I took notes as I watched last night's Temple–SMU game and wanted to share.
Temple head coach Matt Rhule having a kid do up downs on the sideline because he celebrated a bit after a 75-yard touchdown was a 3-second spectacle.
SMU's offense didn't look like a trainwreck. Although, they didn't wow me. They popped a couple of nice big plays to prevent the game from getting out of hand. The 45-yard double pass on 2nd-and-4 from midfield was a well timed play call (reminded me of the smart chances Chad Morris took at Clemson).
As bad as SMU's defense is statistically, they have some kids that'll pop you.
As maligned as SMU's offensive personnel is, the quarterback is a player. Matt Davis was a 4-star class of 2012 prospect that originally committed to Texas A&M. He had his pick of Power 5 offers (http://sports.yahoo.com/bwi/football/recruiting/player-Matt-Davis-94383), but ultimately attended junior college.
Temple played like a team on the road that had just lost a very physical game (their first) the week before. Especially in the first half. At halftime Rhule said he challenged his kids, they responded with a 9-play, 75-yard, touchdown drive on their first possession of the third quarter.
The special teams sequence that resulted in SMU's free kick touchdown return (Temple hold in the end zone for a safety) was neat. A defensive stop led to the Mustangs with the ball at their 12, down 40-45 and 4:57 on the clock. However, SMU could only muster 20 yards and turned the ball over on downs. That was the ball game.
On its own, It was impressive that a maligned SMU squad showed a spark and battled to make it a game. Temple started slow but little by little did what a ranked team on the road should against a 1-7 opponent, took control.
I don't consider either of these coaches to be a sure thing at Virginia Tech. (None of the coaches the Hokies have a reasonable chance to land are.) Risk-reward is a delicate balance to manage during a coaching search. However, and this is more than a one-game consideration, at this moment I would be at peace with either Morris or Rhule as the next head coach of the Hokies.
Comments
I would also say that there really is NO way to get a surefire winner. Arkansas hired Bret Bielema away from Wisconsin, when Wiscy was coming off their THIRD straight Rose Bowl trip and 3 Top 10 finishes in 7 years.
Now in year 3 he is 14-19 at Ark, has gone to just one Bowl and is bumbling his way out of a job very quickly.
Any coach that makes his players do up downs on the sideline after celebrating too much is awesome in my book. No player is bigger than the game, act like you've been there before.
I don't agree. Swagger is fun.
Yah I missed that part .. The up and downs that's cool. Did catch the post game interview with temples coach.. He does come off a lil odd but you can tell he loves the game and his players. I think he is a very smart person .. You can almost see the gears turning in his head.. Prob why he seems a lil diff to common folk like me or maybe it was the NyQuil I took trying to kill this death cold I got lol
you got a man cold?
Man Cold
I like Rhule so far.
Yeah me too, and 919 hokie yes I have a "Man Cold" Imagine a cold that was a combination of Corey Moore and Sam Rogers, I think I finally just about got over it now after 3 weeks, had it for 2 weeks felt good for 2 days and then came back for a few days but doing much better now start working out again Monday hopefully.
Glad to hear you are feeling better.
My reaction...they scored 40. Awesome!
...doesn't bother looking at the rest of the score...
Like Rhule a lot, but if he's hired does Bud leave? To me that leaves three real candidates in Justin Fuente, Tom Herman, and Chad Morris. Of those Herman by far looks the best, especially in a side by side comparison to Morris. Fuente would be a great hire as well, because he has proven to be able to win games against better teams. Overall though Herman looks like the man. He's a good recruiter, great offensive mind, young, and would likely keep Bud. His time learning under Meyer will only help him reach that level of elite coaches. Now there's just that buyout to contend with, but either way some school is going to pay it, and I believe that investment will pay off in the long run
Why would Bud stay if a defensive minded coach like Rhule gets hired?
Yeah very doubtful. The more I hear, the more Herman sounds like the beat choice
I think either Herman or Morris. I'm not sold on Fuente, he has an NFL caliber quarterback and is recruiting isn't as good as Morris or Herman
Rhule has coached on both sides of the ball, I consider him more of an offensive guy now.
Temple's offense ranks 102 in the country and that number would be a lot higher had they not just played SMU.
Latest idea, the decision has been made. Hire Mike Leach. He is going to bring the air raid to Blacksburg with a Bud Foster defense.
Not a fan of air raid. When is the last time you saw an air raid offense win a national championship?
I'm not a fan of Mike Leach.
I'm not sold yet on Morris yet, as an offensive coordinator, yes. But as a head coach? I wonder how his team would be had June Jones not left the cupboard bare?
Worth considering here: Rhule has a very experienced team in his system for 30+ games. Morris has a very young team, in his system for 8 games.
I find these two guys to be almost equal with a slight edge to Morris for his (limited) past interactions with bud, Shane and vt. Both guys have good mid Atlantic recruiting connections. I think of either of these guys as solid "worst case scenario" choices.
I would put Richt, Herman, Fuente and Smart ahead of them, but both would work for me.
I'm not going to rehash my opinions on Richt for the umpteenth time here...but what I will say is this:
I generally agree with your thoughts on Rhule and Morris (except for the "worst case scenario" part). I would put Fuente and Herman ahead of those two guys but I don't agree with you on Smart or Richt. If anything, Richt and Smart would be my "worst case scenario" guys. I would put Morris and Rhule (in that order) ahead of Richt and Smart (also in that order). You know my views on Richt. Smart, in my opinion, has Muschamp written all over him. He has recruited well at Alabama but how much of that is Smart and how much of that is Alabama? His defenses have been stellar but, again, how much of that is coaching and how much of that is talent? I also have to believe that Saban has his hands in the defense at least a little bit. I would like to see Smart get at least a year of HC experience before being sold on him as a HC. VT obviously doesn't have the luxury of waiting for Smart to land a job as a HC somewehre before making a hire so that's why he would be at the bottom of my list.
It's the journey, as well as the destination.
Part of the fun is getting there.
Either of these two coaches would be pretty good.