Discussions on ESPN on Traits to look for in a Head Coach

[Goldendawg]

With all the openings for HC's in the NFL, several talking heads and (tweets on other media) yesterday and this morning were discussing what to look for in a HC. The consensus was that you looked for a coach with organizational skills over his "schemes". It was stated that no matter how intelligent he may be ( there were many intelligent minds on offense and defense), his fellow peers in the profession would soon catch up with his schemes in time and changes would have to be made (both on the NFL and college levels). Wow!

[MetEdDawg]

Hard to disagree. Look at the most successful HCs of this generation. Saban, Dabo, Urban, few others. Yes they have styles, but they were adaptable and willing to change. Saban was running smash mouth football 5-7 years ago. Now look at them.

But their structure helped them maintain long term success. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make the correct hires in your most important need areas. And you have to be willing to put your ego aside and let those that have had success before you teach you what to do.

That to me will be the theme of the next 11 months. Will Moorhead make the changes necessary in both staff and organizational structure and function to show he's willing to go from schematic genius to structured and functional head coach. What he does over the next month or so with staff hires and fires will show us a lot.

Once we are officially in the off-season, what's the new mantra for this team? What's his focus? How open is he about the changes that need to be made and the deficiencies we all clearly saw?

[Scared_Hitless]

Hard to disagree. Look at the most successful HCs of this generation. Saban, Dabo, Urban, few others. Yes they have styles, but they were adaptable and willing to change. Saban was running smash mouth football 5-7 years ago. Now look at them.

But their structure helped them maintain long term success. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make the correct hires in your most important need areas. And you have to be willing to put your ego aside and let those that have had success before you teach you what to do.

That to me will be the theme of the next 11 months. Will Moorhead make the changes necessary in both staff and organizational structure and function to show he's willing to go from schematic genius to structured and functional head coach. What he does over the next month or so with staff hires and fires will show us a lot.

I actually think Moorhead is better as a CEO than Dan was, but he is also loyal to a fault to his scheme and his people. No different than Mullen in that regard with Hev and Gonzo. The difference so far is Mullen was better at game planning and adapting his offense to his talent. If Joe can somehow figure out the game planning and hire an OC he could be successful here. Will that happen I do not know.

[Rex54]

So the complete opposite of what our former BASEBALL coach decided to go with. Good job John

[HailStateSZN19]

Hard to disagree. Look at the most successful HCs of this generation. Saban, Dabo, Urban, few others. Yes they have styles, but they were adaptable and willing to change. Saban was running smash mouth football 5-7 years ago. Now look at them.

But their structure helped them maintain long term success. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make the correct hires in your most important need areas. And you have to be willing to put your ego aside and let those that have had success before you teach you what to do.

That to me will be the theme of the next 11 months. Will Moorhead make the changes necessary in both staff and organizational structure and function to show he's willing to go from schematic genius to structured and functional head coach. What he does over the next month or so with staff hires and fires will show us a lot.

Once we are officially in the off-season, what's the new mantra for this team? What's his focus? How open is he about the changes that need to be made and the deficiencies we all clearly saw?

Excellent post. I was on the “move on from Joe” train before and immediately after the EB. Once it was known he was coming back, I put that aside and began trying to find optimism for Joe and next season. The staff hires/fires that do or do not occur over the next month or so will tell the tale. If he makes some serious overhauling changes to the staff and how things are handled within the team, I’ll have optimism he can change and turn it around. If he does very little of that over the next month or so, well I’ll be counting down the days til he’s gone next season. But before I decide my stance, I want to wait to see if anything major happens over the next month. I completely agree with your post.

[Goldendawg]

Already a lot of turnover on his staff in year two, although some for upward moves. However, I wonder how many quality replacements he can get to stay for more than a short time. I don't know many people that want to work for a know it all who is stubborn to boot and criticizes those around him, (Post Egg speech to fans).

[TrapGame]

Hard to disagree. Look at the most successful HCs of this generation. Saban, Dabo, Urban, few others. Yes they have styles, but they were adaptable and willing to change. Saban was running smash mouth football 5-7 years ago. Now look at them.

But their structure helped them maintain long term success. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make the correct hires in your most important need areas. And you have to be willing to put your ego aside and let those that have had success before you teach you what to do.

That to me will be the theme of the next 11 months. Will Moorhead make the changes necessary in both staff and organizational structure and function to show he's willing to go from schematic genius to structured and functional head coach. What he does over the next month or so with staff hires and fires will show us a lot.

Once we are officially in the off-season, what's the new mantra for this team? What's his focus? How open is he about the changes that need to be made and the deficiencies we all clearly saw?

Yep, who he fires and hires after the bowl game will be telling. Also, will we hear about some changes on offense. To me that's the telling sign. If we start hearing about a reboot or change up with his offense to better contend with SEC defenses then I'll start thinking he may just be learning after all. But, I ain't holding my breath.

[1bigdawg]

Yep, who he fires and hires after the bowl game will be telling. Also, will we hear about some changes on offense. To me that's the telling sign. If we start hearing about a reboot or change up with his offense to better contend with SEC defenses then I'll start thinking he may just be learning after all. But, I ain't holding my breath.

I don't care about hearing s***. He has talked a lot of talk. Until I see a productive offense against a decent defense, I will be waiting. Words are cheap.

"Championship standard"**

[ShotgunDawg]

Mal Moore used to say that Saban could run GE.

It's not only organizational skills, it's also about an endless appetite for knowledge and finding a better, more efficient way of doing things. That attitude alone can't exist unless a boss is aware and humbled by his own limitations

[Todd4State]

Excellent post. I was on the “move on from Joe” train before and immediately after the EB. Once it was known he was coming back, I put that aside and began trying to find optimism for Joe and next season. The staff hires/fires that do or do not occur over the next month or so will tell the tale. If he makes some serious overhauling changes to the staff and how things are handled within the team, I’ll have optimism he can change and turn it around. If he does very little of that over the next month or so, well I’ll be counting down the days til he’s gone next season. But before I decide my stance, I want to wait to see if anything major happens over the next month. I completely agree with your post.

This is pretty much where I am right now. Our issue with our last coaching search was we focused too much on a guy that could "outsmart" people in the SEC and we didn't place enough emphasis on whether they could actually coach or not.

[TrapGame]

I don't care about hearing s***. He has talked a lot of talk. Until I see a productive offense against a decent defense, I will be waiting. Words are cheap.

"Championship standard"**

Like I said I ain't holding my breath.

[DLGDawg]

I actually think Moorhead is better as a CEO than Dan was, but he is also loyal to a fault to his scheme and his people. No different than Mullen in that regard with Hev and Gonzo. The difference so far is Mullen was better at game planning and adapting his offense to his talent. If Joe can somehow figure out the game planning and hire an OC he could be successful here. Will that happen I do not know.

Respectively disagree here. I believe joe May be "smarter" than Dan(idk though 🤷*♂️). But Dan knew/knows how to be the ceo of an SEC football team. The players like Joe but do not respect him imo. Joe has to learn that EVERY aspect of being the CEO HAS to be given the attention to detail it deserves.

[HoopsDawg]

Great head coaches: coach their coaches. They command the room. Create a winning culture. They have superior organizational skills. Excellent decision makers. Notice I'm not saying anything about their scheme. You can hire coordinators to run a scheme.

Hell of a job by John Harbaugh to hire Greg Roman. Dabo Swinney has Brent Venables. Look at Ed O with Brady/Ensminger and Aranda. Saban always has a strong O coordinator.

If Joe is going to make it at MSU, he's going to need to hire a good offensive coordinator and collaborate.

[ShotgunDawg]

Great head coaches: coach their coaches. They command the room. Create a winning culture. They have superior organizational skills. Excellent decision makers. Notice I'm not saying anything about their scheme. You can hire coordinators to run a scheme.

Hell of a job by John Harbaugh to hire Greg Roman. Dabo Swinney has Brent Venables. Look at Ed O with Brady/Ensminger and Aranda. Saban always has a strong O coordinator.

If Joe is going to make it at MSU, he's going to need to hire a good offensive coordinator and collaborate.

I still find it odd that in 11 years as a head coach, Mullen has yet to produce an offensive head coaching candidate.

Compare that to Urban Meyer who has produced Mullen, Day, Herman, & maybe more.

I don't get it

[Todd4State]

I still find it odd that in 11 years as a head coach, Mullen has yet to produce an offensive head coaching candidate.

Compare that to Urban Meyer who has produced Mullen, Day, Herman, & maybe more.

I don't get it

Because Dan is the offensive coordinator.

[Todd4State]

Great head coaches: coach their coaches. They command the room. Create a winning culture. They have superior organizational skills. Excellent decision makers. Notice I'm not saying anything about their scheme. You can hire coordinators to run a scheme.

Hell of a job by John Harbaugh to hire Greg Roman. Dabo Swinney has Brent Venables. Look at Ed O with Brady/Ensminger and Aranda. Saban always has a strong O coordinator.

If Joe is going to make it at MSU, he's going to need to hire a good offensive coordinator and collaborate.

You're correct. I think Joe is definitely smarter than Orgeron but Orgeron has learned how to manage his team and organization. Same with Dabo.

[Apoplectic]

Michael Lombardi is making the rounds pimping a new book on coaches - theyre just poorly plagiarizing it on tv