The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I really thought Franchione was going to be a very good coach at A&M.  Shows what I know about coaching potential, I suppose.

I thought John Blake was going to be good for OU.  I no longer have any confidence in my judgement about coaches.

I have a lot of doubts about Sarkisian, so hopefully my terrible track record of evaluation of coaching potential continues.

He carries himself well in front of the press

just hope he can walk the walk

I really thought Franchione was going to be a very good coach at A&M.  Shows what I know about coaching potential, I suppose.

I really thought Herman was going to be a very good coach at UT.  Shows what I know too.  

I'm a fan of a few Longhorn fans, wife included, does that count?

We gotta recall the disaster that was Steve Patterson.

Obviously, Mack "left" and took DeLoss with him. Things weren't exactly rosy then. Steve Patterson did the one thing that the University of Texas athletic director has NO BUSINESS ever doing - he cut costs. Money is something that happens to other people.

I believe Charlie Strong was learning the job. He was, though, continuously undercut by his AD who wanted to look for cheap assistants and support staff. His hand was forced when, after losing to Kansas, it became obvious that Texas alumnus Tom Herman was going to be hired by some big program. We had an interim AD, doing the best he could, who made the play for Herman. Herman had the right pedigree but no experience. He might learn the job one day, but this is not that day. Men with money decided to pay 8 figures for him to leave.

I see Sark as a man who made Herman's mistakes already. He thought he knew it all and couldn't fail. He publicly self-destructed, lost it all, and had to be honest about whether or not he wanted to get it back. He decided he did, worked on himself first, then took humbling jobs in the game until Saban accepted him.

I believe in Sark not because he's been successful, but rather because of how spectacularly he failed. He absolutely has the skills. His work with Alabama and abilities to hire assistants prove that. He knows the pressure that's coming, and he's looking forward to it.

Wasn’t there some kind of coin toss miscue in there too?  

Charlie Strong was a spectacular failure in every way. I have no idea how his previous teams were so successful. 

I don’t care who the coach is, every situation is different and there are lots of little pieces that can either make or break a coach. Sometimes it can simply be the culture of the team they inherit. I wish more players would speak out from previous years and coaching regimes. 

Much like Herman, Strong's record was that of exceeding expectations at a modestly mid-level program. He had likewise been a coordinator at a very successful high level program. The hope was that he'd absorbed enough to be ready to take the head job at Texas.

The reality is that there's no way to be ready for that. There's going to be a learning curve. Strong was making mistakes, but seemed to be learning. He still had command of the locker room. I reiterate that he was hampered by an inexplicable and unforgivable bout of penny pinching by what can only be called an insane, clueless AD.

I don't blame Texas for moving on from him and Patterson. While I think Strong was learning, no one wanted to wait. Herman, on the other hand, I'm not sure how long it was going to take him to get an education.

I see Sark as already had his "Herman" moment spectacularly. He stood on top of the pile, demanded adulation, and ended up being left at the airport. He didn't have to get back up. He chose to. Really, I believe in him not because of how well he did with Alabama, but by how badly he failed. He knows what failure looks like, and how that path goes.