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I'm going with my son on this one. Johnson has built a good program - built Navy into a winner - under much more difficult academic and recruiting circumstances than SMU faces. Whether he would consider SMU is another question. However, from reading this board he seems to fit several important requirements ...
*He is a head coach with plenty of HC experience - Div I AA (Natl Champ)and Div I
*He wins
*He wins the right way
*He knows how to deal with strict academic requirements
*He has coached teams to league championshisp and to bowls
*His program has gotten better, the longer he stays (he inherited nothing) "The Mids also became just the sixth team in NCAA history to go from a winless season to a bowl game in two years or less. " "Johnson took over a program that was coming off the worst two-year span in its 123-year history (1-20) and had recorded just two winning seasons the last-20 years. "

http://navysports.cstv.com/sports/m-foo ... aul00.html

I am all for it. But is SMU a step-down from Navy? Again, money talks....

Johnson makes 1.5 million a year and has a contract that runs through 2009. Don't expect him to show up at SMU next year. Look for Terry Bowden.

smudad wrote:I'm going with my son on this one. Johnson has built a good program - built Navy into a winner - under much more difficult academic and recruiting circumstances than SMU faces. Whether he would consider SMU is another question. However, from reading this board he seems to fit several important requirements ...
*He is a head coach with plenty of HC experience - Div I AA (Natl Champ)and Div I
*He wins
*He wins the right way
*He knows how to deal with strict academic requirements
*He has coached teams to league championshisp and to bowls
*His program has gotten better, the longer he stays (he inherited nothing) "The Mids also became just the sixth team in NCAA history to go from a winless season to a bowl game in two years or less. " "Johnson took over a program that was coming off the worst two-year span in its 123-year history (1-20) and had recorded just two winning seasons the last-20 years. "

http://navysports.cstv.com/sports/m-foo ... aul00.html

If I was AD I'd go after him. We'd be lucky to get him. Navy is one of the best jobs in the country.

I think the answer to whether he would move is found in two areas...
*Could he ultimately make more a SMU
*Could he ultimately gain or win more at SMU - what is the highest possiblt dream position for a coach at SMU vrs Navy.

It's probably a close call in both cases. But, the potential for SMU to become a Rugers, South Florida, even Miami, et al is greater than that of Navy. And the answer to the salary is, of course, if SMU wants to pay him more, they can.

Paul Johnson or Terry Bowden..... Either one of them would put together Great Coaching Staffs. Coach Bowden would be awesome at recruiting for sure. I think people who follow this program would be shocked at how well Coach Bowden would recruit and I think he would not only recruit Texas pretty good but would also recruit fairly well nationally.....Paul Johnson is just a great football coach and has been successful everywhere he has been. Both of these guys are great managers and just flat Winners.

westexSMU wrote:Paul Johnson or Terry Bowden..... Either one of them would put together Great Coaching Staffs. Coach Bowden would be awesome at recruiting for sure. I think people who follow this program would be shocked at how well Coach Bowden would recruit and I think he would not only recruit Texas pretty good but would also recruit fairly well nationally.....Paul Johnson is just a great football coach and has been successful everywhere he has been. Both of these guys are great managers and just flat Winners.

Man, you sum it up great. I would be happy as the proverbial clam if we got either one of these guys. I still have an impending feeling of doom that SMU might still try this on the cheap (again) and go for some unproven coordinator.

Darth Mustang wrote:I still have an impending feeling of doom that SMU might still try this on the cheap (again) and go for some unproven coordinator.

We won't go cheap. We pay our basketball coach more than our football coach makes and this ain't Duke. Expect Orsini to pay real football money and go Top 25 on the salary.

Darth Mustang wrote:I still have an impending feeling of doom that SMU might still try this on the cheap (again) and go for some unproven coordinator.

I do not think so. This time it is Orsini's job on the line not Bennett's.

mrydel wrote: This time it is Orsini's job on the line.

Hardly.

Bergermeister wrote:

mrydel wrote: This time it is Orsini's job on the line.

Hardly.

So, you think if Orisini hires a weak coach and we go another 5 or 6 years without a winning season that he would have no responsibility. I wish I could have that type of job.

In order to get a top coach we're going to have to pay bonus dollars. Given the 20 years of ineptitude, a lot of coaches are going to be very leary of coming to SMU. And we don't want a guy to come to finish off his career here.

I'm going to call these Paul Johnson fans-the lunatic fringe of SMU Football. We don't need another X and Os mastermind who can really motivate the boys. We ain't in high school any more. We do't need the wishbone. Paul Johnson does not recruit players-he signs 4 times the number that real college teams do and weeds out the football players. SMU can not do that. This has D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R written all over it. He has no Texas ties. This makes absolutely ZERO sense.

I've heard that the service academies are great coaching gigs because you're hobnobbing with high ranking government officials. At least that's what we heard when Houston's AD (Chet Gladchuck) left to become Navy's AD. I read somewhere that Nebraska may be interested in Paul Johnson.

tristatecoog wrote:I've heard that the service academies are great coaching gigs because you're hobnobbing with high ranking government officials. At least that's what we heard when Houston's AD (Chet Gladchuck) left to become Navy's AD. I read somewhere that Nebraska may be interested in Paul Johnson.

Osborne may want to bring Turner Gill back, but his is still early in his head coaching career at Buffalo, while making solid progress there.

Paul Johnson to Nebraska makes sense from two perspectives. One, Osborne loves hardnosed, option type FB and Johnson is among the best at it. Second, this job is one that would make it easy for Johnson to accept, i.e. a real step up to the Top Tier of coaching jobs. Anything much less and I would see him staying in Annapolis.