The rumors are out there

[BleedingRed+Blue]

Wasn't Vanderlinden supposed to be a good coach when was hired at Maryland?

[jettison]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PonyTales:
<B>Does the name Bruce Snyder do anything for anyone? Just announced he's getting canned at the end of the season. Can we afford him? Can we get him? Does he have anything left in the tank that might make us think he can come in and do a good job here? Can he recruit in Texas?</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Speaking as a Sun Devil alum, posting as a ponyfan, I wouldn't necessarily recommend going after Bruce Snyder. Don't get me wrong, experiencing the 1996 upset of Nebraska and watching a national championship barely slip away 20-17 in the Rose Bowl to Ohio State was awesome... but there was much more magic in that season that a coach alone could be held responsible for.

One thing Snyder seems high on is recruiting junior college transfers, which leads to an occasional good season here and there, smothered by a high number of mediocre seasons. And the graduation rates therefore suffer. Plus, he is definitely a west coast guy - coached at Cal, ASU and somewhere in Utah I think. Although I've seen many top area players, particularly defensive backs, go to Tempe over the past 5-6 years, I wouldn't say he has a lot of Texas ties.

By the way, I'm by no means an opponent of Cavan or an advocate for his firing. In fact, I liked the point earlier about Beamer being 2-9 after 6 seasons at Virginia Tech. I think the Mustangs have endured a number of disruptions and distractions the past couple years and I'm a fan of affording them some consistency and balance to allow them to perform like we know they all can.

But, my opinion of Snyder is not very high - although I love the offense they run and the big Tight End role (of course)- but i think he looks more like a Geography professor that seems stumped about why there are so many alluvial fans in Arizona.

[Red+BlueDude]

Today's Washington Post reported that Maryland already had contacted Terry Bowden and Bobby Ross, each of whom said "thanks but no thanks."

But the Terps already have identified their top three choices: Virginia Tech assistant head coach Billy Hite, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mike Stoops and Florida State wide receivers coach Jeff BOWDEN.

The next tier of candidates includes Western Michigan coach Gary Darnell and Toledo coach Gary Pinkel -- but they're fall-backs.

If and when we get rid of Cavan, I think we should go after Jeff Bowden because (A) he's the only one in that family we probably could afford and (B) he could recruit based on his last name alone.

[FWMustang]

I keep hearing the name of the Virginia Tech OC as a possible candidate, but I have not heard his name mentioned anywhere with any other school other than when this guy brings it up. Does anybody know anything about him or if he is just reaping the benefits of Michael Vick?

I really think that Cavan's got to go. If I thought that the recruiting restrictions were by far an away the main cause for our lack of success, then I would say give him some more time. But we have (and have had) people who are capable of getting things done better than what is going on now and I think that falls squarely on the coaching staff.

What this school needs is a coach that blows onto the Hilltop and grabs SMU by the balls (sorry, ladies) and says, "This is what we're gonna do," and then does it. Somebody that gets the kids excited. I'm not sure Cavan did that when he first got here. He needs to be able to convince these kids that they can do whatever he says they can do, things that they wouldn't think they could accomplish in a million years (see South Carolina & Lou Holtz.)

If the kids are excited and having fun, the fans will see it and then that will bring more people to the games every week, because you never know what might happen. Right now the question is whether we'll get beat by 15 or 30 points.

[PK]

Sorry guys, the DMN is reporting that Copeland is letting Cavan stay another year.
I only hope that it was a good decision on Copeland's part. If not...then let the chads fall where they will.

[This message has been edited by PK (edited 11-22-2000).]

[ponytalk]

PK, you beat me to it, but this topic is now dead, there are no more rumors. Close out this thread.