Is It True....

[ShotgunDawg]

That the three finalists for our job were Moorhead, Pruitt, & Morris?

So, I'm supposed to believe that Cohen had 2 months to put together a competent list of coaches to interview & this was his list?

If so, that is far more reprehensible that making the wrong hire. Anyone can be fooled & make the wrong hire, but when you are completely fishing the wrong pond, you have much more serious issues than just making poor judgement on the final hire.

Shirley, he had some one better than those 3 as his finalists? Right?

I mean, hiring is a crap shoot, but it's way more than a crap shoot when you never even speak to anyone close to being the right guy.

If those were his 3 interviews, then I completely understand how he settled on Moorhead by default if for no other reason

[TrapGame]

Supposedly Satterfield and Whittingham showed interest as well.

[dawgday166]

Supposedly Satterfield and Whittingham showed interest as well.

Everytime someone say Satterfield was interested I just shake my damn head. WTF!

[KB21]

Well, supposedly, the job was offered to Ryan Day at Ohio State first, and then offered to Joe Moorhead.

[ShotgunDawg]

Supposedly Satterfield and Whittingham showed interest as well.

Shirley this isn't true. No way those two show interest & you hire Moorhead. No 17ing way.

I mean, Cohen seems to be at best a mediocre hirier of coaches, but he'd have to be stupid to make that mistake

[ShotgunDawg]

Well, supposedly, the job was offered to Ryan Day at Ohio State first, and then offered to Joe Moorhead.

If true, then at least he had something right

[Really Clark?]

Ryan Day was top candidate

[TrapGame]

Shirley this isn't true. No way those two show interest & you hire Moorhead. No 17ing way.

I mean, Cohen seems to be at best a mediocre hirier of coaches, but he'd have to be stupid to make that mistake

And Todd Monken. I spoke to a relative of his months ago but I really think he was happy with the Falcons.

[Coursesuper]

That the three finalists for our job were Moorhead, Pruitt, & Morris?

So, I'm supposed to believe that Cohen had 2 months to put together a competent list of coaches to interview & this was his list?

If so, that is far more reprehensible that making the wrong hire. Anyone can be fooled & make the wrong hire, but when you are completely fishing the wrong pond, you have much more serious issues than just making poor judgement on the final hire.

Shirley, he had some one better than those 3 as his finalists? Right?

I mean, hiring is a crap shoot, but it's way more than a crap shoot when you never even speak to anyone close to being the right guy.

If those were his 3 interviews, then I completely understand how he settled on Moorhead by default if for no other reason

This is what happens when you rush, and when you are so arrogant that you convinced yourself that you are always the smartest guy in the room.

[Political Hack]

Whitingham wanted it. That's 100%. I'm not sure on Sat though

[BB30]

That the three finalists for our job were Moorhead, Pruitt, & Morris?

So, I'm supposed to believe that Cohen had 2 months to put together a competent list of coaches to interview & this was his list?

If so, that is far more reprehensible that making the wrong hire. Anyone can be fooled & make the wrong hire, but when you are completely fishing the wrong pond, you have much more serious issues than just making poor judgement on the final hire.

Shirley, he had some one better than those 3 as his finalists? Right?

I mean, hiring is a crap shoot, but it's way more than a crap shoot when you never even speak to anyone close to being the right guy.

If those were his 3 interviews, then I completely understand how he settled on Moorhead by default if for no other reason

I see you’ve now turned your attention to Cohen. Again, on paper Moorhead checked every box. There wasn’t literally a single person in the media or on here that criticized Cohen when the hire was made. All that was said on here was how innovative he was as an offensive guy and how lucky we were to have Cohen as ad and that he managed the situation extremely well.

Please tell me what established sure fire bet was out there that would have realistically come here. Key word is “realistically”. We were either going to have to go with a coordinator that was considered a good up and comer, a decent but not great mid major head coach, or a retread major cfb head coach that had been good one point.

[BB30]

This is what happens when you rush, and when you are so arrogant that you convinced yourself that you are always the smartest guy in the room.

Ha ha many of y’all praised him for the quickness with which he made the hire and dogged Tennessee and arky for taking too long.. which is it because it can’t be both.

Had he waited and hired someone else that turned out to not be any good y’all would be on him for taking too long and being too indecisive.

[KOdawg1]

Whitingham wanted it. That's 100%. I'm not sure on Sat though

It's borderline fire-able that Cohen thought Joe was a better fit than Whittingham. Unbelievable. That guy would've won 10 games last year, and we'd probably be in line for 8 this year. Wow.

[ShotgunDawg]

Whitingham wanted it. That's 100%. I'm not sure on Sat though

Absolutely egregious if true

[PGHBulldogBG]

Supposedly Satterfield and Whittingham showed interest as well.

I have no doubt. Neal Brown, Bill Clark, Dave Clawson, Klieman, Matt Wells and Cohen wanted to chose between Pruitt, Moorhead and Morris? Lmao

[MetEdDawg]

Ryan Day was top candidate

This. The Urban Meyer text messages released a couple months ago proved we offered the job to Day.

[ShotgunDawg]

I see you’ve now turned your attention to Cohen. Again, on paper Moorhead checked every box. There wasn’t literally a single person in the media or on here that criticized Cohen when the hire was made. All that was said on here was how innovative he was as an offensive guy and how lucky we were to have Cohen as ad and that he managed the situation extremely well.

Please tell me what established sure fire bet was out there that would have realistically come here. Key word is “realistically”. We were either going to have to go with a coordinator that was considered a good up and comer, a decent but not great mid major head coach, or a retread major cfb head coach that had been good one point.

Everything I just said was an "IF".

I'm not calling out Cohen at all

[PGHBulldogBG]

I see you’ve now turned your attention to Cohen. Again, on paper Moorhead checked every box. There wasn’t literally a single person in the media or on here that criticized Cohen when the hire was made. All that was said on here was how innovative he was as an offensive guy and how lucky we were to have Cohen as ad and that he managed the situation extremely well.

Please tell me what established sure fire bet was out there that would have realistically come here. Key word is “realistically”. We were either going to have to go with a coordinator that was considered a good up and comer, a decent but not great mid major head coach, or a retread major cfb head coach that had been good one point.

He had no true head coaching experience with major success. Klieman won titles over and over again. Neal Brown won at traditional power 5 teams. Bill Clark brought a program back from the dead instantly to win their conference. Moorhead lived off Barkley’s talent

[Coursesuper]

Ha ha many of y’all praised him for the quickness with which he made the hire and dogged Tennessee and arky for taking too long.. which is it because it can’t be both.

Had he waited and hired someone else that turned out to not be any good y’all would be on him for taking too long and being too indecisive.

I didn't, I know better, that SOB should have never been in position to make the hire in the first place.

[was21]

It can be a calculated risk as opposed to as crap shoot. A calculated risk takes all that's relevant into consideration before pulling the trigger. It's possible maybe probable that Coehe didn't know what was important. Never let a baseball guy hire your football coach

[Jarius]

Everything I just said was an "IF".

I'm not calling out Cohen at all

If those were our 3 finalists your post is still equally ridiculous. The hindsight you are using to act like he should have known a BAMA coordination, Penn State Coordinator, and Another Head Coach that a different SEC school with more money and tradition than us ended up hiring in Arkansas would be bad hires is just hilarious. Do you have any idea how hard it is to predict if a guy is going to be good head coach in the SEC? Especially at a school like ours. The Moorhead hire was praised by any and every football guru anywhere and I will provide you with plenty of articles If you would like. No one that does sports for a living predicted him to fail here.it happens. We have enough problems without adding nonexistent ones on top of the real ones. Two of the top 3 revenue producing sports are doing as well as they ever have in our history and we have almost created a 4th revenue generating sport in women’s hoops (we may already be generating revenue there). He made a baseball hire that ended up being bad and another one that ended up being good. The one that was bad was praised when it happened and the one that was good made everyone?s head fall off when it happened.

[CoachT14]

If those were our 3 finalists your post is still equally ridiculous. The hindsight you are using to act like he should have known a BAMA coordination, Penn State Coordinator, and Another Head Coach that a different SEC school with more money and tradition than us ended up hiring in Arkansas would be bad hires is just hilarious. Do you have any idea how hard it is to predict if a guy is going to be good head coach in the SEC? Especially at a school like ours. We have enough problems without adding nonexistent ones on top of the real ones. Two of the top 3 revenue producing sports are doing as well as they ever have in our history and we have almost created a 4th revenue generating sport in women?s hoops (we may already be generating revenue there). He made a baseball hire that ended up being bad and another one that ended up being good. The one that was bad was praised when it happened and the one that was good made everyone?s head fall off when it happened.

Ehhh.. I think most people thought Morris and Pruitt were pretty mediocre hires. Morris 5 or so years ago... yeah sure thats a different conversation. Two years ago? No. He'd been pretty average at best at SMU. Most people thought Pruitt was a pretty big ignoramus.

Now as I've said from the get go, I get the Moorhead hire at the time. He checked boxes for me. But if you told me Whittingham, Satterfield, and some of the others were interested and we chose Moorhead... That's pretty bad.

[MetEdDawg]

Ehhh.. I think most people thought Morris and Pruitt were pretty mediocre hires. Morris 5 or so years ago... yeah sure thats a different conversation. Two years ago? No. He'd been pretty average at best at SMU. Most people thought Pruitt was a pretty big ignoramus.

Now as I've said from the get go, I get the Moorhead hire at the time. He checked boxes for me. But if you told me Whittingham, Satterfield, and some of the others were interested and we chose Moorhead... That's pretty bad.

I would love to know how true Whittingham and Satterfield rumors are. Moorhead checked the boxes for me too. Satterfield I still would get Moorhead over depending on style and approach. But not Whittingham. Dude still has a lot of coaching left and was an established name that could roll with the big boys.

[CoachT14]

I would love to know how true Whittingham and Satterfield rumors are.

Same here. It seems to me that there's enough smoke with at least Whittingham to imagine there might be some interest, but I know he's Ute so that could just be a ton of speculation from people who want to be relevant.


Moorhead checked the boxes for me too. Satterfield I still would get Moorhead over depending on style and approach.

I got a buddy who's a big App State fan, so I've always liked them and Satterfield has that program rolling. Drinkwitz looks good, but that was Satterfield's baby. I imagine that Satterfield would've won at least 10 with that defense last year. Who knows though? It's all speculation at this point, Moorhead looked like a pretty solid get with a high upside.


But not Whittingham. Dude still has a lot of coaching left and was an established name that could roll with the big boys.

Agreed. There are several guys I would've looked at and used everything I had to get them before landing on Moorhead, but it is what it is. And again he checked a lot of boxes.

[Dawgology]

Yes. It is true.

[maroonmania]

I would love to know how true Whittingham and Satterfield rumors are. Moorhead checked the boxes for me too. Satterfield I still would get Moorhead over depending on style and approach. But not Whittingham. Dude still has a lot of coaching left and was an established name that could roll with the big boys.

Moorhead did not check the box of having been a successful FBS Head Coach. And that is the risk we took. Now, Mullen didn't check that box either and we hit the jackpot, but this time we rolled snake eyes. IMO, its just way less risky to hire a guy that has been successful running an entire FBS program, preferably in the same region of the country that we are in. Coordinators spend their entire time developing game plans and strategies, not overseeing all aspects of the program, disciplining players and setting up the culture of the program.

[Coach34]

Absolutely egregious if true

An Elitedawg Mod is close to Whittingham. He would have taken the job.

[FriarsPoint]

An Elitedawg Mod is close to Whittingham. He would have taken the job.

Jesus Mary and Joseph. That’s a fireable offense. I’m sorry. That’s major league f ing up.

[Todd4State]

Cohen screwed it up mainly because he most likely took Stricklin’s advice on hiring a coach. John needs to show me that he has learned from that mistake by expanding the search this time beyond just coordinators.

[KOdawg1]

An Elitedawg Mod is close to Whittingham. He would have taken the job.

Call his ass again, apologize, and give him an extra 500k on top of the agreed salary as an "I'm sorry" gift

[MetEdDawg]

An Elitedawg Mod is close to Whittingham. He would have taken the job.

If that's true then I take back my defense of Cohen. That would have been a program changing hire. What in the world would possibly have possessed Cohen to not pursue that?

I can't imagine Cohen being that bad to the point that hire doesn't get made. I'm sure Moorhead is an impressive interview but Whittingham has an exceptional record.

That's awful if true. Did he even get an interview?

[ShotgunDawg]

Call his ass again, apologize, and give him an extra 500k on top of the agreed salary as an "I'm sorry" gift

Agree.

[Really Clark?]

If that's true then I take back my defense of Cohen. That would have been a program changing hire. What in the world would possibly have possessed Cohen to not pursue that?

I can't imagine Cohen being that bad to the point that hire doesn't get made. I'm sure Moorhead is an impressive interview but Whittingham has an exceptional record.

That's awful if true. Did he even get an interview?

Not a defense at all because his very successful track record prior but 2017 he had just finished 7-6 and there had been some dispute with his AD about facilities and promises (I believe that’s right). Part of the reason he was making himself a possibility. But I can see how that might caused a pause. Some were thinking we were or would just be used for leverage with Utah. Personally I would have called the bluff and made the offer and get in front of it.

[shoeless joe]

It can be a calculated risk as opposed to as crap shoot. A calculated risk takes all that's relevant into consideration before pulling the trigger. It's possible maybe probable that Coehe didn't know what was important. Never let a baseball guy hire your football coach

Eh...the underlying traits that make a good coach at any sport are basically the same. Which is why Cohen making this hire disappoints me.

[was21]

Not necessarily but get your point...hope you got mine

[Coach34]

Call his ass again, apologize, and give him an extra 500k on top of the agreed salary as an "I'm sorry" gift

We talked to him a couple of weeks ago- he said that ship has sailed. He is going to remain in Utah

[Mobile Bay]

Any list without Brent Venables is a complete failure.

[Activated Alpha]

Call his ass again, apologize, and give him an extra 500k on top of the agreed salary as an "I'm sorry" gift

I also agree. Call him and make him name his salary. Get him here ASAP

[Tbonewannabe]

Any list without Brent Venables is a complete failure.

I believe it has been stated that he isn't interested in being a head coach.

[was21]

If he ain't interested in being a HC then run away from him as fast as you can...and don't try to convince him otherwise

[War Machine Dawg]

I believe it has been stated that he isn't interested in being a head coach.

Many times. If he wanted to be a HC, he would be. You never hear his name mentioned at all anymore. That should tell everyone he has no interest in being “the guy.”

[Really Clark?]

Many times. If he wanted to be a HC, he would be. You never hear his name mentioned at all anymore. That should tell everyone he has no interest in being “the guy.”

If he was ever really interested, he would have really went after KST last year. He didn’t. He may change his mind, but I can’t count him as a candidate anymore for these jobs.