Timeframe on a new hire?

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TCF=UnitedWeStand

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Okay, so we've pulled the trigger and are now out in front in terms of having "first dibs". That being said, what timeframe do people think should be in place for having the new guy hired?

Personally, I am okay with the timing of Brew's firing, but it really only makes sense if a new hire is announced the day after the Iowa game (an agreement is reached with someone well in advance).

My nightmare situation - Maturi drags his feet until January and then hires one of the guys who isn't even coaching right now (Leach, Belotti, Fulmer, Barnett).
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
Okay, so we've pulled the trigger and are now out in front in terms of having "first dibs". That being said, what timeframe do people think should be in place for having the new guy hired?

Personally, I am okay with the timing of Brew's firing, but it really only makes sense if a new hire is announced the day after the Iowa game (an agreement is reached with someone well in advance).

My nightmare situation - Maturi drags his feet until January and then hires one of the guys who isn't even coaching right now (Leach, Belotti, Fulmer, Barnett).
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I have been thinking of this myself and I agree with what you say. The mid-season firing was a great idea if Maturi gets to be first in line for a coach. Note, he would not be able to hire anyone who is currently coaching with this strategy. However, if he is able to snag a Leach, Bellotti, Fullmer etc. then it might pay off huge because he will then be able to move in and save the recruiting class for this year as well as get a top line coach. The minute the season ends and other schools start firing coaches, they will be looking for coaches too and if Maturi drags his feet, it really made no sense at all. You might as well have had Brewster coach the rest of the season and quietly been shopping around behind the scenes.

As it is, we have gotten a lot of press over the coaching vacancy and you can tell there is some interest out there. Right now, we are the only open coach out there but that will change in a few weeks.
 

It took 16 days to hire Brewster.

Just throwing that out there so people can have a reference. I realize that this is a much different situation.
 

One of the worst things about firing a coach is ruining your recruiting class for the year. These players were in their 4th year this season and as you can see, it was a pretty weak class. You can't blame this on Brewster though - he simply did not have enough time to put it together. The longer you wait, the worse it gets because everyone else is filling up their class and if you wait too long, you pretty much have to write off the first year. That is one reason why the mid-season firing might pay off - if we get the new guy in soon enough he can hold the class down that Brewster had going and maybe still be able to score some good prospects, too.

Still, Maturi does not want to rush into this and I want him to take his time and get the best guy he can for the job.
 

But....

If you're a Belotti, Fulmer, or Leach, don't you think there's a chance that they may want to wait to see what other jobs are out there, enjoy the courting process, etc.?

This is one of the primary reasons I doubt we'll see a hire before a week or two after the Iowa game.

The good news is, there MAY not be that many open jobs out there to compete with. Hard to say just yet.
 


Ogee Oglethorpe said:
If you're a Belotti, Fulmer, or Leach, don't you think there's a chance that they may want to wait to see what other jobs are out there, enjoy the courting process, etc.?

This is one of the primary reasons I doubt we'll see a hire before a week or two after the Iowa game.

The good news is, there MAY not be that many open jobs out there to compete with. Hard to say just yet.
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There is a chance those guys wait it out to see how it all plays out, especially if they are getting feelers from schools seeing if they would be interested. However, they have all been out of work for awhile now and might be interested in seeing what Minnesota has to offer. If I were one of those guys, I would probably be watching the Gophers games right now to do a little checking on them. If we get the guy we want, I say the sooner the better, but I bet you are right. I doubt we will have anyone for at least a couple weeks after the Iowa game, but that would still be better than it was for us the last time around.
 

If guys like Bellotti, Leach and Fulmer were offered the MN job and dragged their feet to see what other options are out there the run the risk of MN pulling the offer and being left out altogether in December so there is risk both ways.
 

Maturi has already said that he wants a coach in place by the first of the year. He's keeping his options open so that he can hire a currently employed coach.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
If guys like Bellotti, Leach and Fulmer were offered the MN job and dragged their feet to see what other options are out there the run the risk of MN pulling the offer and being left out altogether in December so there is risk both ways.
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Dead on. It becomes a game of chicken. The guys without jobs now have all the advantage, they are the only guys that should be having serious conversations with us right now. If they choose to wait, they just become part of the crowd as then we interview current coaches as well. So if it is to be Belotti, Leach, or any other unemployed coach, it will happen immediately after Iowa. If we go a week or two after that, then we can assume we are sniffing a current coach.
 



Slow Trigger, Fast Bullet

That was actually our mantra for a while in the engineering organization of the corporation I work at. But in a lot of cases it makes sense. Do your homework, screen all the options, and identify the best plan. Then execute it flawlessly and quickly.

So I do think that unless we hire a Mike Leach or Belotti who's currently out of work coachingwise, probably late November is the best case scenario. I would hope that Maturi and his search firm are currently assessing candidates, and maybe even vetting frontrunners & assessing interest. Assuming that's the case, anyone posting on this board that "they were in a suite yesterday where so-and-so said (insert name here) is the frontrunner is full of pooh. I'll be surprised if they're even interviewing anyone before Halloween.
 

Should be all over in five weeks, maybe less if the choice is a presently non-employed coach.
 


Maturi stated on the Sports Huddle Show...

that he expects to announce a new coach almost immediately after the last game of the season!
 



Sparlimb said:
Dead on. It becomes a game of chicken. The guys without jobs now have all the advantage, they are the only guys that should be having serious conversations with us right now. If they choose to wait, they just become part of the crowd as then we interview current coaches as well. So if it is to be Belotti, Leach, or any other unemployed coach, it will happen immediately after Iowa. If we go a week or two after that, then we can assume we are sniffing a current coach.
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This might be a stupid question, but if they end up going with a currently unemployed coach, why would they need to wait that long? Wouldn't it be beneficial to bring him in as soon as possible, even if it's just 'unofficial'?
 

One big thing to remember is unless we get permission to interview a working coach during the season and that coach is willing to interview during the season...we will have to wait until after Thanksgiving to even talk to them...so guys like Golden who are fighting for a bowl game might not be available until after their last game...I still think first week of December is realistic.

Which would be fine...still have time to do recruiting and change some minds before signing day...and hold onto any recruits we already have that the new coach wants.
 

RedPoo said:
This might be a stupid question, but if they end up going with a currently unemployed coach, why would they need to wait that long? Wouldn't it be beneficial to bring him in as soon as possible, even if it's just 'unofficial'?
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This was my question, too. Let's dream and say Belotti is the guy. If we were able to come to terms on a contract tomorrow, why not? He doesn't have to coach the team this season, necessarily, but he can hang around and get to know the players and the lay of the land. And, more importantly, begin recruiting. There's nothing that says they can't do that immediately. I think the bigger factor is that Maturi simply isn't going to work that quickly.
 

Sooner the better. Programs like ours can't wait as long as others.
 

It may take a couple of years before we get a new head coach, and that's okay. The U needs to take their time and make sure they get it right. Let's not be in a hurry in making this selection!
 

I don't think it's unrealistic to think that the Search Firm's part will only take a week or two. If that's the case they could begin interviewing non-active coaches the week of Nov. 8th. Add to that another week or two for interviews and you're looking at having someone locked up Thanksgiving week.

Now, as others have said if they want to interview active head coaches it will take longer.
 

In terms of an inactive coach dragging his feet to see what other jobs might open up, don't overlook the fact that getting an early jump on recruiting benefits both us and the new coach. Also, don't overlook the fact that if Bellotti doesn't get a job this year, his chances drop of ever getting another coaching job.
 

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