No, but those four are the top tier and the failure to induce any one of them to come to UT with all its money and resources will be an epic fail at this point in time that will not optimize the fan, donor and recruit response.
Just as an FYI...there was/is a major surge of fans, very larger donors, alumni and media types that think Mack Brown should still be coaching. Don't confuse our willingness to "wait and see" if the hire was a good one by the actual results on the field to mean we will not be enthusiastic and supportive of the new hire immediately. I know I'm excited, very excited in fact, for the future and culture change that is coming and I'm sure that is one of Patterson's "must have's" during the interview process.
I, too, share your concerns from afar. Question: what is every candidate we offer(ed) on the 1A list says "No thanks."?
I believe what TexasFirst1 is trying to say is Texas should get whoever Texas wants and to shoot high and miss could be a disaster. I would add the names Briles and Shaw to the quartet mentioned above. Let's face it, if Texas is unable to lasso any from a mix that includes Saban, Fisher, Malzahn, John Harbaugh, Art Briles or David Shaw, then it may very well be viewed as simply settling. FWIW.
Most salient point in this entire thread! It is ALL subjective until we see the product on the field...
Yes, but championship results are a direct result of making the best choices and demanding excellence at the highest level. Not acquiescing to lesser options. The real question is who is the coach that has the highest success potential and then doing whatever is necessary to get him. UT is not resource constrained. It has been leadership constrained for a very long time.
Agree
I understand exactly what you are saying and agree with most of it. However, raising money has never been an issue for Texas. As you stated, resources have never been or ever will be the issue for Texas. So getting even more donors does what exactly?...besides making it harder for us average fans that don't have super deep pockets the ability to get good season tickets without a substantial donation. More money, more fans, more enthusiasm does not guarantee a better product on the field. Only the right coaching hire does that and that in of itself is a roll of the dice to some degree. Schellenberger was the flavor of the day when OU hired him...we know how that turned out.
The epic fail I am speaking of is the inability to induce any of the top tier choices to come to UT despite superior resources on every level. Yes, many coaches could succeed at UT. The exercise for Patterson is making the choice that has the highest potential for success. by definition, people who have succeeded at the highest levels are better bets than people who have not. Anyone below the top tier is a bigger crap shoot that can be avoided if Patterson does his job. UT has suffered through 40 years + of mediocrity because it never induced a top tier coach to UT. UT has always settled for second or third tier choices with disastrous results and that includes Mack Brown. 2-14 on championships and the last 4 years are an epic fail if your standard is excellence. Mack makes Bob Stoops look like a coaching messiah by comparison. UT should be hiring someone that terrifies Bob Stoops, not someone who has a far worse resume than Bob Stoops. This is an opportunity to change UT's poor track record for the better. If Patterson does not achieve that goal, Patterson will have led an epic fail of the process that has nothing to do with whether or not he lucks out on the new coach's record in the future.
No, your perceptions are disconnected from reality.
By your criteria you would have never hired stoops. The bottom line is you are making up your own tier criteria based on personal opinion and based solely on that want to judge Pattersons worth. Nevermind results. If someone like strong was the guy you would call it an epic failure even before results are known.
no...i think it's better to judge the success of the hire BEFORE he actually coaches a game. Any moron can make judgements after a record is established. Drawing definitive conclusions even before the introductory presser requires guts and vision.
The difference is the coach of course which is why he is our #1 target. Not exactly rocket science. Question for you...during all those years prior to Saban's hire (1992 - 2008, 16 years...sound familiar?) when Alabama won 1 national championship (the previous one was 1979) and 2 conference championships (sound familiar again?) had their fans and donors, following the great and demanding Bear Bryant, suddenly become conditioned by Bama's controlling bodies to accept mediocrity and be happy? I mean after all, they continued to sell out home games. I seriously doubt that. Or was it that finding the perfect coach is not a science. Ex Bama and A&M coach Franchione is a good example.
