Coaches have a shelf life, just like players do. Coaches that have success early in their career are able to build an aura of competence and winning around themselves. Some of these coaches are truly great coaches, and some just happen to be at the right place and at the right time. Some coaches are able to leverage their success narrative into more lucrative extensions and stay where they are, and other coaches keep moving up the ranks into higher and higher profile jobs.
But once that aura of success is broken, it can be really tough to get it back. So when I see a guy like Lane Kiffin, Sark, or Nick Saban have their career derailed and then build it back, I have to give them a ton of credit. Kids can easily stop buying your schtick, and they tune you out. Look at a guy like Brian Kelly. You have to wonder if that guy will get a job at a prominent P4 school again. Bill Belichek? Jimbo Fisher? Remember when Butch Jones was a red-hot coaching commodity? Even a guy like Ryan Day may have been close to losing his job if OSU had flamed out in the playoffs last year. Instead, he rolls on with his winning persona intact. It will be interesting to see if a guy like Dabo can ever regain his mojo, or if he has peaked. Will BGJ have moderate success at VT and leave in a couple of years for a better job, or will kids stop being persuaded by his act?
Which brings me to the Penn State coaching search. I'm glad that I don't have to make this decision. My two favorite candidates are at different ends of the risk spectrum. What if unbeknown to everyone DeBoer has already peaked, and he actually NEEDS to leave Bama to keep his coaching reputation intact? He must know that Bama will fire him at the first sign of adversity. Meanwhile, Chesney's career is still ascending, and Penn State would feel stupid if the guy becomes a coaching star at another Big Ten school. But is the Penn State job too big for him, and JMU is his peak?
Meanwhile, Terry Smith has done himself and Penn State proud. He could be at the exact right place and right time for Penn State. He is an easy guy to root for. Maybe for us Penn State fans, that's the best situation of all.
But once that aura of success is broken, it can be really tough to get it back. So when I see a guy like Lane Kiffin, Sark, or Nick Saban have their career derailed and then build it back, I have to give them a ton of credit. Kids can easily stop buying your schtick, and they tune you out. Look at a guy like Brian Kelly. You have to wonder if that guy will get a job at a prominent P4 school again. Bill Belichek? Jimbo Fisher? Remember when Butch Jones was a red-hot coaching commodity? Even a guy like Ryan Day may have been close to losing his job if OSU had flamed out in the playoffs last year. Instead, he rolls on with his winning persona intact. It will be interesting to see if a guy like Dabo can ever regain his mojo, or if he has peaked. Will BGJ have moderate success at VT and leave in a couple of years for a better job, or will kids stop being persuaded by his act?
Which brings me to the Penn State coaching search. I'm glad that I don't have to make this decision. My two favorite candidates are at different ends of the risk spectrum. What if unbeknown to everyone DeBoer has already peaked, and he actually NEEDS to leave Bama to keep his coaching reputation intact? He must know that Bama will fire him at the first sign of adversity. Meanwhile, Chesney's career is still ascending, and Penn State would feel stupid if the guy becomes a coaching star at another Big Ten school. But is the Penn State job too big for him, and JMU is his peak?
Meanwhile, Terry Smith has done himself and Penn State proud. He could be at the exact right place and right time for Penn State. He is an easy guy to root for. Maybe for us Penn State fans, that's the best situation of all.
