Hiring the right coach - "leadership and fit"

[Cheesesteak]

Plenty of intelligent and worthless comments about who SMU should hire (head coach and/or assistants) have been posted on this board over the years.

Here is what one professional looks for:

Article Published: Friday, December 26, 2003

john henderson
Time for Huskers to ask for help
By John Henderson
Denver Post Sports Writer

Nebraska's football team woke up Thursday and didn't find what it wanted under its Christmas tree: a football coach. Cincinnati found one. So did Texas-El Paso. So has Mississippi State. So has Arizona.

Considering he's punting Nebraska's recruiting season, Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson is obviously being extra careful in finding the right replacement. Either that or he needs a little help.

Here's our gift to Pederson: Call Chuck Neinas. The former commissioner of the old Big Eight Conference and College Football Association has become an athletic department fixer.

Since the CFA folded in 1997, Neinas has been in Boulder helping schools find football coaches. He hasn't just helped find stopgaps. Neinas has helped find saviors.

As a consultant with the American Football Coaches Association who researches and provides background material, Neinas helped Oklahoma hire Bob Stoops. Neinas led Georgia to Mark Richt, Utah to Urban Meyer, Texas to Mack Brown. (OK, maybe Neinas won't win any elections in Austin, Texas.)

Still, it's clear the right coach, the perfect decision, can change the fortunes of an athletic department almost immediately. Look at what is essentially the national championship's final four.

Besides Stoops, who took over at Oklahoma in 1999 and won the national title the next year, Southern California hired Pete Carroll two years ago and is playing for one half of the crown. Louisiana State brought in Nick Saban four years ago and has the Tigers on the doorstep of their first national title since 1958.

Neinas says he tells schools to look for two major factors: leadership and fit.

"You don't do it strictly by interview,' Neinas said. "You do it by background. Check with people who they know, who they worked with in the past, even those they coached against.'

Take Stoops. Neinas talked to then-Florida coach Steve Spurrier about his defensive coordinator. Spurrier told Neinas that Stoops had total control of Florida's defense. While that's not all that rare among coordinators, Florida's defensive prowess was.

"Steve Spurrier told me, 'Bob Stoops is as good a coach as I am except he coaches defense and I coach offense,'' Neinas said. "'The two big differences between Bob Stoops and myself is, No. 1, I make a lot more money and, No. 2, I'm a lot better golfer.''

Neinas learned the same thing about Richt, who left Bobby Bowden's stable at Florida State three years ago and has had his Georgia team playing for the SEC title the past two years. Neinas learned Richt called plays at Florida State for eight years and coached and developed Heisman Trophy winners in Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke.

Football people told Neinas that Richt was one of the best quarterback coaches in the country.

"He was a great fit for Georgia,' Neinas said. "Bob Stoops was a great fit. He's from the Midwest, played at Iowa, coached under (Kansas State's) Bill Snyder, had further schooling with Spurrier.

"Richt wasn't far removed from Tallahassee. It's very obvious they could become head coaches in major programs.'

Neinas recently recommended Bobby Ross to Army. Yeah, Ross is 66, but he is a graduate from Virginia Military Institute, coached at The Citadel, had one son at Navy and another at Air Force and was a first lieutenant in the Army.

While Ross may have been an obvious choice, some high-profile programs are reluctant to roll the dice with an assistant. For every Stoops and Richt, there is a Tom Holmoe at California, a Kevin Steele at Baylor and, well, a Frank Solich at Nebraska, coaches who got promoted, then fired.

"I think one of the things that happens is that most of the searches I do, schools say, 'We would like to have a sitting I-A coach,'' Neinas said. "Sometimes you have to look beyond that. Stoops and Richt are prime examples. Everybody was an assistant at one point.'

What impresses Neinas about assistants is their preparation. Stoops told him Snyder taught him that no detail is too small.

Les Miles gave Neinas the same impression before he took over at Oklahoma State three years ago. The Cowboys' 9-3 record this season was their best in 15 years.

"I never saw a man more prepared for a head position in terms of organization and in terms of having what he wanted,' Neinas said. "He had such detailed preparation. He came and said: 'Here's what we'll do with academic support. Here's what I'll do with student life. Here's what I would plan to do in the spring.' '

And, no, Pederson hasn't called him. Neinas admits he doesn't have a clue what's happening at Nebraska. Some in the game think Bo Pelini, the defensive coordinator handed the interim job, could be a potential Stoops.

Pederson is making sure. He doesn't want to be left with a lump of coal.

[Pony Fan]

Neinas helped Copeland with Bennett

[Dooby]

Originally posted by Pony Fan:
Neinas helped Copeland with Bennett

Awwww. See, you could of held on to that little nugget of information and let a few ignorant people embarass themselves.

[Dement-ed]

So who's going to call this Nienas guy and ask about assistant coaches?