FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Patriot_Pride]

Word is, Frank, there really weren't that many great applicants.

Whoever we get, DuBose can't be replaced. Coach Caffey is the next best thing because he is fresh with the program and has a great offensive scheme. If Millsaps goes with anyone else, we won't be a contender next year and we'll lose even more players and more of the staff.

And on Aaron Pelch coming back, that depends on a) if he is a finalist for the job and b) if he is offered the job, does he really want to take a huge step backwards from the NFL to Division III? I just don't know. I realize his contract wasn't renewed, but I think you got to take a good look at where you want to go in your career. I'd love to see him get another NFL job or at least Div-I or Div-II.

Either way, it's been 6 weeks since DuBose resigned, and that's too long in my mind to be in limbo. I don't expect an announcement until mid or late February the way this has been handled already.

[frank_ezelle]

Were there any applications from former SEC Coach of the Year winners?  Not that I know of, but that doesn't mean that there weren't some very good applicants.  Think of it this way:  exactly how many D3 programs are headed up by former Coach of the Year winners from a major D1 conference?  That was a very nice luxury for the last 4 years at Millsaps, and we should not make the mistake of comparing every resume to that lofty standard.

Here's another question to ponder.  After DuBose came in and won a SCAC Championship in his first season, how many people thought he would stay at Millsaps for 4 years?  As the championships continued, who could blame DuBose for looking at the bigger salaries, bigger challenges, and greater stage of D1 football?

As for Coach Caffey, I do think he would do a great job and hopefully he will be back at Millsaps one way or the other.  To say that he is the best applicant for the job must mean that you have access to all of the applications and have checked out all of the finalists.  Maybe he is the best of the applicants, but to say that Millsaps won't be a contender next season unless we have one specific coach is really an insult to the returning players.  There will be a very talented group returning next year and Millsaps will be one of several strong contenders for the SCAC crown next season.  I don't need to wait for the announcement of the next head coach to know that for a fact.

[Patriot_Pride]

Maybe he is the best of the applicants, but to say that Millsaps won't be a contender next season unless we have one specific coach is really an insult to the returning players.  There will be a very talented group returning next year and Millsaps will be one of several strong contenders for the SCAC crown next season.  I don't need to wait for the announcement of the next head coach to know that for a fact.

The thing is, it's not an insult, it's the truth. Some of our best players are already saying they'll leave if Caffey isn't the man. On top of that, the ones that are already pondering leaving because DuBose left. I won't name names, but just wait until you see the 2010 roster next fall, then you'll believe me if things don't fall into place.

I just can't say we'll be a contender next year if we don't stay in house. We could lose 2-3 more coaches if we're not careful, including Caffey.

[wally_wabash]

Either way, it's been 6 weeks since DuBose resigned, and that's too long in my mind to be in limbo. I don't expect an announcement until mid or late February the way this has been handled already.

I have no idea who is being considered by Millsaps for this job, but it seems that Millsaps is on a very similar timeline to the one Wabash was on during their coaching in 2007-2008.  Chris Creighton resigned right before Christmas and Coach Raeburn wasn't announced until the first or second week of February.  It was a 6-7 week process.  I know a lot of Wabash fans were nervous about the length of that search, but if the AD is going about the search at Millsaps in the right way, you can certainly wind up with a very good coach. 

These are definitely nervous times for a program (I did plenty of frenzied texting during Wabash's search a couple of years ago).  Hope it turns out well for the Majors. 

[frank_ezelle]

INS_Major, you obvious have a much closer connection to the players than I do.  Based on what you are saying, Coach DuBose apparently built a program with a foundation made of sand.  Players leaving because DuBose left, top players bailing out if the school doesn't pick their choice for the next head coach--it's not the image I see when I think of this group of young men, but as mentioned, you know them much better.

Regardless of who the new coach is and regardless of how many guys leave because they will only play under one or two particular coaches, I plan on being out there supporting the staff and the players.  I've seen some terrible football teams at Millsaps and some great ones.  The one consistent throughout is that every team has been overwhelmingly made up of outstanding young men.  Win or lose, they deserve all the support they can get.

[Patriot_Pride]

I'm just nervous as hell that we won't get the right guy. I want to think positive but it's hard.

Players usually have strong connections to their head coach, so it wouldn't surprise me if some had second thoughts about leaving. Either way, it's just my opinion that key guys would leave even though I hope they stay -- all of them.

I'll be out supporting my butt off as well, win or lose, but this whole situation just makes me so nervous. I want to see continued success, not a step backwards. And every team has outstanding young men, that's a given. I'm not questioning that and I never have. The support will not go away either way on the gridiron.

[Tacttm1]

My infor runs counter to INS-Major, regarding players preparing to leave based on the choice of coach.  I am told that there is apprehension and anxiety, but no serious talk of leaving.

....for what its worth....

[D3_DPUFan]

INS_Major, you obvious have a much closer connection to the players than I do.  Based on what you are saying, Coach DuBose apparently built a program with a foundation made of sand.  Players leaving because DuBose left, top players bailing out if the school doesn't pick their choice for the next head coach--it's not the image I see when I think of this group of young men, but as mentioned, you know them much better.

Agree. This is DIII football...I suppose they are planning to transfer to improve their draft status? Give me a break. Certainly potential recruits can view the coaching uncertainty as a reason to perhaps choose another school...but if a bunch of current players are going to leave because of a new coach it probably makes a statement about the program. And perhaps the school?

[golden_dome]

Agree. This is DIII football...I suppose they are planning to transfer to improve their draft status? Give me a break. Certainly potential recruits can view the coaching uncertainty as a reason to perhaps choose another school...but if a bunch of current players are going to leave because of a new coach it probably makes a statement about the program. And perhaps the school?

I'm not sure I would agree with that. The only major thing I feel we mess up in DIII is that in the process of lifting up academic achievement and campus involvement (which are both great), we tend to completely minimize the importance of athletics to these kids. For most, it has been an overwhelming part of their life since they were young and they take it seriously, and the opportunity for success is important.

The truth is most of the DIII universities offer great educations, and players have many options where they can have both athletic and academic success. I'm sure Millsaps will make another good hire and they will continue to be successful, and they will continue to build their football program. But at the same time, I wouldn't label the players negatively because they place importance on who their coach is and what direction the program is headed.

[D3_DPUFan]

I'm not sure I would agree with that. The only major thing I feel we mess up in DIII is that in the process of lifting up academic achievement and campus involvement (which are both great), we tend to completely minimize the importance of athletics to these kids. For most, it has been an overwhelming part of their life since they were young and they take it seriously, and the opportunity for success is important.

I understand what you are saying...and agree, to an extent. I wouldn't say completely minimize.  Certainly few schools could match the coaching changes at DePauw in recent years and I don't recall existing players who talked about bolting to go elsewhere. When Wabash lost Coach Creighton a few years back I don't recall hearing it either. just seems to me if kids are in a good program at a school where you are going to get a top flight education, bailing because of a coaching change, unless there are other factors at play, is a bit strange. But again, I hear your point about the tendency to downplay athletics...

[golden_dome]

I'm not sure I would agree with that. The only major thing I feel we mess up in DIII is that in the process of lifting up academic achievement and campus involvement (which are both great), we tend to completely minimize the importance of athletics to these kids. For most, it has been an overwhelming part of their life since they were young and they take it seriously, and the opportunity for success is important.

I understand what you are saying...and agree, to an extent. I wouldn't say completely minimize.  Certainly few schools could match the coaching changes at DePauw in recent years and I don't recall existing players who talked about bolting to go elsewhere. When Wabash lost Coach Creighton a few years back I don't recall hearing it either. just seems to me if kids are in a good program at a school where you are going to get a top flight education, bailing because of a coaching change, unless there are other factors at play, is a bit strange. But again, I hear your point about the tendency to downplay athletics...

And I understand your point. I don't advocate bouncing from one school to the next either, just because of coaching changes. There is a balance in there somewhere. I doubt there will be any significant loss of players at Millsaps when it's all said and done.

[cush]

well, at least milsaps possible presidential choices look impressive:

http://www.millsaps.edu/presidential_search/

i'd probably go with the milsaps grad but ? why he would give up being a doc to become a college president. 

[D3_DPUFan]

And I understand your point. I don't advocate bouncing from one school to the next either, just because of coaching changes. There is a balance in there somewhere. I doubt there will be any significant loss of players at Millsaps when it's all said and done.

Understood...and my guess is you will be right regarding how many kids, if any, leave.

[frank_ezelle]

Two quick things:

--For the record, I don't think there will be a lot of current players leaving Millsaps.  Tacttm1 summed up what I have been thinking with the comment:  "...there is apprehension and anxiety, but no serious talk of leaving". 

I'm sure the players and remaining coaches are quite anxious about who will be the next coach and what sort of changes that will mean.

---Also, I've been told that the doctor candidate is also in the running for the head job at the University Medical Center here in Jackson and will interview for both jobs on his trip to Jackson (or did interview--I don't know the timetable).

[frank_ezelle]

One other tidbit from the Jackson newspaper that relates to the difference between D3 and D1. 

Kent Austin, the 2009 Offensive Coordinator at Ole Miss, left that position to take the head coaching job at Cornell.  Austin still had one year left on his Ole Miss contract which paid $305,000 per year.  That's a lot of money and my guess is that a coordinator's job at a bigger school pays a bigger salary.  It would be hard for any D3 school to compete with those numbers and I can see where it would be hard for a coach to resist the lure of moving up to the D1 level.