re: The Official Coaching Search Thread- updates in OP

OK, so, moving past Herman and Smart, we still have:

Elliott
Bisaccia
Beamer?
Muschamp (?!?!?!)

I think Muschamp would be a nuclear trainwreck here, but how far down in the list are we going to get before Shane Beamer is a serious candidate?

Rooster how much inside info do these so called insiders at the various websites that cover USC actually have?

He and Martin would be the angriest pair of coaches in school history.

This is depressing, I'm really going to have to just not pay attention to the coaching search until it's over.

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Weird. Elliott said yesterday they were gonna hit the road today

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He did not say how many. That has me wondering.

Herman
Smart
Dantonio



Fedora
Muschamp
Shane Beamer



Charlie Strong
Dan Mullen
Mark Richt
Rich Rodriguez



Bisaccia
Elliott

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Rooster how much inside info do these so called insiders at the various websites that cover USC actually have?

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I know all of them ... I know who is feeding whom, who is bullshitting, who is actually probably talking to people who may be giving them little hints.

I know them all.

Gamecock Central has no inside information. They had two, both consider Gamecock Central persona non grata these days.

247 The Big Spur has one ... and what I will call a half of one since it is basically the same one being sourced on another site which has no message boards. Sports Talk.

Cockytalk I am not that familiar with but my Son is a frequent lurker over there and, as far as I can tell based upon what he relays to me ... they have no inside source.

ESPN is going on rumors - then they vet the rumor. That's about all they can do right now.

Same goes for most of the major sites like CBS, Sports Illustrated, etc.

Yahoo gets their info from Gamecock Central which ... is no info at all other than second-hand rumors from the gossip mill.

There are a handful of people truly in the know right now, none of which are members of the current staff.

1 - The actual candidates who are being contacted.

2 - The search firm.

3 - Jimmy Sexton ... whom I have met and talked with on several occasions on a very casual level at various events.

4 - Ray Tanner of course, and Harris Pastides. Along with Charles Waddell, maybe Charlie Bloom and Jeff Crane ... maybe, and one or two of the lawyers on call.

5 - Certain members of the search committee who are more actively involved than others. Two in particular.

6 - Certain members of the Board of Trustees who are actively involved ... two in particular, plus one or two more who continually press for more info.

7 - One member of the Board of Visitors who is probably as connected and informed as anyone within reason.

... and then there is me, because I have been involved with things for so long, know so many people and have learned how to read them - and because there have been times in the past when I have handled things. I also have a strong dislike for the media as a whole, very distrusting of them, so I sometimes buffer the gathering of information when it is needed. I know what to share and what not to share. I respect the process with all things related to our athletic department and I know where some of the skeletons are buried.

With all of that said I presently know little to nothing about what is going-on with him. I had sources on the Memphis/Fuente end of the search and I know why he was vetted-out of the list of candidates and why he was so stand-offish from the get-go.

I have contacts in Texas, Dallas area, and one or two down in Houston. Well connected family members.

And I know Charlie Strong and practically everyone around him that matters on one level or another. My Texas connections are ironic, almost as ironic as my Memphis connections. Family first and foremost. Then there is ... Mack Brown and I had the same Godfather until just recently when our Godfather passed. Again, he was a Memphis guy, a good man.

Kirby Smart - have zero connections to what is going-on with him. I was fairly sure Mark Richt was going to be fired over a month ago ... because my wife's best friend has a brother who is a UGA letterman and is still heavily involved with the program as well as being a big money booster. I did talk to him today and I am not convinced they are going after Kirby Smart as their first choice. Seems like they want to talk to Jimbo ... which IMHO is a waste of time but whatever. After that they think they can get Herman easily ... which I have doubts about. Any coach who would look at Richt's record and the fact that he was still fired by UGA has to have reservations about taking that job. So I think they may end-up having to settle for Kirby. But as a dawg fan already mentioned in this thread, and after I did some checking he appears to be correct ... Kirby may have burned a bridge or two with UGA. I dunno how that is going to play-out.

Ray Tanner is on the hotseat right now. He'd better not screw the pooch on this one. He's had more time than anyone to get this right and while the late cards have not been dealt in his favor he knew going-in that all of these things were a possibility and he should have planned for such.

I also do not agree with how Ray has handled this with the team interactions and some of the things he has said.

For the past few days I've been watching this play-out with everyone else.

The problem with Kornblut's claims are they have no byline. No one is taking credit for the report. Is it Kornblut? Is it that dumbass K-Mac? That tells me that no one is willing to put their name beside the report. In other words they are leaving plausible deniability and that is not good journalism.

With that said, I do understand that it is not a reach to believe that Herman is still in play. With McNair's involvement, as well as Bob Beaudine's involvement, Herman SHOULD still be in play. There is no excuse for him not still being in play.

If Herman takes the Mizzou job then he is a dumbass and we don't want him here ... we should thank our lucky stars if it ends-up playing-out that way.

I think that tomorrow (Monday) is going to open-up some things, in terms of information and possibilities. The original deadline dates I posted are still in play. Tomorrow was a best case scenario for an early announcement but that is probably off the table now.

December 5 was the original best case scenario with December 10 being the absolute latest for this to be viewed as a successful search and hire.

ETA Charlie Bloom #4 above.

I still think we get Herman, unless he goes to Texas. All other coaching positions are filling up, and it now appears Smart is off the table with him heading to Georgia.

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Is the Master Plan still in effect?

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There's been a change in plans.