Prediction for the New Coach at Notre Dame

[davidpaul123]

After listening to the ND press conference, I think its going to be Gary Patterson. My original instinct was Brian Kelly.

I guess Im going to flip flop back to Brian Kelly since Patterson got a new deal.

[panhandle_pony]

Stoops to Irish
Patterson to Oklahoma
June Jones to TCU
Phil Bennett to SMU

[ponygrad90]

Jim Harbaugh will be Notre Dame's next coach

[motownmustang2002]

I highly doubt Stoops will go to ND. Here are some points from another fan board I follow that I thought were strong points. Will be interesting to see how it all shakes out:

"This Notre Dame coaching search is going to go exactly like the last three: everyone is going to get all hyped up about a wide variety of downright laughable names and they'll settle for someone not coaching at a power program. Unfortunately, the guy they "settle" for might be Brian Kelly—who ND Nation is hilariously opposed to—since there are exactly zero other major jobs opening up this year and Kelly has no buyout.

But, still, come on people:

Will Bob Stoops be Notre Dame's next head coach?

No. Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times, I will bet you any amount of money that he will not.

On Nov. 15, the Sun-Times first reported Stoops' interest in the job that will be vacated when Charlie Weis is fired after the Irish's regular-season finale today at Stanford.


The South Bend Tribune, citing a ''university source,'' reported Friday that Stoops is the first choice of ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick.

That goes for you, too, David Haugh of the Tribune. Stoops can be ND's first choice all they want. They won't get him. Is Notre Dame going to pay Weis's huge buyout and somehow raise Stoops's already enormous salary beyond Oklahoma's ability to match it? I mean, look at this contract Stoops just signed:

Football coach Bob Stoops had his contract extended through the 2015 season and will make $3.675 million this coming season. His new contract includes an annual raise of $250,000, a $700,000 stay bonus each July and an additional one-time $800,000 bonus in 2011. If Stoops remains through all seven years, he will make more than $4 million a year in the final five years of the contract and make nearly $5 million in the the 2011 season.

Stoops is second only to Pete Carroll in total compensation and has a six-year contract that makes him virtually impossible to fire. And is Stoops going to be more successful at Notre Dame than he is at a place he's already turned into a national power? You'd have to be a lunatic hung up on the idea that Notre Dame being good 20 years ago is somehow relevant.

Don't take it from me. Doctor Saturday's a neutral party here and his take on this rumor is witheringly factual:

Stoops, for the record, has no past connection to Notre Dame, has never described it as his "dream job" and has no apparent reason to leave the lucrative juggernaut he's built in Norman for a gig that's eventually swallowed up three straight coaches with winning records and January bowl games on their resumés.

By my count, Stoops has only publicly denied his interest in ND twice so far -- only eight or nine denials short of Urban Meyer's tally, meaning Stoops will remain in the mix for no good reason for at least another week before Cincinnati's Brian Kelly emerges as the clear frontrunner.

Stoops taking less money—not necessarily a cut, but you have to believe Oklahoma will have the wherewithal to match or better any ND offer—to move from a national power to a program that hasn't contended for a title in over 15 years would be, to say the least, unprecedented."

[EastStang]

I don't see Stoops going, either. I think Brian Kelly is the probably the front runner. But recruiting for Cincy (which has long had academic ambivalence) and for ND are two different beasts. Both sides are going to have to get comfortable with the concept of dealing with both the broader recruiting opportunities and the restrictions on those opportunities that the ND job entails. I don't see ND going after Harbaugh simply because that is the course they followed with Willingham and look where it got them, but he might be a second or third choice. If Florida wins the NC, again, Meyer (who is a ND guy) might be tempted to bolt (after all what more does he owe Florida at this point?). But that puts the search into mid-January (remember what we went through during the Jones search and multiply that by about a million) and a ND opening that late clearly would be a FL distraction. If I were ND, I would start out by saying that the search will not start in earnest until January because that takes the pressure off everyone who has big games coming up. I am glad SMU and Jones locked down an extension. That makes me a whole lot less nervous about this opening. I think Patterson extension, puts him out of play, too. He used ND to get what he needed out of TCU.

[gostangs]

Meyer aint leaving Florida for ND - that is a step down.

[The_RichAlum]

Houston Nutt is who they should go after......I doubt they will. I think he is one of the most underrated coaches around.

The longer their search takes, the more you can guarentee they wind up with someone very mediocre. I hope they get someone good though. ND is good for college football just like Texas A&M and Michigan are. (also floundering)

[Terry Webster]

I think the idea of Kelly carries the most weight. He hasn't denied it, but simply says that he won't talk about it until after the bowl season. Since UC should be going to a bcs game, that also puts him like Meyer..January at the earliest. That puts ND in an interesting situation. Can't say I feel sorry for them though.

[smupony94]

UNT has just announced that Todd Dodge and his entire coaching staff will be back for next season

[jtstang]

UNT has just announced that Todd Dodge and his entire coaching staff will be back for next season

And that the NTSU coaching offices will be moving to downtown Dallas.

[smupony94]

UNT has just announced that Todd Dodge and his entire coaching staff will be back for next season

And that the NTSU coaching offices will be moving to downtown Dallas.

welcome back

[ponyplayer]

[SMUfiji43]

Jim Harbaugh will be Notre Dame's next coach

Won't happen. Stanford is signing him to an extension.

[smupony94]

What about the Iowa coach?

[SMUfiji43]

Larry Coker...