Staples: Want to find the perfect head coach for LSU, USC, Virginia Tech, Nebraska and others? Simple. Call A.S.S.
We're here to help ADs determine what they need so the correct coach is matched to the correct job. Just remember, you get what you pay for.
theathletic.com
Staples: Want to find the perfect head coach for LSU, USC, Virginia Tech, Nebraska and others? Simple. Call A.S.S.
by Andy Staples, The Athletic
Brian in Buford, Ga., always asks great questions for our mailbag columns here at The Athletic. This week, he asked one so interesting that the answer became its own column — and perhaps a new column series.
Dear Andy,
Your consulting firm has been hired by all the major schools (LSU, USC, TCU) currently looking for a coach, plus (in secret) Virginia Tech and Nebraska, to help them with their coaching searches. What are the priorities you would outline for each job, and who would you identify as the best potential fit for each school?
Brian in Buford, Ga.
So Brian wants me to reopen Andy Staples Search — known far and wide as the lowest-priced search firm in college athletics — to help athletic directors determine what they need in a coach and to help match the correct coach to the correct job. I’m happy to help. Just remember the firm’s motto: When you buy A.S.S., you get what you pay for.
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NEBRASKA
Nebraska might be the most difficult job to handicap because the guy who seemed absolutely perfect -- the alum coming off an undefeated season as a Group of 5 head coach -- has flopped there. So what will work? The Cornhuskers probably need to be a developmental program that plays a defined style and recruits to that style. Wisconsin and Cockeye are the models, and the goal is to compete for the Big Ten West title annually -- for as long as divisions last -- and occasionally be able to compete for the Big Ten title. Contrary to outdated belief, most Nebraska fans would be perfectly fine with this.
The perfect coaches to run such a program would be Cockeye State's Matt Campbell or Kentucky's Mark Stoops. But the idea of Campbell leaving what he has turned into a great situation in Ames to salvage the Cornhuskers seems far-fetched. Perhaps Nebraska brass could try to sell him on the Big Ten versus the perception of the Big 12 minus Oklahoma and Texas. But if Campbell wanted a Big Ten job, he'd likely be a candidate for Penn State if James Franklin left or Michigan State if Mel Tucker left. Stoops has a better job than Nebraska, and I've argued many times that he should never, ever leave Lexington. (I have no ideal if he'll listen.) So both seem unlikely. Let's offer a more realistic possibility.
There is a coach who came through the same developmental wellspring as Campbell who has worked in places where the program operates at a talent disadvantage and also has worked in places where the program can attract elite athletes. That coach is Campbell's Mount Union teammate Alex Grinch, who serves as Oklahoma's defensive coordinator.
Grinch worked for Chip Kelly at New Hampshire. He worked at Missouri for Gary Pinkel, who happens to be his uncle. He ran the best defenses Mike Leach had at Washington State, and he turned Oklahoma's defense from a laughingstock into a solid unit in less than three years.
Skeptical Nebraska fans will note that Grinch's one year at Ohio State was rough, but remember, Greg Schiano was supposed to be a head coach that year. They weren't supposed to be co-coordinators, and that arrangement was less than ideal. This season, Oklahoma's defense has taken a step back following dramatic improvement last season. I won't make an excuse for that, but I will remind everyone that Grinch took over a defense that finished No. 102 in the nation in yards per play allowed in 2018. It finished No. 63 in 2019 and No. 26 last season.
Grinch has recruited in the shark-infested waters Ohio State and Oklahoma occupy. He's also had to help turn a 225-pound defensive tackle (Hercules Mata'afa) into a star at Washington State. Nebraska has the name and the resources to attract some top recruits, but as a Big Ten member, the foundation of the program needs to be built upon players mined from the Midwest and developed in Lincoln. Between Mount Union coach Larry Kehres and Pinkel, Grinch has learned from some of the best developers in the sport's history. He's seen up close how Leach wins in remote outposts. He's seen up close how Urban Meyer and Lincoln Riley tuned up superpowers. That might be the ideal mix for Nebraska.
