College FB Coaches 'Hot Seat' Ratings

JonDMiller

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
Dennis Dodd of CBS posted his annual 'Hot Seat Ratings' on Thursday at this link.

I don't know what 'formula' he uses and I can't say I am the world's biggest Dodd fan, after his Rhadbo witch hunt and lack of a follow up column that would have been the fair and right thing to do...but I digress.

While I am not big on the hot seat stuff (though some are), the thing I found interesting from Dodd's data was the number of years each coach on the list has been at their present job.

He listed all 120 head coaches, giving each coach the upcoming season as a year of service, which put's Kirk Ferentz in his 13th year at Iowa.

I believe that makes him the second longest tenured Iowa coach in history behind Hayden Fry, and it also puts him right behind Joe Paterno as it relates to the longest tenured coach at a Big Ten school.

However, when I scanned the list of of 120 coaches, I counted just 17 of the 120 having been at their school for ten or more years, or just 14%.

How many have been at their jobs for more than Ferentz has been at Iowa? Just seven, or just 5.8%.

That is pretty amazing, and speaks to how continuity has played a big part of the Iowa football success story...since Hayden Fry took over the program in 1979, Iowa has had just two coaches. Perhaps only Penn State can lay such a claim, as Joe Paterno is going into his 46th year as their head coach.

But then chew on this factoid: The average years of service for the 10 (assistant) position and strength and conditioning coaches that report directly to Ferentz is 10 years. I found that on Iowa's website, and I am guessing it's one year old...so we might be talking about 11 years as of right now...

I would be willing to wager no one outside of Penn State could touch that average...and I wonder if even they could.
 
knowing Dodd, i highly doubt there is a formula. he just doesn't seem the type to put that much work/thought into something. he's more of a reactionary writer.
 
JonDMiller said:
Dennis Dodd of CBS posted his annual 'Hot Seat Ratings' on Thursday at this link.

That is pretty amazing, and speaks to how continuity has played a big part of the Iowa football success story...since Hayden Fry took over the program in 1979, Iowa has had just two coaches. Perhaps only Penn State can lay such a claim, as Joe Paterno is going into his 46th year as their head coach.

But then chew on this factoid: The average years of service for the 10 (assistant) position and strength and conditioning coaches that report directly to Ferentz is 10 years. I found that on Iowa's website, and I am guessing it's one year old...so we might be talking about 11 years as of right now...

I would be willing to wager no one outside of Penn State could touch that average...and I wonder if even they could.
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Or maybe Ferentz's success has led to the continuity of the program, its kind of a chicken and an egg thing. If he didn't have some success, I don't think that he would have had more than 4 or 5 years (thats being generous) to lead your program.

They build on each other, success leads to continuity, continuity leads to success.

Now if we are talking about assistant coaches, that is a different thing. Back when Mr. Davis was coaching at DoNU, we rarely had assistants leave. Now, it is seen as a good job done by the head coach if his assistants are wanted elsewhere.
 
Bielema at 0.0?

Fitzgerald deserves a 0.0...but...wish they'd win a bowl game this century sometime.
 
hawkeyescott said:
Wisconsin could go 0-12 and Biels would still be back next year.
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A couple of years ago Bielema was feeling some heat. Obviously that is no longer the case, but if he had a couple of bad years Badger fans would start squawking no doubt. Unfortunately I don't see that happening.
 
bud2380 said:
A couple of years ago Bielema was feeling some heat. Obviously that is no longer the case, but if he had a couple of bad years Badger fans would start squawking no doubt. Unfortunately I don't see that happening.
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I agree, but Dodd is ranking the coaches and how much heat they are feeling going into this year and he is feeling no heat at all therefore the 0.0, in a couple of years that could change though.
 
JonDMiller said:
Dennis Dodd of CBS posted his annual 'Hot Seat Ratings' on Thursday at this link.

I don't know what 'formula' he uses and I can't say I am the world's biggest Dodd fan, after his Rhadbo witch hunt and lack of a follow up column that would have been the fair and right thing to do...but I digress.

While I am not big on the hot seat stuff (though some are), the thing I found interesting from Dodd's data was the number of years each coach on the list has been at their present job.

He listed all 120 head coaches, giving each coach the upcoming season as a year of service, which put's Kirk Ferentz in his 13th year at Iowa.

I believe that makes him the second longest tenured Iowa coach in history behind Hayden Fry, and it also puts him right behind Joe Paterno as it relates to the longest tenured coach at a Big Ten school.

However, when I scanned the list of of 120 coaches, I counted just 17 of the 120 having been at their school for ten or more years, or just 14%.

How many have been at their jobs for more than Ferentz has been at Iowa? Just seven, or just 5.8%.

That is pretty amazing, and speaks to how continuity has played a big part of the Iowa football success story...since Hayden Fry took over the program in 1979, Iowa has had just two coaches. Perhaps only Penn State can lay such a claim, as Joe Paterno is going into his 46th year as their head coach.

But then chew on this factoid: The average years of service for the 10 (assistant) position and strength and conditioning coaches that report directly to Ferentz is 10 years. I found that on Iowa's website, and I am guessing it's one year old...so we might be talking about 11 years as of right now...

I would be willing to wager no one outside of Penn State could touch that average...and I wonder if even they could.
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Yes, it is very Steeler like.:D
 
I just took a glimpse at the link Jon posted, skimmed through it so I am not sure exactly how the criteria was set.

Some quick thoughts:

Mark Richt seems about right if not a little on the low side.

Mike Sherman seems low considering he needs a big year or he is more than likely going to get fired.

The Zooker's rating is about right seems like he will do just enough to keep his job.
 
The article does not say HOW these numbers were derived or did Dodd just pick these numbers out of his hat? To give Ferentz a 0.5? How was that determined? There is no way Ferentz is fired at Iowa this year. They just gave him another extension didn't they? Unless Dodd tells us how these numbers were derived, then any one of us could write a similar article and throw numbers out and be just as valid.

For example, how could Locksley at New Mexico possibly NOT have a 5 rating. He would have been fired last year if New Mexico did not have financial problems. Most New Mexico fans hate Locksley and want him gone as soon as possible. He will have to win 5 or 6 games this year NOT to be fired and there is no way that NM is going win 5 or 6 games. The University wanted the booster club to pay for the buyout and even though most boosters wanted him fired, they wanted to use the money to help other organizations. After giving Alford a big raise and the rest of the university cutting programs or cutting back drastically, the University knew it would be a nightmare to buy out Locksley and then hire another coach.

Saying that, I can guarantee you that if he only wins one or two games THIS year, he is gone and he might not even make the entire year if he doesn't get off to a decent start. Teams rolled up numbers on New Mexico last year and attendance has really dropped and that is really bad for New Mexico considering they can only get about 25,000 to 30,000 tops even for a good game. People couldn't give away tickets last year. There were games last year where the attendance was UNDER 20,000 fans. BB and football pay for programs there and having a football program average 20,000 fans or less is not going to cut it. Plus they just renovated the Pit for Stevie and he consistently wants more and more (recruiting money and so forth) not less.
 
Sirhouseman said:
how the heck is Joe paternal a 2?? pretty sure his job is safe.
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There are a lot of people who think that he should go. That he is too old and that the game has passed him by.

Mike Sherman seems low considering he needs a big year or he is more than likely going to get fired.
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After Taneyhill started at QB, his offense really worked pretty well. A&M finished strong, and many think that they will be a top 15 team this year. Unless they collapse this year, his job will be safe.
 
74Hunter said:
There are a lot of people who think that he should go. That he is too old and that the game has passed him by.


After Taneyhill started at QB, his offense really worked pretty well. A&M finished strong, and many think that they will be a top 15 team this year. Unless they collapse this year, his job will be safe.
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Agree on both counts. This rating system has an obvious flaw; there are first year head coaches with +0.0 ratings. There is virtually no chance Edsell gets fired after his first year at Maryland nor will any other first years (OSU's situation being "special".)

The only 5, Paul Wulff is kind of a joke. He has no hope at Wazzou and them keeping him for last year made no sense.
 
Nice info, John. One of my favorite things about Iowa's program is that there's so little turnover among the coaches. That's got to be a great recruiting tool. Really stresses the family atmosphere pitch.
 
What isn't important is what some uninformed-fan-base source has to say on the subject.

What drives Ferentz's popularity among fans? It doesn't seem to be a winning team. Last year's team didn't perform to expectations, yet fans' zeal for Ferentz hasn't wained. Instead, fans shift blame to other areas.

If Ferentz suggested his defensive coordinator retire - even more so, without also suggesting his offensive coordinator retire, Ferentz's popularity among fans would wain.

What doesn't make Ferentz popular among fans is keeping his entire coaching staff intact.

I don't get it. What does having a family atmosphere have to do with winning?
 
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