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What would you guys think of Mike Nolan at CU?

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
He has been an NFL guy for a long time as a head coach and mostly as a defensive coordinator. And since he has coached in Denver (twice) as well as San Fran, Baltimore, Washington DC, New York (Jets & Giants) and Miami... he is known from coast to coast. From a college standpoint, it's been since 1986 but he coached in 3 of our important recruiting states at LSU, Rice and Stanford.

He's currently 51 years old and working as a defensive coordinator for the Dolphins. He's known as one of the gurus of the 34 defense (which CU runs a version of and has recruited to). His coaching tree ties into, among others, Brian Billick, Al Groh, and particularly Dan Reeves. On a personal level, he's a devout catholic, has 4 kids, and is known as a very strong family man.

Thoughts on Nolan as our next head coach?
 
I would take him for sure. But could we get him? He may have been out of the college game for a while, but he should know plenty of people to bring in as good assistants to help on the recruiting front.
 
He seems like an uptight control freak to me. Don't know if that would go over well in college, let alone Boulder.
 
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/26/1647998/nolans-defensive-philosophy-gets.html

Really good article on Nolan after the Dolphins hired him. Remember, he took a Broncos defense that was ranked #29 in the NFL (32 teams) and had 4-3 personnel, switched it to a 3-4 for 2009, and coached them to the league's #7 ranking. The guy is an amazing defensive coordinator.


This is the exact kind of coach I'd like us to look at, smart, hard nosed, tough, defensive minded. It may be a while before CU is back but there is no reason we can't turn our defense into a hard hitting no non-sense bunch and make Folsom hell to play in. We've gotten way too soft and way to Fancy in the hawk years.
 
This is the exact kind of coach I'd like us to look at, smart, hard nosed, tough, defensive minded. It may be a while before CU is back but there is no reason we can't turn our defense into a hard hitting no non-sense bunch and make Folsom hell to play in. We've gotten way too soft and way to Fancy in the hawk years.


I agree with that 100%. Offense may sell tickets but defense wins championships.

I don't have any idea what Nolan's interest is in the college game, but I'd certainly give him a call to find out.

Unfortunately, as with ANY coach currently working in the NFL - CU won't be able to bring them to Boulder until the NFL season ends - and the NFL season runs to January 2, 2011!!!
 
200px-Mike_Nolan_in_Afghanistan_1_hrs_080624-N-3377N-001_crop.jpg


Hi Mike :wave:
 

But he was a rarity as far as a predominantly NFL coach making the move to college. And he was a defensive coordinator at NC State, although that was a while back. My point was more so that he was an NFL coach without very much college coaching experience.
 
He's a great coach, but I bet he'd jump back into the NFL the first chance he gets. I say no.

This would be my main concern, and also the question would be why would he leave a NFL coordinator position to come to college? He's got a much better chance at getting back to the HC job as a NFL coordinator than he would as a college HC, IMO.
 
For me, it's about two things - what kind of assistants can he bring in, and how good of a recruiter is he? The NFL experience should help with recruits, but only if he has the kind of personality that lends itself to convincing 17 and 18 year old kids that they should make come to CU. His experience is a plus, particularly his west coast connections.

I'd support the hire. I'm not worried about a guy leaving to go back to the NFL. If he's that good, it means he's gotten us back to where we all want to be. At that point, we're in a much better position to hire a more permanent replacement, perhaps somebody who would already be on the staff.
 
This would be my main concern, and also the question would be why would he leave a NFL coordinator position to come to college? He's got a much better chance at getting back to the HC job as a NFL coordinator than he would as a college HC, IMO.

Because HC>DC? He would likely double his pay as a college head coach.
 
He's an NFL Defensive Coordinator. That trumps college coordinator experience, IMO.

Sometimes. Offenses in the pros are pretty vanilla. Not a lot of option. QBs don't run. The formations are pretty standard. It's all about execution in the NFL. All the athletes are at the top of the game. An NFL DC needs to work on things like film study, scouting his opponents offensive tendencies, getting cues from formations, etc. A college DC needs to defend the spread, the pistol, the option, the WCO, etc.
 
For me, it's about two things - what kind of assistants can he bring in, and how good of a recruiter is he? The NFL experience should help with recruits, but only if he has the kind of personality that lends itself to convincing 17 and 18 year old kids that they should make come to CU. His experience is a plus, particularly his west coast connections.

I'd support the hire. I'm not worried about a guy leaving to go back to the NFL. If he's that good, it means he's gotten us back to where we all want to be. At that point, we're in a much better position to hire a more permanent replacement, perhaps somebody who would already be on the staff.


There's no where to go but up. :lol:
 
Notice I didn't say "He'd be an improvement over what we've got now". I'd take a staff of cigar guys with bushy mustaches over what we've got now.

You want a staff of howard schnellenberger clones? :lol:
 
I'd go for Nolan in a heartbeat. Not wanting a coach because he might eventually want to go elsewhere is just dumb, if that's your only reason. It's like saying "I don't want to date a hot chick, cuz I'd be too worried about other guys trying to steal her from me." Classic loser's mentality.

If you're worried about the NFL or another school stealing our coach, then I guess our current coach is the perfect one for you.
 
It's all about execution in the NFL. An NFL DC needs to work on things like film study, scouting his opponents offensive tendencies, getting cues from formations, etc.
You mean .......






the little things? :scared2:
 
I'd go for Nolan in a heartbeat. Not wanting a coach because he might eventually want to go elsewhere is just dumb, if that's your only reason. It's like saying "I don't want to date a hot chick, cuz I'd be too worried about other guys trying to steal her from me." Classic loser's mentality.

If you're worried about the NFL or another school stealing our coach, then I guess our current coach is the perfect one for you.
I just see him showing CU no loyalty. I certainly don't want to go through every offseason worrying about where our HC will end up at. I think it's a valid argument.

Things like that can hurt recruiting. You don't think other recruiters will be telling our recruits that he's not going to be there in two years. Why commit to a coach who doesn't show you the same kind of commitment?
 
Seeking a coach that would show CU some kind of commitment is probably a part of the hiring process. I don't see how that's dumb.
 
I just see him showing CU no loyalty. I certainly don't want to go through every offseason worrying about where our HC will end up at. I think it's a valid argument.

Things like that can hurt recruiting. You don't think other recruiters will be telling our recruits that he's not going to be there in two years. Why commit to a coach who doesn't show you the same kind of commitment?

Harbaugh will show Stanford no loyalty and they know it, seems to be working out OK for them.
 
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