Brian Kelly Top Choice for Tennessee?

[johnnyzip84]

The Knoxville News-Sentinel is reporting that Brian Kelly is the top choice to replace Phil Fulmer as the Volunteer HC. My question is this. If this happens, is there ANY chance at all of Mike Thomas reaching upstate to a head coach he previously hired (Lee Adams' favorite HC) and offerring the Cincy job to JD? I realize that he had that opportunity previously (when he hired Kelly) and passed, but perhaps the way the Zips played the Bearcats tough this year may be a feather in JD's cap. Personally, I think it's a BIT of a long shot, but certainly not out of the question. What does everyone else think?

[Ryno aka Menace]

I think there is way to many better choices, like Navy's coach, Ball States coach, and Utah's coach just to name a few

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

Very interesting! I just wonder whether JD, assuming he wins out (I know that's really assuming too much!) and goes to a bowl, and is primed to take the Zips into InfoSumma next season, wouldn't be very tempted to stick it out here. I know that in general the MAC is a stepping stone, but InfoSumma changes things, at least potentially. The core question here is what Akron looks like to coaches right now, knowing that next year the entire Zips football landscape changes dramatically? Is there any reason to assume, starting next year, that the Zips won't have the facilities to completely outshine every other program in the MAC? What will that mean for recruiting? I'd love to be in the mind of a college football coach to know what exactly all of these factors really mean going forward, and more importantly whether they'll attract and/or hold onto coaches. GO ZIPPERS!SeeTeeZip

[zipsbandman]

Hahaha I'd say Cincy is a stepping stone for sure. They can't even hold onto a coach. When you look at their stadium and their football history, they're really not that much higher than a MAC school other than their BCS label.

[zip37]

Well, we all know it ain't OUR guy!

[Lee Adams]

Very interesting! I just wonder whether JD, assuming he wins out (I know that's really assuming too much!) and goes to a bowl, and is primed to take the Zips into InfoSumma next season, wouldn't be very tempted to stick it out here. I know that in general the MAC is a stepping stone, but InfoSumma changes things, at least potentially. The core question here is what Akron looks like to coaches right now, knowing that next year the entire Zips football landscape changes dramatically? Is there any reason to assume, starting next year, that the Zips won't have the facilities to completely outshine every other program in the MAC? What will that mean for recruiting? I'd love to be in the mind of a college football coach to know what exactly all of these factors really mean going forward, and more importantly whether they'll attract and/or hold onto coaches. GO ZIPPERS!SeeTeeZip

good observation... i think brookhart may be concerned that if the Zips mail in the last two games the AD may look hard...somebody on RASOR'S site observed the rather 'subdued' tone of the postgame press conference...shoot if brookhart gets these guys to 7-5 now he at least deserves to open the Info...but 5-7????

[Zipsrifle]

I hate that guy. I just can't imagine leaving your team that you built up (CMU) before their bowl game to take over at a school that isn't going to a bowl. Was it really that urgent to leave a few weeks early??? Apparently it was. Seriously though, I don't think JD is going anywhere. We haven't beaten any solid teams, and the fact that we almost beat Cincy indicates to me that they aren't that good of a team. I think BK is just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Unless things seriously tank for the Zips, JD knows his job here is solid and also knows that nobody is gonna be looking to hire him as we can't beat a quality team. I hope whatever team BK is coaching next year gets waxed all season long!

[johnnyzip84]

I hate that guy. I just can't imagine leaving your team that you built up (CMU) before their bowl game to take over at a school that isn't going to a bowl. Was it really that urgent to leave a few weeks early??? Apparently it was. Seriously though, I don't think JD is going anywhere. We haven't beaten any solid teams, and the fact that we almost beat Cincy indicates to me that they aren't that good of a team. I think BK is just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Unless things seriously tank for the Zips, JD knows his job here is solid and also knows that nobody is gonna be looking to hire him as we can't beat a quality team. I hope whatever team BK is coaching next year gets waxed all season long!

Kelly rubs me the wrong way too. But I don't think he left CMU before the bowl game. In fact, I'm pretty sure he not only was the head coach of CMU when they won the Motor City Bowl that year, he ALSO went on to lead UC to an International Bowl win a few weeks later. This gave him the odd distinction of leading two teams to bowl wins in the same season. This seems pretty fitting for his apparent ego. The SEC East is about as tough as it gets. Perhaps the Peter Principle will kick in, but I'm not sure I'd bet against that arrogant guy.

[Zipsrifle]

I hate that guy. I just can't imagine leaving your team that you built up (CMU) before their bowl game to take over at a school that isn't going to a bowl. Was it really that urgent to leave a few weeks early??? Apparently it was. Seriously though, I don't think JD is going anywhere. We haven't beaten any solid teams, and the fact that we almost beat Cincy indicates to me that they aren't that good of a team. I think BK is just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Unless things seriously tank for the Zips, JD knows his job here is solid and also knows that nobody is gonna be looking to hire him as we can't beat a quality team. I hope whatever team BK is coaching next year gets waxed all season long!

Kelly rubs me the wrong way too. But I don't think he left CMU before the bowl game. In fact, I'm pretty sure he not only was the head coach of CMU when they won the Motor City Bowl that year, he ALSO went on to lead UC to an International Bowl win a few weeks later. This gave him the odd distinction of leading two teams to bowl wins in the same season. This seems pretty fitting for his apparent ego. The SEC East is about as tough as it gets. Perhaps the Peter Principle will kick in, but I'm not sure I'd bet against that arrogant guy.

Well, I guess I wasn't aware of that Cincy went to a bowl that year, but I know he ditched CMU before their bowl. I used to live near Flint, Mi and believe me, I heard all about it! Reagdless, I think that guy is a prick!

[johnnyzip84]

I hate that guy. I just can't imagine leaving your team that you built up (CMU) before their bowl game to take over at a school that isn't going to a bowl. Was it really that urgent to leave a few weeks early??? Apparently it was. Seriously though, I don't think JD is going anywhere. We haven't beaten any solid teams, and the fact that we almost beat Cincy indicates to me that they aren't that good of a team. I think BK is just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Unless things seriously tank for the Zips, JD knows his job here is solid and also knows that nobody is gonna be looking to hire him as we can't beat a quality team. I hope whatever team BK is coaching next year gets waxed all season long!

Kelly rubs me the wrong way too. But I don't think he left CMU before the bowl game. In fact, I'm pretty sure he not only was the head coach of CMU when they won the Motor City Bowl that year, he ALSO went on to lead UC to an International Bowl win a few weeks later. This gave him the odd distinction of leading two teams to bowl wins in the same season. This seems pretty fitting for his apparent ego. The SEC East is about as tough as it gets. Perhaps the Peter Principle will kick in, but I'm not sure I'd bet against that arrogant guy.

Well, I guess I wasn't aware of that Cincy went to a bowl that year, but I know he ditched CMU before their bowl. I used to live near Flint, Mi and believe me, I heard all about it! Reagdless, I think that guy is a prick!

I stand corrected. Kelly did leave CMU prior to the bowl, but he did coach UC to their bowl win.

[72 Roo]

Brian Kelly has always been looking out for Brian Kelly first. If he is the top choice for the UT job I bet he takes it. At CMU he was the highest paid coach in the MAC at near $400,000. UC came calling and offered $850,000 and BK left to start recruiting early. UC has since sweetened BK's contract ($1.1 M I think) but he will go to UT IMHO because of the money and the prestige.JD is nowhere near any list of replacements coaches at UC. He has a mediocre record, his team has not gotten better during the season, his recruiting is undistinguished, he is not experiencing any momentum in his career now and he has developed a rep for not being able to coach defense. In short he's not a hot commodity. I agree with the other poters that there are better candidates at Utah, CMU, Ball State and Navy. For what it's worth, if we weren't strapped for cash I believe JD would be gone at the end of this season. We have three games in which we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory i.e. BG, UC,and Buffalo. That's too many to be coincidence or bad luck. That's a lack of leadership and preparation. I'm not a JD hater, I just haven't seen any evidence that he can do the job. One thing I wouldn't do is give him a long contract extension based on one good year, 2009.The way we are improving the state of athletics at Akron, I feel the program is carrying JD rather than him leading or accelerating its growth. Still .

[akronad]

Yes, we have had 3 victories snatched from us, but what about the 2 games (Cant & EMU) where we snatched victory from defeat. All of that balances out in the end.

[johnnyzip84]

The suggestions of Butch Jones (CMU) and Brady Hoke (Ball St.) make sense to me. But the Navy coach and Utah coach I believe are long shots. In fact, I'll just say that there is no way Kyle Whittingham, a BYU graduate and practicing Mormon, would leave Utah for Cincy. Even from a purely financial standpoint, he would likely consider it to be a sideways move at best and I agree. Just because Cincy is in a BCS conference, doesn't mean the HC job there is better than at Utah. It's pretty obvious that the Mountain West is every bit as good as the Big East, and that isn't likely to change. And I think if you compare Utah's facilities, fan base, growth opportunity to UC's, Utah probably is better and certainly is equal to UC.Navy's coach, Ken Niumatalolo, is a little harder to peg (although interestingly he is also a Mormon). I believe the things going against him are that he only has one year of HC experience. The bigger issue is that he has only been associated with the option offense (so beloved by the academies) during his coaching career. I don't see that as an asset at a school like UC that aspires for the "big time". True, Paul Johnson has worked the offense pretty well with Georgia Tech in a very weak ACC this year, but let's face it you are not likely to win any BCS (or FBS for that matter) conference with this offense, at least not on a consistent basis.

[GJGood]

Brian Kelly has always been looking out for Brian Kelly first. If he is the top choice for the UT job I bet he takes it. At CMU he was the highest paid coach in the MAC at near $400,000. UC came calling and offered $850,000 and BK left to start recruiting early. UC has since sweetened BK's contract ($1.1 M I think) but he will go to UT IMHO because of the money and the prestige.JD is nowhere near any list of replacements coaches at UC. He has a mediocre record, his team has not gotten better during the season, his recruiting is undistinguished, he is not experiencing any momentum in his career now and he has developed a rep for not being able to coach defense. In short he's not a hot commodity. I agree with the other poters that there are better candidates at Utah, CMU, Ball State and Navy. For what it's worth, if we weren't strapped for cash I believe JD would be gone at the end of this season. We have three games in which we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory i.e. BG, UC,and Buffalo. That's too many to be coincidence or bad luck. That's a lack of leadership and preparation. I'm not a JD hater, I just haven't seen any evidence that he can do the job. One thing I wouldn't do is give him a long contract extension based on one good year, 2009.The way we are improving the state of athletics at Akron, I feel the program is carrying JD rather than him leading or accelerating its growth. Still .

I think if JD voluntarily leaves anytime soon it would be to go to a school in a conference like the Mountain West. He is an alum of Colorado State if I am not mistaken. On top of that, his biggest claim to fame right now might be that he was the position coach for Larry Fitzgerald in college. A lot more is made of Fitzgerald out west since he has played his whole NFL career in Arizona. I guess Pitt may be attractive to JD and he to them as well if they were to make a change in the near future.Personally I hope he stays for at least the first two seasons of Infocision for consistency sake as we try to create new traditions and a strong home field advantage.

[TennesseeZippy]

Living in the Knoxville area, Kelly is definitely on the Vols' list. I don't know what to think about the Knoxville News-Sentinel article, however, saying that Kelly is THE leading candidate, however. News is hard to come by about the search because the UT AD (Mike Hamilton) doesn't want anything to leak out in fear of accidentally sabatoging a possible hiring. And, the newspaper in question, the KNS, is the same newspaper that got scooped by other internet sites and newspapers about Fulmer's dismissal even though it's the hometown newspaper. Other places broke the story of Fulmer's dismissal, but the KNS didn't even report it on their site until several hours after the fact. The journalists at the KNS are lazy, unprofessional, and MANY times inaccurate. Being a UT fan, I kind of like Kelly as a candidate, because he's won wherever he's been, and he's won big. Having someone with a little cockiness as a HC would be in this case a welcome change from Fulmer's conservativeness. And this is coming from someone who respects Fulmer and has supported him over the years. It's just time for a change in Knoxville.If JD leaves or not, Akron should be fine. I think Infocision will be the catalyst for this program taking off and moving to the top of the MAC for years to come. Recruits look a lot at facilities now, and between the new stadium and the new indoor facility, the Zips don't have to take a back seat to anyone in the MAC. They are leading the facility race in the MAC, and this will help immensely.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Kelly didn't impress me vs. Akron. His swagger in thinking he could push UA all over the field nearly bit him in the a$$. He lucked out when is 40% FG kicker finally made one, and our "Anti-Captain Comeback" tossed the late game INT.I think Cinci was smart enough to put a multi-million dollar buyout clause, to be paid by Kelly's suitor should he leave, so Cinci will easily have the cash to find a quality coach.

[Zipmeister]

I'm still looking forward to the day (and it should be soon) when Turner Gill leaves Buffalo and they return to MAC bottom-feeder within 2 years of his departure. A silver lining in the loss to Buffalo. I think that game may have doubled the odds Gill moves on (and up) at the end of this season.

[OZoner]

I stand corrected. Kelly did leave CMU prior to the bowl, but he did coach UC to their bowl win.

And in doing so, he became the first coach to team the same team (WMU) twice in one year helming two different squads.

[johnnyzip84]

I stand corrected. Kelly did leave CMU prior to the bowl, but he did coach UC to their bowl win.

And in doing so, he became the first coach to team the same team (WMU) twice in one year helming two different squads.

I knew there was something unusual about his accomplishments that year. I had mistakenly recalled it as being two bowl victories. Thanks for the additional information.

[GP1]

There is an old saying, "You make hay when the sun is up."The sun is up for Coach Kelly and he should mow it down now. He has no ties to Cincinnati and Tennessee could easily buy out a million dollar contract. Take the money and run Coack Kelly. Cincinnati is as good now as it is ever going to be and one bad year and people will be calling for your head. There is too much upside for Tennessee at this point to pass up the job. God knows Tennessee couldn't get any worse. Tennessee vs. Cincinnati.....SEC vs Big East.......Southern weather vs. northern weather.......Smokey Mountains vs Ohio River..... SEC Bowls are better than the Big East Bowls..... I could go on but willl not. There really is no contest here. Go to Tennessee Coach Kelly. If you don't, you are not as smart as I think you are and I think you are a pretty smart guy.

[you am i]

If they want to reach down in the college ranks for a coach Kyle Whittingham (Utah) would be an interesting choice. They might look at him as the second coming of Urban Meyer. Kelly would be a nice pick but he hasn't established a good enough track record yet. And even if he was chosen I can't see JD getting named as his replacement. I see some Tennessee fans want Bill Cowher, but isn't he going to be the next Browns coach?

[TennesseeZippy]

If they want to reach down in the college ranks for a coach Kyle Whittingham (Utah) would be an interesting choice. They might look at him as the second coming of Urban Meyer. Kelly would be a nice pick but he hasn't established a good enough track record yet. And even if he was chosen I can't see JD getting named as his replacement. I see some Tennessee fans want Bill Cowher, but isn't he going to be the next Browns coach?

Cowher is a pipe-dream for UT. If they hire a big-name, it will probably be Butch Davis (god forbid!!!). Don't think that's going to happen, however. Jon Gruden was initially mentioned due to his Knoxville connections, but that's also a no-go.The three hot names in Knoxville right now are Kelly, Lane Kiffen and Troy Calhoun (coach at Air Force).

[johnnyzip84]

It looks like it's Kiffin for UT. I still wouldn't be surprised to see Kelly head elsewhere, but obviously any chance of JD going to UC or anywhere else has turned into a hideous joke at this point ESPN Link

[GP1]

Cowher is a pipe-dream for UT.

Of course Cowher is a pipe dream. From what I read, he will be the head coach of 10 different teams next year.

[Dead Horse]

This just in.....Bill Cowher will be the coach of both Cincinnati and Tennessee next year.