re: Coaching Search

Here is what we know:

-Jang is against Freeze. Auburn is bigger than one man and Freeze’s ratio of big wins, instant impact potential, and baggage is disproportionate and weathering Freeze is unnecessary.

-According to FootballScoop we only offered Lane 9 million and Ole Miss was able to match salary while adding more years than we offered through state law circumvention of 4 year maximum contracts. Earliest reports by the highly esteemed FatTom22 were we were offering 10-12 million.

-We had a Mississippi State reporter leak the deal which pissed Kiffin off. We also had an Auburn Twitter fan Kyle@AllAuburn spoof Ole Miss NIL page saying Kiffin was staying. I’m sure Kiffin didn’t like all the phone calls

- Coach Prime is lurking, available, and still winning. Early on we were told influentials at Auburn didn’t buy the hype but maybe there was enough time for a change of heart.

+ Cohen was once blown away by a Joe Judge interview and was apparently blown away by Brian Johnson interview.
- Brian Johnson-Record setting QB at Utah. Played as a college QB at the age of 16!
- Youngest ever OC at the FBS level at 24.
- QB Whisperer- Hurts, Trask, Feliepe, Dak
-Great recruiter
- Adam Shefter said he will be a NFL HC as early as next year.
- Also coached at Mississippi State, Houston, Utah


- Fickell, Kiffin, Freeze, and Lanning are all on losing streaks.

-December 1st is an important date for having new hires meet with the current team before the current team goes off to the break for tampering (transfer portal purposes.)

-December 5th is an important Transfer Portal date- that’s when the portal opens up… This is an ultra important critical date to have a HC.

+ Dabo, Day, and Fickell seemed to reach out to Auburn for agent leveraging purposes.
- Dabo and Day didn’t seem to have sincere interest in our vacancy.

- Fickell may have had some interest . A Fickell note- Cincinnati had 9 draft picks last year. He also had some recruiting success recruiting Florida for Ohio State.

An updated Hot board has Freeze v the field.
- Possibly Fickell is still in play
- Possibly Lanning (do not want.)
- Possibly Brian Johnson
- it could be anybody, JGT said around 10-15 interviewed in some capacity.


What did I miss and where did I frick up?

Read how impressionable Cohen is:

LINK

He wants someone to blow him away.

quote:

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Meanwhile, another suitor for Judge emerged. Mississippi State fired head coach Joe Moorhead on Jan. 3. The possibility of returning to his alma mater — his wife, Amber, is also an alum — was appealing to Judge.

“You could have named X amount of other college jobs that I wouldn’t have had any interest in,” Judge said. “But this one was just different because there is a personal connection and it’s a place that is very much home to us.”

The attraction was mutual. Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen met Judge when they sat at the same table during a Hall of Fame banquet in Starkville, Miss., in 2017. Cohen was instantly impressed.

“When you meet somebody, you’re looking for somebody that has an edge to them, but at the same time has great communication skills, somebody who is charismatic, somebody who has all those leadership qualities,” Cohen said. “Really quickly, that jumped out.”

Cohen immediately started researching Judge and, like Mara, became more intrigued when he learned of the young coach’s background. When the third-seeded Patriots were upset by the Titans in the wild-card round, Cohen didn’t waste any time.

“My phone rang when I got out of the stadium and got in my car leaving the game on Saturday night after we lost to the Titans,” Judge said. “I had gotten a phone call from my agent. He just said, ‘Simply put, (Mississippi State) wants to interview you ASAP.’”

Judge informed Belichick of Mississippi State’s interest the next morning, Sunday Jan. 5. By that night, Cohen and a delegation from Mississippi State were sitting with Judge in the conference room of a hotel near T.F. Green Airport in Providence. The interview reinforced the feelings Cohen had from his first meeting with Judge years earlier.

“Just very organized, very to the point, speaks in a very educated manner, but in a simplistic manner — very good communication skills,” Cohen said. “The thing about him is he’s a guy who’s never run his own ship before, but it was really apparent that it wasn’t going to take him long to be able to figure it out.”

Cohen stepped away late in the interview to take a call from Belichick, who provided a glowing recommendation.

“What really blew my mind was how many different responsibilities he had within the framework of the New England Patriots,” Cohen said of Judge, who served as special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2019. “(Belichick’s) belief in Joe was obvious. He really described a unique skill set that he perceived.”

Judge told Cohen he wouldn’t make any decisions until meeting with the Giants the next day. Based on how impressive Judge was in their interview, Cohen knew he’d likely have to continue his coaching search.

“After sitting down with him for two hours, I just said, ‘How are the Giants not going to hire this guy?’” Cohen said.

But Cohen didn’t concede. Mississippi State worked with Judge’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, on a contract.

“Basically, what they told me was, ‘We’re going to make it so you don’t want to take that interview,’” Judge said.

As Mississippi State tried to close the deal, Judge boarded a train the next morning,

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…….

quote:

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But hiring Judge wasn’t a done deal. Mississippi State applied the full court press after the Giants interview.

“I had a thousand calls that night from every former teammate of mine, every former coach that coached me at Mississippi State and every powerful alum down there,” Judge said. “There were a lot of people that were very persuasive.”

Judge turned his phone off, had a long conversation with Amber and then went to sleep. The next morning, Judge woke up and drove to work in Foxboro. He planned to speak to Belichick about his options, but before he reached the office, he received a call from Mara offering the job.

“I knew he had an offer to go to Mississippi State so there was a little bit of time pressure because he couldn’t leave them hanging forever out there,” Mara said.

The offer was contingent upon approval from co-owner Steve Tisch, who flew into Providence that morning. Tisch met with Judge and Amber in a boardroom in a hangar at T.F. Green.

“Steve felt the same way when he met him,” Mara said. “So we had a conviction about him.”

With the offer finalized, Judge accepted without hesitation. He then informed Cohen of the decision. Cohen got the call just after he arrived in Key West, Fla., to meet with Mike Leach, who Mississippi State hired two days later.

“If one of our alums is successful, that makes all of us happy, so we were just thrilled for (Judge),” Cohen said. “In my opinion, the Giants got it right with their head football coach. I’m going to be shocked if that guy doesn’t win a Super Bowl.”

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Note: Judge flamed out in New York. Many small fish types do there.

quote:

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He wants someone to blow him

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My impression is Cohen is an idiot that spends his days speaking of 53-point plans and trying desperately to get people to believe he is smart.

Ok. Just make sure you read the article it has information on our AD.
Cohen is a baseball coach. He is probably a creature of habit and repetition

What’s Eating Raul this evening

Maybe.

Me too, Hail. Having a hard time being positive and I felt so differently since the ARK game.

I wouldn't be mad at a coach if he came to auburn did really well for a few years and jumped to the NFL. It would give some of the up and comers time to prove themselves and we wouldn't have to pay another coach a billion dollars to go away.

quote:

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He corrected the Moorhead hire, quickly, while Moorhead still had a winning record. That’s impressive. If not for the Giants, Leach would’ve never landed at State.

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Blowing away Cohen at an interview isn't exactly something to hang your hat on. Moorehead was an awful fit for MSU, just like Fickell would be at Auburn. Now they've got Leach, who I like, but let's face it, he's at the very end of his career. So forgive me if I don't start get excited about coaches who "wowed" Cohen during an interview.