Longhornleghorn
Under Contract
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2013
- Messages
- 45
Hiring the football coach at one of the top programs in the country is similar to making an executive hire (CEO, President) at a Fortune 500 company. And, because it is Texas - the most valuable program in the country in terms of profitability and revenue - you are making a hire for the arguably the most prominent program. Companies that hire a new CEO have lots of stakeholders to appease: board of directors, fellow executives, shareholders, staff / team, financial press, etc. Making a hire at Texas for the football coach is very similar, but the pieces are just labeled with different titles: board of regents, president Powers, donors, fans, team, press, etc. You aren't going to appease everyone with a hire, and you don't place the same priority on serving all interested constituencies.
With that in mind, my first order of business would be to buy some time and establish some cover for the big moves that need to be made. You hire a search firm to help lengthen the time frame on the process, and their vetting of the candidates takes some political pressure off your moves, as you are not acting unilaterally. Second, you establish an advisory committee representing many of the factions you need to appease. Again, this helps provide cover for a protracted process, preventing the appearance that you are acting unilaterally. And, the advisory committee helps build some consensus amongst the influential groups regarding the hire while also spreading some of the responsibility for the final decision and likely tremendous amount of money that will be required to pull it off. At a public institution like Texas already embroiled in a internal power struggle, this last part is crucial.
Now that you have established a process that will provide cover in terms of timeline (protracted due to search firm and committee) and some political cover with the appearance of making an informed, bilateral decision, you can get to work. The core issue is that some of your homerun hire candidates are tied up with important games in the NFL or bowls (BCS) until at least JAN 6th. You can't spend four weeks waiting on your candidate to free up without it becoming nationwide news, and potentially scuttling a big hire. So, you talk to the big dogs behind the scenes to gauge interest and float numbers / requirements while interviewing the secondary candidates as they become available. I wouldn't intentionally leak any information or create smokescreens, as the mere act that you are vetting and interviewing candidates is going to leak out.
With that process established, here's how I would approach the hire, pulling out some of the candidates we believe have told us "no" informally:
Tier One (in no particular order)
Saban (available JAN 3)
John Harbaugh (available now)
Fisher (available JAN 6)
Tier Two (in no particular order; to be interviewed formally as available)
Strong (available now)
Briles (available now)
Franklin (available JAN 4)
Dantonio (available now)
Mora Jr. (available now)
Malzahn (available now)
Wild Cards (could move up into Tier One based upon interview)
Jon Gruden
So, at this point, I'm back channeling negotiations with the Tier One candidates. If I can get one of them to commit, we move to a contract offer / specifics. If I have to wait for one or all of them to finish their commitments, I continue vetting the Tier Two and Wild Card candidates via the search firm and formal interviews. I'm prioritizing the candidates based upon interest and my evaluation of the fit.
As soon as I know the Tier One guys are not going to happen, I'm sealing the deal with my top Tier Two or Wild Card candidate. And, it is important to note that with the exception of Briles and Dantonio (who played in BCS bowls), the rest of these candidates could have been hired at any time leading up to this process. There is no reason to wait, unless one of the big fish is still on the line.
Which, leaves us where we are now: lots of chatter about candidates being interviewed and their interest level. We aren't hearing much about the Tier One candidates, because they are still distracted with big games, and their pitches are more complex. It is JAN 2, and if I'm Patterson and haven't made a hire yet, I either have a Tier One guy on the line and am waiting for their availability to open, or I've been told "no" by my Tier One crew and have been waiting on Briles and Dantonio to free up from their BCS games.
And, just for closure and to add my two cents, here's how I'd rank the candidates above: Saban, Harbaugh, Fisher, Gruden, Dantonio, Mora Jr., Briles, Strong, Malzahn, Franklin. Honestly, I would be really tempted to pursue Malzahn, but I am just not comfortable with his sample size in terms of HC experience.
With that in mind, my first order of business would be to buy some time and establish some cover for the big moves that need to be made. You hire a search firm to help lengthen the time frame on the process, and their vetting of the candidates takes some political pressure off your moves, as you are not acting unilaterally. Second, you establish an advisory committee representing many of the factions you need to appease. Again, this helps provide cover for a protracted process, preventing the appearance that you are acting unilaterally. And, the advisory committee helps build some consensus amongst the influential groups regarding the hire while also spreading some of the responsibility for the final decision and likely tremendous amount of money that will be required to pull it off. At a public institution like Texas already embroiled in a internal power struggle, this last part is crucial.
Now that you have established a process that will provide cover in terms of timeline (protracted due to search firm and committee) and some political cover with the appearance of making an informed, bilateral decision, you can get to work. The core issue is that some of your homerun hire candidates are tied up with important games in the NFL or bowls (BCS) until at least JAN 6th. You can't spend four weeks waiting on your candidate to free up without it becoming nationwide news, and potentially scuttling a big hire. So, you talk to the big dogs behind the scenes to gauge interest and float numbers / requirements while interviewing the secondary candidates as they become available. I wouldn't intentionally leak any information or create smokescreens, as the mere act that you are vetting and interviewing candidates is going to leak out.
With that process established, here's how I would approach the hire, pulling out some of the candidates we believe have told us "no" informally:
Tier One (in no particular order)
Saban (available JAN 3)
John Harbaugh (available now)
Fisher (available JAN 6)
Tier Two (in no particular order; to be interviewed formally as available)
Strong (available now)
Briles (available now)
Franklin (available JAN 4)
Dantonio (available now)
Mora Jr. (available now)
Malzahn (available now)
Wild Cards (could move up into Tier One based upon interview)
Jon Gruden
So, at this point, I'm back channeling negotiations with the Tier One candidates. If I can get one of them to commit, we move to a contract offer / specifics. If I have to wait for one or all of them to finish their commitments, I continue vetting the Tier Two and Wild Card candidates via the search firm and formal interviews. I'm prioritizing the candidates based upon interest and my evaluation of the fit.
As soon as I know the Tier One guys are not going to happen, I'm sealing the deal with my top Tier Two or Wild Card candidate. And, it is important to note that with the exception of Briles and Dantonio (who played in BCS bowls), the rest of these candidates could have been hired at any time leading up to this process. There is no reason to wait, unless one of the big fish is still on the line.
Which, leaves us where we are now: lots of chatter about candidates being interviewed and their interest level. We aren't hearing much about the Tier One candidates, because they are still distracted with big games, and their pitches are more complex. It is JAN 2, and if I'm Patterson and haven't made a hire yet, I either have a Tier One guy on the line and am waiting for their availability to open, or I've been told "no" by my Tier One crew and have been waiting on Briles and Dantonio to free up from their BCS games.
And, just for closure and to add my two cents, here's how I'd rank the candidates above: Saban, Harbaugh, Fisher, Gruden, Dantonio, Mora Jr., Briles, Strong, Malzahn, Franklin. Honestly, I would be really tempted to pursue Malzahn, but I am just not comfortable with his sample size in terms of HC experience.
