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Jim McElwain bio

Lt.Col.FrankSlade said:
So by the end of the year he'll have 3 years of coordinator experience at a BCS school.

Meh. Doesn't excite me.
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Buffnik said:
If you don't count the 3 years as ST Coordinator at Michigan State.
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SnowBuff said:
****ing Montana State? RUN SCARED.
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You know what Mac's coaching experience was before the Univ of Michigan? High School. Did you that Urban Meyer NEVER held a coordinator job. People here want to hire EB and he has no HC or Coordinator experience.

Were splitting hairs here folks.


http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=650912

http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/meyer_urban00.html
 
MiamiBuffs said:
I would submit to you all that McElwain would be an upgrade from our current situation.
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Based on what? Your opinion?

McElwain might be a great hire - he just doesn't exactly get my juices flowing, and I question how the limited donorship that is the University of Colorado fan base would respond to him after the last five (5) years).
 
As we found out with Hawkins, the guy everyone expects to do well doesn't always turn out. Most programs have had at least a couple of coaches that they expected to be great who turned out to be the wrong guy and it can happen for a lot of reasons, there are no guarantees.

That all said this guy deserves a look. He has coordinator experience at one of the best programs in the country. From all appearances he truly does have a lot of authority, not just a coordinator in name while the HC or someone else actually runs the show. Alabama's offense very clearly has its act together, they go out with an identity and do what they do very well, not a lot of mistakes or stupid penalties, not a lot of trying lots of different things in the middle of the year.

He has big time recruiting experience as well and has been up close and personal to see how the public relations end of things is done, Bama is as high profile and high attention as any program in the country. I also like his background in special teams since CU has so much work to do in that area just to get to a level worthy of being called pathetic.

My concerns are three fold. One is his commitment to CU if he comes, does he stay or move on to greener pastures. He hasn't been highly stable so far in his career but lots of assistants are that way. Secondly can he get good people as assistants in the areas he is weak, he has no experience on the defensive side of the ball. There aren't a lot of really good assistants who get lots of years to develop before being called for HC jobs now, frequently that human relations/management aspect isn't as developed as we would like to see. Thirdly, working with the resources at a program like Alabama or Texas or the other huge money programs is different than working with a program like CU that is a big time revenue program but significantly below the top flight of schools in money, can he adjust and succeed on a more limited budget.
 
So he has an offense that does OK with pretty much all 5 stars. Christensen and Malzahn are 1/2 after Mac in my book.
 
Nor Cal Buff said:
So he has an offense that does OK with pretty much all 5 stars. Christensen and Malzahn are 1/2 after Mac in my book.
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Mike Bohn emailed me yesterday and I beleive from the email that he feels the same pain as we do and is very unhappy. That being said, I told him that I had heard rumours on candidates and that I liked all of them, but was concerned what kind of staff they would be able to bring here versus Mac and his mutitude of coaching contacts and associations.
 
Lt.Col.FrankSlade said:
Based on what? Your opinion?

McElwain might be a great hire - he just doesn't exactly get my juices flowing, and I question how the limited donorship that is the University of Colorado fan base would respond to him after the last five (5) years).
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Based on the fact that, given how awful our current coach is, there's a decent chance he (or anyone for that matter) could probably win at least 1 more game a year. After that, I got nothing, other than the fact that Mac was a somewhat obscure coach when we hired him. Few today would sign on with that decision save for the fact that CU was coming the equally dismal Chuck Fairbanks era.

I want change and I don't care who it is because I am no expert on selecting candidates and therefore someone else will do it for me. I'm open to all options including Husker affiliated options. I'd point out that, just like in the real world, well packaged prospective employees still have a high failure rate. As I understand it usually takes 3-4 tries to find someone that fits and works.
 
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MiamiBuffs said:
Based on the fact that, given how awful our current coach is, there's a decent chance he could win at least 1 more game. After that, I got nothing. I want change and I don't care who it is because I am no expert on selecting candidates and therefore someone else will do it for me. I'm open to all options including Husker affiliated options. I'd point out that, just like in the real world, well packaged prospective employees still have a high failure rate. As I understand it usually takes 3-4 tries to find someone that fits and works.
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LOL. Fair enough!

McCartney could come back and the Buffs might still go 3-9. There are certainly no guarantees in college football.
 
who would MAC actually bring in as assistants? most of those guys went on to be head coaches already.
 
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Originally Posted by Lt.Col.FrankSlade
Jon Embree
Eric Bienemy
Mike Hankwitz
Koy Detmer

These are some of the names that have been bantered around for various coaching positions.
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If those are the types of assistant coaches he brings along, I can definitely get on the Mac for head coach bandwagon.
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^^ +1
 
I can see Bienemy coming as an OC/ assistant head coach job, which would be awesome, Detmer as the QB coach, keep Prince, Ambrose and Cabrel, Hankwitz would be awesome

what role do you see for Embree? what about the trenches, we need a damn good o-line coach.
 
tante said:
I can see Bienemy coming as an OC/ assistant head coach job, which would be awesome, Detmer as the QB coach, keep Prince, Ambrose and Cabrel, Hankwitz would be awesome

what role do you see for Embree? what about the trenches, we need a damn good o-line coach.
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I have no idea. Those are just names I have heard. There has been speculation of Embree - OC/Passing game and Bienemy - OC/Running game. At this point it is all really pie in the sky, and absolutely nothing more.

#1 - HaLkins is still CU's coach
#2 - No idea if McCartney is remotely interested, even if a vacancy arose
#3 - No idea what coaches are interested. Bienemy and Embree are both coaching in the NFL right now, so they wouldn't be available to coach until 01/02/2011 at the earliest. Tom McCartney is The Legend's son. I have to imagine he'd be interested if his dad was willing. Koy Detmer is allegedly assisting with some high school coaching in Texas (San Antonio area). Some rumors that if Embree had been hired back a few years ago (when D2Dan was hired) that Steve Marshall was going to come back to CU. (Marshall was OL coach in early 2000's)

So at this point it is really all just wishful thinking. Sky is the limit. I think we could probably draw names randomly from a hat and we would have pretty much as good of a chance of picking the actual coaching staff for 2011.
 
This guy is bad news, folks. Alabama runs a pro-style offense. The only way that works in college is if you have 5-star horses running it, a la USC, Alabama, Michigan under Carr. Because of this, its no wonder that Speedy only averages 2 ypc.

The spread (and before that the option) uses schemes to neutralize some athletic disadvantages a team may have. That's what we need to adopt.
 
Lt.Col.FrankSlade said:
No, I don't either. But I have heard multiple times that Hawkins has commented on how hard the CU job is, and how he was not prepared for all that he had to do at Colorado. I think that is a unique problem for CU, which has to be addressed. CU is a tough job, beyond the football field. The fans are very demanding but very fickle, the University doesn't completely support the football program, the City/State certainly don't support the football program, it isn't the "big dog" in it's own back yard (Broncos) but yet the fans (and to some extent the University) expect it to be.

I think that any coach who has no ties to the football program is going to spend some time saying "wtf is up with that!" when he arrives at CU.
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This is exaclty why I would prefer Dave Shaw over McElwain

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/shaw_david00.html

He has a very good resume, has proven to be a very effective OC that adjusts to his talent. Knows the Pac 12. And comes from a school that has all of the attributes that you list above....he knows the drill.

EDIT: That said, I would prefer the Mac and EB and/or Embree combo
 
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abso freaking lutly on bringing back coach hank on the D. can anyone name a better DC CU has had in the last 20 years? honestly, i cant think of any?
 
4DemBuffs said:
abso freaking lutly on bringing back coach hank on the D. can anyone name a better DC CU has had in the last 20 years? honestly, i cant think of any?
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Hawkins first mistake was not keeping Hankwitz on as DC. Hank wanted to stay and Hawk insisted on Ron Collins.
 
This circle jerk is quite impressive. Im quite amazed that Mitch Berger has not been mentioned for special teams coach. I think he might have tackled a total of 3 people in his entire career.
 
I think McElwain is gradually becoming my top choice. I think he could be a good hire and he I'm sure he would welcome a chance to move back to the West.

I know he is not a slam dunk hire, not sure anyone we hire will be, but keep in mind that he does not get much camera time because he coaches under Saban. I know some Bama fans who think the guy is really personable (think Hawk with actual coaching skills) and they are astounded at McElroy's progress.
 
Buffnik said:
Hawkins first mistake was not keeping Hankwitz on as DC. Hank wanted to stay and Hawk insisted on Ron Collins.
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see, i agree Hank is by far the better (and more proven DC) but i think this logic of "keeping" Hank is misguided. it's not a fair expectation....99% of time an incoming HC does not retain assistants. Cabral is an astronomical anomaly. it doesn't make sense to talk in these terms imo. sure, Hank didn't want to get fired and move again....the guy probably has enough frequent flier miles at UHaul to fly to Venus. and it's Boulder!

the problems with Hawks first (and 6th) staff are these guys had no BCS experience and thought they were "young guns" who were gunna turn the conference on it's ear (instead they have certainly proven to be the worst O staff in the league....and toward the bottom on D).

my dad said it right away...."who are these guys....we need some experience at OC/DC not these #%@&&%R%$@ guys". would have i liked to retain Hank, probably so and hell yeah in retrospect.....but not retaining Hank is something that happens 99% of the time....

edit: the other problem is that it appears we got all the wrong Boise guys. kind of a red flag when the first line coach went back to Boise after Hawk Year One. and that the much-ballyhooed "Boise Playbook" was a bit of a myth.
 
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who was the HC at Mich State when McElwain was asst HC? i can't think back that far....was it the guy from Louisville? so, McE's fate was tied to that guy at some point. can't keep track of Sparty, they are changing coaches and unis all the time. every season they are either "going back" to the Spartan helmet on the headgear or "going back" to the "S". back and forth, back and forth.
 
Playing at the high BCS level is way different than playing in a mid-major conference (or the Big East which is like a mid-major.) The talent is better, the speed is better, the pressure from week to week is higher. Some guys can adjust to the change, some don't do as well (Hawk!) but I would feel a lot better having a HC in charge who is familiar with this level of competition and some coordinators as well.

Bama' not only plays in the SEC but has done very well in it so McElwain is familiar with what it takes to succeed at this level. Can he win at CU as a head coach? I don't know, but I would say that about almost anyone they brought in now. If schools like OU and Texas, with their resources have to go through a few coaches to find someone who can win it shouldn't surprise us if we miss a couple times as well. That said McElwain looks as good as anyone I have heard so far even considering the reservations I listed in my prior post in this thread.
 
Mick Ronson said:
who was the HC at Mich State when McElwain was asst HC? i can't think back that far....was it the guy from Louisville? so, McE's fate was tied to that guy at some point. can't keep track of Sparty, they are changing coaches and unis all the time. every season they are either "going back" to the Spartan helmet on the headgear or "going back" to the "S". back and forth, back and forth.
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John L Smith
 
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