Why I would be good with Jon Sumrall

Jeremy Reding said:

I’m going to start going through the candidates and providing more than just “not so-and-so” or “yes to so-and-so”. It’s easy to just grab onto other people’s opinions and/or hearsay without digging in, but I’ve never been the type to not dig. After a little digging, I’m good with Jon Sumrall if he’s the choice, and here’s why: 1. Alabama product. He was born in Texas, but he went to Grissom HS and is in the Huntsville/Madison Sports HOF. This plus his time at Troy gives him some in-state credibility with coaches, obviously with the coaching part more influential - but the playing days are worth mentioning. He was at Troy for 2 stints - 3 years as an assistant and 2 years as HC. Troy’s coaches usually also have pretty good ties in South Georgia, but I don’t KNOW that about him. 2. Varied coaching career. He has worked at Kentucky twice and Ole Miss once in addition to stints at Troy, Tulane (x2), and San Diego. He has coached under Rich Brooks, Neal Brown, Matt Luke, and Mark Stoops (amongst others). Lots of schemes, systems, and contacts within the industry. 3. Youth and success. I said in the beginning that I wanted an injection of young energy. Jon is 43 and has had success in both stops as a HC. Past performance is no indicator of future results in coaching, but it’s always good to see. Maybe even more importantly to me, it would appear from their past, that Joe Craddock would want to come with him here unless he gets the HC job at Tulane. Craddock has been with Sumrall since Jon took his first HC position. Craddock has always been a QB coach and OC, and the youth, with Craddock only 40, at that position in the coaching staff should bring significantly more innovation and flexibility. There are obviously some draw backs, but I like the above positives way more than any of those draw backs. I was more skeptical of Sumrall before I started the deeper dive, so this effort changed my surface level opinions. Sure, there can be debate, but I see a lot of potential and a lot of reasons to expect success. As I roll through the other candidates, I’ll put out something similar. My goal isn’t to figure out who is best, because I really don’t think we as fans are capable of that. However, we can look at history, results, experiences, etc. and make a semi-informed decision of whether or not we have reasonable assurance that success has some degree of likelihood. I’m going to target getting 1 out every day or 2, just for my own entertainment, and we’ll see what kind of discussion it creates. My goal isn’t to convince anyone of anything other than to consider candidates on a deeper level than “Josh Pate said so” or “XXXX said they’re no good”.

Jeremy Reding said:

I’m going to start going through the candidates and providing more than just “not so-and-so” or “yes to so-and-so”. It’s easy to just grab onto other people’s opinions and/or hearsay without digging in, but I’ve never been the type to not dig. After a little digging, I’m good with Jon Sumrall if he’s the choice, and here’s why: 1. Alabama product. He was born in Texas, but he went to Grissom HS and is in the Huntsville/Madison Sports HOF. This plus his time at Troy gives him some in-state credibility with coaches, obviously with the coaching part more influential - but the playing days are worth mentioning. He was at Troy for 2 stints - 3 years as an assistant and 2 years as HC. Troy’s coaches usually also have pretty good ties in South Georgia, but I don’t KNOW that about him. 2. Varied coaching career. He has worked at Kentucky twice and Ole Miss once in addition to stints at Troy, Tulane (x2), and San Diego. He has coached under Rich Brooks, Neal Brown, Matt Luke, and Mark Stoops (amongst others). Lots of schemes, systems, and contacts within the industry. 3. Youth and success. I said in the beginning that I wanted an injection of young energy. Jon is 43 and has had success in both stops as a HC. Past performance is no indicator of future results in coaching, but it’s always good to see. Maybe even more importantly to me, it would appear from their past, that Joe Craddock would want to come with him here unless he gets the HC job at Tulane. Craddock has been with Sumrall since Jon took his first HC position. Craddock has always been a QB coach and OC, and the youth, with Craddock only 40, at that position in the coaching staff should bring significantly more innovation and flexibility. There are obviously some draw backs, but I like the above positives way more than any of those draw backs. I was more skeptical of Sumrall before I started the deeper dive, so this effort changed my surface level opinions. Sure, there can be debate, but I see a lot of potential and a lot of reasons to expect success. As I roll through the other candidates, I’ll put out something similar. My goal isn’t to figure out who is best, because I really don’t think we as fans are capable of that. However, we can look at history, results, experiences, etc. and make a semi-informed decision of whether or not we have reasonable assurance that success has some degree of likelihood. I’m going to target getting 1 out every day or 2, just for my own entertainment, and we’ll see what kind of discussion it creates. My goal isn’t to convince anyone of anything other than to consider candidates on a deeper level than “Josh Pate said so” or “XXXX said they’re no good”.

sonso to auburn said:

I think he’d be in way over his head

agreed.

Jeremy Reding said:

I’m going to start going through the candidates and providing more than just “not so-and-so” or “yes to so-and-so”. It’s easy to just grab onto other people’s opinions and/or hearsay without digging in, but I’ve never been the type to not dig. After a little digging, I’m good with Jon Sumrall if he’s the choice, and here’s why: 1. Alabama product. He was born in Texas, but he went to Grissom HS and is in the Huntsville/Madison Sports HOF. This plus his time at Troy gives him some in-state credibility with coaches, obviously with the coaching part more influential - but the playing days are worth mentioning. He was at Troy for 2 stints - 3 years as an assistant and 2 years as HC. Troy’s coaches usually also have pretty good ties in South Georgia, but I don’t KNOW that about him. 2. Varied coaching career. He has worked at Kentucky twice and Ole Miss once in addition to stints at Troy, Tulane (x2), and San Diego. He has coached under Rich Brooks, Neal Brown, Matt Luke, and Mark Stoops (amongst others). Lots of schemes, systems, and contacts within the industry. 3. Youth and success. I said in the beginning that I wanted an injection of young energy. Jon is 43 and has had success in both stops as a HC. Past performance is no indicator of future results in coaching, but it’s always good to see. Maybe even more importantly to me, it would appear from their past, that Joe Craddock would want to come with him here unless he gets the HC job at Tulane. Craddock has been with Sumrall since Jon took his first HC position. Craddock has always been a QB coach and OC, and the youth, with Craddock only 40, at that position in the coaching staff should bring significantly more innovation and flexibility. There are obviously some draw backs, but I like the above positives way more than any of those draw backs. I was more skeptical of Sumrall before I started the deeper dive, so this effort changed my surface level opinions. Sure, there can be debate, but I see a lot of potential and a lot of reasons to expect success. As I roll through the other candidates, I’ll put out something similar. My goal isn’t to figure out who is best, because I really don’t think we as fans are capable of that. However, we can look at history, results, experiences, etc. and make a semi-informed decision of whether or not we have reasonable assurance that success has some degree of likelihood. I’m going to target getting 1 out every day or 2, just for my own entertainment, and we’ll see what kind of discussion it creates. My goal isn’t to convince anyone of anything other than to consider candidates on a deeper level than “Josh Pate said so” or “XXXX said they’re no good”.

AUSamurai said:

He may be great but man, so much unknown scares me. He doesn't have much of a tree to pull assistant's/coaches from is a bit concerning as well.

jdpau1997 said:

I am usually with you and enjoyed this insight but the coaches he has worked with alone are a net negative. Maybe Rich Brooks but the others are terrible. Sumrall would be a terrible hire for a program with Auburns history. You might as well just hire Durkin. Look at the dudes he has coached for. JMHO. Appreciate yours.

TJRanger175 said:

I really like Sumrall and think he would do very well at Auburn. But, I don’t know how he would be an upgrade over DJ.

HamiltonWDE said:

But what is known is that Durkin and some others do. I think that matters. But here’s another thing. Freeze just proved that talent still has to be coached or it will not produce. Durkin has put on a clinic in that scenario and with younger, less experienced players than most.

MRJ06 said:

If you could rewind and forget everything that had been pumped into the media about Sumrall - how excited would we be for him? To be clear, I'm not out on Sumrall. But I do think a considerable amount of him at the top of fan boards was the drumbeat of him being the next G5/6 guy up and that the more people sit with the idea, the more they start to poke holes in his candidacy. That's partially true for all of them, but I think Sumrall especially.

jdpau1997 said:

I am usually with you and enjoyed this insight but the coaches he has worked with alone are a net negative. Maybe Rich Brooks but the others are terrible. Sumrall would be a terrible hire for a program with Auburns history. You might as well just hire Durkin. Look at the dudes he has coached for. JMHO. Appreciate yours.

Jeremy Reding said:

As to your first point, that’s exactly what I did.

AUSamurai said:

I've said in other threads, that if your end game is to hire Sumrall, why not hire the more proven at this level Durkin? I don't care which way we go in this scenario, it just makes logical sense too me.

Jeremy Reding said:

I’m not comparing. I’m simply approaching it from “what would I personally use to judge what I think of coach xxxxx getting hired”.

Jeremy Reding said:

I’m going to start going through the candidates and providing more than just “not so-and-so” or “yes to so-and-so”. It’s easy to just grab onto other people’s opinions and/or hearsay without digging in, but I’ve never been the type to not dig. After a little digging, I’m good with Jon Sumrall if he’s the choice, and here’s why: 1. Alabama product. He was born in Texas, but he went to Grissom HS and is in the Huntsville/Madison Sports HOF. This plus his time at Troy gives him some in-state credibility with coaches, obviously with the coaching part more influential - but the playing days are worth mentioning. He was at Troy for 2 stints - 3 years as an assistant and 2 years as HC. Troy’s coaches usually also have pretty good ties in South Georgia, but I don’t KNOW that about him. 2. Varied coaching career. He has worked at Kentucky twice and Ole Miss once in addition to stints at Troy, Tulane (x2), and San Diego. He has coached under Rich Brooks, Neal Brown, Matt Luke, and Mark Stoops (amongst others). Lots of schemes, systems, and contacts within the industry. 3. Youth and success. I said in the beginning that I wanted an injection of young energy. Jon is 43 and has had success in both stops as a HC. Past performance is no indicator of future results in coaching, but it’s always good to see. Maybe even more importantly to me, it would appear from their past, that Joe Craddock would want to come with him here unless he gets the HC job at Tulane. Craddock has been with Sumrall since Jon took his first HC position. Craddock has always been a QB coach and OC, and the youth, with Craddock only 40, at that position in the coaching staff should bring significantly more innovation and flexibility. There are obviously some draw backs, but I like the above positives way more than any of those draw backs. I was more skeptical of Sumrall before I started the deeper dive, so this effort changed my surface level opinions. Sure, there can be debate, but I see a lot of potential and a lot of reasons to expect success. As I roll through the other candidates, I’ll put out something similar. My goal isn’t to figure out who is best, because I really don’t think we as fans are capable of that. However, we can look at history, results, experiences, etc. and make a semi-informed decision of whether or not we have reasonable assurance that success has some degree of likelihood. I’m going to target getting 1 out every day or 2, just for my own entertainment, and we’ll see what kind of discussion it creates. My goal isn’t to convince anyone of anything other than to consider candidates on a deeper level than “Josh Pate said so” or “XXXX said they’re no good”.

JackWhite said:

1 - means nothing to me. Being from Alabama doesnt add much value. 2 - I would say this is actually a negative. He has no experience coaching in a championship caliber, blue blood program. If you look around the top 10-15 coaches in America the vast majority of them did spend time in an environment like that. 3 - lots of young coaches out there. No value in this. If anything it could be a negative. If I look at coaches like Kiffin or Sark who got HC jobs very young, they clearly weren’t ready. Also I’d saying calling Tulane a “success” is debatable and a little premature. They are not playing good football right now

Barry0 said:

1. Having connections with Alabama high schools is certainly more of a positive than you are leading on. Really helps having those in-state relationships off the jump. 2. Certainly would help to have coached at blue bloods but that’s not the only way to have success. Shockingly enough last time he was at Kentucky they won 9 games and were a top 20 defense. Feels clear that his intentions were to learn how to be a HC and chose that pathway. 3. There’s certainly value in finding a young guy that you believe has the potential to be a championship level HC. Then giving him the time and resources to develop into it. You can be a young coach and be mature.