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Why Carolina hired Muschamp instead of Herman and how the search failed.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:05 am
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:05 am
I should start by saying that I have a background as an executive recruiter and search consultant. I am also passionate about SEC football. This is what I think happened:
I'm fairly certain that Ray Tanner used a search firm for this coaching opening. If he didn't he definitely should have and his results might have been different. If he did use a search firm - they absolutely dropped the ball when it came to Herman.
The most important skill a search consultant has is the ability to ask questions to determine a possible candidate's motivations for making a move. Why are they looking elsewhere at other opportunities? What is wrong with their current position? Are they only motivated by money? It's only by asking these questions that you can QUALIFY a candidate. What does that mean?
Nick Saban is obviously qualified to coach college football but he's definitely not a qualified candidate for the CAROLINA opening. Why? Simply because he's not motivated to actually make a move to USCe. He doesn't want to. Herman is also a qualified college coach, however, he was not qualified as a candidate for Carolina. He was literally not qualified by the search consultant. The search consultant didn't do their job by asking the right questions. If he/she would have determined the truth initially they wouldn't have wasted time with Herman.
Herman was job shopping- not because he necessarily wanted to move to Carolina but because he may have wanted some leverage to negotiate his new contract at Houston. My bet is that his agent knows how these things work. USCe was used to increase his value as a coach in the open talent market and they got played as a result. As a recruiter we were taught to uncover the TRUE motivating factors for a move and then we were taught to cover counter-offers early and often. This was not done. Therefore, thanks to USCe (and their search firm) Mr. Herman got a great raise at Houston and Carolina scrambled in the end to land Mr. Boom.
This is all simply my informed opinion.
I'm fairly certain that Ray Tanner used a search firm for this coaching opening. If he didn't he definitely should have and his results might have been different. If he did use a search firm - they absolutely dropped the ball when it came to Herman.
The most important skill a search consultant has is the ability to ask questions to determine a possible candidate's motivations for making a move. Why are they looking elsewhere at other opportunities? What is wrong with their current position? Are they only motivated by money? It's only by asking these questions that you can QUALIFY a candidate. What does that mean?
Nick Saban is obviously qualified to coach college football but he's definitely not a qualified candidate for the CAROLINA opening. Why? Simply because he's not motivated to actually make a move to USCe. He doesn't want to. Herman is also a qualified college coach, however, he was not qualified as a candidate for Carolina. He was literally not qualified by the search consultant. The search consultant didn't do their job by asking the right questions. If he/she would have determined the truth initially they wouldn't have wasted time with Herman.
Herman was job shopping- not because he necessarily wanted to move to Carolina but because he may have wanted some leverage to negotiate his new contract at Houston. My bet is that his agent knows how these things work. USCe was used to increase his value as a coach in the open talent market and they got played as a result. As a recruiter we were taught to uncover the TRUE motivating factors for a move and then we were taught to cover counter-offers early and often. This was not done. Therefore, thanks to USCe (and their search firm) Mr. Herman got a great raise at Houston and Carolina scrambled in the end to land Mr. Boom.
This is all simply my informed opinion.
This post was edited on 12/7/15 at 6:18 am
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Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:21 am to Beantownbulldog
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:22 am to Beantownbulldog
This is amazing insight.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:24 am to the808bass
Just my 2 cents. Glad you found it interesting.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:30 am to Beantownbulldog
quote:
This is all simply my informed opinion.
Thank you for your informed opinion. Now, looking closer to home, how do you explain that UGA is allowing Smart to stay at bammer until after Jan. 11th? Do you not find it a bit pathetic that UGA cannot get the coach they just hired to get on campus for over another month?
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:36 am to Beantownbulldog
You should give Jay Jacobs a ring. He will probably throw a cool $300K your way so we can end up with Lance Thompson as our DC.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:36 am to AUstar
quote:
Thank you for your informed opinion. Now, looking closer to home, how do you explain that UGA is allowing Smart to stay at bammer until after Jan. 11th?
Is Smart permitted to recruit for UGA while being the defensive coordinator at Alabama?
I know that Virginia Tech had to petition the NCAA to afford Fuente the authority to recruit for them while coaching at Memphis, not sure if the NCAA granted permission or not.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:37 am to AUstar
I think that Kirby Smart is solidifying his reputation that he has worked hard to obtain. He's fulfilling his obligations in his current position instead of abandoning them- it's like a two-weeks notice. People will remember this about him down the road.
Plus, he's already recruiting his arse off for us in Georgia. Take a look at our board.
Plus, he's already recruiting his arse off for us in Georgia. Take a look at our board.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:37 am to AUstar
On campus? We want him 'crootin' til the dead period.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:44 am to Beantownbulldog
quote:
People will remember this about him down the road.
Dead wrong, IMO... If he fails at UGA, not saying he will, not one person would look at his résumé and say to themselves we don't need to hire this guy because he left bama early.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:48 am to Vols&Shaft83
Kirby is actively recruiting for Georgia the next 10 days or so then when Alabama reconvenes in 10 days he will rejoin the team to prepare for Michigan State. This was at Sabans last presser.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 6:54 am to AU4real35
quote:
If he fails at UGA, not saying he will, not one person would look at his résumé and say to themselves we don't need to hire this guy because he left bama early.
And those aren't the kinds of "people" he was talking about. This is more about recruits and their parents seeing Smart finish what he started.
And you're blowing it way out of proportion. He's going to be recruiting all week up until the 11th (wraps with our Senior Gala which is a big recruiting weekend). Then the dead period starts and he goes back to Tuscaloosa for playoff prep. Plus, each team is only allowed 15 practices and he's not recruiting for Alabama anymore.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 7:03 am to Beantownbulldog
Wait, so what you are saying is that Herman did not want the USCe job, so Tanner had to hire his second choice, Muschamp. Great insight. Please post more of them. Perhaps you could do one on why Mizzou promoted their DC instead of hiring Urban Meyer.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 7:09 am to Beantownbulldog
Great assessment, I also focus on finding the prime motivator when I interview.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 7:10 am to Monticello
Actually what I'm saying is that time was wasted on a candidate without motivation - time that could have been focused in a better direction especially considering that Carolina had the opening much earlier than most.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 7:35 am to gatorhata9
quote:
And those aren't the kinds of "people" he was talking about. This is more about recruits and their parents seeing Smart finish what he started.
Exactly.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 7:58 am to AUstar
quote:
Thank you for your informed opinion. Now, looking closer to home, how do you explain that UGA is allowing Smart to stay at bammer until after Jan. 11th? Do you not find it a bit pathetic that UGA cannot get the coach they just hired to get on campus for over another month?
There's literally nothing for him to do here except recruit and hire a staff. And he's staying for the next 10 days to do just that. Once the recruiting dead period begins, he will return to Bama to gameplan and attend practice before the playoff games, during which time it will be a ton of free exposure for UGA as we are mentioned every time they show Kirby on screen. Once Bama is done, he will return to UGA full time.
How is this a bad thing for UGA?
Posted on 12/7/15 at 8:01 am to AUstar
quote:
Thank you for your informed opinion. Now, looking closer to home, how do you explain that UGA is allowing Smart to stay at bammer until after Jan. 11th? Do you not find it a bit pathetic that UGA cannot get the coach they just hired to get on campus for over another month?
Former recruiter here as well. There was obviously a negotiated job transfer process. Both from Smart to UGA, and Smart with Saban/Bama.
As a professional and as is standard business practice... once a notice is turned in, I'd let an employee go. Normally there would be security concerns; access issues; thoughts about employee poaching; worry about trying to do two jobs at once; etc etc etc. In this case, the transfer is a bit more visible.
As an Alabama fan, I'm glad he is able to stay through the playoffs for continuity sake. I'd personally let him move on, but I understand both sides of the argument. Georgia clearly wants him bad enough to be able to be flexible during a peak recruiting time. Also, I would not be surprised if Alabama already does not have a silent agreement in place for the replacement DC.
As a side note... the coaching change/hiring process seems like it is getting earlier every year. This illustrates how important recruiting has become compared to years past.
Finally... the OP nailed the most likely scenario about what happened with USCe and Herman. One of the very reasons you "pre-qualify" candidates is to make sure they actually do sign on the dotted line when the time comes, and to prevent counter-offers. Basically, Houston just confirmed to Herman that over the last year, they were deliberately willing to pay him less than they truly thought he was worth. There is clearly nothing that changed about his job approach, qualifications, and performance that changed overnight when he got a contract extension and raise. So why would you remain employed for a company/employer that is pretty much stealing from you, when you have a chance to go to a company/employer who values you more?
Posted on 12/7/15 at 8:01 am to AUstar
Actually he will be in Athens for the next 10 days putting together his staff. He will then return to Bama to resume getting ready for the playoff. Not a big deal really since the dead period for recruiting starts in another week.
Posted on 12/7/15 at 8:02 am to Beantownbulldog
uga's coach or assistants won't be there until January! 
Thanks for the recruits we're about to flip.
Thanks for the recruits we're about to flip.
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