2018 Coaching Carousel

[Cincydawg]

I think he can perk them up into a 6 win kind of team half the time.

[ELA]

My prediction right now: Les will fail at KU.

Les miles is IMHO a little too much "smashmouth big-boy football" for a team that doesn't have serious talent. Couple that with the fact that the entire rest of the conference is all high-flying offenses. I don't see how he's going to be able to keep up unless he's FAR more adaptable than I think.

That was my initial take.  But the Big 12 ain't the Big Ten, here you zig while others zag to overcome a talent gap.  So in the Big XII you have to zag, so playing different looks different.  Maybe running a full back at a linebacker who would be a safety in the Big Ten works.

[Cincydawg]

Does KU have a natural grass field?  I presume they do.

[ELA]

Does KU have a natural grass field?  I presume they do.

No . That's the actual issue.  Although I don't think Oklahoma State did either, Cowboys didn't, and Michigan only did for his last couple years there.  So not sure when he picked that up.

[MarqHusker]

He ate the grass in a 2010 Bama game, that's the first time I remember seeing him do it.

[fezzador]

That was my initial take.  But the Big 12 ain't the Big Ten, here you zig while others zag to overcome a talent gap.  So in the Big XII you have to zag, so playing different looks different.  Maybe running a full back at a linebacker who would be a safety in the Big Ten works.

I think he'll be quasi-successful.  I don't think it's asking too much to have KU field a top-3 defense in the league, and as long as the offense is competent, the Jayhawks can win 5-7 games most years.

[Cincydawg]

Yup, I think KU with some judicious scheduling can win 3 OOC games a year and then clip 3 conference games somewhere, in most years.

Les might snag a few recruits who otherwise would have gone to say Baylor or even TCU and upgrade the quality of the talent base.

[betarhoalphadelta]

That was my initial take.  But the Big 12 ain't the Big Ten, here you zig while others zag to overcome a talent gap.  So in the Big XII you have to zag, so playing different looks different.  Maybe running a full back at a linebacker who would be a safety in the Big Ten works.

I get that... Tiller came in to the 3 yards and a cloud Big Ten, and was able to spread everyone out and get his WRs on linebackers and open it up. Once the spread took over in the B1G, Wisconsin did the opposite and said "we're going to run down your throats; try and stop us."
I think it works for Wisconsin as they're in a decently populous state and the only P5 program in the state. I'm not sure Kansas can duplicate that. They're in a state with half the population and share the P5 with KSU.
So I get it... Maybe if he wanted to go completely off the res and run triple option, I could see it. But taking a school that has never been a football powerhouse, in a low-population state, with a lot of recruiting competition, and running a big-boy smashmouth football offense? I don't buy it.

[fezzador]

Well, KS is a fairly small state, but Lawrence is within spitting distance of Kansas City, and isn't all that far from St. Louis and even DFW.  And maybe with the connections Les has, he might have an easier time recruiting TX, AR, OK, and LA.

[Cincydawg]

I think he'll get some "3 star" type players who might have not considered KU.  He might snag a QB diamond in the rough and have a pretty good year sometime.  Some Texas HS players who think they will ride the pine elsewhere might give him a shot.

[Hawkinole]

Probably a good hire for Kansas, creates "news" and may attract some recruits who might otherwise not consider it.  The bar is low obviously.

Les Miles is 65. I think he'll do better at Kansas than what's-his-name, the arrogant one, oh -- Charlie Weiss. But overall, I believe it is not a great hire. I agree with many of the comments -- by reputation he will get some 3* athletes who maybe he can develop into 6-7 win seasons, but I doubt Less has many of those seasons left in his tank. I suppose he could be viewed as a stepping stone coach who might get some better recruits in, and then retire a few years later after improving the program, some.

[Hawkinole]

I think it's a given that Ash is out, but I think it's a different Big Ten school who has a better shot at Monken, Illinois.  Monken grew up in Peoria and went to college in Decatur.  Both are about an hour from Champaign.

It's too bad for Ash because I think he is a pretty good coach. When you start the year with a plethora of player suspensions for credit card fraud, and at least one dismissal, you start the season seriously disadvantaged.
At Rutgers it wasn't the coach getting into trouble for a change. Is it bad luck that someone brought these people on campus?
Seems to me if I were Chris Ash, I would be in touch with the A.D. and then announce I am hiring a "life coach" for the football team -- someone who doesn't coach football, but mentors student social conduct. Iowa had to make that type of a hire several years ago after a season or maybe it was a few seasons where there were serious misconduct issues. Some students need some extra life mentoring.

[fezzador]

Here are some points to consider:

1) Les Miles was only in Stillwater for four seasons, winning 28 games.  He went 4-7 in 2001 but averaged 8 in his last 3.  He beat OU in his first season, where he went 4-7.  He went oh-fer the next three.
2) He succeeded Bob Simmons, who went 30-38 in the 6 seasons prior.  Miles was an upgrade, but he wasn't exactly night-and-day better.
3) Miles' successor, Mike Gundy, has won nearly 70% of his games since 2005.  He's already the winningest coach in program history.  Once can argue that Miles laid the groundwork for Gundy to succeed, but more likely it's because T. Boone Pickens opened up his pocketbooks and helped fund all the shiny new toys oSu has gotten over the past few years.  Would oSu have the same profile now had Miles stuck around?
4) Kansas and oSu, as programs, weren't very different from each other 15 years ago, but they have since veered off in opposite directions.  The Cowboys are perennial B12 contenders, and KU is lucky to win more than one conference game a year.  I don't think Kansas has a sugar-daddy like Pickens, but maybe some of their boosters would be more inclined to invest in the football program if Miles gave them something worth investing in.  He has won a national championship and coached in another, so maybe they're serious about making KU football respectable.

[MichiFan87]

I don't quite get the Miles hiring, but it's a temporary solution if nothing else. If Kansas isn't stupid there shouldn't be much of a buyout. That said, it's basically like the Indiana job, so it's such a difficult though now impossible place to win. However, Kansas State is already falling off and depending on who replaces Snyder will determine if they can remain at all relevant, too. Iowa State will probably fall back once Campbell leaves, too.

I'm even more confused by the James Franklin to USC rumors. I think this year is proving that Moorhead was the brains behind the operation. In retrospect, his unusual success at Vanderbilt makes even less sense.

The more intriguing openings to me are at the non-power conference level, though. I think Charlotte should be a premier program in CUSA and same goes for Texas State in the Sun Belt, if they make the right hires. Bowling Green is also historically a top MAC program that made a terrible hire when Babers left.