Rumor Mill

[baller]

Some eye-opening facts in regard to high school coaches who have gone to D1 football straight from high school.
1. There are only 6 HS coaches hired to coach a D! team in the past 50 years with Kjar being the 6th one.
2. The first five have a combined HS record of 789-102-3 a .883 winning percentage.
3. This same five have a combined record in D1 of 69-126-1 a .352 winning percentage.
4. The five names are:
a. Jerry Faust to Notre Dame who went 30-26, the only one of the five with more wins than losses. He then went to another D1 school and had a loosing record and quit after a few years.
b. Tony Sanchez went to UNLV and went 20-40 before being fired.
c. Kevin Kelley went to Presbyterian and went 2-9 and was fired at the end of first season.
d. tTent Dilfer went to UAB went 11-14 and was fired early in his third season.
e. Todd Dodge went to North Texas and went 6-37 and was fired in the middle of 4th season.
So there is the story of the past 50 years for HS coaches moving to D1. Like many of you I am hopeful that Eric Kjar will break the mold and find great success, but I am not holding my breath. I think that Crompton either is a total risk taker (which I doubt) or pretty bad at his job. His decisions so far bear out the chance that the latter is the case. The old idea that it takes one to know one seems applicable here. Can't really expect a sub-par AD to be able to pick top-notch coaches. I am very tired of watching sub-par teams and coaches in basketball and football. Am really hoping that I am wrong and Kjar turns out to be the exception to the rule.

 

[SWeberCat02]

I'm hopeful but very skeptical. Why should I have any trust in Crompton to make the right choice?

 

[GoCatsGo!!!]

Why do we give a high school coach a 4 year contract? I hope there’s an escape clause on the 3rd year. We need to see measurable improvement within 3 seasons. Obviously, Jay Hill only won 2 games the first couple seasons but the progress

Chex, check the 10 year record of Northeastern before Chiaverini got there. Never won more than a couple of games. Check Chiaverini record in his first year. He went 2-9 but was competitive in every game. Second year he went 9-3. He was a top recruiter when assistant at D1 power conference school. As far as how the committee works, I agree as to what its job is. I do know that in this case the committee was unanimous (other than Crompton) in support of hiring Chiaverini. He was their first choice.

Baller you never responded with who was on the board. Love your insight but would love to know more specifics you seem to know.

 

[Purple People Eater]

Chex, check the 10 year record of Northeastern before Chiaverini got there. Never won more than a couple of games. Check Chiaverini record in his first year. He went 2-9 but was competitive in every game. Second year he went 9-3. He was a top recruiter when assistant at D1 power conference school. As far as how the committee works, I agree as to what its job is. I do know that in this case the committee was unanimous (other than Crompton) in support of hiring Chiaverini. He was their first choice.

I know multiple people that held a spot on the board and I can 100% say that your statement is without any doubt false. I don't know where your getting your Intel from but they are a poor sorce.

 

[Chex]

Chex, check the 10 year record of Northeastern before Chiaverini got there. Never won more than a couple of games. Check Chiaverini record in his first year. He went 2-9 but was competitive in every game. Second year he went 9-3. He was a top recruiter when assistant at D1 power conference school. As far as how the committee works, I agree as to what its job is. I do know that in this case the committee was unanimous (other than Crompton) in support of hiring Chiaverini. He was their first choice.

Baller, I looked up his history and I guess I’m just not as impressed as you are. Yes, he has a lot of experience, but he jumps around a lot. His Power Conference team he was at was Colorado when they sucked before Deon arrived…so not assured he would be a good recruiter. Getting a 9-3 in second year given that program’s history is impressive, but it’s also subject to being a fluke. I think one good year at D2 is equally as risky as picking a record-setting high school coach.

We need energy and local recruiting and involvement, and I think Kjar is best for that. Honestly, I would probably have gone with Ganther second and probably given Chiverani ahead of Baldwin…but not by much.

Just my opinion. Not bagging on you. Don’t know the interview details…maybe Chiverani presented a good plan.

I just have issues if things are as you claim. If Myers was passed over for Mental against a panel, I would have had issues…obviously hindsight is 20/20 but Myers experience at Weber State was more deserving than Mental’s D2.

If the whole panel wanted Chiverani, and Crompton overrode them, that’s bold. I guess that is AD’s ultimate call…but yes, basketball and football have been decimated under his watch and any promotions and marketing. Maybe he is making that move because his career is riding on it.

After seeing and learning more about Kjar, the more I think it’s a good choice. When Mental was chosen, the more I saw of him in interviews, the more concerned I got. I guess time will tell. Let’s hope it pans out. Have a good Holiday Season!

 

[baller]

Obviously I was told that Chiaverini was the first choice until Friday afternoon (after interviews that afternoon with Baldwin and Kjar) when Crompton told the committee that he was going to sleep on the final decision. PPE you seem to know two sources on the board, one more than I do, so maybe your understanding is more accurate than what I was told. But again, I understood that the ranking of the candidates by the committee as a whole, even unanimously, was first Chiaverini, and followed by Baldwin and Kjar. All three seem to have had excellent interviews. Chiaverini is regarded as an excellent recruiter, doing it well at JC and at Div. 2 as a head coach and was even highly regarded as a recruiter when at Colorado. Again, no HS coach has ever found success when jumping from HS directly to Division One. Weber is bucking the trend here, but I hope this hire breaks that trend. The odds are against it happening! Should have taken the less risky path in my opinion. This should put Crompton on alert that his job is on the line.

 

[baller]

HEAD COACH
Why do HS coaches succeed as college assistants and fail as head coaches? The key distinction that AD's seem to miss. HS coaches bring excellent teaching skills and culture into a narrow role as a college assistant. They have learned such things as staff politics, compliance realities, scholarship math and recruiting calendars. Their HS experience feeds well into what an assistant has to do. The job as an assistant is graduate level training and a necessary step in their developing the skills needed as a head coach. But they fail as head Coaches because there are two many jobs to be done as a head coach. Multiple roles required as the CEO, i.e., chief recruiter, NIL strategist, handling media. There is usually no apprenticeship phase, no margin for error. Boosters expect quick wins even is the job is a rebuilding job. the NIL situation makes meeting Boosters demands even more difficult.

In what case should an AD hire a HS coach as head? If an AD runs a low pressure program where quick wins is not necessary. If the AD has a long-term contract and his job is stable. When all coordinators are already hired and the recruiting staff is already built. If any of this is not the case the AD should not hire a HS coach as his head coach.

Hiring a HS coach to a university head-coaching job is one of the highest-risk moves in college football. Not because HS coaches aren't great, but because the college HC job is fundamentally a different position than HS head coach. if Eric jar succeeds at Weber State he will be the first exception proving that structure beats pedigree. If Kjar is successful he will become a case-study that Ad's will study for the next 20 years. If Kjar fails, the book is closed!

HIGH SCHOOL DOMINANCE PREDICTS TEACHING ABILITY-NOT COLLEGE HEAD COACHING SUCCESS!!!!