IF It Ends Up Being Lebby

[War Machine Dawg]

Then count me as highly underwhelmed. That tells me one of two things:

1. Coaches largely view our HC job as one you take only if you have zero other options.

2. Lebby was always Selmon's guy and we never really had a legitimate look at anyone else.

Either of those things is a red flag for me. It speaks to poor hiring processes in general.

That said, it's better than hiring a defensive HC like Elko or Sumrall. But if A&M is hiring Mark Stoops, I don't know why we shouldn't have been able to get Chadwell, Leipold, Kinne, Lashlee, etc.

For the record, this is not me saying Lebby sucks and won't win. He well could. Despite their sour grapes that started 2 seconds ago, the BearSharks loved him. His offense is fun and puts up lots of points.

Can be recruit? Will he be able to manage a program? Will he calls plays himself or hire an OC? Who will be his DC? What kind of priority does he place on S&C staff? These are all unanswered questions that will ultimately make or break him.

One positive is that the backup QB at OU might follow him here. Go get a vet like KJ Jefferson to bridge the gap next year, then let Parson and whoever else battle it out in 25. Our QB room would go from bad to very healthy in a hurry.

One thing I will say: Lebby needs to keep his father in law away from the program. That should be a condition stipulated in writing for any contract with Lebby. I don't care how mad it may make his wife. She isn't the one in the family earning millions of dollars. If he won't agree to that condition, then move on. He either wants to be a big time coach and hit the wealth lottery or he wants to keep his wife happy by letting an abuse enabler hang around. Seems like a pretty easy decision to me.

[Coursesuper]

Aaaaaaaasrrrrrrggghuggg.

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

These are questions that would have to be answered of any hire. And no one knows if Lebby will succeed yet. Nor would they anyone else.

[HoopsDawg]

I think what the average fan doesn't realize is that Lebby is much more qualified and prepared to be our head coach than someone like Kinne. Anyone who prefers Kinne to Lebby even though Kinne has a little HC experience just doesn't know better.

[Charlie_Sheen420]

Then count me as highly underwhelmed. That tells me one of two things:

1. Coaches largely view our HC job as one you take only if you have zero other options.

2. Lebby was always Selmon's guy and we never really had a legitimate look at anyone else.

Either of those things is a red flag for me. It speaks to poor hiring processes in general.

That said, it's better than hiring a defensive HC like Elko or Sumrall. But if A&M is hiring Mark Stoops, I don't know why we shouldn't have been able to get Chadwell, Leipold, Kinne, Lashlee, etc.

For the record, this is not me saying Lebby sucks and won't win. He well could. Despite their sour grapes that started 2 seconds ago, the BearSharks loved him. His offense is fun and puts up lots of points.

Can be recruit? Will he be able to manage a program? Will he calls plays himself or hire an OC? Who will be his DC? What kind of priority does he place on S&C staff? These are all unanswered questions that will ultimately make or break him.

One positive is that the backup QB at OU might follow him here. Go get a vet like KJ Jefferson to bridge the gap next year, then let Parson and whoever else battle it out in 25. Our QB room would go from bad to very healthy in a hurry.

One thing I will say: Lebby needs to keep his father in law away from the program. That should be a condition stipulated in writing for any contract with Lebby. I don't care how mad it may make his wife. She isn't the one in the family earning millions of dollars. If he won't agree to that condition, then move on. He either wants to be a big time coach and hit the wealth lottery or he wants to keep his wife happy by letting an abuse enabler hang around. Seems like a pretty easy decision to me.

Your point about A&M is kind of explaining why we are getting Lebby and not a sitting HC at a low P5 or G5 school. A&M with all their money is possibly settling for Stoops…that is the best they can do. They went from hiring a national championship coach with a ridiculous contract to…Mark Stoops. It just goes to show there are a lot of things at play for hiring a head coach such as location, support, booster involvement etc, it is not just about money. You would think A&M would be able to pull a top coach from the PAC 12, ACC, or Big 12, but they are getting Stoops, who basically is like a Dan Mullen for them, not bad but not the top candidate either. So now you see why our candidate list is what it is

[LC Dawg]

But if A&M is hiring Mark Stoops, I don't know why we shouldn't have been able to get Chadwell, Leipold, Kinne, Lashlee, etc.

I think us hiring Lebby is comparable to A&M hiring Stoops. Their last hire was a sitting P5 coach with a national championship. That's a lot different than a coach of a mid level
SEC program.
The money is so big at the FBS level that coaches aren't as eager to jump into a new challenge just for a little bump in pay.

[Maroonthirteen]

I tend to agree with most of what you wrote and it is extremely frustrating. 2. sure seems all to convenient that the hire is an Oklahoma guy. Or another poster made a good point, maybe the only reason we even had the opportunity to hire Lebby is because of Selmon's connections. HOWEVER, it is very interesting Lebby's name was one of the first names we heard, weeks ago.

Chadwell....., I assume State just simply did NOT have the funds to buyout Chadwell's contract and offer him enough to convince him to move here. He is a year into a 7 year, 4M per year contract. So, I assume we would have to come up with $6M per year???? No idea on Chadwells true interest and if money is what killed that deal.

Really, it is just another reminder that we are in a league in which we can't compete financially. Frustrating because I buy tickets, give to the BC and BI and it makes no difference.

[MetEdDawg]

I think this go around is going to show people that money isn't the driving factor it used to be for coaches moving.

Organizational stability, NIL, recruiting funding, fan support, administrative competency, etc are going to be what drives coaches moving.

[smootness]

I think this go around is going to show people that money isn't the driving factor it used to be for coaches moving.

Organizational stability, NIL, recruiting funding, fan support, administrative competency, etc are going to be what drives coaches moving.

All those things have always mattered. Money will still be a huge driver. If we get Lebby, it will be entirely because of the title and the money, like always.

[MetEdDawg]

All those things have always mattered. Money will still be a huge driver. If we get Lebby, it will be entirely because of the title and the money, like always.

But we could increase Elko and Chadwell's salary substantially and I think most would agree those two guys would be serious guys we would approach for our job.

But it looks like early on both of those guys will remain at Liberty and Duke. Which is crazy to think about.

All of those things have always mattered. But doubling or tripling someone's salary doesn't go the distance it used to for the vast majority of good candidates out there.

[DownwardDawg]

I worry about S&C. One look at him tells me it's not a priority. You absolutely have to have a top notch S&C program to win at State. No other way around it. JWS was big on S&C. Croom was not. Mullen was big on S&C. Moorehead was not. Leach was big on S&C. Arnett was not.

See the pattern???

For the record, I consider myself to be fat!!!

[Dawgface]

Then count me as highly underwhelmed. That tells me one of two things:

1. Coaches largely view our HC job as one you take only if you have zero other options.

2. Lebby was always Selmon's guy and we never really had a legitimate look at anyone else.

.

Number 1 has always been the case and probably won't ever change. I don't believe 2 is correct but that is just my opinion. Which is not worth much.

[Todd4State]

I tend to agree with most of what you wrote and it is extremely frustrating. 2. sure seems all to convenient that the hire is an Oklahoma guy. Or another poster made a good point, maybe the only reason we even had the opportunity to hire Lebby is because of Selmon's connections. HOWEVER, it is very interesting Lebby's name was one of the first names we heard, weeks ago.

Chadwell....., I assume State just simply did NOT have the funds to buyout Chadwell's contract and offer him enough to convince him to move here. He is a year into a 7 year, 4M per year contract. So, I assume we would have to come up with $6M per year???? No idea on Chadwells true interest and if money is what killed that deal.

Really, it is just another reminder that we are in a league in which we can't compete financially. Frustrating because I buy tickets, give to the BC and BI and it makes no difference.

I just think Chadwell didn't want our job. There are rumors that we had boosters willing to pay him whatever including the rumored large buyout and I don't think he returned interest at all.

He has spent most of his life in that area of the country. The one year in Mississippi wasn't great. Plus there is a good chance South Carolina and Florida are open next year.

[CoachT14]

I worry about S&C. One look at him tells me it's not a priority. You absolutely have to have a top notch S&C program to win at State. No other way around it. JWS was big on S&C. Croom was not. Mullen was big on S&C. Moorehead was not. Leach was big on S&C. Arnett was not.

See the pattern???

Mullen was fat when he got hired. The S&C was fine.

[smootness]

But we could increase Elko and Chadwell's salary substantially and I think most would agree those two guys would be serious guys we would approach for our job.

But it looks like early on both of those guys will remain at Liberty and Duke. Which is crazy to think about.

All of those things have always mattered. But doubling or tripling someone's salary doesn't go the distance it used to for the vast majority of good candidates out there.

I?m sure if we offered to pay Elko or Chadwell $7-8 million, we would have a solid chance of getting them (assuming they didn?t get a comparable extension offer where they are, which they might). But 1) that would not be wise for us, considering they would still be a big risk, and 2) they both may just be waiting on a better offer from somewhere else later, similar to Napier. That has always been the case for certain guys.

[War Machine Dawg]

I think this go around is going to show people that money isn't the driving factor it used to be for coaches moving.

Organizational stability, NIL, recruiting funding, fan support, administrative competency, etc are going to be what drives coaches moving.

Sure starting to look that way. I'm afraid realignment, free agency (the portal) and NIL have killed our chances of ever being more than a bottom feeder. We just don't have alumni with the money to fund a competitive football program. I hate feeling that way and wish I could be optimistic about our chances of improving. But even Vandy has more money than us. They don't use it for athletics obviously, but they still have more.

Where are our billionaires who will stroke the big checks to make sure our NIL is properly funded to attract top talent? We don't have them. More than anyone else in the SEC, we're reliant on small dollar donations. That's not a model built to be competitive in the age of NIL. It's kinda depressing once you really start thinking about it.

[Pancho]

competency would have yielded 2 or 3 more wins this year........

[BuckyIsAB****]

I worry about S&C. One look at him tells me it's not a priority. You absolutely have to have a top notch S&C program to win at State. No other way around it. JWS was big on S&C. Croom was not. Mullen was big on S&C. Moorehead was not. Leach was big on S&C. Arnett was not.

See the pattern???

The S&C staff make the team tbh. Spend a lot more time around them and when its really hard, they are the ones pushing them

[Cooterpoot]

Then count me as highly underwhelmed. That tells me one of two things:

1. Coaches largely view our HC job as one you take only if you have zero other options.

2. Lebby was always Selmon's guy and we never really had a legitimate look at anyone else.

Either of those things is a red flag for me. It speaks to poor hiring processes in general.

That said, it's better than hiring a defensive HC like Elko or Sumrall. But if A&M is hiring Mark Stoops, I don't know why we shouldn't have been able to get Chadwell, Leipold, Kinne, Lashlee, etc.

For the record, this is not me saying Lebby sucks and won't win. He well could. Despite their sour grapes that started 2 seconds ago, the BearSharks loved him. His offense is fun and puts up lots of points.

Can be recruit? Will he be able to manage a program? Will he calls plays himself or hire an OC? Who will be his DC? What kind of priority does he place on S&C staff? These are all unanswered questions that will ultimately make or break him.

One positive is that the backup QB at OU might follow him here. Go get a vet like KJ Jefferson to bridge the gap next year, then let Parson and whoever else battle it out in 25. Our QB room would go from bad to very healthy in a hurry.

One thing I will say: Lebby needs to keep his father in law away from the program. That should be a condition stipulated in writing for any contract with Lebby. I don't care how mad it may make his wife. She isn't the one in the family earning millions of dollars. If he won't agree to that condition, then move on. He either wants to be a big time coach and hit the wealth lottery or he wants to keep his wife happy by letting an abuse enabler hang around. Seems like a pretty easy decision to me.

Then 17 off. We prefer Lebby as coach over you as a shitty fan.

[Cooterpoot]

I?m sure if we offered to pay Elko or Chadwell $7-8 million, we would have a solid chance of getting them (assuming they didn?t get a comparable extension offer where they are, which they might). But 1) that would not be wise for us, considering they would still be a big risk, and 2) they both may just be waiting on a better offer from somewhere else later, similar to Napier. That has always been the case for certain guys.

Not really true. Elko is pretty much locked down unless A&M took him. He was somewhat interested but really wasn't going to do it. Chadwell was interested but prefers not to move his family and is sitting on that SC job, or even any of the Carolina schools that could open the next year. Liberty has committed $7MM salary as well but a big buyout.
Selmon did the smart thing. He hired the best coach and avoided overpaying for mediocrity of lesser head coaches.