonder how happy Paul Johnson is at Georgia Tech. He would be a good fit for Tennessee or Auburn.
http://diamondvisits.blogspot.com/ My Minor League stadium review site.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
As a CFB fan I'd love to see Colorado make the right hire. It's sad how far that program has fallen.
Tennessee should be the best job on that list, just based on facilities and not having be Nick Saban's biggest rival.
I actually think the best job on that list might be Cal. They just did some major upgrades to their factilities and still get to recruit in California. They don't have the best fan base for sure, but it isn't awful.
I think Auburn is the best on the list because it has great facilities with more being built, almost unlimited resources, sits in the heart of one of the best recruiting regions in the country, and has a fanbase that is zealous in their passion for the program. It can be done here and there is no doubt that a good coach can achieve at Auburn. This is off of the top of my head but I think one would have to go all the way back to Barfield to find an Auburn coach that didn't win the SEC. The media loves Saban and the Bama narrative but Auburn has out competed Bama in the modern era (i.e. since the Bear died).
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
I would be very wary of taking the Auburn job. The NCAA is apparently launching an investigation into Auburn. I may be wrong but I think the fallout from Chizik may cause a lot of potential coaches to be hesitant. Competing against Saben in Alabama would be a huge hurdle to overcome as well.
I think Arkansas and then Tennessee would by my #1 and #2.
The NCAA is NOT launching an investigation into Auburn. Last week was old news recycled by lazy sportswriters during Iron Bowl week and if you're into conspiracies, it may have been floated by an Auburn contingent to make Chizik look bad during "decision" week. The NCAA is looking into Memphis recruiting because of the Jovon Robinson transcript situation but it is not focusing upon Auburn. It has visited several campuses regarding this issue and Auburn is an obvious one to visit. Trooper and Luper had been taken off of the recruiting circuit until Dec 1 as part of a self-imposed penalty for a self-reported secondary violation completely unrelated to anything in Memphis.
There is zero concern within the Auburn athletic department. There is no investigation of Auburn's football program.
Haggle over Tennesee or Auburn but Arksansas is an obvious distant option from a desireability standpoint. Resources, recruiting, tradition, etc wise, Arkansas has largely been a second tier SEC program traditionally.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
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