While listening to ESPNU on the drive to work, Kannell and McElroy were not gushing in their praise of a Gus hire however they thought it was smart that UCF and it's winning culture went with someone they consider a winner rather than an unknown. Flat out said that while nothing is guaranteed, that Gus is a home run hire. Here is what was interesting: They put it in a perspective of 3 years out, hinted at needing a coach to bridge UCF from G5 to P5 conference. Found it interesting that the perception about UCF as the next TCU deserving to move up is taking hold, almost inevitable when the super conferences form in 3 years. They also predicted the UCF fan base would get cocky about hiring an SEC coach to lead UCF to further greatness (if only they had seen the Dungeon last night!!)
Got me to thinking that this hire by TMo is looking ahead as well as looking back. The proven HC comments are definitely looking at recent past to break a trend. While Frost caught lightening in a bottle in 2017, no one can say he has panned out as a HC. Heupel was on a downward trend, once you get past last night's emotion and all the bro hugs for Lebby, it's not hard to see why TMo wants better odds at success than gambling that another OC would finally break the trend and become a successful head coach. The hire of a proven commodity is the anti-Huepel/FSF hire.
Think of other P5 coaches we discussed in the search that were also OC or DC, nearly all we discussed have worse credentials and records.
Given that and all the discussion about Napier's huge buyout, TMo has landed the best available proven head coach. Now we need to see if Gus has the same desire as Mack Brown and Hugh Freeze to redeem himself at a school that affords him a chance to win big without the stress of the SEC West and the batshit crazy boosters at Auburn.
Got me to thinking that this hire by TMo is looking ahead as well as looking back. The proven HC comments are definitely looking at recent past to break a trend. While Frost caught lightening in a bottle in 2017, no one can say he has panned out as a HC. Heupel was on a downward trend, once you get past last night's emotion and all the bro hugs for Lebby, it's not hard to see why TMo wants better odds at success than gambling that another OC would finally break the trend and become a successful head coach. The hire of a proven commodity is the anti-Huepel/FSF hire.
Think of other P5 coaches we discussed in the search that were also OC or DC, nearly all we discussed have worse credentials and records.
Given that and all the discussion about Napier's huge buyout, TMo has landed the best available proven head coach. Now we need to see if Gus has the same desire as Mack Brown and Hugh Freeze to redeem himself at a school that affords him a chance to win big without the stress of the SEC West and the batshit crazy boosters at Auburn.
