quote:
because there simply isn’t enough data on which to base a firm conclusion.

the guy has done pretty well, but he’s 49 years old and has exactly 3 years coaching experience at the P5 level, and has never been at the same school through an entire 4-year recruiting cycle.

i feel fairly confident that, if i had asked you a year ago who you considered the top 10 HCs in CFB, he would not have been on your list. as such, you are basing your positive assessment on a single year’s performance. i’m sure Oregon fans were thrilled with Mark Helfrich after his second season as HC too.

Limited data, no doubt. He could fail horribly, the topic of this thread was his comparison to Harsin and I am saying the 2 are no where near the same.

He's been a great coach so far, there is no reason to assume he will not be a great coach at Alabama. Meanwhile, Harsin was a terrible coach, with a lot of data showing that before he was hired, so there was no reason to assume he was going to be anything other than a terrible coach at Auburn.

It was always possible something clicked in Harsin and suddenly he became a great coach at Auburn, but it would be a silly assumption IMO. And so I think it is equally as silly to assume DeBoer would suddenly turn into a terrible coach.

So if you are going to go look for a young coach like that, DeBoer checks the boxes. Yes more data is always nice, but most of the guys with more data don't check those boxes.

quote:

fair enough, but as you are well aware “sucking” at Bama has completely different implications. i would hazard a guess that if he goes 9-3 and misses the playoffs his first year the number of major contributors to Bama football calling for his head will be greater than zero.

Alabama boosters have never been that stupid. Every coach is going to get 3 years unless they have major problems. If he loses to Auburn 3 years in a row, then he will be gone. Otherwise, I can't think of a single time in Alabama's history where this is true.

quote:

and those expectations have spelled disaster for other men who’ve held the job before - most of whom came in with far more major college experience than DeBoer.

The biggest disaster came from hiring a DL guy from within to headcoach, and boosters being stupid. And that guy still managed to get win a SEC Championship.

Followed by having to hire another guy with no head coaching experience at all due to Mike Price.

So who are these coaches with more major college experience than DeBoer? I have no idea what in the hell you are talking about. Ray Perkins? He had 0 college football experience and still kept Alabama ranked in the top15 3 out of 4 years.

Bill Curry? Has a split SEC championship. Fired because he couldn't beat Auburn. His major college football experience was a losing record at GT.

Stallings won a NC.

Franchoine bailed, he was a WAC coach before hand. Had a losing record the majority of his career.

So who is this mystery coach with far more major college experience than DeBoer that spelled disaster? Oh wait, not just 1, you said others.

What you are saying just isn't even remotely true. I told you I've been a fan for half a century, I'm not falling for a bunch of BS.

quote:
and thats a significant worry, considering the massive expense they have taken on ($12 million buyout to UW + whatever terms promised to DeBoer to get him to jump ship), those boosters will have far less patience for even temporary mediocrity.

as i said, you seem to know a great deal about CFB HC quality. but i’m sure that your assessment of DeBoer’s suitability for the job is based in large part on unfounded optimism. we’ll see if it’s warranted soon enough.

Everything you've responded with has been untrue and just dumb outside the fact there is limited data, and we will find out soon enough.

This post was edited on 1/21/24 at 2:17 am

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Posted by FearlessFreep

Baja Alabama

Member since Nov 2009

17396 posts

Posted on 1/21/24 at 11:54 pm to 3down10

quote:
the topic of this thread was his comparison to Harsin and I am saying the 2 are no where near the same.

that was the topic of the OP, my initial reply was to your contention that DeBoer was “great” based on a two-year sample size.

and FTR, Harsin wasn’t “terrible” either, just not capable of handling the competitive pressure of coaching at the major college level. “terrible” HCs dont win multiple conference championships and have .750 winning percentages. “Average” or “mediocre”, certainly, but its not like Boise started having 7-5 years on his watch.

he struggled adapting to the SEC, pissed off the wrong people, then after the stupid “internal investigation” foolishness said “frick it, ima gone mail it in and make em pay me to pump iron and build dragsters year-round” - which is more a testament to his shittiness as an employee more than his coaching ability, but i’ll admit thats a distinction with very little difference.

i note that you failed to respond to my belief that you would never have considered DeBoer a “great” HC prior to this most recent season. If you can recall ever mentioning him as a potential replacement for Saban on this or any other forum at any point before, say, two months ago, i would be very interested.

and describing a guy who will turn 50 during the upcoming season as “young” makes sense only in comparison to the age of the guy he’s replacing (who, by contrast, was in his 7th season as a P5 HC on his 50th birthday).

quote:
So who are these coaches with more major college experience than DeBoer? I have no idea what in the hell you are talking about.

Perkins: 4 years as an NFL HC
Curry: 7 as a P5 HC
Stallings: 7 as a P5 HC, 4 as an NFL HC
Price: 14 as a P5 HC

all with far more experience in “big boy” football, every one either being fired or leaving early due to clashes with the people overseeing the program (and i include Price because i firmly believe if he had the kind of unbridled enthusiastic support coming in that Saban had, his shenanigans in my hometown would likely never have made the papers).

like i said before, i feel like DeBoer has a decent chance to succeed at the Capstone, despite what appears to be a less than stellar first couple of weeks on the job. i merely take issue with your assumption that he is already a “great” HC based on essentially two seasons playing in what is now no longer a major conference.

you obviously disagree. thats your prerogative. i’m just saying that Bama is committing a huge amount of money - likely more than AU has paid in buyouts to all of their previous HCs combined - based on a hunch.

thats a risky move, even if the hunch is a good one. ask our friends in College Station about that.

This post was edited on 1/21/24 at 11:58 pm

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