Charles Kelly

[Elephant Tipper 430]

There was mutual interest; there was a meeting; there was an offer, the offer was rejected; there was a very nice second offer; the offer was considered and all but signed; there was reconsideration on the coach's part, but not rejection... next move...

I don't think I put this out there earlier but here is a quote from my cousin (actually my cousin's wife) about CK. The conversation was between her and CK's father-in-law with whom she is close friends (and very close friends with CK's wife's family too):

"Talked to his father in law today and he's not going for any amount of money. Too unstable there right now and Jimbo has been good to him plus his daughter is a sr in HS."

No link. lol

[AuCivilEng1 11,026]

What are we going off of here? Is it what he said to a recruit? Any guy with with a concious and any professionalism about him is going to do that. You don't tell that recruit the deal is done until it is, because if the deal goes south, now you're stuck having to explain to the recruit thay you were job shopping, but he should still stick with you.

[johnnyAU 3,650]

This will be the Auburn fan base if the only DC we can land is by promoting Lance Thomson:

[FoundationEagle 637]

There was mutual interest; there was a meeting; there was an offer, the offer was rejected; there was a very nice second offer; the offer was considered and all but signed; there was reconsideration on the coach's part, but not rejection... next move...

I don't think I put this out there earlier but here is a quote from my cousin (actually my cousin's wife) about CK. The conversation was between her and CK's father-in-law with whom she is close friends (and very close friends with CK's wife's family too):

"Talked to his father in law today and he's not going for any amount of money. Too unstable there right now and Jimbo has been good to him plus his daughter is a sr in HS."

No link. lol

Wow. Not even officially over and you're throwing the "I told you so" card? Just lost some respect.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

What are we going off of here? Is it what he said to a recruit? Any guy with with a concious and any professionalism about him is going to do that. You don't tell that recruit the deal is done until it is, because if the deal goes south, now you're stuck having to explain to the recruit thay you were job shopping, but he should still stick with you.

No, going off some of the things being said by the different Auburn pay site admins. It's not done one way or the other, but it's shifted more to a coin flip (or leaning toward staying at FSU) compared to what it looked like yesterday afternoon.

[FoundationEagle 637]

This will be the Auburn fan base if the only DC we can land is by promoting Lance Thomson:

I honestly believe if this happens, we have a whole new staff next year barring an offensive explosion. I have see zilch from LT that shows me he deserves the job and I would expect the D to get worse personally. Anybody ever consider that there may have been a reason saban didn't seem concerned about him coming to AU? Saban didn't care if he coached OLB at bama and now we could have him as DC smh

[Mikey 16,738]

Looks like it's time to promote Lance

Agreed. I don't see Bob Shoop leaving Penn St and seems to me Lance would be the logical choice at this point.

I am concerned in the fact Lance wasn't immediately offered the spot. Leaves me wondering how much confidence Gus has in Lance.

That's my concern. I'm all for promoting Thompson as there are a number of benefits to doing that. (Already on board, already recruiting for us and the prospects know him, already familiar with the rest of the staff) I am left to wonder why Thompson wasn't the first choice. Is there some problem that's the reason he wasn't promoted?

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Looks like it's time to promote Lance

Agreed. I don't see Bob Shoop leaving Penn St and seems to me Lance would be the logical choice at this point.

I am concerned in the fact Lance wasn't immediately offered the spot. Leaves me wondering how much confidence Gus has in Lance.

That's my concern. I'm all for promoting Thompson as there are a number of benefits to doing that. (Already on board, already recruiting for us and the prospects know him, already familiar with the rest of the staff) I am left to wonder why Thompson wasn't the first choice. Is there some problem that's the reason he wasn't promoted?

It's been 10 years since Lance was a DC. Kelly is currently a successful DC at a major college football power. I don't see how going for Kelly first (or even Shoop if we pursue him) somehow means Gus thinks Lance can't cut it. It just means there are more qualified candidates to consider first.

[johnnyAU 3,650]

If we promote Lance to DC, then JJ, Gus and the entire staff should put themselves on collective probation for the desperation they've allowed this program to sink.

[aucanucktiger 1,798]

Thompson has a good resume but so far at AU hasn't performed on a level exactly worthy of promotion to DC. It's a forehead to palms thought but if we don't get one of the few non-cringe worthy DC candidates willing to talk now, I'd rather lose a month of recruiting & suffer some recruit loss on the D side this year and wait to lure a blockbuster DC not willing to talk details until after bowls.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

If we promote Lance to DC, then JJ, Gus and the entire staff should put themselves on collective probation for the desperation they've allowed this program to sink.

The fanbase bears some responsibility for the perception that is out there. When you have a vocal portion calling for a second straight head coaching change 2 years off an SEC title and a national title appearance, and another larger portion basically making it common knowledge that Gus is on the hot seat this year, it's going to make quality coordinators in stable situations leery of coming here and that can't always be overcome with money and guaranteed years. So add the nutbar Auburn fanbase to that probation as well.

[DAG 34,017]

Now, this is true desperation, if we missed out on Charles Kelly.

If want has been reported is true, we have missed on Kelly. We are desperate ...

I can't blame him. Too much to lose. Too many highs and lows this way. You consistently know what you are getting at FSU. All I know is, we need to name a freaking DC and calm the storm.

Seems that the storm is being whipped up by folks on this board...perhaps we could just calm down and let things play out before declaring that we did not get who we wanted .....or needed.

If we aim low enough we could probably always get our first choice. But when trying to get a guy from a successful program, about all there is to offer is money....and that's sometimes not enough. ....since the current employer has the option of competing.

It's worth rolling the dice, hoping to get a guy like Kelly but the odds aren't that great to pull him away ...unless there is some underlying dissatisfaction there.

Maybe we take a look at guys on their way up instead of coaches who have probably peaked as far as their careers are concerned.

Maybe? There is no maybe. That is what we will have to be doing if we missed on Kelly. And who exactly is on their way up in your mind? Looks to me like Lance could be on his way up. Kelly has hardly peaked in his career.If, he plays his cards right, he could be a HC in the near future.

[AUTiger25 29]

Whomever we hire as DC will more than likely be handcuffed by JJ anyways honestly.

[johnnyAU 3,650]

Certainly. However, those fans suggesting he is on the hot seat have an insignificant effect when the entire country, including the local and national media have watched it play out live and in HD.

No need to call for Malzahn's head at the moment. He is a good man, and is still learning how to be a HC. Hopefully he can turn it around on offense and prove this season was an anomaly. Hopefully.

[Mikey 16,738]

I agree with the nutbar fan base. Anyone seriously thinking that a coaching change might be a good thing doesn't understand how damaging such changes are. I think the collective "we" in the fan base have done AU as much damage and any group with all the "hotseat" nonsense.

[SCTiger2011 1,289]

"[A]nd is still learning how to be a HC."

Not disagreeing with your assessment, Johnny, but the term above should never have to be used about an AU head football coach, imo.

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

I agree with the nutbar fan base. Anyone seriously thinking that a coaching change might be a good thing doesn't understand how damaging such changes are. I think the collective "we" in the fan base have done AU as much damage and any group with all the "hotseat" nonsense.

+1

[AUbritt 611]

I agree with the nutbar fan base. Anyone seriously thinking that a coaching change might be a good thing doesn't understand how damaging such changes are. I think the collective "we" in the fan base have done AU as much damage and any group with all the "hotseat" nonsense.

+1

Yep.

[johnnyAU 3,650]

"[A]nd is still learning how to be a HC."

Not disagreeing with your assessment, Johnny, but the term above should never have to be used about an AU head football coach, imo.

Well, I can't argue with that.

[WaynesAUworld 179]

I agree with the nutbar fan base. Anyone seriously thinking that a coaching change might be a good thing doesn't understand how damaging such changes are. I think the collective "we" in the fan base have done AU as much damage and any group with all the "hotseat" nonsense.

+1

Yep.

I agree 100%. I believe the change after CGC was necessary due to the perception that he had lost the team, but it doesn't feel that way (imho) right now. People calling for CGM to be fired seems insane to me.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

"[A]nd is still learning how to be a HC."

Not disagreeing with your assessment, Johnny, but the term above should never have to be used about an AU head football coach, imo.

Well, we took a shot on a guy that had produced big here as an OC (as well as other places on the college level), and had a year of college HC experience under his belt. Either you only go with candidates with several years of experience as a head coach or you realize there's going to be some learning going on.

Do you realize that in over 100 years of Georgia football, they have only hired one guy as the head coach that had previous head coaching experience? Not Wally Butts, Vince Dooley, Mark Richt...only Jim Donnan had HC experience coming in. And now they've hired Kirby Smart.

I say all that to say that unless you're narrowing the pool significantly to a handful of candidates with requisite experience, I don't think your take on this is realistic.

[WarDamn2010 183]

If we promote LT to defensive coordinator, that's gonna look really bad on AU. And I'm afraid AU will look really bad on the field. One of my bammer friends was actually hoping he would get removed from the Alabama staff and voila, he shows up at Auburn. He's done well recruiting but his on-field product has done absolutely nothing to warrant such a promotion. Granted, the crop of defensive coordinators is not too great this year, LT is a total desperation move. If this happens, and I hope I'm wrong, it probably starts the beginning of the end for this staff as well. Coaching turnover has got to be slowed down at AU before we turn into TN and it takes us a decade to get back to where we should be.

[Elephant Tipper 430]

Could AU still entice CK ? Like I said before, if the price were right and the ADept throws "crazy" money at him like they did with Muschamp it could happen but then is that wise decision making ? If the Twitter post of $950K for CK's services is true, then this is absurdly CRAZY money we were trying to spend for the quality of resume' that CK has. CK is not worth anywhere near $950K. Our participation in the bidding war will most likely though provide enough of a raise to keep CK at FSU for several years. I bet he ends up with around $750K as his new salary. I'll be interested in learning that info.

There are many good DC coaches on the market, but not necessarily in the SEC, who are ready for a move that could contribute well to our program. This practice of just throwing money at coaches indicates poor judgment or lack of searching thoroughly by those parties involved. The decision to change coaching jobs is not just about money. That decision is really about family and career path. CK is on an excellent path at FSU and could be a coach to make another run at in the future if the occasion arises. His priorities seem to be good.

For those who said FSU is a "cheap" program when it comes to coaches' salaries, FSU is actually one of the top payers in the nation, ranked #7. In fact, their budget and AU's would be nearly the same if you didn't have such a huge skew because of Mushamp's salary. AU paid it's assistant coaches $5,341,900 (Muschamp's salary was around $1.6- 1.8 million) and FSU paid $4.28 million. Take out the $1 million premium we paid Muschamp and we'd be about $100K different in spending.

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/football/2015/12/09/fsu-assistant-football-coaches-earn-7th-highest-salary-college-football/77047642/

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2015/12/alabama_ranks_behind_lsu_and_a.html

I still hope we can haul in CK but it appears unlikely.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Could AU still entice CK ? Like I said before, if the price were right and the ADept throws "crazy" money at him like they did with Muschamp it could happen but then is that wise decision making ? If the Twitter post of $950K for CK's services is true, then this is absurdly CRAZY money we were trying to spend for the quality of resume' that CK has. CK is not worth anywhere near $950K. Our participation in the bidding war will most likely though provide enough of a raise to keep CK at FSU for several years. I bet he ends up with around $750K as his new salary. I'll be interested in learning that info.

The figure I'm hearing at FSU to keep him is $850k at least.

There are many good DC coaches on the market, but not necessarily in the SEC, who are ready for a move that could contribute well to our program. This practice of just throwing money at coaches indicates poor judgment or lack of searching thoroughly by those parties involved. The decision to change coaching jobs is not just about money. That decision is really about family and career path. CK is on an excellent path at FSU and could be a coach to make another run at in the future if the occasion arises. His priorities seem to be good.

You do realize that given the perception (not at all helped by our loony, impatient fanbase) that Gus is on the hot seat, we are going to have to pay more than the market rate to get a proven coordinator, right? If $750k is what Kelly is worth, we don't get to pay that. If Pruitt is worth $1 million, we're going to pay more. That's just the way it is.

[DAG 34,017]

If we promote LT to defensive coordinator, that's gonna look really bad on AU. And I'm afraid AU will look really bad on the field. One of my bammer friends was actually hoping he would get removed from the Alabama staff and voila, he shows up at Auburn. He's done well recruiting but his on-field product has done absolutely nothing to warrant such a promotion. Granted, the crop of defensive coordinators is not too great this year, LT is a total desperation move. If this happens, and I hope I'm wrong, it probably starts the beginning of the end for this staff as well. Coaching turnover has got to be slowed down at AU before we turn into TN and it takes us a decade to get back to where we should be.

If the offense goes back to its bread and butter (I am expecting it to because we will have the right qb) the coaching staff will be alright. Honestly, I expect our defense to be better due to maturity from new faces. If Lawson comes back, then the new DC will have a good group of players with some true experience. It honestly all keys on the offense, though. I just want the defense to be average.