The House of Blue

Yes... It won't happen though, we aren't willing to pay that much...

Smart is one coach I would be happy with, but I think my preference if we don't go after a huge name is Peterson. Personally though, I think I would prefer we first go after a Big time proven HC, but I'm doubtful Mitch will go hire anyone that makes me happy.

Many of us on here have argued about Barnhart many a times. How he handles this next hire will tell us once and for all how capable of an AD he is. If he botches this hire and brings in any one but a home run hitter, he is a failure and should be fired himself. The line is being drawn in the sand. I hope I'm admitting that I'm wrong about Barnhart in the next 4-5 months, but I am very doubtful.

Honestly I have know idea. He's really in a tough position right now. You would think he doesn't have much choice? But you never know?

Catmando, I really don't think you'll have to wait 4 or 5 months? Some shake-ups could happen very soon imo.

Because you know what Kirby's biggest dream is, coaching a bottom teir SEC program. Smart will get offers from UT, Auburn, and Arky. all greater than UK. And he is a career assistant, which is against what some fans have demanded, HC experience.

I think Smart will get a call. Will he come to UK, who knows. I do know that all the MITCH haters blast him because of Joker. He made the right call hiring Joker. You guys can blast me all you want about that but its true.

When is the last time that UK was able to hire an awesome assistant from a top notch school? And I don't think the problem is that we aren't offering.

I say no coordinators. Much more responsibilities for a head coach, I want to see how my next coach has performed in the past in a similar role.

Granted we are not going to pull a successful head coach from any BCS schools so I would try to identify smaller school head coaches who have demonstrated some level of proficiency in that role.

Just like Bill Curry or Mumme. Listen, Saban's assistants are a different breed than just your normal coordinator at a different school. Saban prepares them to be head coaches, period. This is a solid hire right now. However, I can see that he would wait for the Arkansas job instead.

Guys,
While I think there is a good chance that Kirby Smart will make an excellent head coach, that is not the route we need to go. Currently, he looks great because he is coaching exceptional talent and doing well with it. Kentucky cannot risk that he wouldn't be able to duplicate that success at UK. We need to hire someone with head coaching experience. Not all great assistants make great head coaches. Sometimes it is hard to determine which ones will be successful in the transition to the role of boss.

The qualities that I would look for in the next head coach are as follows:
1) Head coaching experience.
2) Someone that "built" a program at least once.
3) Someone very detail oriented and disciplined.
4) Someone with a strong, aggressive offensive identity.
5) Someone that has overacheived at previous stops.
6) Someone with strong recruiting ties, preferably in the South

To review why I think these are important
1) Kentucky needs a coach that has run a program of his own and demonstated that he can handle the task. We cannot risk anymore on the job training. Kirby Smart, Bud Foster, Chad Morris all may be great head coaches someday, but none of them have demonstrated they have what it takes to run a program.

2) Just having been a successful head coach doesn't automatically make someone a good candidate for the Kentucky job. Many good coaches could be successful at Alabama or Florida or Texas. Kentucky doesn't need a good coach, we need a great one. Find the guy that was successful at a place that had previously been a loser or at least has shown the ability to turn a program around at one or more different stops.

3) We need a coach that obsesses over the details. It's the little things that make a big difference and at Kentucky, there are many little things that need to be addressed. We need a coach that has a plan and knows how to execute that plan.

4) While it takes a great defense to win championships, a great offense can generally get things going quicker. Not only will it be important for Kentucky to find a quality coach, but it will also be important to bring fans back to the stadium. Offense sells tickets. This does not mean to go get an offense only coach, we've tried that with Mumme. I just think it needs to be a coach with a strong offensive identity for fans to rally around.

5) This cannot be stressed enough and may be the most important quality of all. Kentucky needs a coach that has demonstrated he can do more with less. It doesn't matter who we hire as coach, it is not likely that we'll immediately jump to the front of the talent pool in the SEC. Best case scenario is to work our way up to the middle of the pack. That would probably be Top 20 in recruiting. So, if we are not going to be the most talented, we need a coach that can do more with less. Think Urban Meyer prior to Florida. Very, very important quality. I think this rules out a lot of the "name" coaches. If this had been a key criteria in past searches, Bill Curry would not have been hired. I do not want any coach that has been run out of another job due to lack of performance. The only exception to this may be a former NFL head coach as success/failure at that level is often dictated by the roster and that is often not within the coaches control.

6) Someone with strong recruiting ties to any talent rich area is critical. Particularly if those ties are to the South where more quality players are located and where the majority of our games will be played. Even if the coach can do more with less, his job becomes easier with better talent. At the end of the day, how successful we become will depend on how much talent can be added to the roster.

With the qualities I mentioned above in mind, I will list a few coaches to consider. This by no means is a complete list. Please feel free to suggest names to add.

- Bobby Petrino - like him or not, the guy wins everywhere he goes.
- Mike Leach - went to bowl games every year at Texas Tech
- Chris Peterson - talk about doing more with less. Would be tough to get out of Boise, but worth a call at least.
- Willie Taggart - would prefer someone with a little more experience, but what he has done at WKU is impressive.
- Dana Holgerson - may want a shot at the SEC.

- Josh McDaniels - former NFL head coach and current Patriots OC. From Ohio.

footballcat65,
You may be right about Smart, but I am uncomfortable hiring ANY assistant coach with no head coaching experience. Smart could be the perfect hire, but I would feel much better about him if he had a couple of years experience at a middle tier school without Alabama talent. Sure he lost a lot last year and they didn't miss a beat. I just don't know if that's because of Smart, Saban or the fact that their backups are still better than most teams starters. As much as I don't like the guy personally, Petrino is the only coach not named Saban or Meyer that I feel 100% confident that he could step in at UK and have us competing for an SEC East title within 3 years.

I was following along to your nice post until you posted those first two....

Young hot coordinators haven't worked out well in the sec recently. Mitch had his work cut out for him.