[OT] Cornell Football Head Coach

Rumors are swirling that we have hired a new football coach that has NFL experience...another offensive minded guy. If it is true, this is awesome!

[www.raiders.com]



Post Edited (01-06-04 18:41)

Did this guy get fired by the Raiders? ( Considering their season, I wouldn't be surprised). But if not, why would you go from an offensive coordinator job in the NFL to coach at a low level I-AA school? He's not even a Cornell grad. Wierd.

Maybe if he can bring a not-so-wonderful (relatively speaking) team into the national spotlight, he'll have more credibility as a coach and can salvage his career?



Post Edited (01-06-04 19:21)

Maybe, athough I don't know how much NFL owners are going to believe that Ivy experience carries over to the NFL.

Oh, I didn't notice that Callahan got fired by the Raiders as head coach, which presumably means that his staff is gone as well, even if the web site doesn't show it yet. Raiders to the Big Red still seems like a huge step down though. Then again, the way the Raiders played this season...

Even if the team sees a vast improvement due to the coaching?

Trestman was considered a brilliant offensive coordinator in '02, and not so in '03. That's the way life in pro sports is. Perhaps he's ready for a change.
What's the source of the rumors? I've got a prospective football player I need to call to set up an alumni interview, and I'd love to fill him in if I've got some facts to support the rumor.

A writer for the Daily Sun had an away message up today saying that he tried to call the Raiders to ask them about Trestmans hiring and they called him back saying they wanted to schedule him, the Sun reporter, for an interview with Al Davis. Apparently they got the message wrong and thought that the Sun reporter was trying to interview for the head coaching job. When they realized the mistake they refused to comment and told him to contact Cornell athletics.



Post Edited (01-06-04 20:33)

Trestman was the 49ers offensive coordinator under former Cornell coach George Seifert in '95-'96. (11-5 and 12-4). Perhaps George told him some good things about life in Ithaca. Hopefully, if he comes, Trestman will have more success here than Seifert did.

Greg Berge '85 wrote:

Maybe, athough I don't know how much NFL owners are going to believe that Ivy experience carries over to the NFL.

Didn't seem to help Mangurian much.

I'd much prefer to see us hire someone who's been successful as a college head coach, even if at the Division III level. Penn's Al Bagnoli had his Union teams in national championship games. Yale's Jack Siedlecki was very successful at Amherst. Harvard's Tim Murphy had top teams at I-AA Maine before becoming head coach at Cincinnati. Mark Whipple (now at UMass) had four good years at Brown after coaching playoff teams at the University of New Haven. There's a good track record of success following this path.

I'm just not sure a pro assistant will relate well to the Ivy League student-athlete, and I don't know that there've been many, if any, real successes.

Shouldn't believe everything you believe in a cynical columnists away message. You'll find more flash than fact. Here's the real deal:

[www.sacbee.com]

of course, keep checking the Daily Sun website. I hear the sports editors are close to breaking some big news.

::In my best Russian Accent:: For serious?

Message boards excel at speculation and rumor!

I'm excited to read that Trestman did in fact interview for the job! It's good news that we're not just going after D-III perennial losers...

I contend that Pete Mangurian significantly improved his stock by coming to Cornell. In 1997 he was an offensive assistant with the Falcons. When he left Cornell in 2000, he become the Falcons offensive line coach. After giving up only 36 sacks, the second lowest total in franchise history, and having three 500 yard rushers, Reeves promoted him to offensive coordinator where he worked with Michael Vick who might just become the Michael Jordan of the NFL! Not too shabby if you ask me...I wonder if he interviewed for the Cornell job too!

I'm just waiting for the announcement! It looks like it could be a really good hire, who ever they end up choosing.

Adam Brown wrote:

I contend that Pete Mangurian significantly improved his stock by coming to Cornell. In 1997 he was an offensive assistant with the Falcons. When he left Cornell in 2000, he become the Falcons offensive line coach.

???

Here's more speculation:

[pub34.ezboard.com]

I don't want to butt heads...but what the hell...

Why the question marks? It's not fair when you cut out the rest of the paragraph. By spending three seasons at Cornell he was then able to climb the Reeves hierarchy rather quickly after being stuck as a specialty coach for years under Reeves. I believe Cornell was his first head coaching job and I also believe that the experience gave Reeves the confidence to put Mangurian in charge of an entire offensive unit. Of course I know neither men so it's speculation, but again this is a message board!

Thanks for the link! Another name, and this time one that I'm not familiar with...will be checking him out tonight...



Post Edited (01-06-04 22:31)

Mangurian was offensive line coach for Reeves with the Giants in 1992. So I don't see much progress in Reeves bringing him back to the Falcons in the same job eight years later. Sorry. And what's the Michael Vick reference got to do with anything?

Interesting speculation here, of all places, though perhaps somewhat dated:

[www.columbiaspectator.com]

The "feedback" is interesting, too.



Post Edited (01-06-04 22:44)

I like Michael Vick.

For the first time, after coaching at Cornell (granted not directly after but soon after), he became an offensive coordinator, not just an OL or TE coach, which he had been stuck in for nearly a decade. Ugh, that's an U-G-L-Y sentence.

I will now step aside and see what announcement is made in the next few days, if one is even made. Who knows. Not I, for sure!



Post Edited (01-06-04 22:59)

hey "thesportsguy," what do you know about cornell football? you stupid facetimer.

Now up on the Daily Sun website:

[www.cornelldailysun.com]

I think it's quite clear what is happening here...

Athletics is trying to deflect attention away from its #9 nationally ranked men's hockey team -- heading into quite possibly its most important conference weekend of the year, including a game against its biggest rival -- and onto a gridiron squad coming off a thrilling 1-9 season.

Don't fall for the trap, guys!

Heh. ::not sure which smily is appropriate. choose your own::

Conversely, if the football team hired Ned, they'd be 10-0 within three years.

Buffalo sports stations are reporting that (soon to be former) Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride is interviewing for the Head Coach position at Cornell University.

awesome...good to see all of this interest in the position!



Post Edited (01-14-04 17:15)

Adam Brown wrote:

awesome...good to see all of this interest in the position!

Have you seen the Bills offense? It would be less terrifying to hear that Goldie Hawn was interviewing for the job.

Gilbride has a lot more history than just this past season with the Bills...just like Trestman in Oakland. Gilbride even has much more name recognition than Trestman.

I think it's great that NFL-caliber coaches are being interviewed, but.........Why on earth are these people interested in coaching at Cornell?

Adam Brown wrote:

Gilbride has a lot more history than just this past season with the Bills...just like Trestman in Oakland. Gilbride even has much more name recognition than Trestman.

From what I can tell, Trestman has a much better reputation that Gilbride. Gilbride is best remembered for Buddy Ryan taking a swing at him because Ryan thought he was inept.

Although the critics haven't been as kind this year, here's an SI article from this time last year on Trestman:
[sportsillustrated.cnn.com]

He's also got a law degree and was Bernie Kosar's QB coach for Miami's first national championship team. Sounds like a damn good candidate to me.



Post Edited (01-14-04 18:31)

Take this L.S.

[www.cornellsun.com]

[www.cornellsun.com]

I vote for Steve Nelson. He turned around a crappy program and turned it into a winner. That's exactly what we need. NFL coaching experience doesn't necessarily mean success at this level.

I'm just happy we've narrowed it down to three good candidates. Whoever we get, they should bring energy back to the program.

Maybe reputation but not name recognition. Gilbride has been an OC for a lot longer and after building momentum as an OC in the mid-90's, was destroyed by the fiasco that is Ryan Leaf when he coached the Chargers.

I'm much happier with this search than the previous one--we will get a good coach with credentials that would excite a recruit.

I'd be very happy with Nelson or Trestman. I am impressed that Gilbride is interested and would not be tremendously disappointed if he were chosen, but he is #3 of the final candidates in my (utterly irrelevant) book.

[WARNING: NEGATIVITY ALERT.]

Kevin Gilbride??? No, no, no, please, no. I'm pleased that the search is yielding big names with legitimate experience, but Gilbride is widely reported to be one of the most [ahem] problematic coaches in the league. He has struggled to maintain constructive relationships with players and fellow coaches everywhere he has gone (Oilers, Jags, Chargers, Steelers, Bills). The QBs under his guidance (allegedly his specialty) often end up deflated, sometimes never to recover. In general, it seems that his players eventually come to loathe him.

Here's just one recent report (this one from the Boston Globe): "What is wrong with Bledsoe? In the opinion of some NFL personnel men, much of the problem lies with offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. 'Gilbride feeds Bledsoe's worst inclinations,' said an AFC personnel man. 'He'd rather lose throwing the ball than win running it.' ... [WR] Josh Reed [has also] proven to be a disappointment in large part because Gilbride insists on trying to get Reed deep, when his talents are much more those of a slot receiver working underneath the defense."

* The Oilers fired him in the wake of his spat with Buddy Ryan.
* The Chargers fired him after he went 6-16 (even June Jones and Mike Riley had better records coaching the Bolts than that ... and the Chargers scored only 22 offensive touchdowns in those 22 games).
* The Steelers fired him after his offense ended up 29th in the league.
* The Bills offense sputtered, then collapsed in the latter part of his tenure. Even his own players were criticizing him publically.

...And I hate to say it, but I've never like Trestman either. A very creepy guy, who got way too much mileage out of his ancient connections with Bernie Kosar.

I never thought I'd lobby for a Division III coach over two well-known NFL coordinators, but if someone had asked me before this search began to name two famous and experienced NFL assistants who I would NOT want to hire, I bet Gilbride would have been the first person on the list, and Trestman would have been in the top five.

[WHINING OVER. RETURNING TO HOCKEY/LAX DAYDREAMING.]

Maybe that's why they are interviewing for a I-AA football team...very interesting to read your post! Thanks for the info! Maybe we'll get an answer to the coaching question this weekend...

Adam Brown wrote:

Maybe that's why they are interviewing for a I-AA football team...very interesting to read your post! Thanks for the info! Maybe we'll get an answer to the coaching question this weekend...

I think Trestman is interviewing to Coach a I-AA football team so that he can list some head coaching experience on his resume. It is a different level of leadership and administrative repsonsibility than he has been given as a coordinator, and he probably thinks it held him back on the job market last year when his reputation was at its peak.

Gilbride just needs to rehab his image and probably thought he would be the big fish among the candidates if he jumped from the shark tank to the kiddie pool. Tough luck. (I hope.)

For Nelson, it is a step up and a great job. He probably sees it as a stepping stone position for him, but I can live with that if he can do for us what he did for Curry.
[q]Hillel J. Hoffmann '85 wrote:I never thought I'd lobby for a Division III coach over two well-known NFL coordinators[/q]
I imagine that Trestman and Gilbride are shocked at the third candidate as well.

Recent discussion from a board supposedly frequented by college football coaches:

[pub34.ezboard.com]

Would like to know who "yep" is.

One of the Nelson articles quotes him as saying something like with that kind of campus and tradition it should be an easy sell to recruits. One thing you don't get in the Ivies is an opportunity to play in the I-AA tournament. Can someone remind me why the Ivies still don't allow post-season play in football when they certainly allow it in other sports. I can see why we'd want to avoid the bowl game business - that all seems completely money driven. But the I-AA tournament feels pretty clean of that (esp. since you rarely hear about it). Is it just a desire to limit the length of the season and impact on classes?

It may be that the Ivies presidents don't feel they have anything to gain by losing 44-0 to Georgia Southern or Youngstown State in the I-AA quarterfinals.

The Ivies have produced very few title-quality teams since the A/AA split. The NY Times still follows the Yale and Princeton games. If the Ivy schedule were just a prelude to an NCAA drubbing (see: hoops), it would lose what little lustre is left.

[Q]Hillel J. Hoffmann '85 wrote:I never thought I'd lobby for a Division III coach over two well-known NFL coordinators[/Q]Well, I'd rather take someone who has proven success at our game, than someone who is looking for the bright lights to shine on them. It seems like a successful Div. III coach might have the right attitude for our student-athletes to be successful (there, did I use that word enough).

Go for someone proven, rather than someone who is a star.

Would the prospect of playing playoff games make it easier to get top players and thus make the teams better? Maybe not. Maybe the football world is too different than hockey or even hoops (the P schools haven't necessarily gotten drubbings in the tourney).

[Q]It seems like a successful Div. III coach might have the right attitude for our student-athletes to be successful[/Q]But isn't success just a matter of performing well on the field and learning the life lessons from competition? We should be proud when our team goes 4-6 and ecstatic when they pull off 5-5.

Sorry I was channeling Roger Hull for a moment...

Keith K '93 wrote:

Would the prospect of playing playoff games make it easier to get top players and thus make the teams better? Maybe not. Maybe the football world is too different than hockey or even hoops (the P schools haven't necessarily gotten drubbings in the tourney).

And one P school has done pretty damn well in football without the supposed carrot of divisional playoffs.

Latest Sun update (1/22) at:
[www.cornelldailysun.com]
There are still three finalists.

Recent chatter on the football search:

[pub34.ezboard.com]

FWIW, the scuttlebutt on the footballscoop forum says that Trestman (going to the Dolphins), Gilbride (to the Giants), and Steve Nelson--the three finalists--have all pulled out of the search.



Post Edited (01-26-04 18:31)

Here's the official scoop on the jobs that Gilbride and Trestman accepted yesterday (Monday):

* In the wake of Norv Turner's hiring in Oakland, the Dolphins hired Marc Trestman to be their QB coach and assistant heach coach.

* The Giants hired Gilbride to join the staff of new head coach Tom "No Sunglasses Because It's a Sign of Weakness" Coughlin as a QB coach.

FORMER RED GRIDDER JIM KNOWLES HAS BEEN RUMORED AS HAVING BEEN OFFERED THE JOB

LN wrote:
FORMER RED GRIDDER JIM KNOWLES HAS BEEN RUMORED AS HAVING BEEN OFFERED THE JOB

Apparently Knowles was going to be named an assistant coach at Nebraska yesterday but head coach Jim Callahan postponed the announcement so Knowles could pursue a head coaching position. Supposed to be decided by tomorrow (Friday).



Post Edited (01-29-04 12:54)

Omaha, Nebraska newspaper article re Knowles:
[www.omaha.com]

It's official. Jim Knowles has been hired as Red football coach. See CU Athletics page for details.