Throwback Thread: COACHING SEARCH: Wednesday, Nov. 25 evening update

By Bruce Feldman Aug 30, 2015 at 1:32a ET

So, with apologies to Urban Meyer, and Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh, and all three of their respective quarterback battles, on Aug. 29, 2015, Bob Stitt owned the college football world.

And it was because of a lot more than a hashtag that was thought up over some beers or a T-shirt.

Stitt, the 51-year-old from Tecumseh, Neb., orchestrated an amazing debut performance in his first game as Montana’s head coach, knocking off No. 1 North Dakota State, a program that has won the last four FCS national titles, 38-35 on Saturday.

Stitt’s Griz were a 14½-point underdog, returning only four starters on offense and relying on a new QB that had thrown all of two passes in his college career. No matter, the Griz rallied from a 35-31 deficit in the game’s final minute, at one point converting a fourth-and-10, before scoring the game-winning touchdown on a fourth-and-goal from the Bison 1-yard-line with two seconds remaining.

Better yet, the legendary Brent Musburger called it on national TV, and it was the only Division I game of the weekend, so the entire college football world was watching. So were many prominent coaches who over the last decade have become part of the Cult of Stitt that also includes college hoops coaches (Va. Tech’s Buzz Williams) and NFL guys (Vikings QB coach Scott Turner even visited Montana to see Stitt and took back some new plays to Minnesota.)

Having known Stitt for a while, I have to say this was one of the cooler stories I’ve seen in college football. On Saturday, the guy, with the help of social media and a starving college football audience, made the leap from cult hero to folk hero.

As I wrote in a feature last year, I first met Stitt at a coaching clinic at Houston. Among the coaches there were Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen, Cal's Sonny *****, TCU's Doug Meacham and UCLA’s Noel Mazzone — many of the top offensive minds in the game. Yet, it was Stitt who seemed to make the biggest impression at the clinic. . . .

Stitt has since proven to be one of the most innovative coaches in the game, whether it was coming up with a twist on the fly sweep; or a variation on a tunnel screen he gave to the A&M staff, which the Aggies used in last year’s season-opening win at South Carolina; or transforming one of the most inept teams in D2 into one of the most prolific. . . .

On Saturday, Stitt’s team, ranked 12th, did to the mighty Bison what his teams had been doing for the past decade-plus at a D-2 engineering school, Colorado School of Mines: going up-tempo, mixing in all sorts of off-balance plays and never taking their foot of the gas — especially not on fourth downs. Stitt’s offense rolled up 544 total yards on 92 plays against a defense that only allowed 280 a game last season. Along the way, Stitt kept defying convention by going for it on fourth down six times, converting four.

(more)

http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/bob-stitt-montana-grizzlies-coach-north-dakota-state-bison-upset-colorado-school-of-mines-082915

Just looked up the Griz football staff, Stitt is listed as the head coach/offensive coordinator. He's in charge in a personal way . . . seems like a good thing to me.

 
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I guess Stitt would bring some of the lucrative Tecumseh, NE market to cheer for us.
I've lived there before, and I think people actually would. Of course, the town has like 1700 people as the local metropolis (it really is), at least outside of Syracuse, which might be bigger.
 
Why? That's the equivalent of an NFL team asking Schefter or Rapaport for ideas.

No, that's the Chiefs asking Paul Allen's opinion on guy, because he knows a crap ton of people in the league that have worked with any given guy and can get inside info on them. He also knows the Chiefs culture and can gauge how a guy would fit in within the organization.

I doubt the Godfather or Heft get any input but it wouldn't be that ridiculous to ask them if they know anything about a guy. For example on Scott Frost, I'm sure Walters could go to any number of Huskers he knows and ask if there's anything they should be concerned with about Frost or any anecdotes about how he operates or if there were ever any concerns about how he acted or treated people.

Contrary to some opinions on here there's more to it than "just getting a WINNER!"
 
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So you think Gary Thompson didn't have input on hires? Pete Taylor basically ran the AD. Sure he was more than just a radio guy for isu but...you would be surprised at the level of input JW has within ISU. I never asked if he would be conducting interviews but it wouldn't surprise me if JP had a conversation or two on his thoughts.
 
So you think Gary Thompson didn't have input on hires? Pete Taylor basically ran the AD. Sure he was more than just a radio guy for isu but...you would be surprised at the level of input JW has within ISU. I never asked if he would be conducting interviews but it wouldn't surprise me if JP had a conversation or two on his thoughts.

Thompson was an All American, plus well respected and connected in the basketball world. Oh, and a donor. JW on the other hand is the local sports guy turned pbp man. Taylor held positions in the AD.
 
No, that's the Chiefs asking Paul Allen's opinion on guy, because he knows a crap ton of people in the league that have worked with any given guy and can get inside info on them. He also knows the Chiefs culture and can gauge how a guy would fit in within the organization.

I doubt the Godfather or Heft get any input but it wouldn't be that ridiculous to ask them if they know anything about a guy. For example on Scott Frost, I'm sure Walters could go to any number of Huskers he knows and ask if there's anything they should be concerned with about Frost or any anecdotes about how he operates or if there were ever any concerns about how he acted or treated people.

Contrary to some opinions on here there's more to it than "just getting a WINNER!"

Isn't it the search company's job to fill those same questions that they would ask someone like Walters? And to find that deep information most places don't have? If not, it sounds like we are wasting a lot of money just to conduct some interviews and pick someone out of the blue.

I like the personal stab with the "WINNERS!" comment, too. Ultimately, who is going to get a job here and not get fired in the future?

That's right: someone who wins games. A winner! Come on, do better. Weak personal attack effort.
 
Thompson was an All American, plus well respected and connected in the basketball world. Oh, and a donor. JW on the other hand is the local sports guy turned pbp man. Taylor held positions in the AD.

^^^Pretty much my response. And Taylor had Bruce "in charge". Someone had to keep the ship upright during that disaster's era.
 
By Bruce Feldman Aug 30, 2015 at 1:32a ET

So, with apologies to Urban Meyer, and Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh, and all three of their respective quarterback battles, on Aug. 29, 2015, Bob Stitt owned the college football world.

And it was because of a lot more than a hashtag that was thought up over some beers or a T-shirt.

Stitt, the 51-year-old from Tecumseh, Neb., orchestrated an amazing debut performance in his first game as Montana’s head coach, knocking off No. 1 North Dakota State, a program that has won the last four FCS national titles, 38-35 on Saturday.

Stitt’s Griz were a 14½-point underdog, returning only four starters on offense and relying on a new QB that had thrown all of two passes in his college career. No matter, the Griz rallied from a 35-31 deficit in the game’s final minute, at one point converting a fourth-and-10, before scoring the game-winning touchdown on a fourth-and-goal from the Bison 1-yard-line with two seconds remaining.

Better yet, the legendary Brent Musburger called it on national TV, and it was the only Division I game of the weekend, so the entire college football world was watching. So were many prominent coaches who over the last decade have become part of the Cult of Stitt that also includes college hoops coaches (Va. Tech’s Buzz Williams) and NFL guys (Vikings QB coach Scott Turner even visited Montana to see Stitt and took back some new plays to Minnesota.)

Having known Stitt for a while, I have to say this was one of the cooler stories I’ve seen in college football. On Saturday, the guy, with the help of social media and a starving college football audience, made the leap from cult hero to folk hero.

As I wrote in a feature last year, I first met Stitt at a coaching clinic at Houston. Among the coaches there were Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen, Cal's Sonny *****, TCU's Doug Meacham and UCLA’s Noel Mazzone — many of the top offensive minds in the game. Yet, it was Stitt who seemed to make the biggest impression at the clinic. . . .

Stitt has since proven to be one of the most innovative coaches in the game, whether it was coming up with a twist on the fly sweep; or a variation on a tunnel screen he gave to the A&M staff, which the Aggies used in last year’s season-opening win at South Carolina; or transforming one of the most inept teams in D2 into one of the most prolific. . . .

On Saturday, Stitt’s team, ranked 12th, did to the mighty Bison what his teams had been doing for the past decade-plus at a D-2 engineering school, Colorado School of Mines: going up-tempo, mixing in all sorts of off-balance plays and never taking their foot of the gas — especially not on fourth downs. Stitt’s offense rolled up 544 total yards on 92 plays against a defense that only allowed 280 a game last season. Along the way, Stitt kept defying convention by going for it on fourth down six times, converting four.

(more)

http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/bob-stitt-montana-grizzlies-coach-north-dakota-state-bison-upset-colorado-school-of-mines-082915

Just looked up the Griz football staff, Stitt is listed as the head coach/offensive coordinator. He's in charge in a personal way . . . seems like a good thing to me.


I'm sold. Iowa State needs an innovator. He'll run whatever offense works best for his personnel. He'll run whatever offense best exploits the opponents' defensive weaknesses. He's from the Midwest and is acquainted with our recruiting limitations. I get the feeling that if he doesn't end up @ ISU, he'll be hugely successful somewhere else while we languish through yet another decade of mediocrity.
 
OK, I can't help it, I've fallen for Bob Stitt in a big way (that is, harummph, in a MANLY way ;-)

I'm issuing a challenge here. Watch his initial press conference at Montana last December and tell me you don't like the man. Seriously. I need to understand if I'm way overboard. Here's the press conference:
http://missoulian.com/sports/colleg...ube_4b4247ec-7866-56c0-a4ce-eac89d0f2e11.html

I am seriously interested in my fellow cyclone compadres' opinions.
 
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OK, I can't help it, I've fallen for Bob Stitt in a big way (that is, harummph, in a MANLY way ;-)

I'm issuing a challenge here. Watch his initial press conference at Montana last December and tell me you don't like the man. Seriously. I need to understand if I'm way overboard. Here's the press conference:
http://missoulian.com/sports/colleg...ube_4b4247ec-7866-56c0-a4ce-eac89d0f2e11.html

I am seriously interested in my fellow cyclone compadres' opinions.

Never, ever make decisions based on press conferences.
 
I'm not opposed to paying a coach. I just hope we get a guy deserving of 3 million plus and not just paying a guy 3 million because we feel we have to

Who says we're going to pay a coach 3 million. Just because other coaches that are really hot out there are getting it doesn't mean some of those we've mentioned are going to get that or are worth that.
 
--- Last but not least, I'm almost positive there is a mystery candidate or two. There always is. Keep that in mind.

--- This has nothing to do with Iowa State but I heard from one source that Tom Herman actually turned down the South Carolina job. There was a rogue report that surfaced on Tuesday stating that Herman had agreed in principle to take that job. He shot it down on Tuesday night and again, I’m now hearing he’s officially
Hey guys. First of all, have a very happy Thanksgiving.

I’ve been working the phones on my way south to see family and have stumbled upon a few nuggets regarding the Iowa State coaching search.

FULL DISCLOSURE: We all know that these things are very fluid. Often times during searches candidates/agents will attempt to use the media and link information so take all of this for what it is – educated speculation.

Here goes.

--- I’m confident that former DIII legend and current Buffalo coach Lance Leipold is a legitimate candidate for the job. In eight seasons at Whitewater, Leipold led that program to six national championships. Buffalo is currently 5-6.

--- One source says there is “pretty much no chance” that Iowa State will hire a youngster like Kendal Briles or Lincoln Riley.

--- The overwhelming theory is that Pollard will opt for a clean-cut former head coach – someone like Steve Prohm but in football.

--- I’m pretty confident that Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo and Georgia Southern coach Willie Fritz will get interviews.

--- I heard an additional rumbling about Bob Stitt today too.

--- One possible candidate that I’ve heard mixed things on is Toledo head coach Matt Campbell. I’m told that he’s very interested in the job but the source said Campbell had not yet been contacted. He’d fit the Pollard profile in my opinion, so it’s very possible that he has been contacted but is simply keeping quiet too.

Personally, I think he'd be a great fit.

--- I’m still of the belief that Ohio State assistant Tony Alford will be in the mix. I like him a lot as well.

--- Another source believes that interviews have already begun.

--- Two guys who are interested in the job but I’m not sure if Iowa State has interest in them are Scott Frost (Oregon offensive coordinator) and Matt Wells (Utah State head coach).

--- To wrap things up, here are the guys I have heard the most about (in order of the noise): Liepold, Fritz, Niumatalolo, Campbell, Alford and Stitt.

--- Last but not least, I'm almost positive there is a mystery candidate or two. There always is. Keep that in mind.

--- This has nothing to do with Iowa State but I heard from one source that Tom Herman actually turned down the South Carolina job. There was a rogue report that surfaced on Tuesday stating that Herman had agreed in principle to take that job. He shot it down on Tuesday night and again, I’m now hearing he’s officially turned it down. I’m hearing that Camp Herman has its eyes on the LSU gig, assuming that Les Miles gets fired.


Bumping this almost 2 years later since I saw Bob Stitt was fired this week.

Bob Stitt - Fired from Montana after going 21-14

Willie Fritz - 9-14 at Tulane

Lance Leipold - 12-23 at buffalo

Ken Niumatalolo - 83-46 at Navy

Scott Frost - 16-7 at UCF

Matt Wells - 34-30 at USU
 
Yea, that last Buffalo to Big XII move worked out well...no thanks.

Not interested in Tony Alford as head coach either. We got to watch Paul make 7 years worth of mistakes learning on the job. Hire someone that has experience running a program. If he fits as a coordinator, great.

Matt Campbell or Bob Stitt are IMO the best options out there. Toledo under Campbell has had RB get 1100+ yards every year. He has been an OL coach for years. Stitt is obviously an offensive genius.

Iowa State can't survive running some up tempo spread system. Our recruiters can't go into Texas convincing spread QBs and WRs to come up to Ames, they'll be the 7th or 8th option at best. ISU can build linemen from the upper midwest, and convince talented RBs in Texas they'll get the rock 25-30 times a game here. Turn ISU into a team that punishes its opponents.
Best take of the whole thread (minus Stitt, who may have worked at ISU)...describes Campbell's tenure here perfectly. I'd say Montgomery punishes any who gets in his way.
 
Anyone ever hear who else we officially kicked the tires on? It's always interesting to hear those stories.

Looks like Frost and Navy Ken were the only ones that really did much.
 
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