247 Reports Orlando under consideration for SMU
- Thread starter madcow12
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I hope so. I would like to keep Orlando at least one more year.
Sources tell FootballScoop SMU offensive coordinator Joe Craddock will join Chad Morris at Arkansas in the same capacity. Craddock spent three seasons with Morris at Clemson before following him to SMU. Craddock, 32, played quarterback at Middle Tennessee.
Associate head coach and running backs coach Jeff Traylor will serve as interim head coach according to multiple reports.
Associate head coach and running backs coach Jeff Traylor will serve as interim head coach according to multiple reports.
I doubt that. He makes reportedly 1:090,000 one of the highest paid coordinators in the country. SMU was paying Chad Morris 2 million dollars. Not that Texas couldn’t pay him more they could. Just not sure they would or need to.
I got news for Chad.Morris.The hc job at SMU is one of the worst in the country. The hc job at AR isn't much better. I've heard that Jerry Jones is an influential alum at AR. If he's as hands on as he is with the cowboys CM is going to put his head in his head in his hands and wonder why did i take this job?
Sure Texas will give him a bump. At the end of the day though it won’t come down to money. It will come down tomif he’s ready to be a HC, and he wants the SMU job. The money will be virtually equal.
That makes a lot of sense if you are thinking about what is in the best interest of UT.
Traylor seems too green. Not saying Orlando is the guy, but I would be surprised if it is Traylor.
I don't understand the Traylor talk other than he coached here a couple of years. Why would SMU hire Traylor when just a few years ago the landed a guy like Morris when the program was a huge mess. Maybe it's not Orlando, but there are a lot more qualified guys out there over Traylor. It seems SMU hiring Traylor would just be a punt.
That would be a good job for Orlando. He has contacts as DC for Houston and Texas. He knows the Texas HS coaches. Tons of talent that is not P5 level but available for him. He is familiar with that conference and there is no juggernaut that scares you away. Also, Orlando is competitive. He would probably love the opportunity to show UH it made a mistake in not naming him HC.
Morris went 7-5 and after 2 years is now an SEC HC. Orlando can do the same and land a bigger program than Arkansas in 2 or 3 years. Bottom line is SMU can be a good place to start his HC career
Morris went 7-5 and after 2 years is now an SEC HC. Orlando can do the same and land a bigger program than Arkansas in 2 or 3 years. Bottom line is SMU can be a good place to start his HC career
The job at SMU is one of the worst in the country, always had been. I hope Todd Orlando realizes this.
He supposedly interviewed for the UH job last year. So I guess he has HC ambitions. You can do a lot worse than SMU for your first HC gig. Thinking about it though SMU may want a more favorable contract so they aren't doing this again in a few years. That may scare off some guys. I still think they can do a lot better than Jeff Traylor.
Why? Other than being in a lower tier conference what makes it worse than the hundreds of other jobs that also aren't in a p5 conference?
It’s not an easy job. Since reinstatement from the death penalty they’ve had like 3 winning seasons. It seems like it would be a good job from a recruiting standpoint and such, but it hasn’t translated to much success for a good while now.
According to this Orlando is the 15th highest paid assistant in the country at 1.1 million. Kind of an interesting read.
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/football/assistant
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/football/assistant
It's a nearly impossible job, and everybody knows it. But if you win 8 games, you'll get offered $4M a year for 5 years at a P5 school. Win 4 games a year and they don't fire you for 5 years.
If Chad Morris doesn't win 7 a year, he'll be gone in a couple years. And the schedule makes that a fairly likely scenario. Every job is graded on a curve, due to expectations.
I guess I don't really see how it's an impossible job. Jones had 3 winning seasons himself and he was supposedly horrible? Unless they expect to be back at the top of the food chain I don't understand what makes it so bad. They pay well and you don't have to live in some wasteland.
Jones inherited a mess, resurrected it and then unfortunately left it in a mess. SMU is a very difficult place to recruit to with their academic standards. 7 wins is probably the ceiling.
They won 8 in 2011. June Jones wasn't always a horrible coach for SMU, and he certainly wasn't some coaching genius to get them to 8 wins. Morris also came in and built them back up. I have no idea how the admin is run there, but on the surface SMU seems like a plush gig. Certainly doesn't seem impossible to have winning seasons there considering the last 2 coaches accomplished that. It's certainly not a premier job, but worst in the country and impossible seem like major exaggerations.
I have no idea what academic standards they impose on their football team. Some school go above and beyond the NCAA minimums, and some don't despite actually being really good schools. Texas doesn't for instance. If SMU does go beyond, I could see it being difficult to recruit.
SMU's biggest draw back is fan support. I go to a couple of games a year, and I cannot exaggerate how pathetic the attendance is. They have a great tailgating scene on the Boulevard, every student is there, but none, and I mean NONE take the 50 steps over to the stadium once the game starts. I actually counted during the UConn game - approximately 100 - ONE HUNDRED - students in the section next to the band. They will report 20,000 in attendance. That's true only if everyone there has 4 heads. This was supposed to be their year - they have a hot coach, a first round pick at WR, another WR transfer from LSU, a chance to win their division/conference -- and still no support. I would look at the recruits in the stands and wonder what they were thinking. It is a fantastic school in a fantastic location, with a fantastic stadium. Problem is, very few care.
June Jones had some initial success because he ran a gimmicky offense. Morris was actually building a little something. But I question if anything can be sustained there. Morris could see the writing on the wall - if the team regressed to 5-7 next year, he is no longer a hot name. Get out and cash in while you can.
Assistants have to go where the openings are. But if Orlando gets the job, he better go in with both eyes open.
From 247
Sources: Orlando a serious candidate at SMU
Horns247 broke the story Wednesday that Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando was on the short list of candidates to replace Chad Morris as head coach at SMU. Sources also told me late Wednesday SMU representatives and Orlando have spoken about the job. Plan A for SMU athletic director Rick Hart, according to sources, is to focus on finding a defensive-minded head coach while possibly trying to hold the SMU offense (and maybe even some of Chad Morris’ offensive staff) in tact, sources told me. In addition to Orlando, SMU representatives are also planning to talk to (or have already been in contact with) Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as well as Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. One source told me Venables would be the leading candidate in that scenario, followed by Orlando and then Steele.
Two sources told me Orlando was in Dallas Wednesday and found time to meet with SMU representatives. Those same two sources said they expect Chad Morris, now the head coach at Arkansas, to make a run at Venables as his defensive coordinator with the help of Arkansas’ alums - Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones and son/Cowboys VP Stephen Jones. Venables is earning $1.7 million this season as DC at Clemson, where he worked with Morris and the two became close before Morris left for SMU. Sources said Jerry and Stephen Jones played a significant role in helping Morris get the job at Arkansas after becoming close with Morris, whose son, Chandler, is a backup QB at Highland Park HS to starting QB John Stephen Jones, son of Stephen Jones’ (and Jerry’s grandson).
If Venables turns down Morris as DC at Arkansas, it won’t be because of money. Sources told me Jerry and Stephen Jones would help make sure Venables remains the highest-paid assistant in college football, possibly taking him to an unprecedented coordinator’s salary of $2 million. And to think Venables was somehow the whipping boy at OU under Bob Stoops. Quick aside on Venables: There is growing speculation Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, who is 78, could be stepping down after K-State’s bowl game. Longtime Snyder offensive assistant Dana Dimel just took the UTEP head coaching job, which some see as a signal Snyder is ready to step down and Dimel wasn’t the succession plan. Others say it was simply Dimel, a former head coach at Houston and Wyoming, getting the itch to be a head coach again and grabbing an opportunity.
Either way, Venables, a K-State alum, has long been seen by the K-State community as a possible heir to the Snyder throne. We’ll see. All that was to say while Venables seems like a logical candidate for SMU, he may be a bit of a longshot, which could move Orlando up in the pecking order for the Mustangs. I was told SMU AD Rick Hart wants to move quickly and was actually in contact with potential replacements for Morris on Monday. Protracted, deliberate football coaching searches may be a thing of the past thanks to now-fired Tennessee AD John Currie.
I was told Hart would like to have the frontrunner to replace Morris identified in the next 36 hours. Once it gets past that point, you’ll have too many big-money donors at SMU with ideas and too many cooks in the kitchen, sources said. There are already some SMU BMDs who’d like to hire an experienced coach like Kevin Sumlin or Les Miles who might like to finish out their coaching career at SMU, such as Les Miles or Sonny Dykes. Another name targeted by SMU donors is TCU offensive coordinator Sonny $#@!bie.
But Hart saw an SMU offense this past season that put up plenty of points (40.2 ppg) - without enough defense (35.5 ppg given up). So his hope is to find a bright, young defensive-minded head coach who’d be willing to sign a contract with a $5 million to $7 million buyout - helping to ensure the same head coach for the next five years, sources said. One source said not to be worried about If Hart’s hope is to hire a defensive-minded coach with the hope of former Texas offensive assistant coach/current SMU interim head coach Jeff Traylor sticking around to run the offense, that might be ill-fated. I’m told Traylor has other offers, including Arkansas and possibly as Missouri head coach Barry Odom’s OC replacement for Josh Heupel, who just became the head coach at Central Florida.
We’ll see … (Chip Brown)
Sources: Orlando a serious candidate at SMU
Horns247 broke the story Wednesday that Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando was on the short list of candidates to replace Chad Morris as head coach at SMU. Sources also told me late Wednesday SMU representatives and Orlando have spoken about the job. Plan A for SMU athletic director Rick Hart, according to sources, is to focus on finding a defensive-minded head coach while possibly trying to hold the SMU offense (and maybe even some of Chad Morris’ offensive staff) in tact, sources told me. In addition to Orlando, SMU representatives are also planning to talk to (or have already been in contact with) Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as well as Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. One source told me Venables would be the leading candidate in that scenario, followed by Orlando and then Steele.
Two sources told me Orlando was in Dallas Wednesday and found time to meet with SMU representatives. Those same two sources said they expect Chad Morris, now the head coach at Arkansas, to make a run at Venables as his defensive coordinator with the help of Arkansas’ alums - Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones and son/Cowboys VP Stephen Jones. Venables is earning $1.7 million this season as DC at Clemson, where he worked with Morris and the two became close before Morris left for SMU. Sources said Jerry and Stephen Jones played a significant role in helping Morris get the job at Arkansas after becoming close with Morris, whose son, Chandler, is a backup QB at Highland Park HS to starting QB John Stephen Jones, son of Stephen Jones’ (and Jerry’s grandson).
If Venables turns down Morris as DC at Arkansas, it won’t be because of money. Sources told me Jerry and Stephen Jones would help make sure Venables remains the highest-paid assistant in college football, possibly taking him to an unprecedented coordinator’s salary of $2 million. And to think Venables was somehow the whipping boy at OU under Bob Stoops. Quick aside on Venables: There is growing speculation Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, who is 78, could be stepping down after K-State’s bowl game. Longtime Snyder offensive assistant Dana Dimel just took the UTEP head coaching job, which some see as a signal Snyder is ready to step down and Dimel wasn’t the succession plan. Others say it was simply Dimel, a former head coach at Houston and Wyoming, getting the itch to be a head coach again and grabbing an opportunity.
Either way, Venables, a K-State alum, has long been seen by the K-State community as a possible heir to the Snyder throne. We’ll see. All that was to say while Venables seems like a logical candidate for SMU, he may be a bit of a longshot, which could move Orlando up in the pecking order for the Mustangs. I was told SMU AD Rick Hart wants to move quickly and was actually in contact with potential replacements for Morris on Monday. Protracted, deliberate football coaching searches may be a thing of the past thanks to now-fired Tennessee AD John Currie.
I was told Hart would like to have the frontrunner to replace Morris identified in the next 36 hours. Once it gets past that point, you’ll have too many big-money donors at SMU with ideas and too many cooks in the kitchen, sources said. There are already some SMU BMDs who’d like to hire an experienced coach like Kevin Sumlin or Les Miles who might like to finish out their coaching career at SMU, such as Les Miles or Sonny Dykes. Another name targeted by SMU donors is TCU offensive coordinator Sonny $#@!bie.
But Hart saw an SMU offense this past season that put up plenty of points (40.2 ppg) - without enough defense (35.5 ppg given up). So his hope is to find a bright, young defensive-minded head coach who’d be willing to sign a contract with a $5 million to $7 million buyout - helping to ensure the same head coach for the next five years, sources said. One source said not to be worried about If Hart’s hope is to hire a defensive-minded coach with the hope of former Texas offensive assistant coach/current SMU interim head coach Jeff Traylor sticking around to run the offense, that might be ill-fated. I’m told Traylor has other offers, including Arkansas and possibly as Missouri head coach Barry Odom’s OC replacement for Josh Heupel, who just became the head coach at Central Florida.
We’ll see … (Chip Brown)
SMU: Sources tell FootballScoop SMU is looking for the “next Chad Morris.” While that may be hard to find, what is being sought is “an offensive minded guy, innovative, the players will like and respect and who will recruit the daylight out of Texas,” a source tells FootballScoop. We are told interim head coach Jeff Traylor is a candidate for the position but search director Todd Turner of CSA is recommending several external candidates as well. Another great coach still on staff is defensive coordinator Van Malone, recently named an AFCA assistant coach of the year, who at this time is not expected to go to Arkansas with Morris (Morris has targeted Brent Venables, sources told FootballScoop) as defensive coordinator.
