2022 Texas Coaching/Support Staff Thread

[HenryJames 66,048]

10 minutes ago, South Austin said:

This thread is full of news about new staff hires.  Thanks guys!

Your mom hired a new staff last night.

[RaysBoomBoomRoom 5,742]

13 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

Shawn Lewis (WR Analyst) and X both RT'd a Marion post today (it's a good watch btw)

Man, if we can somehow land him AND Addison idk what I would do. That would garner some real optimism. Imagining Quinn with Bijan and two All American WR’s….

Edited December 29, 2021 by RaysBoomBoomRoom

[RaysBoomBoomRoom 5,742]

25 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

Shawn Lewis (WR Analyst) and X both RT'd a Marion post today (it's a good watch btw)

Sark also liked the tweet btw

[Hiphopopotamos 20,869]

FWIW - Nahlin just put out an article advocating for the need for a 'GM' to handle a lot of the non-coaching responsibilities.  Ketch did a video last night speculating about a GM position and how that might be a fit for Patterson.

Smoke around GP joining Texas as a GM who reports to the AD?

[LTtxfan 49,184]

3 minutes ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

Sark also liked the tweet btw

Pitt game scheduled for tomorrow... hopefully the new UT WR coach announced this weekend

 

[Js1 85,320]

3 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

FWIW - Nahlin just put out an article advocating for the need for a 'GM' to handle a lot of the non-coaching responsibilities.  Ketch did a video last night speculating about a GM position and how that might be a fit for Patterson.

Smoke around GP joining Texas as a GM who reports to the AD?

That would be cool.  Beard has one too. 

[Tex-19 2,872]

3 minutes ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

Sark also liked the tweet btw

To pump the breaks a bit, it is a very likeable tweet. But still this seems like more smoke.

And with him not even getting playcalling for their bowl game, I would imagine he isn't getting Pitt's OC job. Seems like we'll get an answer either way soon after their bowl game.

[Tex-19 2,872]

3 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

FWIW - Nahlin just put out an article advocating for the need for a 'GM' to handle a lot of the non-coaching responsibilities.  Ketch did a video last night speculating about a GM position and how that might be a fit for Patterson.

Smoke around GP joining Texas as a GM who reports to the AD?

Totally think this is a great idea. Let Sark focus more on coaching the offense instead of a bunch of shit that someone else can handle just as well.

[Thiefery 4,995]

5 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

FWIW - Nahlin just put out an article advocating for the need for a 'GM' to handle a lot of the non-coaching responsibilities.  Ketch did a video last night speculating about a GM position and how that might be a fit for Patterson.

Smoke around GP joining Texas as a GM who reports to the AD?

thought we needed him for his coaching?

[LTtxfan 49,184]

4 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

FWIW - Nahlin just put out an article advocating for the need for a 'GM' to handle a lot of the non-coaching responsibilities.  Ketch did a video last night speculating about a GM position and how that might be a fit for Patterson.

Smoke around GP joining Texas as a GM who reports to the AD?

Keep Patterson away from press/interviews -- he's horrible at that.  

[closetojumping 62,680]

2 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

FWIW - Nahlin just put out an article advocating for the need for a 'GM' to handle a lot of the non-coaching responsibilities.  Ketch did a video last night speculating about a GM position and how that might be a fit for Patterson.

Smoke around GP joining Texas as a GM who reports to the AD?

If it happens, it is happening in spite of Sarkisian's own interests and input. The word has been that there's no way Patterson was going to get that kind of role, but in the last 24 hours it's become matter of fact in offline discussions, so it looks like it's happening. 

Several of us had lunch with a well-known former player and coach recently and he's coached with Patterson. He said "if Gary gets that kind of role, he will do everything he can to become the next HC at Texas." This is where Crystal gets out over his skis and attempts to unlock the possible backdooring of having one of his guys in the chair as HC of football at Texas. 

I'll state right now for this board's record keeping purposes that while I still absolutely believe that Sarkisian is going to be a laughable failure as HC at Texas, I have zero interest in seeing Gary fucking Patterson weasel his way into the chair when Sarkisian is shown the door. God dammit.

[Js1 85,320]

2 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

To pump the breaks a bit, it is a very likeable tweet. But still this seems like more smoke.

And with him not even getting playcalling for their bowl game, I would imagine he isn't getting Pitt's OC job. Seems like we'll get an answer either way soon after their bowl game.

If he wasn't giving the interim job for the bowl, it's unlikely he'd be given the full-time job.  Unless Narduzzi was worried that having him OC an offense without Kyle Pickett would take the shine off him headed into the spring.  Which is dumb - he's either your guy or he's not. 

So I think he'll be here soon. 

[BurntOrange&White 39,931]

2 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I'll state right now for this board's record keeping purposes that while I still absolutely believe that Sarkisian is going to be a laughable failure as HC at Texas, I have zero interest in seeing Gary fucking Patterson weasel his way into the chair when Sarkisian is shown the door. God dammit.

I'm 1000% with you on this. 

[LTtxfan 49,184]

1 minute ago, Thiefery said:

thought we needed him for his coaching?

Something tells me Gare would help with some football coaching aspects -- film study, watch practices, and some game plan tips,  etc.

[closetojumping 62,680]

The only conceivable reason for Marion to stay on for the bowl game after getting snubbed on playcalling duties is because he's bringing the WR with him and an early departure fucking up their bowl game would unnecessarily burn too many bridges. Or he's not the guy and Texas is waiting to hire Hankton after UGa's last game. Or it's someone else altogether and we're wasting our time giving a shit what Marion is tweeting about in the first place. Or fuck me, fuck you, fuck that and no one knows shit about fuck.

[Js1 85,320]

3 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I'll state right now for this board's record keeping purposes that while I still absolutely believe that Sarkisian is going to be a laughable failure as HC at Texas, I have zero interest in seeing Gary fucking Patterson weasel his way into the chair when Sarkisian is shown the door. God dammit.

Same.  That would reek something awful.  

[closetojumping 62,680]

1 minute ago, BurntOrange&White said:

I'm 1000% with you on this. 

Thanks. Without your support, I'm not sure I was going to be able to weather the storm.

[Rickylovesweed 14,293]

Patterson might weasel his way into the chair on an interim basis if Sark is fired but there is zero chance Texas would hire him permanently. 

So who cares? 

[Thiefery 4,995]

4 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

If it happens, it is happening in spite of Sarkisian's own interests and input. The word has been that there's no way Patterson was going to get that kind of role, but in the last 24 hours it's become matter of fact in offline discussions, so it looks like it's happening. 

Several of us had lunch with a well-known former player and coach recently and he's coached with Patterson. He said "if Gary gets that kind of role, he will do everything he can to become the next HC at Texas." This is where Crystal gets out over his skis and attempts to unlock the possible backdooring of having one of his guys in the chair as HC of football at Texas. 

I'll state right now for this board's record keeping purposes that while I still absolutely believe that Sarkisian is going to be a laughable failure as HC at Texas, I have zero interest in seeing Gary fucking Patterson weasel his way into the chair when Sarkisian is shown the door. God dammit.

maybe this is what finally lights a fire under Steve's Ass and he has a short leash on PK for '22

[BurntOrange&White 39,931]

1 minute ago, closetojumping said:

Thanks. Without your support, I'm not sure I was going to be able to weather the storm.

Glad you appreciate it. You're right though and I could even see GP undermine the hell out of the football program to expedite that process.

[Hookem2147 21,217]

14 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

FWIW - Nahlin just put out an article advocating for the need for a 'GM' to handle a lot of the non-coaching responsibilities.  Ketch did a video last night speculating about a GM position and how that might be a fit for Patterson.

Smoke around GP joining Texas as a GM who reports to the AD?

He also added that it is a story he's been meaning to write for several weeks now. Wasn't based on any new developments. 

[dcar00 14,182]

2 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

If it happens, it is happening in spite of Sarkisian's own interests and input. The word has been that there's no way Patterson was going to get that kind of role, but in the last 24 hours it's become matter of fact in offline discussions, so it looks like it's happening. 

Several of us had lunch with a well-known former player and coach recently and he's coached with Patterson. He said "if Gary gets that kind of role, he will do everything he can to become the next HC at Texas." This is where Crystal gets out over his skis and attempts to unlock the possible backdooring of having one of his guys in the chair as HC of football at Texas. 

I'll state right now for this board's record keeping purposes that while I still absolutely believe that Sarkisian is going to be a laughable failure as HC at Texas, I have zero interest in seeing Gary fucking Patterson weasel his way into the chair when Sarkisian is shown the door. God dammit.

This is kind of mind blowing TBH.  Although I had heard Patterson was done I expected something more like Analyst/Kill type deal for the defense.

Unless Patterson is truly done coaching and is wanting to move into an AD role somewhere I don't understand a GM type function for him. he isn't some type of media savant like a Mack.  I don't see how this helps Texas at all.

Maybe 5-7 and losing to Kansas at home really did put Sark on the hot seat.

Maybe we want Patterson to fix the D but Patterson isn't willing to take a title viewed as subordinate to the HC.  I guess we'll see.  strange all the way around.

[Foosters 17,856]

We need someone to act as the program's GM? Well, I have just the guy . . . 

[Hiphopopotamos 20,869]

Just now, Hookem2147 said:

He also added that it is a story he's been meaning to write for several weeks now. Wasn't based on any new developments. 

He did that - at least in part - because Ketch did the video last night and essentially beat Nahlin to the punch.  As CTJ said - this is something that apparently has been talked about (and initially dismissed) since GP name was first brought up.

[RaysBoomBoomRoom 5,742]

The jury is still out on sark, one year is not enough time to judge anyone I don’t care if we went undefeated this year. A one year referendum on a guy is crazy. Let’s see what he does with a QB this year. He seems reasonable and pragmatic thus far which is a good thing. Coleman being let go is a good data point.

id love to add GP because he could oversee the recruiting department, the S&C and the Defensive game-planning. The guy has been a HC for 20 years and built a program practically by himself. He could help Sark tremendously. He would not be brought in without Sarks approval, that’s just ridiculous and that’s not how CDC operates. Therefore, if he is brought in, that shows that Sark is not insecure and that he can lay his ego aside for the betterment of the team. Another positive data point. I would bet my left nut that GP is not the next HC if Sark is fired. I bet we do whatever it takes to get Shannahan 

[UncleBuck 6,454]

5 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Thanks. Without your support, I'm not sure I was going to be able to weather the storm.

Personally I'm only like 83% with you, so getting a whole 1000% from someone else is pretty huge for you.

[Hiphopopotamos 20,869]

Just now, dcar00 said:

This is kind of mind blowing TBH.  Although I had heard Patterson was done I expected something more like Analyst/Kill type deal for the defense.

Unless Patterson is truly done coaching and is wanting to move into an AD role somewhere I don't understand a GM type function for him. he isn't some type of media savant like a Mack.  I don't see how this helps Texas at all.

Maybe 5-7 and losing to Kansas at home really did put Sark on the hot seat.

Maybe we want Patterson to fix the D but Patterson isn't willing to take a title viewed as subordinate to the HC.  I guess we'll see.  strange all the way around.

I don't think the role would require that.  I expect he'd have very little to do with press - I'd guess GP would make it a 100% football administrative job.  He'd be active in every part of the football program but game day.

[BurntOrange&White 39,931]

Just now, Hiphopopotamos said:

I don't think the role would require that.  I expect he'd have very little to do with press - I'd guess GP would make it a 100% football administrative job.  He'd be active in every part of the football program but game day.

But would GP essentially be a Jerry Jones type GM? 

[RaysBoomBoomRoom 5,742]

That would ruin CDC’s and GP’s reputation if he openly sabotaged Sark. Kevin Steele is a great Defensive mind but he is unemployed right now for pulling a similar move. I’m not buying it.

[dcar00 14,182]

8 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

I don't think the role would require that.  I expect he'd have very little to do with press - I'd guess GP would make it a 100% football administrative job.  He'd be active in every part of the football program but game day.

agree that would make more sense.  I guess its kind of like the Dick Tomey thing but without a coaching position and he can drop into the DC role if PK fails again.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it but, I'm somewhat gruntled that 5-7 and losing to Kansas at home doesn't mean Sark gets to act like it's all players.

Edited December 29, 2021 by dcar00

[Newy25 7,668]

Count me in the camp that does not want to see that sweaty, fat ego maniac running the football program trying to Game of Thrones his way into the head coaching job. That would be a new level of dysfunction. 

[Red Five 40,857]

1 minute ago, dcar00 said:

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it but, I'm somewhat gruntled that 5-7 and losing to Kansas at home doesn't mean Sark gets to act like it's all players.

We went from 4-1 and ranked and beating OU 28-7 in the first quarter, to 5-7 and losing to Kansas at home. Sark should feel very fortunate to still have a fucking job. 

[Tex-19 2,872]

8 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

The only conceivable reason for Marion to stay on for the bowl game after getting snubbed on playcalling duties is because he's bringing the WR with him and an early departure fucking up their bowl game would unnecessarily burn too many bridges. Or he's not the guy and Texas is waiting to hire Hankton after UGa's last game. Or it's someone else altogether and we're wasting our time giving a shit what Marion is tweeting about in the first place. Or fuck me, fuck you, fuck that and no one knows shit about fuck.

Marion seems like a guy who’d have a lot of loyalty to the players and not want to ditch them right before a NY6 game. And there’s no major need for him to get here now instead of a week later. Obviously the smoke may still be wrong, but I don’t think it’s crazy at all for him to wait to announce.

What are peoples thoughts on Hankton? Idk much about him but UGAs receivers haven’t ever done shit and any recruiting results are skewed by bags. Not my favorite choice. 

[dcar00 14,182]

Since college football is basically NFL with almost unlimited free agency the GM role could be good for truly analyzing players for portal(and high school).

[closetohumping 17,440]

7 minutes ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

That would ruin CDC’s and GP’s reputation if he openly sabotaged Sark. Kevin Steele is a great Defensive mind but he is unemployed right now for pulling a similar move. I’m not buying it.

Interesting.  Who did Steele try to screw over 

 

I always wondered if buddy Ryan tried that with Jack pardee 

[LTtxfan 49,184]

21 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

The only conceivable reason for Marion to stay on for the bowl game after getting snubbed on playcalling duties is because he's bringing the WR with him and an early departure fucking up their bowl game would unnecessarily burn too many bridges. Or he's not the guy and Texas is waiting to hire Hankton after UGa's last game. Or it's someone else altogether and we're wasting our time giving a shit what Marion is tweeting about in the first place. Or fuck me, fuck you, fuck that and no one knows shit about fuck.

[Ghost of Shag 2,608]

30 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

If it happens, it is happening in spite of Sarkisian's own interests and input. The word has been that there's no way Patterson was going to get that kind of role, but in the last 24 hours it's become matter of fact in offline discussions, so it looks like it's happening. 

Several of us had lunch with a well-known former player and coach recently and he's coached with Patterson. He said "if Gary gets that kind of role, he will do everything he can to become the next HC at Texas." This is where Crystal gets out over his skis and attempts to unlock the possible backdooring of having one of his guys in the chair as HC of football at Texas. 

I'll state right now for this board's record keeping purposes that while I still absolutely believe that Sarkisian is going to be a laughable failure as HC at Texas, I have zero interest in seeing Gary fucking Patterson weasel his way into the chair when Sarkisian is shown the door. God dammit.

You’ve probably already done this elsewhere and I missed it, but could you elaborate on specifically why?

Tell me where to send the $9.95

[Tex-19 2,872]

Idk what a college “GM” role really means. LSU has had one (Austin Thomas) and it’s most definitely not higher than the head coach. 

My guess is that it’s a heavy focus on managing off-field stuff and consults with Sark on managing on-field staff. Or maybe this is the “football only AD” that people have wanted for a while.

My personal view is that taking low-value shit off Sark’s plate is a big win, but obviously don’t want any Game of Thrones crap. GP needs to be clearly subordinate. Ideally GP manages some off field stuff, supervises the defensive side, and that’s it. 

[Js1 85,320]

20 minutes ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

The jury is still out on sark, one year is not enough time to judge anyone I don’t care if we went undefeated this year. A one year referendum on a guy is crazy. Let’s see what he does with a QB this year. He seems reasonable and pragmatic thus far which is a good thing. Coleman being let go is a good data point.

This board would have fired Dave Aranda after his 2020 inaugural 2-7 season following Rhule's 11-3 season. 

[field 225]

6 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

Idk what a college “GM” role really means. LSU has had one (Austin Thomas) and it’s most definitely not higher than the head coach. 

My guess is that it’s a heavy focus on managing off-field stuff and consults with Sark on managing on-field staff. Or maybe this is the “football only AD” that people have wanted for a while.

My personal view is that taking low-value shit off Sark’s plate is a big win, but obviously don’t want any Game of Thrones crap. GP needs to be clearly subordinate. Ideally GP manages some off field stuff, supervises the defensive side, and that’s it. 

GM's in college football are really common

Organizing the roughly 75 recruits visiting each day last month (primarily on unofficial visits), could have been overwhelming for Georgia Tech coaches. Each recruit needed a tour, face time with coaches and, maybe most importantly in the age of social media, to have their picture taken. But because of the work done by Patrick Suddes and his department, coaches didn't need to worry.

Everything was organized. Suddes even connected with a local car dealer who loaned them a 1970 Pontiac GTO and a pair of Bentleys, which they parked inside Bobby Dodd Stadium for a music-video-worthy photo shoot.

Over at Ohio State, the Buckeyes have typically hosted 58 official visitors per year. But last month alone, they hosted 51, something made more manageable by the work of Mark Pantoni and his staff of 10 full-time employees.

Billy High, Pantoni's counterpart at North Carolina, said the first month of in-person recruiting felt like "organized chaos." He didn't go anywhere without his trusted tablet, keeping track of vast spreadsheets showing where players ranked on their board, what other offers they received and where else they visited.

And to think, positions like his didn't exist not that long ago. There was no college football equivalent of the NFL front office to oversee recruiting and roster management. No one called themselves a director of player personnel (DPP) until a clever assistant created the title in 2006 and one of the greatest head coaches of all-time noticed what it was and what it could be.

Now, college football can't function without DPPs like Pantoni. Some have even embraced the broader and more recognizable title of general manager, like High and Suddes.

In addition to high school recruiting, they oversee another important avenue to acquire talent: the transfer portal, which is college football's version of free agency. It's up to the heads of personnel departments to keep their ears to the ground and their eyes on the portal, pointing coaches toward players they should be targeting.

LSU didn't sign potential difference-makers like Clemson linebacker Mike Jones Jr. and Georgia safety Major Burns by accident. Austin Thomas, who became the first GM in SEC history, oversees an advanced scouting department in Baton Rouge that provides coaches with in-depth dossiers on players the instant they become available.

Besides the head coach, there's arguably no one with more influence on a team's future.

---

The idea of a personnel department isn't new to the NFL, where it isn't unusual for general managers to wield more authority than the head coach. But for one reason or another, the concept of a formalized unit dedicated to roster management took a while to trickle down to colleges, where coaches handled personnel decisions themselves, tabbing one of nine assistants to take on the role of recruiting coordinator.

Granted, these were much simpler times -- before social media and Internet-based video services like Hudl created a mountain of information to sort through; before the race to offer freshmen and sophomores more than doubled the number of players who needed to be evaluated; before the advent of the transfer portal, which can give just as quickly as it takes.

As everything was beginning to change back in 2006, Geoff Collins was searching for an excuse to return to Georgia Tech, where he previously worked as tight ends coach under George O'Leary. Chan Gailey, who had taken over for O'Leary, was interested, but he didn't have a coaching position available, so he instead offered up the director of high school relations post.

Collins, who was coming off two years as a defensive coordinator at Western Carolina, saw it as a possible dead end and was hesitant -- he wanted a role that would give him flexibility. If he couldn't get back into coaching, he thought he might like to transition to an NFL front office. He had noticed how people at the pro level were being named director of player personnel, so he asked about creating that position instead.

Gailey didn't care about semantics.

"Call yourself whatever you want," he told Collins.

And just like that, Collins became credited as the first DPP in college football. He oversaw recruiting and helped Tech sign arguably its best class ever.

Meanwhile, Nick Saban was in the process of leaving the Miami Dolphins for Alabama, and one of his top priorities was building an NFL-style personnel department. He believed he could create the biggest impact advantage over other programs in recruiting, so he poured resources into it. He wanted someone in charge who had an understanding of the college game, so he called Collins.

Collins accepted the job, and began putting together a room of student volunteers, graduate assistants and anonymous support staffers that would serve as the machinery in Alabama's larger recruiting operation. They were young and hungry. They worked, quite literally, in darkness: a windowless office that they staffed around the clock in rotating shifts.

They'd send hundreds of blank VHS tapes to high school coaches, cursing when they inevitably came back in the wrong format. Highlights were useless. What they really wanted were entire games, which they'd then splice by a process known as "one'ing and two'ing," and is exactly as mindless as it sounds.

The real intrigue came when evaluating the tape, but even that was formulaic, relying on a predetermined set of critical factors at each position which, taken together, provided every recruit with a grade. And if their grade was good enough, their information was passed up the ladder where coaches would begin the more traditional recruiting process.

The operation would evolve over time and begin to remove some of the guesswork in recruiting, taking what essentially had been an art form and applying processes to it. Instead of leaving assistant coaches to their own devices and their own thoughts on what made a successful football player, the personnel department would follow strict guidelines determined by the head coach.

Collins was by Saban's side every day that first season at Alabama, getting what he called a "doctorate" in the how-to's of coaching and roster management - things like how many players to recruit at a position in a given year, which had to be viewed through the lens of the current roster makeup and anticipating future attrition via the NFL draft, graduation or transfers.

Collins left the following offseason to reunite with O'Leary at UCF, resuming on-field coaching. Twelve years later, he was named head coach at Georgia Tech.

"So I think I was the first and the second director of player personnel," Collins said. "And I take a lot of pride in it, because I think a lot of people have been able to go on and do some things, and it has become a positive role for college football programs."

In the ever-expanding tree of directors of player personnel, Collins is the only one to become a head coach. But that's not a negative. It shows there's a place for non-coaches to have meaningful careers in college football, where before those opportunities for advancement were limited to the NFL.

When Collins returned to Tech as head coach, one of his first calls was to his old co-worker at Alabama, Suddes, who had gone on to work at Texas, Arizona State and Auburn. Suddes had never been a coach and had no aspirations to be. He was the kid who played "NCAA Football" on dynasty mode, simulating the games so he could get to the fun part of tinkering with the roster. When he played "Madden," he'd trade every player, stockpiling draft picks.

Collins knew that he and Suddes saw the game the same way, that he could trust him to rebuild the roster and help reshape the image of Georgia Tech football. So rather than making him yet another DPP, he switched things up.

Collins chuckled when asked why he landed on the title of general manager for Suddes. It wasn't arbitrary.

"It was intentional," Collins said. "I wanted him to have an overarching reach within the organization."

---

While Collins is Patient Zero in the DPP experiment in college football, he's not the only one who made the position what it is today. His successor, Ed Marynowitz, took it to another level.

Suddes called Marynowitz "one of the godfathers" of the profession, building upon and bringing even more sophistication to the systems Collins started. His work was so well regarded that the Philadelphia Eagles hired him in 2012, later promoting him to VP of player personnel. He's now an agent.

The other so-called godfather is Mark Pantoni.

Around the time Alabama's recruiting operation got going under Collins and Marynowitz, Pantoni was getting his feet wet under coach Urban Meyer at Florida. In the beginning, it was a way of avoiding the mountain of debt awaiting him on the other side of med school interviews and whatever long road awaited after. He was a football fan who loved recruiting, so he figured why not take a year to intern with the team?

He got the job and trekked into the office where he'd send out VHS tapes at 6 every morning, splice film in the afternoon and then ask for even more to do before day's end. He grinded for a year, learning the tricks to the trade, before Meyer hired him full time.

Pantoni never wanted to be a coach, either. He imagined becoming an athletic director, but fell in love with the world of personnel, watching countless hours of film and forming evaluations he'd then pass to the coaching staff.

Meyer empowered him, allowing for disagreements and healthy debates. Meyer had the final say, of course, but Pantoni said Meyer didn't want a yes man. Though Pantoni was hesitant in the beginning to stand up to veteran coordinators Charlie Strong and Steve Addazio, he gained more confidence in his opinions, and they would listen, trusting that he was watching exponentially more film than they ever could.

But it wasn't just the evaluations that Pantoni grew to be in charge of. DPPs are largely responsible for compliance and the recruiting budget, which includes money for coaches' travel and official visits, as well as the use of online recruiting services and databases.

When Meyer retired and popped up again at Ohio State in 2012, he hired Pantoni a second time, and he inherited a department of two.

Now, Pantoni oversees a group of three full-time employees and one full-time intern dedicated solely to personnel, a director of on-campus recruiting and a five-member creative team. That's to say nothing of the hoard of student volunteers.

He and Marynowitz started a personnel symposium three years ago in which about 180 people showed up. The next year, that number ballooned to 300.

While COVID-19 caused them to cancel last year's event, they hope to pick it up again soon.

So much in the sport is changing. Support staffs have grown exponentially, the transfer portal has finally brought free agency to college football and advanced analytics, which have taken off in professional sports but struggled to gain a foothold in college, are beginning to make strides. What's more, the ability for athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness is a game-changer in terms of helping players build their brands. There's no choice but for personnel departments to keep up with demand.

"It's going to continue to evolve and parallel the NFL front office," Pantoni said.

Assistant coaches have to focus on their specific position for advancement, head coaches have to focus on winning immediately in order to keep their jobs, leaving it to DPPs and GMs to manage the long-term picture.

"You're recruiting so many classes of kids; we have 2025 kids we're offering now. There's just so much that goes into it," Suddes said. "The coaches have so much they have to deal with coaching X's and O's, dealing with players on and off the field, and then contacting these recruits. A coaching staff of 10 and the head coach just can't handle it all."

---

The personnel tree grew quickly out of Alabama.

As Saban's recruiting operation kicked into high gear and started raking among the top three classes every year, whispers circulated about what was going on inside that windowless office. The college football world watched as Saban's former assistants became head coaches, and how like clockwork they'd take someone from that office with them. Georgia's Kirby Smart hired Marshall Malchow, Michigan State's Mel Tucker hired Geoff Martzen, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin hired Matt Lindsey, and so on.

Opposing coaches got the bright idea to do the same.

"They were all cherry-picked by teams trying to do what Nick did," Suddes said.

He should know. After six years at Alabama, Mack Brown brought Suddes to Texas. And when Brown later resurfaced at UNC, he hired High, who had worked for Suddes at Auburn, picking up the nickname Billy Spreadsheets.

There's also a lot of cross-pollination that happens. High just so happened to be working at Tennessee at the same time as Thomas. And upon returning to LSU in January, Thomas, who was associate athletic director for football personnel at Texas A&M from 2018 to 2019, was replaced by Malchow.

Thomas is relatively young, only 36 years old, yet he's already excited to see what the next generation is capable of -- that's how quickly this field is growing. There's plenty of room for those without direct connections to Alabama or Florida.

Andy Frank, who went to school at Princeton, gave up a career in engineering and climbed his way up from volunteer to DPP at Vanderbilt and now Penn State. Jordan Sorrells left his job as operations manager at Chick-fil-A to become director of football ops at Furman and is now DPP at Clemson.

When Dabo Swinney spoke to reporters about how Clemson's 2020 class came together, he said, "Jordan Sorrells. You've got to start there."

What's neat, Thomas said, is not just how many more people there are in his business or how they're starting to receive more recognition; it's how they're starting to see their responsibilities expand beyond recruiting.

Serving as GM, Thomas acts as a liaison between the administration and the football program, and he is part of the process identifying candidates for assistant coach and other roles within the organization. LSU keeps expanding its ranks, bringing in a director of scouting, a director of personnel research and a director of recruiting.

Thomas studied NFL front offices a few years ago, leaning on contacts he had with the New York Jets and Houston Texans, and he decided to recreate their advanced scouting departments to suit college football. Their ability to help identify transfers is only one piece of what they do; they also aid in game-planning during the season.

"You think about it, it's strength staff, training staff, nutrition staff, analysts, recruiting staff, personnel staff ... it's a lot of people," Thomas said. "If a head coach doesn't have help with that stuff to carry his message and implement that on a daily basis, it can go sideways really quick."

And therein lies the biggest difference between the GM of the NFL and college. It's simple, really. GMs in college have a lot of authority, but they're essentially serving as the right-hand to the head coach, who has the ultimate authority.

"I work for Coach O," Thomas said. "He doesn't work for me."

Edited December 29, 2021 by field

[Hiphopopotamos 20,869]

10 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Interesting.  Who did Steele try to screw over 

 

I always wondered if buddy Ryan tried that with Jack pardee 

Malzahn.  Steele was allegedly meeting with BMD's about ousting Malzahn and taking over as HC.  I think the story was broken by the college newspaper when one of their writers saw/heard him in (an elevator? or conference room?) with BMD's.

[Hiphopopotamos 20,869]

Spoiler

Organizing the roughly 75 recruits visiting each day last month (primarily on unofficial visits), could have been overwhelming for Georgia Tech coaches. Each recruit needed a tour, face time with coaches and, maybe most importantly in the age of social media, to have their picture taken. But because of the work done by Patrick Suddes and his department, coaches didn't need to worry.

Everything was organized. Suddes even connected with a local car dealer who loaned them a 1970 Pontiac GTO and a pair of Bentleys, which they parked inside Bobby Dodd Stadium for a music-video-worthy photo shoot.

Over at Ohio State, the Buckeyes have typically hosted 58 official visitors per year. But last month alone, they hosted 51, something made more manageable by the work of Mark Pantoni and his staff of 10 full-time employees.

Billy High, Pantoni's counterpart at North Carolina, said the first month of in-person recruiting felt like "organized chaos." He didn't go anywhere without his trusted tablet, keeping track of vast spreadsheets showing where players ranked on their board, what other offers they received and where else they visited.

And to think, positions like his didn't exist not that long ago. There was no college football equivalent of the NFL front office to oversee recruiting and roster management. No one called themselves a director of player personnel (DPP) until a clever assistant created the title in 2006 and one of the greatest head coaches of all-time noticed what it was and what it could be.

Now, college football can't function without DPPs like Pantoni. Some have even embraced the broader and more recognizable title of general manager, like High and Suddes.

In addition to high school recruiting, they oversee another important avenue to acquire talent: the transfer portal, which is college football's version of free agency. It's up to the heads of personnel departments to keep their ears to the ground and their eyes on the portal, pointing coaches toward players they should be targeting.

LSU didn't sign potential difference-makers like Clemson linebacker Mike Jones Jr. and Georgia safety Major Burns by accident. Austin Thomas, who became the first GM in SEC history, oversees an advanced scouting department in Baton Rouge that provides coaches with in-depth dossiers on players the instant they become available.

Besides the head coach, there's arguably no one with more influence on a team's future.

---

The idea of a personnel department isn't new to the NFL, where it isn't unusual for general managers to wield more authority than the head coach. But for one reason or another, the concept of a formalized unit dedicated to roster management took a while to trickle down to colleges, where coaches handled personnel decisions themselves, tabbing one of nine assistants to take on the role of recruiting coordinator.

Granted, these were much simpler times -- before social media and Internet-based video services like Hudl created a mountain of information to sort through; before the race to offer freshmen and sophomores more than doubled the number of players who needed to be evaluated; before the advent of the transfer portal, which can give just as quickly as it takes.

As everything was beginning to change back in 2006, Geoff Collins was searching for an excuse to return to Georgia Tech, where he previously worked as tight ends coach under George O'Leary. Chan Gailey, who had taken over for O'Leary, was interested, but he didn't have a coaching position available, so he instead offered up the director of high school relations post.

Collins, who was coming off two years as a defensive coordinator at Western Carolina, saw it as a possible dead end and was hesitant -- he wanted a role that would give him flexibility. If he couldn't get back into coaching, he thought he might like to transition to an NFL front office. He had noticed how people at the pro level were being named director of player personnel, so he asked about creating that position instead.

Gailey didn't care about semantics.

"Call yourself whatever you want," he told Collins.

And just like that, Collins became credited as the first DPP in college football. He oversaw recruiting and helped Tech sign arguably its best class ever.

Meanwhile, Nick Saban was in the process of leaving the Miami Dolphins for Alabama, and one of his top priorities was building an NFL-style personnel department. He believed he could create the biggest impact advantage over other programs in recruiting, so he poured resources into it. He wanted someone in charge who had an understanding of the college game, so he called Collins.

Collins accepted the job, and began putting together a room of student volunteers, graduate assistants and anonymous support staffers that would serve as the machinery in Alabama's larger recruiting operation. They were young and hungry. They worked, quite literally, in darkness: a windowless office that they staffed around the clock in rotating shifts.

They'd send hundreds of blank VHS tapes to high school coaches, cursing when they inevitably came back in the wrong format. Highlights were useless. What they really wanted were entire games, which they'd then splice by a process known as "one'ing and two'ing," and is exactly as mindless as it sounds.

The real intrigue came when evaluating the tape, but even that was formulaic, relying on a predetermined set of critical factors at each position which, taken together, provided every recruit with a grade. And if their grade was good enough, their information was passed up the ladder where coaches would begin the more traditional recruiting process.

The operation would evolve over time and begin to remove some of the guesswork in recruiting, taking what essentially had been an art form and applying processes to it. Instead of leaving assistant coaches to their own devices and their own thoughts on what made a successful football player, the personnel department would follow strict guidelines determined by the head coach.

Collins was by Saban's side every day that first season at Alabama, getting what he called a "doctorate" in the how-to's of coaching and roster management - things like how many players to recruit at a position in a given year, which had to be viewed through the lens of the current roster makeup and anticipating future attrition via the NFL draft, graduation or transfers.

Collins left the following offseason to reunite with O'Leary at UCF, resuming on-field coaching. Twelve years later, he was named head coach at Georgia Tech.

"So I think I was the first and the second director of player personnel," Collins said. "And I take a lot of pride in it, because I think a lot of people have been able to go on and do some things, and it has become a positive role for college football programs."

In the ever-expanding tree of directors of player personnel, Collins is the only one to become a head coach. But that's not a negative. It shows there's a place for non-coaches to have meaningful careers in college football, where before those opportunities for advancement were limited to the NFL.

When Collins returned to Tech as head coach, one of his first calls was to his old co-worker at Alabama, Suddes, who had gone on to work at Texas, Arizona State and Auburn. Suddes had never been a coach and had no aspirations to be. He was the kid who played "NCAA Football" on dynasty mode, simulating the games so he could get to the fun part of tinkering with the roster. When he played "Madden," he'd trade every player, stockpiling draft picks.

Collins knew that he and Suddes saw the game the same way, that he could trust him to rebuild the roster and help reshape the image of Georgia Tech football. So rather than making him yet another DPP, he switched things up.

Collins chuckled when asked why he landed on the title of general manager for Suddes. It wasn't arbitrary.

"It was intentional," Collins said. "I wanted him to have an overarching reach within the organization."

---

While Collins is Patient Zero in the DPP experiment in college football, he's not the only one who made the position what it is today. His successor, Ed Marynowitz, took it to another level.

Suddes called Marynowitz "one of the godfathers" of the profession, building upon and bringing even more sophistication to the systems Collins started. His work was so well regarded that the Philadelphia Eagles hired him in 2012, later promoting him to VP of player personnel. He's now an agent.

The other so-called godfather is Mark Pantoni.

Around the time Alabama's recruiting operation got going under Collins and Marynowitz, Pantoni was getting his feet wet under coach Urban Meyer at Florida. In the beginning, it was a way of avoiding the mountain of debt awaiting him on the other side of med school interviews and whatever long road awaited after. He was a football fan who loved recruiting, so he figured why not take a year to intern with the team?

He got the job and trekked into the office where he'd send out VHS tapes at 6 every morning, splice film in the afternoon and then ask for even more to do before day's end. He grinded for a year, learning the tricks to the trade, before Meyer hired him full time.

Pantoni never wanted to be a coach, either. He imagined becoming an athletic director, but fell in love with the world of personnel, watching countless hours of film and forming evaluations he'd then pass to the coaching staff.

Meyer empowered him, allowing for disagreements and healthy debates. Meyer had the final say, of course, but Pantoni said Meyer didn't want a yes man. Though Pantoni was hesitant in the beginning to stand up to veteran coordinators Charlie Strong and Steve Addazio, he gained more confidence in his opinions, and they would listen, trusting that he was watching exponentially more film than they ever could.

But it wasn't just the evaluations that Pantoni grew to be in charge of. DPPs are largely responsible for compliance and the recruiting budget, which includes money for coaches' travel and official visits, as well as the use of online recruiting services and databases.

When Meyer retired and popped up again at Ohio State in 2012, he hired Pantoni a second time, and he inherited a department of two.

Now, Pantoni oversees a group of three full-time employees and one full-time intern dedicated solely to personnel, a director of on-campus recruiting and a five-member creative team. That's to say nothing of the hoard of student volunteers.

He and Marynowitz started a personnel symposium three years ago in which about 180 people showed up. The next year, that number ballooned to 300.

While COVID-19 caused them to cancel last year's event, they hope to pick it up again soon.

So much in the sport is changing. Support staffs have grown exponentially, the transfer portal has finally brought free agency to college football and advanced analytics, which have taken off in professional sports but struggled to gain a foothold in college, are beginning to make strides. What's more, the ability for athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness is a game-changer in terms of helping players build their brands. There's no choice but for personnel departments to keep up with demand.

"It's going to continue to evolve and parallel the NFL front office," Pantoni said.

Assistant coaches have to focus on their specific position for advancement, head coaches have to focus on winning immediately in order to keep their jobs, leaving it to DPPs and GMs to manage the long-term picture.

"You're recruiting so many classes of kids; we have 2025 kids we're offering now. There's just so much that goes into it," Suddes said. "The coaches have so much they have to deal with coaching X's and O's, dealing with players on and off the field, and then contacting these recruits. A coaching staff of 10 and the head coach just can't handle it all."

---

The personnel tree grew quickly out of Alabama.

As Saban's recruiting operation kicked into high gear and started raking among the top three classes every year, whispers circulated about what was going on inside that windowless office. The college football world watched as Saban's former assistants became head coaches, and how like clockwork they'd take someone from that office with them. Georgia's Kirby Smart hired Marshall Malchow, Michigan State's Mel Tucker hired Geoff Martzen, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin hired Matt Lindsey, and so on.

Opposing coaches got the bright idea to do the same.

"They were all cherry-picked by teams trying to do what Nick did," Suddes said.

He should know. After six years at Alabama, Mack Brown brought Suddes to Texas. And when Brown later resurfaced at UNC, he hired High, who had worked for Suddes at Auburn, picking up the nickname Billy Spreadsheets.

There's also a lot of cross-pollination that happens. High just so happened to be working at Tennessee at the same time as Thomas. And upon returning to LSU in January, Thomas, who was associate athletic director for football personnel at Texas A&M from 2018 to 2019, was replaced by Malchow.

Thomas is relatively young, only 36 years old, yet he's already excited to see what the next generation is capable of -- that's how quickly this field is growing. There's plenty of room for those without direct connections to Alabama or Florida.

Andy Frank, who went to school at Princeton, gave up a career in engineering and climbed his way up from volunteer to DPP at Vanderbilt and now Penn State. Jordan Sorrells left his job as operations manager at Chick-fil-A to become director of football ops at Furman and is now DPP at Clemson.

When Dabo Swinney spoke to reporters about how Clemson's 2020 class came together, he said, "Jordan Sorrells. You've got to start there."

What's neat, Thomas said, is not just how many more people there are in his business or how they're starting to receive more recognition; it's how they're starting to see their responsibilities expand beyond recruiting.

Serving as GM, Thomas acts as a liaison between the administration and the football program, and he is part of the process identifying candidates for assistant coach and other roles within the organization. LSU keeps expanding its ranks, bringing in a director of scouting, a director of personnel research and a director of recruiting.

Thomas studied NFL front offices a few years ago, leaning on contacts he had with the New York Jets and Houston Texans, and he decided to recreate their advanced scouting departments to suit college football. Their ability to help identify transfers is only one piece of what they do; they also aid in game-planning during the season.

"You think about it, it's strength staff, training staff, nutrition staff, analysts, recruiting staff, personnel staff ... it's a lot of people," Thomas said. "If a head coach doesn't have help with that stuff to carry his message and implement that on a daily basis, it can go sideways really quick."

And therein lies the biggest difference between the GM of the NFL and college. It's simple, really. GMs in college have a lot of authority, but they're essentially serving as the right-hand to the head coach, who has the ultimate authority.

"I work for Coach O," Thomas said. "He doesn't work for me."

That (long)article (that should have been spoilered) talks about DPP (Director of Player Personnel) which Texas already has (Glasscock).  The 'GM' position as described by Nahlin/Ketch would be relatively new to college football and would report to the AD - this article only mentions a couple cuirrently that would have anywhere near the control the 'new' GP position would have.  The DPP would likely report to the GM but the coach would have a significant amount of input/control.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Hiphopopotamos

[Tex Pete 20,350]

39 minutes ago, Foosters said:

We need someone to act as the program's GM? Well, I have just the guy . . . 

Fuck your own face! We haven't even cleaned all the shit off the walls from Mack's last hissy fits. He would destroy the whole department, given the chance.

 

[SydneyCarton 48,090]

1 hour ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Patterson might weasel his way into the chair on an interim basis if Sark is fired but there is zero chance Texas would hire him permanently. 

So who cares? 

I’m not sure what makes you think CDC, who loves fat Gare, wouldn’t jump at the chance to hire him full time. He’s probably jerking off to the idea as we speak and has been all week. 
 

you’re basically hoping Hartzell and Eltife step in there, and I’m not sure that’s the case. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by SydneyCarton

[RGBIII 22,840]

49 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

If it happens, it is happening in spite of Sarkisian's own interests and input. The word has been that there's no way Patterson was going to get that kind of role, but in the last 24 hours it's become matter of fact in offline discussions, so it looks like it's happening. 

Several of us had lunch with a well-known former player and coach recently and he's coached with Patterson. He said "if Gary gets that kind of role, he will do everything he can to become the next HC at Texas." This is where Crystal gets out over his skis and attempts to unlock the possible backdooring of having one of his guys in the chair as HC of football at Texas. 

I'll state right now for this board's record keeping purposes that while I still absolutely believe that Sarkisian is going to be a laughable failure as HC at Texas, I have zero interest in seeing Gary fucking Patterson weasel his way into the chair when Sarkisian is shown the door. God dammit.

Already getting my tshirt guy to make burnt ends sweat towels for this inevitability

44 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Patterson might weasel his way into the chair on an interim basis if Sark is fired but there is zero chance Texas would hire him permanently. 

So who cares? 

...you and I have vastly different definitions of zero chance

[JesusSweatDuck 17,781]

53 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

If it happens, it is happening in spite of Sarkisian's own interests and input. The word has been that there's no way Patterson was going to get that kind of role, but in the last 24 hours it's become matter of fact in offline discussions, so it looks like it's happening. 

Several of us had lunch with a well-known former player and coach recently and he's coached with Patterson. He said "if Gary gets that kind of role, he will do everything he can to become the next HC at Texas." This is where Crystal gets out over his skis and attempts to unlock the possible backdooring of having one of his guys in the chair as HC of football at Texas. 

I'll state right now for this board's record keeping purposes that while I still absolutely believe that Sarkisian is going to be a laughable failure as HC at Texas, I have zero interest in seeing Gary fucking Patterson weasel his way into the chair when Sarkisian is shown the door. God dammit.

I hear Urban is available

[RaysBoomBoomRoom 5,742]

33 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

What are peoples thoughts on Hankton? Idk much about him but UGAs receivers haven’t ever done shit and any recruiting results are skewed by bags. Not my favorite choice. 

UGA fans find him responsible for the fact that they don’t have a game breaker like Waddle or Jameson Williams on the roster. They respect him as a coach and developer. His title is pass game coordinator at UGA(yikes), but by most accounts he’s a good football coach and a pretty good but not elite recruiter although he did land George Pickens who was a 5 star WR. He has solid ties in Florida but more importantly he is a force to be reckoned with in Louisiana. Him and Choice on staff seems like a great deal for recruiting in Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana moving forward. He would be a major influence in Louisiana with Austin being close I think his impact on Louisiana recruiting would be somewhere in between Mickey Joseph and Corey Raymond.

Edited December 29, 2021 by RaysBoomBoomRoom

[DanTheHorn 4,922]

1 minute ago, Js1 said:

This board would have fired Dave Aranda after his 2020 inaugural 2-7 season following Rhule's 11-3 season. 

The main argument by folks here is that we do not need to be a learn on the job program or a risk taking program. We should be getting proven established head coaches that have shown they can win 10+ games on a consistent basis at a P5. When we got Mack I felt we could not get him but I was told I was stupid and we should be able to get coaches like Mack since We're Texas and the other folks were right. So arguments that a coach needs a couple of more seasons to learn how to be a head coach or the Sarkisian argument that we need to see what he can do as a sober mature head coach because we know only what he has been as a young drunk head coach fail. It all goes back to we should not have been in this position in the first place.

 

[Hookem2147 21,217]

3 minutes ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

UGA fans find him responsible for the fact that they don’t have a game breaker like Waddle or Jameson Williams on the roster.

I don't think they want to accept the real reason they don't have a gamebreaking WR

Edited December 29, 2021 by Hookem2147

[closetojumping 62,680]

32 minutes ago, RaysBoomBoomRoom said:

The jury is still out on sark, one year is not enough time to judge anyone I don’t care if we went undefeated this year. A one year referendum on a guy is crazy. Let’s see what he does with a QB this year. He seems reasonable and pragmatic thus far which is a good thing. Coleman being let go is a good data point.

id love to add GP because he could oversee the recruiting department, the S&C and the Defensive game-planning. The guy has been a HC for 20 years and built a program practically by himself. He could help Sark tremendously. He would not be brought in without Sarks approval, that’s just ridiculous and that’s not how CDC operates. Therefore, if he is brought in, that shows that Sark is not insecure and that he can lay his ego aside for the betterment of the team. Another positive data point. I would bet my left nut that GP is not the next HC if Sark is fired. I bet we do whatever it takes to get Shannahan 

I can't figure out if you're just a very literal guy, or just naive, or what. I don't know, maybe you're a performance artist or something and don't have any experience with corporate dynamics and politics. Whatever it is, the premise that Sarkisian would publicly object to the hiring is absurd.

If the stories are true, and none of us are there so it's always a good idea to reserve at least some judgment for things like this being pure bullshit, then there's politicking going on with CDC and Sarkisian and Sarkisian will get "sold" on the move. Privately, he might stew over it and hate it, and bitch about it to someone loyal, but if CDC has vetted this with some of the money (he has, as this stuff is all coming from the DFW booster side), Sarkisian isn't an idiot and he's not going to die on that hill. 

Maybe Sarkisian is fine with it and doesn't think it's a bad thing. Maybe the rumor is complete bullshit. Maybe the deal isn't wrapped and it falls through.

21 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

Marion seems like a guy who’d have a lot of loyalty to the players and not want to ditch them right before a NY6 game. And there’s no major need for him to get here now instead of a week later. Obviously the smoke may still be wrong, but I don’t think it’s crazy at all for him to wait to announce.

What are peoples thoughts on Hankton? Idk much about him but UGAs receivers haven’t ever done shit and any recruiting results are skewed by bags. Not my favorite choice. 

Fan fiction at its most tedious. Do us all a favor and go look at the guy's resume before projecting something like this at the rest of us next time. Marion may be a lot of things, but calling him "loyal" is borderline hilarious.

12 minutes ago, Ghost of Shag said:

You’ve probably already done this elsewhere and I missed it, but could you elaborate on specifically why?

Tell me where to send the $9.95

I've written them from his hire forward on various threads. I thought he was a terrible hire, confirmed shit I didn't want to hear from friends at Bama, then Mike Stoops and keeping Coleman, then 5-7 with a loss to Kansas, 3 indefensible chokes, a lifeless blowout to ISU, and voila, the guy is a shit hire who will fail miserably here. There is nothing in his track record to justify the hire and there is nothing in his history, recent or otherwise, to justify defending what we've witnessed on the field. Along with Howard Schnellenberger, September Wins Steve is the only FBS Head Coach in the last 4 decades to be fired for being drunk on the sidelines.

I could go on and on, but the better thing to do is to simply ask you or anyone else what reason you could have to believe otherwise? If the strategy is hope, that's fine, you're a fan, I get it. I expect Sarkisian to have 4 years at Texas, so I'm not calling for his firing and I would love to see the dude turn things around and start winning titles. He seems nice enough and all. 

11 minutes ago, Js1 said:

This board would have fired Dave Aranda after his 2020 inaugural 2-7 season following Rhule's 11-3 season. 

There is not a single person with any substantial posting history on the recruiting board calling for the firing of Steve Sarkisian. It's a lazy trope from long time board denizens that the minute a coach shows he's human, everyone but themselves is calling for the coach's head. 

1 minute ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

That (long)article (that should have been spoilered) talks about DPP (Director of Player Personnel) which Texas already has (Glasscock).  The 'GM' position as described by Nahlin/Ketch would be relatively new to college football and would report to the AD.  The DPP would likely report to the GM but the coach would have a significant amount of input/control.

Agreed. I don't track how the concept of an actual GM is immediately getting conflated by some people here. Gary Patterson isn't angling for a subordinated recruiting role, guys. Fuck. Think of what a GM does in the pros and there you have it. Also, it seems like a really low chance that they'd frame the role that way to the public.