[OT] Cornell Football Head Coach

[atb9]

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.

[ugarte]

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.

[Hillel J. Hoffmann \'85]

[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.]

[atb9]

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...

[ugarte]

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.

[Al DeFlorio]

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

http://pub34.ezboard.com/ffootballscoopfrm1.showMessage?topicID=3079.topic

Would like to know who "yep" is.;-)

[Keith K \'93]

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?

[Greg Berge]

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.

[Jim Hyla]

[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.

[Keith K \'93]

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).

[Keith K \'93]

[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...

[Al DeFlorio]

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.B-]

[jkahn]

Latest Sun update (1/22) at:
http://www.cornelldailysun.com/articles/10412/
There are still three finalists.

[Al DeFlorio]

Recent chatter on the football search:

http://pub34.ezboard.com/ffootballscoopfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=3079.topic&start=61&stop=67

[Al DeFlorio]

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. ::help::



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