How do expect a hypothetical Hudspeth Era to go?

[Quaoarsking]

Hudspeth is obviously a successful coach, but some people seem to believe all we have to do is hire him and we'll suddenly be a good team.

In Hudpseth's first five years, how many of each of these do you expect:

bowl games
Egg Bowl wins
top 25 finishes
top 15 finishes
wins over ranked teams
SEC West titles


I'll wait until the season is over before I take a side on the keep-Mullen-or-not debate, but I'm curious why so many people here are so certain that Hudspeth is going to be an improvement. Do you think his first five years would be better than Mullen's, or just that 2014-18 would be better with him at the helm than those same 5 years under Mullen? If we make 3 bowls in Hudspeth's first four years and then start 4-4 in 2018, would you want to fire and replace him too?

[cheewgumm]

So, what? We're gonna wait until we can get Saban before we ever get another coach?

[Todd4State]

Should we get Hudspeth, I would expect it to be better than what we are seeing from Dan simply because I think we would continue to win the ones that we are supposed to, but I think we would also pull off an occasional upset which to me would equate to about one more win at least than what we are getting now. I think Hud would make us a consistent 8-10 win team even with a difficult schedule as opposed to the 6-8 wins we are getting now under Dan.

I think we would also be a lot more respectable in the games we lose and I think we would recruit a LOT better than we are now.

[maroonmania]

Should we get Hudspeth, I would expect it to be better than what we are seeing from Dan simply because I think we would continue to win the ones that we are supposed to, but I think we would also pull off an occasional upset which to me would equate to about one more win at least than what we are getting now. I think Hud would make us a consistent 8-10 win team even with a difficult schedule as opposed to the 6-8 wins we are getting now under Dan.

I think we would also be a lot more respectable in the games we lose and I think we would recruit a LOT better than we are now.

I agree Todd, I think the coaching would be at least on par. I don't see Hud losing to the teams that Mullen is currently beating unless he's a Croom like disaster which he absolutely won't be. The primary thing would be that likely our recruiting would take a step up because Hud is from MS, is a good recruiter himself, and will demand recruiting results from his staff.

[MarketingBully01]

Yes, because this method worked great for the basketball program. What if Hud said no? What would our back up plan be, an assistant from some average BCS program? Until Stricklin is gone, I would be very leery of letting him take on a football coaching search. Just my two cents.

[Boya]

I think we have gotten what we needed out of Mullen...dig us out the hole. He's got 4 games to prove that he is the man to take us to the next level (its not all Wins and loses) If he can't get it done then its time to make the next move and get the guy who can, everything is in place now...no excuses

[Saltydog]

curious because right now we aren't playing the same game as a lot of other folks.

[HoopsDawg]

I know that he will recruit better. And I'm not talking about recruiting rankings. I'm talking about actually beating another BCS school for a recruit. We win about 5 recruiting battles per year. That's it.

Few people would want Mullen fired if he could recruit and at least compete with decent teams on the field. This game today was over 5 minutes into the 2nd half. Most games are over by the start of the 4th quarter at the latest.

[ShotgunDawg]

Not sure we needed to recruit any better to win that game today. Need to execute more consistantly and not panic.

[gravedigger]

I'm not sure in the category of wins and losses.

What I am sure of is that Hudspeth couldn't be worse than Mullen and Hevesy in the personality dept. My understanding is that the players don't think much of either and it now shows in the intensity on the field.

Say what you will about coaches not having to be likable, but over time when respect is lost, along with it goes the ability to motivate. I think that is where we are now. How we got here this quickly I can't figure. I do think players sense when a coach throws them under the bus too often with the "execution" post game excuses.

Of course Mullen can be successful at state and he's proven it. Question how does he get that magic back?

[It_Could_Happen]

For god sakes people.. What has it come to? We are now predicting what would happen IF we hire a coach WHO WE DONT EVEN KNOW WILL COME HERE. Step back and take a look at this.

[Todd4State]

Yes, because this method worked great for the basketball program. What if Hud said no? What would our back up plan be, an assistant from some average BCS program? Until Stricklin is gone, I would be very leery of letting him take on a football coaching search. Just my two cents.

Well, what I would do is make damn sure Hud would take the job before canning Dan's ass. Problem solved.

Regardless, it's not like Hud is the only guy in the world that can coach. There are a lot of qualified candidates out there who would love a chance to coach in the SEC.

[It_Could_Happen]

Honestly, I would rather have clemson's OC

[Relf2.0]

It's worked well for Auburn and bears. He would win pretty big I think. He can bench press 225lbs 24 times too, that would look good to recruits that the HC cares about physical fitness himself. I like Mullen and he calls good plays he just can't get the players to execute them. plus we gotta recruit good nationally and not just rely on the hidden gems in Mississippi

[Todd4State]

Not sure we needed to recruit any better to win that game today. Need to execute more consistantly and not panic.

Totally disagree. O-line? We started a walk-on. WR? No deep threat- well, we have one but we don't play him because he is a freshman, but still ridiculous that we don't have more than one at this point. FB? Do we have one?

[Todd4State]

Honestly, I would rather have clemson's OC

Why? Hud is more proven as a head coach and has connections to Mississippi.

[Bothrops]

I doubt Hud could make us a "consistent" 8-10 winner, but i'd venture to 7-8. He would run a more successful offense and would get better effort out of our players. I also think he would recruit much better on all fronts. What I don't know is what type of coaches he would surround himself with...that is extremely important.

Mullen has been in decline since 2011. We have to think about our future. And now.

[Todd4State]

It's worked well for Auburn and bears. He would win pretty big I think. He can bench press 225lbs 24 times too, that would look good to recruits that the HC cares about physical fitness himself. I like Mullen and he calls good plays he just can't get the players to execute them. plus we gotta recruit good nationally and not just rely on the hidden gems in Mississippi

The biggest two things we need to improve upon are getting more blue chips from Mississippi and getting those blue collar guys from Mississippi. We get plenty of atheletes from Mississippi.

To me, us recruting nationally would be mean like Ole Miss last year- and with our compliance dept. that's scary as hell.

[Political Hack]

he'll probably do great in Columbus after a year or two of rebuilding.

[Todd4State]

I doubt Hud could make us a "consistent" 8-10 winner, but i'd venture to 7-8. He would run a more successful offense and would get better effort out of our players. I also think he would recruit much better on all fronts. What I don't know is what type of coaches he would surround himself with...that is extremely important.

Mullen has been in decline since 2011. We have to think about our future. And now.

Some candidates would definitely be Steve Campbell, Kenny Edenfield, Jay Johnson, Reed Stringer, David Saunders, Marquise Lovings among others. I think he would do fine with that- plus I would imagine he could pick and choose from the current staff. I would imagine Tony Hughes would stay or at least be asked to among others.

[Quaoarsking]

Year
Team
Overall
Conference
Standing
Bowl/playoffs
Coaches#
AP?


North Alabama Lions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Alabama_Lions_football) (Gulf South Conference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_South_Conference)) (2002?2008)


2002
North Alabama
4-7
3-6
T-8th





2003
North Alabama
13-1
9-0
1st
L NCAA Division II Semifinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championship)




2004
North Alabama
5-5
4-5
T-6th





2005
North Alabama
11-3
7-2
T-2nd
L NCAA Division II Semifinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championship)




2006
North Alabama (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North_Alabama_Lions_football_team)
11-1
8-0
1st
L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championship)




2007
North Alabama (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_North_Alabama_Lions_football_team)
10-2
7-1
T-2nd
L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championship)




2008
North Alabama (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_North_Alabama_Lions_football_team)
12-2
7-1
2nd
L NCAA Division II Semifinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championsh ip_playoffs)




North Alabama:
66-21
45-15



Louisiana?Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana%E2%80%93Lafayette_Ragin%27_Cajuns_footba ll) (Sun Belt Conference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt_Conference)) (2011?present)


2011 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season)
Louisiana?Lafayette (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Louisiana%E2%80%93Lafayette_Ragin%27_Cajuns_f ootball_team)
9-4
6-2
3rd
W New Orleans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_New_Orleans_Bowl)




2012 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season)
Louisiana?Lafayette (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Louisiana%E2%80%93Lafayette_Ragin%27_Cajuns_f ootball_team)
9-4
6-2
T?2nd
W New Orleans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_New_Orleans_Bowl)




2013 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season)
Louisiana?Lafayette (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Louisiana%E2%80%93Lafayette_Ragin%27_Cajuns_f ootball_team)
5-2
3-0






Louisiana?Lafayette:
23-10
15-4



Total:
89-31




He obviously has a good record as a field coach, but what about it makes anyone think he'll average more than 7-8 wins at MSU? Has he had "signature wins"? Does he have SEC-level recruiting experience aside from his 2 years here? Will that translate into recruiting success as a HC?

Again, I'm not saying he'd be a bad hire or anything. I'm just not convinced he'd definitely be an improvement over Dan, nor over any other hypothetical coach, based on his record. That's why I don't get why so many people here are 100% convinced that it has to be him.

[Todd4State]

Year
Team
Overall
Conference
Standing
Bowl/playoffs
Coaches#
AP?


North Alabama Lions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Alabama_Lions_football) (Gulf South Conference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_South_Conference)) (2002?2008)


2002
North Alabama
4-7
3-6
T-8th





2003
North Alabama
13-1
9-0
1st
L NCAA Division II Semifinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championship)




2004
North Alabama
5-5
4-5
T-6th





2005
North Alabama
11-3
7-2
T-2nd
L NCAA Division II Semifinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championship)




2006
North Alabama (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North_Alabama_Lions_football_team)
11-1
8-0
1st
L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championship)




2007
North Alabama (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_North_Alabama_Lions_football_team)
10-2
7-1
T-2nd
L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championship)




2008
North Alabama (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_North_Alabama_Lions_football_team)
12-2
7-1
2nd
L NCAA Division II Semifinal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_NCAA_Division_II_National_Football_Championsh ip_playoffs)




North Alabama:
66-21
45-15



Louisiana?Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana%E2%80%93Lafayette_Ragin%27_Cajuns_footba ll) (Sun Belt Conference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt_Conference)) (2011?present)


2011 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season)
Louisiana?Lafayette (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Louisiana%E2%80%93Lafayette_Ragin%27_Cajuns_f ootball_team)
9-4
6-2
3rd
W New Orleans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_New_Orleans_Bowl)




2012 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season)
Louisiana?Lafayette (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Louisiana%E2%80%93Lafayette_Ragin%27_Cajuns_f ootball_team)
9-4
6-2
T?2nd
W New Orleans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_New_Orleans_Bowl)




2013 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season)
Louisiana?Lafayette (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Louisiana%E2%80%93Lafayette_Ragin%27_Cajuns_f ootball_team)
5-2
3-0






Louisiana?Lafayette:
23-10
15-4



Total:
89-31




He obviously has a good record as a field coach, but what about it makes anyone think he'll average more than 7-8 wins at MSU? Has he had "signature wins"? Does he have SEC-level recruiting experience aside from his 2 years here? Will that translate into recruiting success as a HC?

Again, I'm not saying he'd be a bad hire or anything. I'm just not convinced he'd definitely be an improvement over Dan, nor over any other hypothetical coach, based on his record. That's why I don't get why so many people here are 100% convinced that it has to be him.

Look at Louisiana-Lafayette's records before he was their head coach. They were horrible. As you can see from your table, he has them winning 9 a year and he has them in line to win the Sun Belt. They were pretty much a 3 win program. I'd say relative to the Sun Belt- his win over Western Kentucky and Bobby Petrino as well as his win over Arkansas State were signature wins- and he won both of his bowl games. They are playing SEC teams that have twice their talent respectably and on the road.

Personally, while I am in his corner I don't necessarily feel like it "has" to be him, but I do think he would be the best choice outside of the unrealistic choices- like Jon Gruden.

[ShotgunDawg]

Totally disagree. O-line? We started a walk-on. WR? No deep threat- well, we have one but we don't play him because he is a freshman, but still ridiculous that we don't have more than one at this point. FB? Do we have one?

Todd,

And yet we still beat them in every offensive category. Sure... we can and need to recruit better, but thats not why we lost. Your a smart guy, and I know you understand this.

[Todd4State]

Todd,

And yet we still beat them in every offensive category. Sure... we can and need to recruit better, but thats not why we lost. Your a smart guy, and I know you understand this.

It's not the sole reason why we lost, but I would say it's part of it. How much of a difference would someone like Anthony Steen and Kevin Norwood have made today?

[ShotgunDawg]

It's not the sole reason why we lost, but I would say it's part of it. How much of a difference would someone like Anthony Steen and Kevin Norwood have made today?

Correct, we always need to recruit better. Even Alabama needs to recruit better. That's obvious. What's not so obvious is how you get good players to stop shitting their pants and panicking at the first sign of adversity.

I guess it's cool to blame the coaches and say obvious things, but we aren't attacking the problem when we do that. The reason we lost today was a lack of composure and poise when plays didn't work to perfection.

Here is another analogy to our problem, "Once Byron Nelson was asked,"Does your caddy tell you where to hit the ball?" and Byron said, "Hell no, he tells me where I can't miss."

Every team makes mistakes, misses tackles, jumps offsides, and has plays that break down. The difference between us and good teams right now is that our mistakes are critical because we make the worst decision possible.

For us, its not about making less mistakes, it's about making the mistakes less instrumental in the outcome of the game. Making the mistakes less excruciatingly awful.

You understand baseball, so I'll offer this analogy again, we are the baseball team that makes a small error in the field and turns it into an inside the park home run for the other team by making 2 more unnecessary throws that causes a circus.

If we would just take our medicine, accept that bad plays happen, and thus limiting the crucial mistake, many of our problems would fix themselves.

[Todd4State]

Correct, we always need to recruit better. Even Alabama needs to recruit better. That's obvious. What's not so obvious is how you get good players to stop shitting their pants and panicking at the first sign of adversity.

I guess it's cool to blame the coaches and say obvious things, but we aren't attacking the problem when we do that. The reason we lost today was a lack of composure and poise when plays didn't work to perfection.

Here is another analogy to our problem, "Once Byron Nelson was asked,"Does your caddy tell you where to hit the ball?" and Byron said, "Hell no, he tells me where I can't miss."

Every team makes mistakes, misses tackles, jumps offsides, and has plays that break down. The difference between us and good teams right now is that our mistakes are critical because we make the worst decision possible.

For us, its not about making less mistakes, it's about making the mistakes less instrumental in the outcome of the game. Making the mistakes less excruciatingly awful.

You understand baseball, so I'll offer this analogy again, we are the baseball team that makes a small error in the field and turns it into an inside the park home run for the other team by making 2 more unnecessary throws that causes a circus.

If we would just take our medicine, accept that bad plays happen, and thus limiting the crucial mistake, many of our problems would fix themselves.

If you have seen me talk about recruiting, you have seen me mention the "blue collar" football players. I think those types of players help out a lot with some of the issues that you are talking about. They do the little things that don't get you beat more often than not. And maybe more importantly, they cause others on the team to step up and not make those mistakes as well. I'm not saying it's a cure for the problem, but I do think it helps out a lot. A lot of times, those types of players function as coaches on the field as well.

That's why you don't want a bunch of guys that are just "great athletes" out there.

Everything that you mentioned falls back on the coaching staff at some point whether that is fair or not. That's why they get paid millions of dollars.

[ShotgunDawg]

If you have seen me talk about recruiting, you have seen me mention the "blue collar" football players. I think those types of players help out a lot with some of the issues that you are talking about. They do the little things that don't get you beat more often than not. And maybe more importantly, they cause others on the team to step up and not make those mistakes as well. I'm not saying it's a cure for the problem, but I do think it helps out a lot. A lot of times, those types of players function as coaches on the field as well.

That's why you don't want a bunch of guys that are just "great athletes" out there.

Everything that you mentioned falls back on the coaching staff at some point whether that is fair or not. That's why they get paid millions of dollars.


No doubt, it does fall on them, but I think thats correctable and sense we are really young, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

[Todd4State]

No doubt, it does fall on them, but I think thats correctable and sense we are really young, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

It is correctable, but based on what I am seeing I think Dan has lost the team and when that happens, it is incredibly difficult to reign the team back in.

[ShotgunDawg]

It is correctable, but based on what I am seeing I think Dan has lost the team and when that happens, it is incredibly difficult to reign the team back in.

I would agree that he has lost the team if I saw a lack of effort or an ineptness to execute the game plan. Since, in my eyes, these mistakes don't have anything to do with that, I see no way that he has lost the team.

Our guys played hard today, just made crucial mistakes. Thats not a symptom of a coach losing a team.

[Relf2.0]

got to have system type of players not a bunch of the best athletes from the state of MS. It could be Mullen doesn't put the right athlete at the right position.

[ShotgunDawg]

got to have system type of players not a bunch of the best athletes from the state of MS. It could be Mullen doesn't put the right athlete at the right position.

I think he is getting the right guys to run his system. He just needs a little more speed, which between Newton and Bryant he is recruiting, and he needs guys to not shit their pants when plays don't work exactly as planned.

[Todd4State]

I would agree that he has lost the team if I saw a lack of effort or an ineptness to execute the game plan. Since, in my eyes, these mistakes don't have anything to do with that, I see no way that he has lost the team.

Our guys played hard today, just made crucial mistakes. Thats not a symptom of a coach losing a team.


Is this not the same thing?

[Dawgfan77]

Honestly, I would rather have clemson's OC
So you would rather have an OC than a guy has win at every level D1 and D2

[bluelightstar]

It's so disingenuous how the Dan supporters are claiming we'd be ready to fire Hudspeth if he started a season 4-4. That's not the problem. We are a poor football team that half the time doesn't look like we belong on the same field as some other SEC teams. Lost 7 of our last 9 SEC games by an average of over 24 points per loss.

[War Machine Dawg]

curious because right now we aren't playing the same game as a lot of other folks.

+1

We have MUCH bigger problems than Mullen. Why can't we give him a gun to go fight the gunfight instead of sending him out there with a water pistol before we judge him?

[Tbonewannabe]

Correct, we always need to recruit better. Even Alabama needs to recruit better. That's obvious. What's not so obvious is how you get good players to stop shitting their pants and panicking at the first sign of adversity.

I guess it's cool to blame the coaches and say obvious things, but we aren't attacking the problem when we do that. The reason we lost today was a lack of composure and poise when plays didn't work to perfection.

Here is another analogy to our problem, "Once Byron Nelson was asked,"Does your caddy tell you where to hit the ball?" and Byron said, "Hell no, he tells me where I can't miss."

Every team makes mistakes, misses tackles, jumps offsides, and has plays that break down. The difference between us and good teams right now is that our mistakes are critical because we make the worst decision possible.

For us, its not about making less mistakes, it's about making the mistakes less instrumental in the outcome of the game. Making the mistakes less excruciatingly awful.

You understand baseball, so I'll offer this analogy again, we are the baseball team that makes a small error in the field and turns it into an inside the park home run for the other team by making 2 more unnecessary throws that causes a circus.

If we would just take our medicine, accept that bad plays happen, and thus limiting the crucial mistake, many of our problems would fix themselves.

So I could understand if this was a once or twice occurrence but it is almost every game starting last year. Even the wins against UT and Troy we played under our ability. It is a pattern. How to fix it, I don't know but there is definitely a problem.

Mullen defenders seem to ignore it.

[maroonmania]

+1

We have MUCH bigger problems than Mullen. Why can't we give him a gun to go fight the gunfight instead of sending him out there with a water pistol before we judge him?

The problem is 90% of the fanbase, including myself, can't really judge about things going on behind the scenes in recruiting and other areas. Yea, I can read about what people are hearing on message boards and try to form an opinion but its still all just hearsay. So I can't really say WHAT Mullen is using at the gunfight. The performance ON THE FIELD I can see and judge and right now I know it needs a lot of improvement.

[ShotgunDawg]

So I could understand if this was a once or twice occurrence but it is almost every game starting last year. Even the wins against UT and Troy we played under our ability. It is a pattern. How to fix it, I don't know but there is definitely a problem.

Mullen defenders seem to ignore it.

I agree there is a problem and it's ultimately Mullen's job to fix it, but I just don't agree, yet, that firing Mullen is the way to fix the problem.

[Tbonewannabe]

I agree there is a problem and it's ultimately Mullen's job to fix it, but I just don't agree, yet, that firing Mullen is the way to fix the problem.

I am in no way shape or form a football coach. Any coaches out there have an opinion? Coach34 or Coach57?

[biscuit]

Whatever or whoever we end up with, they need to be relentless recruiter that will let the assistant coaches do their job on the field. Recruiting is the lifeblood and should be first priority.

[Saltydog]

and they have sooo much more to offer than us if all things were equal?