1) Tim Walsh: Not a big splash hire, but one hell of a good football coach. Has a good job at Cal Poly, but Idaho can offer him a nice raise. Idaho will be a ground and pound team which i think fits Idaho better with the type of talent we can bring in.

2) Jonathan Smith: Been at Idaho for 6 years(??). Knows what it takes to bring kids to Idaho. By all accounts did a hell of a job while at Idaho. Don't know if Spear and Smith had issues or Smith and Akey had the issues that ran him to Montana.

1. John L

2. Walsh/Baldwin/Ash/Bohl.

Rob Ash
Baldwin

IFmike wrote:

Rob Ash
Baldwin

This - in no particular order

Just say "no" to John L.

1, * Rob Ash - I think the playoffs keep him from being in Moscow with our players and that we just have to accept----but it concerns me that no presence immediately allows for too much wandering heads.  (gives 70% credence to FBS direction)

2.  Dan Hawkins or Houston Nutt or Pat Hill  --- experience, experience, experince.  And, they can be there on the day after the Utah State game. (100% definitely directed to a FBS committment)


* I have watched and read and talked to some who know Ash, Baldwin, Souers and Walsh.  All four are great candidates.  But Ash clicks a tad higher with his presence with athletes, boosters and fans.

joeyvee wrote: 1, * Rob Ash - I think the playoffs keep him from being in Moscow with our players and that we just have to accept----but it concerns me that no presence immediately allows for too much wandering heads.  (gives 70% credence to FBS direction)

2.  Dan Hawkins or Houston Nutt or Pat Hill  --- experience, experience, experince.  And, they can be there on the day after the Utah State game. (100% definitely directed to a FBS committment)


* I have watched and read and talked to some who know Ash, Baldwin, Souers and Walsh.  All four are great candidates.  But Ash clicks a tad higher with his presence with athletes, boosters and fans.

If I'm Hill I want to ride it out to see if I can coach in the Super Bowl.  If I want to coach in college again, there will be other opportunities.  Personally I hate that, but if I'm Hill, that's my thinking.

tjb48 --- You are absolutely right on Hill.  I was a wishing and a dreaming.

joeyvee wrote: tjb48 --- You are absolutely right on Hill.  I was a wishing and a dreaming.

If Hill said "I"m there for two seasons and then I'm gone" I'd ask "Can you start tomorrow?"

Locey from OSU or the guy from MSU...Someone with experience who can clean up this mess.

How come nobody has suggested Criner? All kidding aside i have heard from friends in Reno that Barry Sacks is under consideration. He is a long time asst at UNR and has the reputation of being the best recruiter on the UNR staff.

First post, but been reading a lot so I'm going to put most likely hire based on RS's list of HC experience and previous success (which eliminates some candidates). 

Hawkins/ Pflugrad/ Ash / Souers are four that have recruited/contacts in the NW, been successful HC's and two of the four could start immediately. So I'll go with Pflugrad and Hawkins as most likely since they could hit the ground running right away.

I like a lot of the other names suggested but I'm going with realistic and most probable.

Locey will not apply. Hawkins and Pflugrad not going to happen. Hill no way is it going to happen. J or L Smith nope. Ash,Tormey and Souers will get a close look.

Honestly, I don't know anymore. Seems like every FBS name thrown out is shot down by someone or has no HC experience. It also seems like any blue-chip FCS coach is not going to be available when we need him.

Having said that, I'd really like Baldwin, but I don't think that's going to happen.

If we are hiring a coach for the long term,not just a quick fix, why are we so caught up on a November or early December date? It seems to me if the best man for the job isn't available until late December and he's going to turn this program around for good we should take him. I hate to be negative, but next year is not going to be much better no matter who we hire. It's going to take a few years to turn the corner so the # 1 goal should be choosing the best man for the job not his avaliability date.

dryfly7 wrote: If we are hiring a coach for the long term,not just a quick fix, why are we so caught up on a November or early December date? It seems to me if the best man for the job isn't available until late December and he's going to turn this program around for good we should take him. I hate to be negative, but next year is not going to be much better no matter who we hire. It's going to take a few years to turn the corner so the # 1 goal should be choosing the best man for the job not his avaliability date.

I think the primary concern is player attrition and recruiting.  We're definitely between a rock and a hard place when it comes to timing.

I am not that concerned with player attrition.  Recruiting yes, players leaving, no.

I respectively disagree. The only place we are between a rock and hard space is getting the right man for the job. If that takes an extra 30 days so be it. Our history as a winning football program over the last 100 years, with the exception of the big sky years, is a dismal .350 winning percentage. This isn't a problem that just happened over night. It's not going to be fixed overnight. We need to think long term to correct this problem. If the best man is available...great. But I'm getting the sense that many feel the top priority we are looking for is when he can start work not what the long term vision is.

When the company I work for is looking for a senior position to be filled we are more concerned about the best person we can find. Not if they can start next week or next month.

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--- VandalPride97 wrote:

dryfly7 wrote: If we are hiring a coach for the long term,not just a quick fix, why are we so caught up on a November or early December date? It seems to me if the best man for the job isn't available until late December and he's going to turn this program around for good we should take him. I hate to be negative, but next year is not going to be much better no matter who we hire. It's going to take a few years to turn the corner so the # 1 goal should be choosing the best man for the job not his avaliability date.

I think the primary concern is player attrition and recruiting.  We're definitely between a rock and a hard place when it comes to timing.

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First time poster.

I agree with waiting for the right person.  This is a long term rebuild project with a lot of risk from a coaches perspective.  Idaho can ill afford making a knee jerk hire here unless Spear has his guy and it is a good fit.  I hope that is the case.

Needs:

 1. Commited to the program.
 2. West coast ties and a proven recruiter.
 3. Can assemble a quality coaching staff.  This isn't a one man job.
 4. HC experience is great, but attracting top coaching talent should be the primary
     objective.
 5. No retreads. Been down that road too many times. Idaho needs a new culture.

As coaches are fired it creates opportunity with quality assistants looking for jobs.  For my money Idaho has a better chance of landing a top level assistant with a good track record vs. landing an experienced HC with no baggage.

utegatorvandaldawg wrote: First time poster.

I agree with waiting for the right person.  This is a long term rebuild project with a lot of risk from a coaches perspective.  Idaho can ill afford making a knee jerk hire here unless Spear has his guy and it is a good fit.  I hope that is the case.

Needs:

 1. Commited to the program.
 2. West coast ties and a proven recruiter.
 3. Can assemble a quality coaching staff.  This isn't a one man job.
 4. HC experience is great, but attracting top coaching talent should be the primary
     objective.
 5. No retreads. Been down that road too many times. Idaho needs a new culture.

As coaches are fired it creates opportunity with quality assistants looking for jobs.  For my money Idaho has a better chance of landing a top level assistant with a good track record vs. landing an experienced HC with no baggage.

I would add to that offensive minded.  The game is offense based, particularly for schools at our level.

I am not 100% will you on this Loyal.  The coaching genes can ignite the fire in one's brain and you may be surprised who sees this as a challenge that has a tremendous upside.  Has anyone run down the where abouts of Houston Nutt?  I would not leave him out to approach and give us a sniff.

loyalvandal wrote: Locey will not apply. Hawkins and Pflugrad not going to happen. Hill no way is it going to happen. J or L Smith nope. Ash,Tormey and Souers will get a close look.