6-6 Strong's GONE!!!
- Thread starter dtrain87
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and to be fair, we were the most successful program in 2 different decades, including the most recent one. that is nothing to sneeze at. bama had some down yrs beween (let's be kind) stallings and saban. stuff happens. USC had some down yrs between robinson and carroll. oklahoma had some down yrs between switzer and stoops. i'm sure you could go down the list of blue bloods and find them in all of them. that we're relatively down now doesn't mean anything-- the difference between us (blue blood programs) and everybody else, is we know we won't stay down long.
Bear Bryant won his last championship in 79, Gene Stallings didn't win the next one until 92. They didn't win the next one until 2009 With Saban. After Stallings they went 24-23 with Dubose, 17-8 with Franchione, hired and fired Mike Price before he coached a game and then went 10-23 with Mike Shula. Change for the sake of change is not always a good thing. Unless you can get a Saban type coach there is no need to make a move.
No one is guaranteed to make the correct choice, but unless you can't afford it fear of making the wrong choice shouldn't hold a program hostage. There is no such thing as a Saban type coach there is just Saban. He's the greatest college coach ever.You are never getting a Saban or Meyer landing them has to have perfect timing it's the equivalent of winning the lottery. Not wanting to move on from a loser because you can't land the greatest coach of all time in Saban is a bit ridiculous.
Saban won at Michigan State and LSU, Meyer won at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida, Harbaugh won at the University of San Diego, Stanford and San Francisco. If there isn't a coach out there who has had sustained success at a high level then its not worth it. Send the feelers out to the agents. Harbaugh, Tomlin and Peyton are coming to the end of the road with top level QB play. There might be some interest. In the college ranks the only guys with some P5 success that may consider the job would be Mullen and Fedora. The college guys out there that may be a step above Strong If those guys aren't interested then probably best to stick with Strong.
Defined sustained success at a high level? Strong reached higher grounds at Louisville than Saban did at MSU. At one point in time Saban and Meyer were both unknowns. Does winning at Utah, Bowling Green, San Diego State, or Louisville always translate to the next level. Of course not. If you want someone who has similar success as Saban at MSU they are out there right now. It isn't like Saban took them on a Baylor esque rise. He was 35-24-1 at MSU. Strong won more games at Louisville than Saban did at MSU.
I look at the time before and after as well as Conference situation. What Saban did at Michigan State was more impressive that what Strong did at Louisville. Saban Spent 5 full years there and was a a recruiting and talent disadvantage compared to Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan. He had the program on the rise and was able to spin that into an LSU Job. He had a higher winning percentage than the MSU program did for the previous 20 years before him.
John L Smith had a .66 winning percentage, 2 conference championships. Petrino had a .78 winning percentage 2 conference championships and an Orange Bowl win. Kragthorpe wet the bed. Strong had a .71 winning percentage 2 conference championships and a Sugar Bowl win. Those guys did it in the Big East, Saban did it in the Big 10. That's why a guy like Dan Mullen interest me. He is performing consistently better than the previous history of the school in a power 5 conference over an extended period of time.
John L Smith had a .66 winning percentage, 2 conference championships. Petrino had a .78 winning percentage 2 conference championships and an Orange Bowl win. Kragthorpe wet the bed. Strong had a .71 winning percentage 2 conference championships and a Sugar Bowl win. Those guys did it in the Big East, Saban did it in the Big 10. That's why a guy like Dan Mullen interest me. He is performing consistently better than the previous history of the school in a power 5 conference over an extended period of time.
Saban did a great job at MSU, but it's nothing that hasn't been replicated numerous times. Hell what Briles did at Baylor and Mangino at Kansas was more impressive than anything Saban did at MSU. Now obviously he separates himself by a large margin at his next few jobs, but he wasn't some proven commodity based on his tenure at MSU.
Dan Mullen is an intriguing pick. Has success recruiting the SE and has done well with what are considered middle of the road NFL talent (at least by picks). Does have Texas high school connections? Would he leave a middle of the road SEC program for a program in the Big 12 that currently is middle of the road but has the possibility to be great?
