Ole Miss looking for a coach

[Frozen Sooner]

Apparently the Right Reverend Nutt is out of work. Both Kevin Sumlin and Brent Venables are people Ole Miss fans are talking about.

[badger]

Apparently the Right Reverend Nutt is out of work. Both Kevin Sumlin and Brent Venables are people Ole Miss fans are talking about.

Every melting down fanbase I've memorialized in that thread has a common denominator: They want Mike Leach. Why? Because "even if we keep losing, we will at least be fun to watch."

:D

[delhalew]

Every melting down fanbase I've memorialized in that thread has a common denominator: They want Mike Leach. Why? Because "even if we keep losing, we will at least be fun to watch."

:D

That plus the most entertaining press conferences in the nation. Leach is a win.

[marfacowboy]

They'll never hire someone like Venables. They'll be looking for someone that knows the SEC or has experience/ties to the SEC in some way.

[OUNASH]

Leach's offense woud play havoc on the SEC defenses. I think it would be a great hire for Ole Miss. But, I dont think anyone touches him until the law suits have been settled.

[badger]

They'll never hire someone like Venables. They'll be looking for someone that knows the SEC or has experience/ties to the SEC in some way.

Guess which conference the school he coaches at was before Stoops hired him :D

But, there was something that might make S-E-C and NFL diehards raise their eyebrows a little: Leach's (SEC school!) quarterback was none other than NFL bust Tim Couch. Passing for 4600+ yards and 38 touchdowns was probably what led to the Browns taking him #1 overall... but anyone that has seen Mikey offenses since probably wonder why he didn't get at least 5,000 and 50 touchdowns :)

[NOVSooner]

They won't go the Venables route. they want experience and frankly they want a name. their fanbase is fed up but they for some reason feel they should be a national power year in and year out so they want a household name. word is they are forming a search committee consisting of Archie Manning and FedEx CEO as the chairs of the committee....money isn't appearing to be an object b/c they want to be "relevant" again

[badger]

The FedEx guy is a Memphis guy though... right?

Ole Miss is probably concerned with being left behind in the newly fangled SEC-like thing that is forming around them. Being 12th every year looks good when there's 14 teams... but what if you drop from 12th for 14th by doing nothing but watch everything around you change?

[JohnnyMack]

They should hire Kirby Smart.

[NOVSooner]

The FedEx guy is a Memphis guy though... right?


He lives in Memphis but graduated from ole miss. (Edit: he does have a master's from Memphis. Undergrad from ole miss.)

And Kirby Smart will be a target that is being discussed. the odd thing too though is that they are saying that the AD will resign as well but one report is saying he (the AD) will stay on for 12 more months then be replaced. who wants to walk in to that mess!

[Sooners78]

Leach would be great. He wouldn't win any SEC West titles in Oxford, but he would pull at least one huge upset every year. It would make the boring SEC much more exciting.

[PalmBeachSooner]

At least Ol' Miss will have aTm and Mizzou to kick aroun next year.

[SoonerTerry]

dateline 11/7/11

Old Miss Cuts Nutt

[marfacowboy]

Fred Smith was born in Mississippi, but I don't believe he ever attended Ole Miss. He's a Yale grad. Memphis is about 80 miles north of Memphis, and Memphis is one of its largest alumni areas. He went to high school in Memphis, as well.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Nutt just couldn't win without dick in his backfield and Johnson out wide

[NormanPride]

Nutt without dick is a terrible thing.

[Soonerfan88]

the odd thing too though is that they are saying that the AD will resign as well but one report is saying he (the AD) will stay on for 12 more months then be replaced. who wants to walk in to that mess!

That would be a mistake. The new AD would never truly feel like the coach was 'his guy' and be quick to get rid of him unless it was a true home run hire. We've already seen this play out too many times.

[soonercoop1]

BV would make a great HC...would hate to lose him...

[Neath a Western Sky]

Ole Miss has fielded many a good team. Most of the decade of the 2000s they were a Top 10 or at least Top 15 team. 2003 they played LSU tougher than we did, losing by 3, and were one play from winning at the end. Their teams that spanked LSU and won consecutive Cotton Bowls over the excellent 2008 Tech team and OSU the next year would have been a load to beat. With money, generally winning tradition, great recruiting ground, and a great conference and division, they may not get a Nick Saban, but they should get someone good.

[oumartin]

I'd like to throw out a name for every head coaching job that cums up

[badger]

I wonder if Ole Miss will ever consistently be able to win. Probably not. It's ranked as the absolute worst state in the country in many categories, from health to education (Oklahoma thanks you for making us 49 in many of those categories you rank 50th... but we have college football to fall back on!) and on top of that, has a lot of trouble escaping the stereotype of being more backwards and more racist that other states. I'm not saying those stereotypes are accurate, but when your fans can't stop chanting "The South will rise again" and were among the last southern universities to take desperate measures to stop fans from waving the Confederate flag... that is going to impact recruiting. Not just athletes, not just football players, recruiting everyone. Students, coaches, professors, donors, fans, you name it, people will go "WTF is up with that old guy mascot you guys recently dumped?"

It might make some fans howl, but if they are really desperate to win when a Manning isn't under center, they are going to have to take very drastic steps:

1- Rebranding. Call yourselves "The University of Mississippi." No more of this "Ole Miss" stuff. You are a university, so call yourselves one! And your state is Mississippi, so use that name!

2- Find your most prominent, successful alumni and cling to them. Get them in your advertising campaigns, get their faces out there on how wonderful the UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI is and how great the state of MISSISSIPPI is.

3- Defy the stereotypes. Use every opportunity possible to out-nice even those d@mn Nebraskans. You are a welcoming, hospitable, respectable and educated state and nobody is going to suggest otherwise when they meet you! You are proud to be from the state of MISSISSIPPI and the UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.

When national perception changes, THEN these guys might actually start winning in football. Right now, big mess. Should call themselves Ole Mess, heh.

[BigJerm7]

It's not the FedEx CEO Fred Smith in the search, it's FedEx executive Vice President Mike Glenn. But, he is a native of Memphis, and has a bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi and his master’s degree from the University of Memphis.

I thought he had a son that played QB at Memphis, but I couldn't find anything.