Please tell me Edsall isn't an option. We might as well bring Coach P back.
well, in P's final six seasons -- post-McNabb and well after the bloom had come off the rose on his tenure at the Cuse, his record was 39-32 (.549) with a 2-1 record in bowl games. Not super exciting nor worthy of his continued employment for a university that believed it was capable of being a BCS-type team each year.
However, as we sit here and contemplate a new coach, our record in the 11 years since firing P is 48-83. Our best multi-year stretch in there? 2012-2013 we went 15-11 (.576). So we haven't even had a two-year period in the ensuing 11 years that is much better than what P did over his final six seasons post-McNabb.
So the bottom line? Yes, if we could find P's clone at this point, we probably do need to hire him. And if we get sick of mediocrity in five years? Well, at least we'd be sick of mediocrity instead of truly dismal performance.
Edsall was 70-63 as a coach at UConn (while they were 1A -- discounting the year in the A-10). That a .526 winning percentage. Now, this is cherry picking, but if you figure it's logical to think that with all the transition they had it was going to take him a bit to build up the the talent, then you could throw out his first three seasons ('99-'01), at which point his record improves to 65-46 (.586). I mean, at a university in the northeast (meaning there is relevancy to his resume unlike a lot of these other dudes) that had atrocious facilities, zero history and a paltry fan base? I mean, what would people have considered successful there?
I don't know, I get that Edsall is more of a low-ceiling hire, but he's a guy who's proven he can win in the northeast, win consistently in the northeast (at least 8 wins in each of his final four seasons at UConn) and win against teams with -- for all intents and purposes -- more talent as he did at UConn and in the first year in the B1G at UMD. I personally feel like you could do way worse.