The Advantage of Hugh Freeze

[AUGoo 2,664]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:08 PM, japantiger said:

This has been fun to follow.  Here's my 2 cents:

Relationship building matters less than it did 5 years ago; or even 3 years ago.  If you weren't talking to stud HS players when they were in either the 9th or 10th grade, you were left behind as a coaching staff.   Long term relationship was 80-90% of what drove recruit choice

Relationship still matters; but now it's below 50%.  Relationship gets you to your senior year and drives the recruit top 3 or 5 schools...after that, it's an NIL bidding game now

For current rostered players; relationship is less than 20%...1) am I getting playing time 2) will I get playing time 3) NIL $$ amounts vs my other options drive decisions now ... 

2023 NCAA rosters were 21% transfer players; that number was 6% in 2019; half of D1 teams played a transfer QB (57%)

The last data point I had before the playoffs were over had the average number of transfers per team in the SEC and Big10 over 20 (I think it was 22; but + or - two).  Any staff will have to be able to replace minimally 1/4 of their program via transfers going forward + sign a new recruiting class.  So basically, you have to be able to replace over 1/2 your roster every year thru a combo of recruiting and transfers.  The number of transfer players will increase as we go forward; not decline (in spite of the risk of not landing on a roster being quite high now)

So, given this environment, what matters is being able to both recruit effectively and replenish the obvious transfers that are going to happen.  I don't think relationship has much to do with any of this any longer.  The "rules" or lack of rules, makes this highly transactional now.  The only school I see bucking this trend at present is UGA (I think they had less than 8 transfers).

Talent management success will be determined by how effective the organization built can manage these dynamics.  And, you have to be able to coach the actual games, while doing all of the above.

The verdict is still out on CHF.  He needs to deliver an actual winning season before declaring him "better" than others at this new world.  

It's going to be impressive to watch the staffs in the AD's explode with people to recruit all three areas of interest.  How one coach is gonna have the time and ability to recruit HS, portal, and his own team, in addition to actually coaching, will be a super human feat.

[japantiger 4,051]

1 hour ago, AUGoo said:

It's going to be impressive to watch the staffs in the AD's explode with people to recruit all three areas of interest.  How one coach is gonna have the time and ability to recruit HS, portal, and his own team, in addition to actually coaching, will be a super human feat.

It's much less a game now of the head coach building personal relationships and more of ensuring the HC has a full staff with people on the hook for managing each of those elements.  It's much more of a General Manager or CEO type roll now.    

[GreenTiger 1,006]

12 hours ago, aucom96 said:

You're dodging. Is there a significant monetary value to what college athletes were getting pre-NIL to play major sports? Obviously, they placed value on it or the sport would not have thrived from lack of participation. It isn't college football's fault that the NFL and to a lesser extent, NBA don't have the instant out of school developmental employment that baseball has. 

They can profit off their likeness now. Good. But the door has been left wide open to something that will benefit no one. I don't really care how much time you've spent working with student athletes. When the scholarships are no longer there and the booster money starts drying up from diminishing returns at these schools, I can promise you what they used to have won't seem so valueless anymore. 

Not dodging. And if you stopped repeating yourself and read my previous posts you would know that 

[keesler 5,924]

12 hours ago, AUGoo said:

It's going to be impressive to watch the staffs in the AD's explode with people to recruit all three areas of interest.  How one coach is gonna have the time and ability to recruit HS, portal, and his own team, in addition to actually coaching, will be a super human feat.

It wasn’t manageable for Hugh last season, he admitted on a few occasions.  He said the portal windows need to change immediately.  
 

How is a HC supposed to finish the regular season vs their main rival, wrap up high school recruiting for the early signing day in December, evaluate and recruit the portal and prep for a bowl game?  It’s a dizzying process. 

[cbo 7,853]

The good news is the rules are the same for everyone. No HC has to manage this entire mess perfectly. You just have to do it better than the guy in front of you. 

Maybe the real advantage will go to the coach who quits whining about it and focuses on effective management of his large staff and budget. 

[GreenTiger 1,006]

8 hours ago, cbo said:

Maybe the real advantage will go to the coach who quits whining about it and focuses on effective management of his large staff and budget. 

Bingo! Saban was brilliant at creating the analyst rehabilitation program at UA.  

[JuscAUse! 1,410]

30 minutes ago, GreenTiger said:

Bingo! Saban was brilliant at creating the analyst rehabilitation program at UA.  

Saban hasn't quit complaining about it . He just quit because of it. 

[GreenTiger 1,006]

41 minutes ago, JuscAUse! said:

Saban hasn't quit complaining about it . He just quit because of it. 

I don’t know him and so I’m not sure why he retired. Whining or not… It did appear that he was effective at putting a solid staff together as @cbo mentions as a valuable piece to success and why I made my point attached to his statement. Thanks for the response! 

[JuscAUse! 1,410]

8 hours ago, GreenTiger said:

I don’t know him and so I’m not sure why he retired. Whining or not… It did appear that he was effective at putting a solid staff together as @cbo mentions as a valuable piece to success and why I made my point attached to his statement. Thanks for the response! 

Before all the new stuff happened, right? And when it did, he got beat and interviewed his players. Got their answers, and .... Retired.

And I don't blame him. 

[Auburn93 540]

On 4/5/2024 at 9:09 PM, cbo said:

The good news is the rules are the same for everyone. No HC has to manage this entire mess perfectly. You just have to do it better than the guy in front of you. 

Maybe the real advantage will go to the coach who quits whining about it and focuses on effective management of his large staff and budget. 

He wasn't whining. He was speaking to the media. What you say to the media is not a reflection of the work you are putting in.  You think he wasn't focusing on managing his staff? I'll add it is a part of his authentic way of talking to people. He tells you what he is thinking. I guess you'd rather go back to Gus and Chizik saying nothing. 

Edited April 7 by Auburn93

[cbo 7,853]

12 hours ago, Auburn93 said:

He wasn't whining. He was speaking to the media. What you say to the media is not a reflection of the work you are putting in.  You think he wasn't focusing on managing his staff? I'll add it is a part of his authentic way of talking to people. He tells you what he is thinking. I guess you'd rather go back to Gus and Chizik saying nothing. 

Honestly, I wasn't thinking specifically of Freeze. My comment applied to most college coaches. 

But since you asked, Freeze clearly struggled managing coaching vs recruiting this past season. And he had trouble managing the recent portal. He needs to learn to delegate better. And I don't care what he says at a press conference. I care about the obvious results. 

I will add that Freeze came into a mess. Combine that with the NIL and the portal and Freeze had a helluva big job. As long as he corrects his mistakes, no one will care about year one. Some think he will, some think he won't. 

[AU9377 4,934]

On 3/27/2024 at 1:31 AM, cbo said:

I agree relationships still matter. I want a coach that builds relationships with his players, for many reasons. 

But relationships clearly matter less than before. 

So this still doesn't answer my only question from the beginning: What makes Freeze equipped for this era vs. any other coach?

 

 

He is hungry and nimble, willing to work thru any system to prove himself at this level once again.