Art of Hiring a Head Coach

[Fatty McGee]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougarfootball/2018041576_coaches22.html

"Their hires shine a light on some of the realities of 21st-century searches, and the difficulty in steering the process through coaches who might merely be playing one job off against another, or agents who might drop names of their coaching clients as a way of driving up their desirability."

. . .

"Byrne has a couple of guiding principles: If a candidate's name leaks out in connection with his search, his candidacy is done. Byrne will know he's being "played.""

. . .

""There's the Charlie Weis deal," he says of Kansas' hire. "He failed miserably at Notre Dame, but, 'By God, he was at Notre Dame.' Down at Ole Miss, they have to have 15 people on a search committee (actually it was five). By the time they get through the introductions on the search committee, all the good coaches are hired.

"I don't need 15 people sitting at the table. Where are the other 14 when I get evaluated on (the performance of) my football coach?"

Nor is Moos a fan of reaching to the pro ranks for a candidate, although it was a home run at USC with Pete Carroll before NCAA sanctions.

"I shy away from that," Moos says. "I think they're two completely different games. The whole element of rules compliance and recruiting — I just think you're taking a big chance. I'm not singling out Mora; he may do a great job there.""