I'm sure you all read Cliff's blog and saw his disappointing speculation this morning. Cliff believes Riley will hire Robin Ross as a TE or RB coach who will then recruit Southern California. Here's the link to Cliff's full post: http://cliffkirkpatrick.mvourtown.com/2011/02/09/cliff-football-hire-speculation/
The words in the article that stood out to me were, "He’s a long-time friend of OSU coach Mike Riley."
What did I write about last week? Hiring an ol' pal and continuing the nepotism.
It's not that Ross is a bad coach, quite the opposite. But, this is a watershed hire. There is a glaring weakness on the staff: the inability to win recruiting battles, notably with inner city kids. Well, the Pac-10 just added two cities (Salt Lake City and Boulder), so things are only going to become more difficult. We saw Juda Parker commit to Colorado because of the night life. Last year Owa did the same with UCLA. There are dozens if not hundreds of other examples over the past decade. We need someone who can relate to these types of athletes.
I'm skirting around the issues and using euphemisms. I'll just come out and say it: we need a young, personable, black coach. There, I said it. Ideally, we hire someone from a large city who has played college ball in a small town and can aggressively sell the benefits of that environment to recruits
Is Ross a recruiter who will get us over the proverbial hump we've been discussing for at least six years now? That "hump" sure is pesky, isn't it? If the head coach puts in an earplug each time opportunity knocks, then as a fan you cannot feign being shocked when the hump remains ever-present.
Here's to hoping Cliff is wrong, and Riley is not only a year older but a year wiser.
” we need a young, black coach.”
Yep. A Poindexter won’t get it done in many talent hotbeds, aka the inner-citiy. Might be a good X’s and O’s guy and great at teaching technique etc…but you need to meet and greet on the recruit’s level.
I agree to some extent, but I really believe the race issue is overrated by us white guys. Now if 90% of the players were white, that’s a different story. If you can sell the program and form relationships, I don’t think it matters if you’re black white or otherwise. I don’t know of any hard evidence that black recruits would respond better to a black recruiter. I’m sure in some cases it would help, but if it was that important I’m sure we’d see far more black assistants at every school.
I would assume the nightlife conversations are discussed more in depth with the current players on the roster on visits, etc than with coaches.
By the way, how much recruiting does a running backs coach actually do?
I agree to some extent. Personality and an aggressive pitch matter more than skin color, but Corvallis has the ag school/racism thing to overcome, so I think it’s important. If it were any other school in the Pac-10 (outside of WSU) we were discussing, I’d say it doesn’t matter what color the coach is.
I really think that recruits not knowing anything about Corvallis or the state of Oregon for that matter hurts us much more than a perception of racism. I think ultimately the newest hire needs to bring diversity of thought – I couldn’t really care less about the diversity of skin color. I would like to see a vibrant coach with some creativity that could breathe some new life into the program. We certainly don’t need a yes man.
KEITH HEYWARD.
He should be the only one in charge of recruiting SoCal and it’s inner cities.
I agree that OSU needs to hire a couple more black coaches, especially for recruiting purposes.
Go hire Tyrone WIllingham as an advisor and recruiter. That way he can stay semi-retired. OSU needs a well-known black coach to do this.
Besides race, I think we should focus on this comment:
“He’s a long-time friend of OSU coach Mike Riley.”
I’ve had it up to here with Riley and his nepotism.
The only way I see us becoming what you want angry (a recruiting power similar to UO, or at least someone like Oklahoma State) is if we either a) spend a boatload of money from some random windfall, or b) start winning BCS games consistently, which won’t happen until a) happens, unless every major BCS programs gets hit with sanctions.
Ever consider that these “good ole boy hires” are actually due to the fact that they come at a reduced cost? BDC doesn’t want to spend any more than he has to on coaches. Guys who actually WANT to work for Riley probably don’t fret much about salary and contracts. Our coordinators are some of the lowest paid in the conference. Who wants to come work for that? Not very many of the young saavy guys you’re talking about. Like recruits, they’d rather be in SoCal at San Diego St. than dwell in obscurity in Corvallis, OR.
An interesting read from 1969: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1082769/index.htm
good read indeed
You are aware that Milton just died? Article was in the Oregonian today.
Yeah. I’m not a Milton fan.
funny, the whole thing started over a little bit of facial hair, now the entire team does no shave november
Angry: thanks, that was a good read!
Big Brother/IT: Just kidding, I am diligently working on my cost forecast reports.
It’s probably just me but if I had a choice I would rather OSU take a black kid from a farm community it TX, OK, AL, etc. rather than a black kid from the inner city in So. Cal.
It seems like the kid from the South would better appreciate OSU, Corvallis, THE WEATHER, etc. than a So. Cal kid who more than likely has a gangster background, is used to going to the beach year around and is used to the bright lights.
bwdik
“What did I write about last week? Hiring an ol’ pal and continuing the nepotism”
Dude, come on. Riley is an extremely well connected coach, those connections are a huge benefit to the program and part of the “pros” of Riley. Why should we not take advantage of them? And what exactly do you want him to do? Hire someone he doesn’t know, that the program absolutely cannot afford anyway??? I mean this whole post seems like you are grasping at straws to hate on Riley.
And then you go on to say that we lose Owa and Parker to the “night life” and suggest a RB coach could really have changed that? I mean there would either have to be a SPECIAL SPECIAL relationship or he’d better start building dance clubs on 9th street.
I think we do need a black coach. In a city of what? 86% white kids, having a black coach is vital on any staff with a high percentage of african americans.
OSU and Bobby D. need to hire someone young and hip that 18 year olds want to relate to and join the program under. A black coach that is personable and the athletes think is cool is a good bet.
OSU mainly needs to rethink its strategy of being the “opposite” of Oregon. Oregon has the most successful model over the past few years of anywhere in the country. It is known for innovation and excitement, being ultra modern and being bold and aggressive. Being the opposite has just made us seem like very “slow laggards” and quite a bit less relevant which we have no reason to be. It was not even like that for many years. Oregon recently though “loves” making us seem stuck in our ways, resistant to change, and the “old and stale” program. If we imitated some of their strategy and were more hip and atleast up with the times oursleves it would make are natural advantages like being a great science, engineering and improving business school get tthe proper attention. They however are getting stuck behind with our stale image.
I know if I was AD I would have interesting and “unexpected” commercials playing during games on TV. Stuff that would spark interest and conversation in fans and invigorate the base while continuing to draw in new fans. Instead it is always just more of the same with Riley and Bobby D usually. I also would be bold in announcing that the “time is now” to start fundraising for Phase 3 and then build the 55K seats and have a great stadium. Then for the next 4 years until it was done there would be excitement. Don’t be so conservative in everything we do. Take some chances and surprise the fans with your level of wanting to redefine OSU and its programs as a cool alternative to oregon and other schools and not the most reisistant to change. Maybe make a strong statement with a new uniform combo or an updated center court or field. The main thing is market to what 18 year olds actually want and don’t let Oregon make itself the most moderna nd innovative because we are the most sluggish and resistant to change. Sell how OSU can be cool and fresh and interesting. It definitely can be. We are the science and tech school and those fields are the most dynamic so OSU needs to market that it can be dynamic, exciting, relevant, current and with “unexpected” thrown in so we are always fresh. We too can be a hot topic. Go BEAVS!!
“It is known for innovation and excitement, being ultra modern and being bold and aggressive”
HA! like that has really been the reason behind their rise. Perhaps instead it was having the BEST facilities west of the Mississippi and a promise to only improve them with $$$$$$. Ducks could have targeted their marketing at nick jr. kids and athletes still would have come. The reason the ducks are always on the yahoo page for their jerseys, court whatever is because of money and because of money they have wins and wins of course brings even more attention.
I’m not saying OSU can’t change their ways – they should always be evolving – but lets not look at Oregon for any lessons except to start having students design cool shoes to be made by 8 years olds in Indonesia.
The only school that should be taking lessons from Oregon is Oklahoma State
Angry,
You should be able to edit your post any time after you finish it. It doesn’t seem like you can. It seems to be you do the spellcheck before submitting. Would be cool if you could get into edit mode at any time even weeks later and then fire off a spell check too if you felt like it. I am noticing errors in my posts and want to go back to edit but doesn’t seem like I can. :(
If you log in then post you can…just because your name and email is filled out at the bottom of the forum doesn’t mean you’re logged (that’s what I ran into). If you’re registered AND logged in you can edit just fine…at least I can.
I won’t tell you how long it took me to figure that out…
test
I disagree that Robin Ross is a poor recruiter in the Southern California region. He has a proven resume, and has built quality relationships for many years in So Cal. I think building realtionships is one of the most (if not the most) important factor in recruiting. Hype, money, and flash might work for a little while. Longevity is more important for the long haul. Ross previously coached at oregon and helped recruit players to their “Fiesta Bowl” 2001 team, he played in the NFL, he coached in the NFL, He grew up in L.A. (Huntington Park) the man can recruit, especially in So Cal, and yes this includes the greater Los Angeles area.
According to many earlier posts, Robin Ross isn’t a popular choice. Why not ask Sara Jean Underwood (for hype purposes) to be the new RB coach? I guarantee not even she would be able to sign Moala, Parker, Dockery, Owa, Lyerla, and all the other 4 & 5 stars that chose other schools instead of OSU!
How about we just agree mike Riley has done a lot for this program like it or not, so trust him.
Because that blindly assumes another coach couldn’t do equal or better with an administration that supports athletics (unlike pre-Riley).
“How about we just agree mike Riley has done a lot for this program like it or not, so trust him.”
This is an extreme informal fallacy. It’s repeated so often that it also becomes an ad nauseam argument.
A more correct argument would be, “I am a fan of Oregon State football. Therefore, I want them to win.”
Kerry Eggers throws out some names today with nary a mention of Ross.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/column.php?writer=Kerry%20Eggers
Anyone know much about any of these guys?
Now THAT’S a list.
Alford is intriguing. He did a great job with Wide after changing over from being DB coach for his whole career. Now that Chow is in Utah, Alford has been marginalized. Wasn’t he why Woods was considering Utah?
I really like Aristotle Thompson on this list. He was a great player at Jesuit, and he was decent when Boise State was young in D-1 standards. But he also ran national recruiting for Boise State for the couple years that produced Boise State’s last couple years of seniors. He has been doing the same at Cal Poly for the last three years as well as being the RB coach. I think I read somewhere that Cal Poly had something like 25 official visitors, 20 offers to those visitors, and almost all who were offered accepted. He also brought in one of my favorite HS prospects out of California–Garrett Steele. He has great relationships with SoCal and national programs.
Bring Thompson home!
I would assume that’s an accurate list from the horse’s mouth, seeing that it’s an Eggers article Cliff’s prediction was probably just a wild guess. Thompson sounds like a great choice based on the info you mentioned.
Having lived in San Luis for 20 years and now in Corvallis, I can tell you the two areas and schools are very similar.
Both have a strong tradition in ag, engineering and budding business programs. Both are rural with smallish (50k) populations. The only advantage San Luis has is it’s closer to So Cal and and the weather is about close to perfect as possible. OSU however has the Pac-12 /FBS, tradition and more likely chance of being drafted.
If he can recruit to the central coast, OSU shouldn’t be a problem.
I love SLO and the Central Coast, but not as much as I love the Northern Coast Range.
Poly has pretty high enrollment standards to overcome as well as going against BCS schools for prospects.
OrangeJulius, I did not realize you were a fellow Central Coaster.
I’d be behind hiring Aristotle Thompson. What a great name, and Cal Poly is always fundamentally sound. I work with 3 grads from there, only undergrads, but you’d think they had master’s degrees. The school prepares people well. More than UCSB.
From the makers of the movie Unimaginative comes the season long epic premiere of….BORING!
Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell to star in it, no doubt.
I met Ben Stein this summer…and in my drunken state I called him Ben Stiller . He wasn’t impressed. He said “no, that’s the young Jewish actor.” No joke.
Another random moment brought to you by GWH.
First off ( Nepotism ) patronage bestowed or favoritism shown on the basis of “family” relationship,. Clearly no nepotism here. Good ol boy network, sure. We all want OSU to be a big contender, but in this day and age, it takes money. Chip Kelley is making 4 times what Riley gets. I believe he is at the bottom in Div 1. So his coaches will be paid in relation to him. The State of Oregon is broke and Warren Buffet isn’t an Alum. Riley loves Corvallis and a life time contract, even more than money. He probably could have moved into the job at USC, but got an extension here instead. I imagine we get more for our money on a new coach because of Riley. A guy coming here would not be because of the size of the paycheck. Does anyone have any idea what the new position pays in relation to the PAC 12? Hopefully if coaches were rated, that we would get an under the radar 2 star that turns out to be a 5 star.
Dang you, Jim Harbaugh for poaching Reggie Davis from OSU. Obviously, coach Harbaugh recognized where the talent was on the Riley coaching staff. We rarely hear about other coaches being mentioned for outside jobs.
Well, I keep mentioning Banker and Langsdorf for outside jobs!
Uhhh….. I probably should reword that – – – I KEEP PRAYING Banker and Langsdorf get offered outside jobs.
Angry I think you nailed it several months ago when you mentioned something about trying to learn from recruits that we lost to learn if there is a common thread amongst them. Is it the race issue? Small town/ no nightlife issue? What? I imagine it’s hard to get a recruit to bag on a school they didn’t pick but this is critical information and I’m sure all the top recruiting schools have a way of getting it.
I hope Angry is able to find out from some of the kids why they decided to go elsewhere. Someone speculated that OSU was the “fall back” choice if all else failed. My pride doesn’t want to believe that one so here’s hoping Angry can come up with reasons which can be fixed.
My WAG is RILEY can’t recruit worth a damn and that won’t be fixed until he’s gone.
Oregon State will always be a “fall back” school, with the exception of Oregon athletes. What OSU continues to do is find those “diamonds in the rough” and develop them. We don’t get many Quizz Rodgers or Derek Andersons (highly rated HS recruits that have OSU as a 1st choice).
What does OSU have to offer? The university, the facilities, the staff, the city, the fans are all nice or adequate, but they will always be behind other west coast programs. Boise St. has won with getting the overlooked players in the right system. I think OSU’s system is what needs some revamping.
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I’m going to miss Reggie Davis. I didn’t realize until now that Reggie was a teammate of Jim Harbaugh’s on the SD Chargers. Ironically, it was during the Mike Riley tenure at SD. Harbaugh and Davis coached together at U. of San Diego. Then Harbaugh went to Stanford, Davis had a stint at UNLV before OSU. Interesting…
Even from the NFL, Harbaugh found a way to fuck us. Gotta hand it to him- he’s the better coach.
I have no objections to Robin Ross joining the team of coaches, but I think he needs to fill the TE vacancy and then we really need to make a splash with an exciting RB hire.
Errr…what I meant to suggest, actually, is that Riley should fire Newhouse, have Robin Ross replace him, and then hire someone new for RB coach.