Baylor is going 3-9 this year… Don't know if that's bad enough in Rhoades' mind for a change at HC, but if it is, these are the top 5 candidates imo:

1. Jonathan Smith (current Oregon State HC)
2. Jake Dickert (current Wazzu HC)
3. Jamey Chadwell (current Liberty HC)
4. Mike Bloomgren (current Rice HC)
5. Jeff Traylor (current UTSA HC)

Who is in your top 5 to lead Baylor in 2024?

Do they have to be realistic? Here are some ones that I think are somewhat realistic no particular order

1. Willie Fritz
2. GJ Kinne
3. Jason Candle - Toledo
4. Best FCS coach with the best resume you can find (Curt Cignetti et al)
5. Jamie Chadwell (probably not realistic)
6. Best AAC/Sun Belt coach with the best resume you can find

I love the names but I remember in 2021 this board and Baylor connected social media folks were mentioning big names and then realistically our job was so attractive it came down to:

1. Dave Aranda - a career assistant
2. Justin Fuente - a lame duck P5 head coach
3. Blake Anderson - a career G5 coach, although at least he had head coaching experience.

So I don't know how much faith I put in Rhoades. Now, if HE is gone too, then maybe a new AD has more reaching power and can attract better names.

This thread should first be about top 5 AD prospects

Charles Huff - Marshall

No other names needed

Give me a top 5 offense. I don't really care otherwise tbh. Just make it entertaining again. I'm so tired of going to football games and being bored.

At the beginning of the year I was saying the OC from Colorado. He knows a great offense, knows NIL, and knows the portal. I'm not sure he's still a great option, but he did build Kent State so maybe.

But those are the traits we need most: offensive minded, NIL, and portal.

Curt Cignetti has great resume. Jeff Traylor is a good candidate. Here is a curveball. Scott Surratt Carthage high school. Nine state titles in 16 years.

1.) Nick Saban
2.) Kirby Smart
3.) Mel Tucker
4.) Jimbo Fisher
5.) Jim Harbaugh

BennyBear said:

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1.) Nick Saban
2.) Kirby Smart
3.) Mel Tucker
4.) Jimbo Fisher
5.) Jim Harbaugh

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5 might actually be possible lol

Maybe #4 and we can pay him $1/year while aggy keeps paying him. I don't want him, though.

CAB

Nick Rolovich

Look it up......

First choice for sure CAB. Other above all second fiddle.

I don't disagree. Assuming Rhoades isn't fired, I worry that his ego will prevent him from firing CDA. Rhoades is so proud of his track record in hiring coaches, I don't know if he can admit he made a mistake hiring CDA. All that to say, CAB for AD?

Track record? He hasn't exactly hired many coaches. He's a facilities man. Very good at it but we're in a new age with NIL and stadium experience. I'd guess he gets one more shot at a football hire.

I like Fritz, but I'm worried he's too old (63 YO) for a guy to bring some life/energy into the program. As for Kinne, I worry he's too fresh and hasn't really "proven" much, but I don't hate Kinne as an option honestly.

To be clear, I'm not saying Rhoades has a good track record, I'm saying he believes he does (constantly talks about his "process" of evaluating/hiring coaches and how he "always hires the right guy")

Fre3dombear said:

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This thread should first be about top 5 AD prospects

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Agreed. Let a new AD find the next coach. No faith in Mack to pick a winner

Gotcha. I'll give him Rhule but I'm not sure why he'd have a big head on hiring. Not sure any of his Mizzou hires are still there tearing it up… Drinkwitz was not his hire.

He did ok as Houston AD

He hired Herman but inherited Sumlin it appears from timelines. Tony Levine did not do so well. If he hired Kelvin Sampson for basketball I'll give him that as a big win.

ZachTay said:

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Nick Rolovich

Look it up......

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What is your fascination with Rolovich?

As a head coach, he's .500 for his career with a career 19-22 conference record. No freakin' thanks.

He did...and a controversial choice at the time.

1. CAB
2. Jamie Chadwell
3. G.J. Kinne

Not sure who I'd add to the next two spots.

Fre3dombear said:

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This thread should first be about top 5 AD prospects

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Yes, that is where we need to start!

boykin_spaniel said:

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Track record? He hasn't exactly hired many coaches. He's a facilities man. Very good at it but we're in a new age with NIL and stadium experience. I'd guess he gets one more shot at a football hire.

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He hired Matt Rhule, which kept us from a 20 year tailspin (and don't @me, die-hard CAB'ers). Other than that, in sports that matter, he drove away a 3 time national champ women's basketball coach, and probably didn't fight hard enough to keep Rhule. And I do get the sense from one episode in the Amazon Prime doc on 2022 Baylor basketball that Scott Drew -- if he wasn't so much like Scott Drew -- would have told Rhoades to get the f-ck out of his office.

I am here for the chaos that bringing CAB back would bring. But also know that Linda and the higher-ups would never allow it.

I got the same impression, just made me like Scott Drew even more (something I wasn't sure was possible)

I do have to believe that Baylor would be pretty darn attractive for both of the PAC-2 coaches that will be left in limbo next year

Washed-up-ballplayer said:

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I do have to believe that Baylor would be pretty darn attractive for both of the PAC-2 coaches that will be left in limbo next year

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Oregon State has laid the blueprint on how mid-tier teams can survive, maybe even thrive, in the current era.

Washed-up-ballplayer said:

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I am here for the chaos that bringing CAB back would bring. But also know that Linda and the higher-ups would never allow it.

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They might never allow it but they seem fine with what's going on now.

That's why Jonathan Smith is #1 on my list. Dude knows how to turn a mid-tier team into a winner, and he knows how to use the portal. IMO, Smith in the guy