Elliott makes me more than a bit nervous after seeing how previous Clemson OCs have done. That said, he’s young and he’s been successful as an OC, and if White is convinced he’s the guy, I could probably manage to get onboard. That said, given some of the other names we’ve discussed, I hope he’s not the guy. Also if we’re going with guys with no experience, we might as well let Mayo lay out his plan.
I can't believe Elliot is the prime target. I'm not saying he's a bad choice only that he's a guy down the list. If he does end up here, we would have whiffed on a few. That's how I see it anyways.
I’d have a hard time believing we shunned Kiffin, who by all reports has expressed interest in favor of Elliot.
Or he really wows someone. At some point, you have to trust the AD to make decisions. If he finds an off-the-radar hire and thinks “wow, this guy is way more ready than I thought” (much like what Arkansas did with Sam Pittman, I can accept that if the AD has a good eye for talent. It’s just that I haven’t really trusted our last few ADs to have that eye.
Accurate. I don’t think anyone saw Pittman as being as good as he turned out season one. DW’s track record makes it easier to trust his judgment for sure.
If nothing else, I’m pleased that this search hasn’t morphed in a national running joke. It shows that the folks currently in charge know what they’re doing and that’s a step in the right direction. Of course, Gruden actually has a job this time also, so the fanbase can’t glom onto that.
If Elliott ends up being the guy, it's a terrible hire. We shouldn't be hiring someone else that's going to have to learn to be a HC on the job and hope that it works out. He's also only had a single season without the title of CO-OC. My concern with Elliott is that he's always had elite talent as an OC. Similar to Pruitt, how much of the success is coaching ability and how much is talent? Also, is there anything about Clemson's offensive that was particularly impressive in regards to play calling?
If we’re faking it until we can make it, Mayo could turn out to be a fantastic hire. It’ll just take a couple of seasons to get it rolling but I have no doubt he’d be a winner here. I just don’t want to go the “unproven up & comer” route any more. That said, (and on a somewhat random note...) I always wondered why Marion Hobby never made it past the coordinator/position coach level...
But we are General Electric, going down for the count. You don't hire a CEO that has never been a CEO to right that ship. I just don't think you can risk taking a coordinator AGAIN, or we will just be back here in 3-4 years doing it all over again.
This is my stance also. Unless there’s a really compelling reason, UT shouldn’t be looking to pilfer assistants from other guys. We should be pilfering from the head coach table.