Assume

[joebobb]

Texas does not pick, a Harbaugh, Saban, Meyer, Malzhan, fisher, Mora, Gruden, Petersen, Franklin, Briles, O'Brien, or Strong.

Would the fan base be able to unite around the new coach or would whomever the successor is, be set up for failure because he would inherit a fractured base with many different factions?

 

[BevoBlake]

Well...who would you be hiring if you didn't hire a single one of those guys? There is virtually nobody else available of interest. So yes, they'd be set up for failure.

 

[Coal Harbour]

UT could hire Mike Stoops and if he won and had UT in the 4 team playoff in the next few years, the fanbase would certainly unite. I think a number of the names on your list will never come, or consider realistically.

 

[seahawkhorn]

Then I would have to assume MB would have been kept.

 

[Lord Vader]

The UT fan base is still by and large very forgiving. They'd complain until they found the first big thing the new guy did they think Mack never could and run with it.

 

[Lord Vader]

Then I would have to assume MB would have been kept.

Couldnt have. Would have destroyed everything.

 

[Jyoung185]

There will be division until they prove something on the field.

 

[joebobb]

My point being is there may be an outside the box candidate that is not on anyone's radar yet who is un proven but may be the right fit for Texas. For example, when Tressel was unproven when OSU hired him, Meyer was an up and comer when Florida called. Mack was not a name brand when Texas came calling. Who was Bob Stoops before OK found him.

Point being, the best coach out there may not be one of the hot shots that everyone is talking about but rather a diamond in the rough, will the fan base be able to accept that if that is what the committee recommends?

 

[TheContractor]

Win in the fall and everyone will be united. But it wont be a fun 8 months.

 

[DocHorn]

I think if you get an exciting, charismatic coach, even Anderson from Wiscy or Kirby Smart, the fan base will give him a chance and be fine.

The program is so stale with Mack, its time for change

 

[joebobb]

If you think about it, how many big time colleges today have a coach with a tenure longer than 10 years? Paterno and Bowden were things of the past.

14 years is forever in this environment. Remember Saban has never been anywhere longer than 7 years. 16 years with Mack was an eternity and you could see that he lost the spark after 2010.

 

[Capn Hook]

Maybe a bigger question is "will the fan-base unite behind ANY choice".