I'm not sure I agree about the part of having to have previous HC experiences and a track record of success. By insisting on that as a qualification you are looking at an extremely small pool of candidates. I'd also argue that success outside of an FBS conference as a HC is not correlative of success within an FBS conference unless the guy is the cream of the crop that all of the big boys want. I don't think SU can compete with all of the other openings out there if we are just looking at HC's with track records of success. I'm not saying don't talk to them but I think an equally likely bet is an innovative OC who knows how to put points on the board and knows how to recruit. We need to think out of the box here. For the record I don't remember Marrone ever being a HC before he got Syracuse and that was working out ok until he left.Obligatory qualifier: I like Shafer, have and will support the team, but I think it is fairly clear that he just isn't a good enough HC / strategist to return the program to where it needs to be. At some point, Coyle is going to have to make a decision. What criteria should he focus on?
Here's my list:
- New coach absolutely has to have previous HC experience, and a track record of success. No more bringing in coordinator types who are unproven. No more extending a rebuild. There are some quality pieces of the puzzle in place on this team, and a good coaching staff would be able to actualize that potential fairly quickly.
- New HC has to have strong offense credentials. Time for us to get with the program and be innovative. Use the Dome as the resource it should be, instead of trying to play like a 1990s team.
- Recruiting contacts, northeast ties, etc. should not significantly factor into the decision. Win, and the recruits and fans will follow.
- Need to be prepared to open up the coffers--we have ACC revenue, and we're going to have to spend it to land a high caliber candidate and a quality staff of ACs. Nothing against HCSS, who is an easy guy to root for, but when you are employing the lowest paid coach in a conference, you generally get what you pay for [obviously, there are exceptions, but it doesn't appear that HCSS is one of them].
Any others? What other attributes / factors / criteria did I leave out?
- No more NFL types. The college game is different than how the game is played at the NFL level, and we need somebody who understands those nuances and doesn't try to force a round peg, square hole pro style offense on us. Been there, done that.
I'd also add as criteria:
- someone who is able to assemble a really good coaching staff
- someone who has demonstrated that they are able to fit their system to the talents of the team and not force a system on the players
- someone who has shown that they learn from their mistakes