Featured The Coaching Search Thread; Stricklin "handling" it

[AuggieDosta]

As long as he continues to win. I’m sure he’ll get better players at Florida than he did at Mizzou.

Plus he already knows all of the hs kids. So we'll get to recruit those stud 3 stars.

 

[soflagator]

Bama will take Lanning, the guy who could beat Deboar when Deboar was at Washington. If they dont take Lanning they will take Kiffin.

Alabama isnt taking a great grandpa as a coach.

Pretty sure DeBoer beat Lanning both times they played in ‘23. Could be wrong.

But on Alabama, serious question: at this point how much better of a job is it than a place like UF? It’s not the most talent rich state and technically shares with a little brother. They don’t have the booster/NIL money of some of their biggest rivals. Once paying became legal, what do they have that puts them in the upper echelons? They have history—with a legend head coach who’s no longer there—that is drifting further and further into the rear view mirror. Teams like uga and Texas are putting more and more better players into the NFL. And all is with a fanbase that’s completely insane. Not saying today or tomorrow necessarily, but in the new landscape of college football, without any well defined built in advantages, where does that job even rank oh the SEC. I’d put it at 5th.

 

[Ancient Reptile]

Interesting. Hiring Cig would need to be a package deal.

Maybe Shanahan is who we want.

 

[AuggieDosta]

Pretty sure DeBoer beat Lanning both times they played in ‘23. Could be wrong.

But on Alabama, serious question: at this point how much better of a job is it than a place like UF? It’s not the most talent rich state and technically shares with a little brother. They don’t have the booster/NIL money of some of their biggest rivals. Once paying became legal, what do they have that puts them in the upper echelons? They have history—with a legend head coach who’s no longer there—that is drifting further and further into the rear view mirror. Teams like uga and Texas are putting more and more better players into the NFL. And all is with a fanbase that’s completely insane. Not saying today or tomorrow necessarily, but in the new landscape of college football, without any well defined built in advantages, where does that job even rank oh the SEC. I’d put it at 5th.

As long as NIL is a thing then SEC teams with money, and a hs talent rich well to draw from, will be superior. So teams from TX and then UGA and Florida will rise to the top.
Sadly, our coach precludes us from this company.

 

[soflagator]

I want him to come on to campus and immediately start throwing shade at UGA and FSU, something I have no doubt he would do.

 

[t-gator]

Pretty sure DeBoer beat Lanning both times they played in ‘23. Could be wrong.

But on Alabama, serious question: at this point how much better of a job is it than a place like UF? It’s not the most talent rich state and technically shares with a little brother. They don’t have the booster/NIL money of some of their biggest rivals. Once paying became legal, what do they have that puts them in the upper echelons? They have history—with a legend head coach who’s no longer there—that is drifting further and further into the rear view mirror. Teams like uga and Texas are putting more and more better players into the NFL. And all is with a fanbase that’s completely insane. Not saying today or tomorrow necessarily, but in the new landscape of college football, without any well defined built in advantages, where does that job even rank oh the SEC. I’d put it at 5th.

I agree. I know there was bitching on the bama boards because we were paying more. I think bama has been living on all past nfl development they've done and getting a discount . Im with you, I see those days coming to and end. I absolutely think kiffin or cignetti would pick Florida over bama. I think there's really only 3 other jobs you could rank ahead of Florida. Texas, Texas anm and LSU. You could argue osu too because they obviously got money. But we're probably in the best location and were top 10 as far NIL goes and that’s with our program running at an all time low. If a coach came in here and put together a couple of good years, our NIL output may even be a different conversation.

 

[soflagator]

As long as NIL is a thing then SEC teams with money, and a hs talent rich well to draw from, will be superior. So teams from TX and then UGA and Florida will rise to the top.
Sadly, our coach precludes us from this company.

Exactly how I see it. I see(unfortunately) uga at the top, Lsu and the Texas schools a close second through fourth, and UF right behind them. Not saying Ala isn’t a great job. Just that it’s appeal before was a historic coach and recruiting tactics that others may not engage in, or at least not to that extent. Someone here talked about NIL leveling the playing field, and I think they were right. There are simply no real inherent advantages that they have over other SEC programs, imo. Crazy commitment to winning. But that also carries baggage as well.

 

[Egor's Assistant]

I think we all know that this is our next coach. Sigh.

I will become a Vandy fan, swear to God.

 

[lagator]

ND had 2 tough losses but looked decent in both games. They're likely gonna win 8-9 games. I think he's a decent coach but maybe a little to defensive minded for UF

Just like Freeman, you’re missing an O.

 

[lagator]

I’m having a hard time finding arguments against Cig and I don’t like it.

The only thing I can come up with is I’m not sure how well success at Indiana will translate to success here. I’m very confident that Lane would at bare minimum match what he’s done at Ole Miss. The Florida brand/resources should let him far exceed it.

I wouldn’t complain either way. Having said that, I’m more than a little concerned that we are going to do something stupid and hire Drinkwitz.

The only one I can come up with is Ox’s relentless pumping of him. Hugh Freeze and Chip Kelly say hello.

 

[GatorScotty]

 

[Theologator]

Pretty sure DeBoer beat Lanning both times they played in ‘23. Could be wrong.

But on Alabama, serious question: at this point how much better of a job is it than a place like UF? It’s not the most talent rich state and technically shares with a little brother. They don’t have the booster/NIL money of some of their biggest rivals. Once paying became legal, what do they have that puts them in the upper echelons? They have history—with a legend head coach who’s no longer there—that is drifting further and further into the rear view mirror. Teams like uga and Texas are putting more and more better players into the NFL. And all is with a fanbase that’s completely insane. Not saying today or tomorrow necessarily, but in the new landscape of college football, without any well defined built in advantages, where does that job even rank oh the SEC. I’d put it at 5th.

They’ve hit the HoF Coach lottery better than anyone else. When you see apex programs like USC and Oklahoma struggle and Nebraska looking like they’ll never recover, it underscores that reality.

BYE is laying -3.5 at UF this week. O/U is 13.5.

 

[Theologator]

When bye week feels like….

 

[Concrete Helmet]

I forgot to add the moral victories.

I get you don't like a defensive minded coach but to think ND isn't a more than solid team this year is whack....I'd probably have them somewhere close to the top 10.

 

[oxrageous]

The only one I can come up with is Ox’s relentless pumping of him. Hugh Freeze and Chip Kelly say hello.

Now that I know it's annoying you, I've got a lot more.

https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/sports/college/iu/2025/09/21/indiana-football-curt-cignetti-sums-up-signature-win-over-illinois-bret-bielema-ranked-opponent/86108658007/

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti summed up Saturday night's 63-0 win over Illinois with four words.

"We broke their will," Cignetti said.

It was a statement he reiterated three times during his post-game press conference after the No. 17 Hoosiers (4-0) knocked out No. 8 Illinois (3-1) in the program's second win over a top-10 opponent since 1987, and what else was there for him to say?

Indiana's bench played the entire fourth quarter — they even extended the lead — after the starters put together a string of six straight scoring drives. The only negative Cignetti could even come up with after the game was a busted coverage in the first quarter that led to the Illini's lone touchdown, but that turned out to be just a footnote in IU's victory.

"They just kept pouring it on," Illinois coach Bret Bielema said.

The numbers help tell the tale with Indiana out-gaining the Illini 579-161 while nearly doubling their time of possession (39:43 to 20:17).

Illinois snapped the ball all of three times on IU's side of the field during the entire game and had negative rushing yards for three-plus quarters. The Hoosiers' defense had 10 tackles for a loss for a third straight game with a season-high seven sacks.

Cignetti sounded like a coach who expected a blowout win as well.

"I thought our defensive line could whip their offensive line, and we did," Cignetti said. "They came out and played with tempo early. And give him time to throw he's going to get the ball where it's gotta go, but I think the sacks were huge, the blocked punt got us going. And then they couldn't stop us. They couldn't match up on the perimeter. And then we broke their will and just pounded them."

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Just like Freeman, you’re missing an O.

They've scored 120 points in 3 games....24 against Miami's defense which looks to be a top 10 defense and 40 against TAMU which is certainly a top 10 defense. That's 40 points per game. UF has scored 33 points in the last 3 games so.....11 points per game versus 40 points per game....

But lets throw out their last game and use the 2 against top 10 teams which is an average of 32 points per game versus UF's last 2 games against top 10 teams(and I don't think LSU is a top 10 team but for sake of a rational argument) that's 32 points per game versus 8.5 and ND has a freshman starting QB....Take half of their offensive output and Freeman in charge of our defense and we would be ranked #1 in the country with solid wins over LSU and Miami.....easily.

Moot point as Freeman wouldn't leave a better job and risk coming here.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Cigs simply gets the most out of the players he has to work with. If he had a couple of crack recruiters here I have no doubt we wouldn't be out of contention for conference or playoff hopes by October like the last 5 seasons. And anyone talking sh!t about playing in the B10 needs to take a broader look over the last 4-5 years. That conference is every bit as tough as the SEC.....This isn't 2000-2014 anymore.

 

[GatorScotty]

Cigs simply gets the most out of the players he has to work with. If he had a couple of crack recruiters here I have no doubt we wouldn't be out of contention for conference or playoff hopes by October like the last 5 seasons. And anyone talking sh!t about playing in the B10 needs to take a broader look over the last 4-5 years. That conference is every bit as tough as the SEC.....This isn't 2000-2014 anymore.

So which is it for you? Kif or Cig? If you had a choice.

 

[oxrageous]

I obviously like Cignetti, but I know I'm pissing into the wind. Stricklin will almost certainly be looking for a young up-and-coming (in his mind) "program builder", the way he did with both the Napier and Golden hires. I don't think he is interested in a veteran coach like Kiffin, and even less so with the 64-year-old Cignetti.

Fisch is the only guy that many of us like that I think could be a realistic possibility. Taking Arizona from 1-11 to 10-3 in two years was pretty amazing. Spurrier is in the building and would likely vouch for him.

However, take that in: Jedd Fisch had a 1-11 season at Arizona in 2021. I realize he took over a dumpster fire, but 1-11? Would Curt Cignetti EVER have a 1-11 season anywhere? Would any good coach?

 

[Spurdog98]

Cig is a sure thing in my mind and if we get 6 good years with him we can get our program back to the caliber it needs to be in order to draw talent, money and find another coach.