However, I don't know that I avoid choosing Notre Dame here. You know the drill: Touchdown Jesus, "Play like a champion today," the occasional green jerseys, the gold helmets, the national championships, the seven Heisman winners, Knute Rockne, Rudy being offsides, etc. Notre Dame hasn't won a national championship since -- just more than 10, days ago , in fact -- but we're explicitly measuring history, and no one has it better than the Fighting Irish.
Be based in Louisiana: Now that I've spent some time breaking down the ideal coach, let's undermine it completely by reminding you recruiting matters more than coaching in college football. That's not to say coaching isn't important, but go back through the list of national champions from, say, the past decade and they all have have one thing in common: each program recruited at about a top level, if not a top-five one.
This begs the question: Where do we want to set up camp for our ideal college football program? Put another way: Where would Harbaugh want to have as many satellite camps as possible? I'm going away from the obvious and selecting Louisiana. It has an ideal ratio of blue-chip talent -- the class produced 21 four-and-five-star players, fifth-most in the U. Basically, Louisiana churns out a lot of talent per capita.
Furthermore, and unlike other talent-rich states such as Florida or Texas, Louisiana isn't supersaturated with other programs successfully swooping in and stealing recruits. LSU, the in-state institution, signed 14 top in-state prospects in , including nine of the top In , LSU hauled in 11 of the state's top 25 players. If you want to keep a high percentage of blue-chip talent in state, Louisiana is your best bet. As a bonus, it sits next to Texas and near Florida and Georgia, so poaching is still a possibility.
Play in Oregon's Autzen Stadium: Bigger isn't better when it comes to stadium size. Besides, you've seen the photos of half-empty stadiums minutes before kickoff, right? There aren't many looks worse than a 90,seat stadium at 60 percent capacity right before kickoff. Autzen was one of those best-kept secrets for many years when it came to college football atmospheres. That's changed significantly in the last decade or so.
That's due in part to the rise of the Ducks program coupled with more exposure from program's like College GameDay. Autzen routinely makes the list of loudest stadiums in college football, even with its modest 54,seat capacity.
In fact, its size is a big part of the appeal. Such contact is regulated the same as a traditional phone call under NCAA rules - once a week outside contact periods. Sessions' quarterback, Jason Smith, also visited with Saban via Skype this spring before eventually committing to Auburn. Face time with a head coach makes a difference with prospects like Scott.
While the NCAA banned contact via text messaging in football recruiting in , it does not limit the use of direct messaging on social media sites like Facebook, which it considers the same as an e-mail, as long as it isn't before Sept. Contact on the public message board areas of social media is prohibited. Sessions said he won't be surprised if those rules are tightened. I think eventually they'll catch up with it. The best programs are using Skype or using Facetime, using Facebook.
It depends on the coach. They're the ones who are going to have to hit the pillow at night and live with it and some of them are willing to do it. At the end of the day, I think they all respected each other. He's been like a father to me.
If you think I'm going to talk bad about him, you've lost your mind. That's not a practice that I think benefits you in the long run. Each prospect can take up to five, and programs use them as an opportunity to roll out the red carpet and bring the wow factor. The extravagance that is sometimes dished out to top prospects during these visits was exposed in an infamous recruiting diary posted by one-time blue-chipper Willie Williams in the Miami Herald.
Louis remains a must. Hiring a coach who will be at your schools for plus years is easier said than done, but if you do find one of these gems, who is both a good coach and loyal, your school will have a solid foundation for success.
The list below, while not exhaustive of all the coaches who have been at a program for over a decade, demonstrates some of the programs that have benefited from coaching stability. The Illini could simply be such a program because if Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern can find coaching stability, there is no reason the Illini cannot.
Again, this is easier said than done and keeping a good coach around requires luck and the administrative ability to build loyalty with a coach. Earlier, I mentioned the importance of being a flagship university in a state with lots of high school talent. But, public universities are not the only ones who succeed in CFB. Private schools or an academically elite public university in a talent rich metropolitan areas can also add a layer of stability to its program if it play its cards right.
The metropolitan areas that produce the most high school talent are Miami-Ft. When a local university in these areas connects with the local HS talent — in a way that makes the local university become an aspiration for local HS talent — then it can become a destination for elite HS talent. These are the schools that did it the old-fashioned way. They were not friends with the right people years ago. They were not born on third base. These schools rolled up their sleeves, used good old-fashioned work ethic, and built consistent football programs from scratch.
They scheduled tough. They played big programs without requiring return home games. They eventually ended up in a power conference, or in the case of Boise St. In addition, I have a theory that these programs have a built-in chip on their shoulder that leads to an element of institutional renegade which, in turn, creates a unique form of stability.
This institutional renegade mentality mirrors that of a company like Apple in the earlys when Steve Jobs had them pirating around Silicon Valley. The Illini, by being a founding member in the Big Ten, are precluded from this list. But keep in mind, being renegade is unbecoming of a member of the gentlemanly Big Ten. Think of Northwestern. With Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats were able to take on this moniker and actually become pretty good.
As evidenced by English Soccer , spending a ton of money without the correct systems can be a futile and frustrating exercise.
However, when big spending meets good systems and tactics, like Manchester City and Liverpool have demonstrated recently, good things can happen. College football is no different. Oklahoma State, with only T. Maryland has not found the right coach but when they do, they should look like the other two.
Schools on this list : Oklahoma State T. Can the Illini be on this list? Yes, they have vast alumni, numerous successful alumni, and some wealthy alumni who are willing to donate. They just need to find that right mix of die hard fan who is going to devote a large portion of their wealth and enterprise to Illini Athletics.
Yet, year in and year out, they are one of the most consistent programs. Basically, Wisconsin Football is vertically integrated from the high school level up. Everyone has their own ideas and own way of connecting with kids, but the common core principles must be modeled, taught, and applied by all coaches.
Successful staffs work well together, pulling the rope in the same direction. Unsuccessful staffs are dysfunctional, oppositional, and incongruent in their application of principles, techniques, and strategies. Some coaches will want to try and immediately hire a staff and get started.
Choosing the right staff is critical, so it might be wise to make sure you hire the right people even if it takes a little longer to find them.
On the other hand, starting the off-season conditioning program and off-season skill work and training can begin immediately. Developing the right off-season program is enormous as champions are made in the off-season. Setting up skill sessions or practices is also important as you want to see what kinds of abilities your new players possess; that is, where their strengths and weaknesses lie.
The frequency of these off-season programs is at the discretion of the coach. The point of diminishing returns should always be considered in scheduling off-season workouts; you want to work hard but also keep the players fresh and enthusiastic, not fatigued and bored.
Many other tasks need to be addressed after a coach is hired. Fundraising, youth programs in your feeder systems, parent booster groups, budgetary decisions, equipment inventory and needs, and many other administrative tasks need to be addressed. It can seem overwhelming at first especially for a first-time head coach or a coach who will be moving his family from another city or state for his new job.
Hopefully, the coach was hired in the winter or spring, or even early summer before the next season starts. In these cases, time exists to begin building the foundation of your program, and fulfilling all administrative tasks relating to your program. Working hard and budgeting time wisely, along with soliciting help from those people who are already part of your program can help get things done. All coaches define success in different ways.
However, it is important to focus on the work habits and principles that lead to winning games. In other words, focus on the process and the results take care of themselves. Creating quality work habits, using practice and conditioning time productively, and using meeting time wisely will help plant the seeds of success when the season rolls around.
Rather than focusing on the number of wins the first season, focusing on playing hard, practicing hard, having fun, and celebrating small victories can be building blocks to success. Maybe the first opponent of the season has shut out your program the previous four years and your first season, when you play them, you lose but score two touchdowns in the game.
That could be a building block and a success to celebrate with your team. It will take time and building on small successes can be important confidence boosters for a program. Building a program that excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community is paramount. Athletics is only one part of the whole high school experience. Students must focus on academics first because they will have to make a living some day after their playing days are over. Education and athletics are synonymous.
If a player lacks good work habits in the classroom, they will lack the same habits in football. Academics has to be priority one in any program. Fostering a positive relationship in the school community and the community in general is important, as well.
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