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Coaching news😳

It would. And the vast majority of them are an analyst/GA for several years before they are apart of the actual on field coaching staff. The switch to the role of coach from player is not as easy as some are making it out to be.
Sometimes the best players don't make the best coaches.

Elite players as coaches, at times, just can't understand why players can't do certain things. "Why can't you just do x - it's easy!"

Of course - not always the case...
 
This is probably the correct answer when all is said in done if we think about it. Camps are coming up etc. Thanks!
I agree except Mike as a former All Big Sky GRIZ WR under Coach Hauck, a GA and assistant coach again under Coach Hauck at UNLV could go 0 to 60 as our WR Coach in about 4 seconds. If it is too late for this year, I hope we give Mike a really hard sniff for 2026 !!!
 
Will never understand why people think being a former Griz player qualifies them to be a coach. We should attempt to hit the best coach we can, regardless of their background. We don’t need an old boys club staff filled with a bunch of washed up players.
How'd you like the Pat Kennedy years in basketball. That was brilliant, didn't cost a thing.

Oh, and that Bob Stitt move? Yeah, that worked out just dandy too, didn't it?

Seems to me like when we stay within the system we have established, it all works out just fine.
 
It would. And the vast majority of them are an analyst/GA for several years before they are apart of the actual on field coaching staff. The switch to the role of coach from player is not as easy as some are making it out to be.
You can't generalize about all players at all positions when talking about limited position coach positions. Nor can you generalize about a player's ability's to coach, relate to players, or understand offenses and defenses. Sammy has shown in-depth understanding of both sides of the ball, player responsibilities, and why play's were successful and why they were not. He's a great communicator. Far more enlightened and entertaining to listen to than 90% of the schmucks on here.

Your criticism of posters who believe former great players should be brought in as a position coaches was based on, and backed by, a generalization about "players" becoming coaches. My criticism of that response was regarding only one of the players identified, Sammy Akem. He has the tools many of today's great coaches at all levels possess. I never said your generalization was not correct, just that it didn't apply to one of the players noted.

That said, where do you think former players who become great coaches get the experience to take them out of your generalization category about all players? Oh yeah, they are hired as position coaches. Try to find an NFL coach who never played high school, college or pro football, and then then come back with another generalization about that miniscule number.
 
How'd you like the Pat Kennedy years in basketball. That was brilliant, didn't cost a thing.

Oh, and that Bob Stitt move? Yeah, that worked out just dandy too, didn't it?

Seems to me like when we stay within the system we have established, it all works out just fine.
I never said it could not work, I'm just saying it's dumb to make "being a UM guy" a prerequisite to being a coach here. If their resume is not something UM would consider if it didn't have "previously played or coached at UM" why are we considering them? The weird incestuous thing people have about how only a true Montana man can understand what it means to coach here is dumb, anf again, going to bite us in the ass one of these days and ruin someone's legacy with the university.
 
Yes. Haven't seen Mariani on a football field for like 8 years and he has never coached. While Akem is still in the football sphere (sort of), he also does not have any real hirable coaching acumen, especially relative to someone you could go out and pull off another staff somewhere.

I'll never understand this weird former player nepotism thing we have going on at UM, like only a former player can understand the dynamic and tradition of UM. From a hiring standpoint it is very blinding, because the fact that someone is a former player at UM is really the only reason their name gets mentioned. There are all sorts of people with the same resume, or lack thereof in this case, that would get laughed off this board if their name was mentioned. We are going to wind up in a Scott Frost at Nebraska situation eventually, and my guess is this is why a guy like DD has never shown interest in the job.

EVERY FREAKING TIME a spot on the staff comes open people run to eGriz to start spewing all the former players that could fill the role. Just dumb Stuff, and a sign on an unserious program.
Mariani is actually a high school coach in Nashville. His regular day gig is in real estate.
If they want to bring him back, I'm for it, but that's dumb me thinking that a tennis player from Havre who walked on to the football squad might have something to contribute as a position coach. No other qualifications, he's just came to college and thought he'd give football a try and he has no recollection of what that's all about.
It's probably not going to happen, but no one here is doing anything but discussing what we'd like to see. They don't do that in your real world apparently.
I think Akem would be fantastic as well, but the fact that you bring up that he's not qualified because he's just providing analysis to dumb fans like me is troubling. He knows nothing about that locker room or the players, he's just watching tape.
Do you know for a fact Dave has no interest in the job? I don't think that goes any further than the big pay cut he would face to take the job. You're the expert though.
Why don't you give up some names so we can discuss them and make it real.
 
You can't generalize about all players at all positions when talking about limited position coach positions. Nor can you generalize about a player's ability's to coach, relate to players, or understand offenses and defenses. Sammy has shown in-depth understanding of both sides of the ball, player responsibilities, and why play's were successful and why they were not. He's a great communicator. Far more enlightened and entertaining to listen to than 90% of the schmucks on here.

Your criticism of posters who believe former great players should be brought in as a position coaches was based on, and backed by, a generalization about "players" becoming coaches. My criticism of that response was regarding only one of the players identified, Sammy Akem. He has the tools many of today's great coaches at all levels possess. I never said your generalization was not correct, just that it didn't apply to one of the players noted.

That said, where do you think former players who become great coaches get the experience to take them out of your generalization category about all players? Oh yeah, they are hired as position coaches. Try to find an NFL coach who never played high school, college or pro football, and then then come back with another generalization about that miniscule number.
Tim Hauck went directly from player to position coach. Nick Sirianni went from player directly to dbs coach at his alma mater, and won a Super Bowl last year. Dieon Sanders went straight from not coaching to Head Coach. And the Griz just had a grad assistant working with the d-line last year.

The statement that players usually spend years learning to coach without actually coaching on the field is just not accurate. Some don't jump right into position coaching, but many do.
 
Mariani is actually a high school coach in Nashville. His regular day gig is in real estate.
If they want to bring him back, I'm for it, but that's dumb me thinking that a tennis player from Havre who walked on to the football squad might have something to contribute as a position coach. No other qualifications, he's just came to college and thought he'd give football a try and he has no recollection of what that's all about.
It's probably not going to happen, but no one here is doing anything but discussing what we'd like to see. They don't do that in your real world apparently.
I think Akem would be fantastic as well, but the fact that you bring up that he's not qualified because he's just providing analysis to dumb fans like me is troubling. He knows nothing about that locker room or the players, he's just watching tape.
Do you know for a fact Dave has no interest in the job? I don't think that goes any further than the big pay cut he would face to take the job. You're the expert though.
Why don't you give up some names so we can discuss them and make it real.
Would Mariani or Akem ever be considered if they played college ball at Weber State? You, like many, are getting fixated on the fact they played football, albeit at a high level, at UM and are ignoring the fact they are not qualified to be a position coach for a Division I college football team, let alone one of the best and most storied FCS teams in the country. Do you think Nick Saban would have hired one of his former Alabama receivers to be the WR coach after playing a few years in the Pro's or ding postgame youtube film breakdowns? NOT. A. CHANCE. IN. HELL. The situations are not all that different. Hire the best guy for the job, no matter their background.
 
Tim Hauck went directly from player to position coach. Nick Sirianni went from player directly to dbs coach at his alma mater, and won a Super Bowl last year. Dieon Sanders went straight from not coaching to Head Coach. And the Griz just had a grad assistant working with the d-line last year.

The statement that players usually spend years learning to coach without actually coaching on the field is just not accurate. Some don't jump right into position coaching, but many do.
If you want to cherry pick a bunch of specific instances that are not indicative of coaching as a whole, be my guest. Also, Deion Sanders is objectively not a good coach. He does however have an ability to get players on his team based on his name, that he otherwise would not be able to get at those schools. I would not call his tenure at Colorado even remotely a success.
 
Weird, I read the entire thread and no mentioned being a former griz was a prerequisite other than the "realist".
If you pay attention to this thread, and any thread pertaining to hiring a new coach, its pretty obvious all people want to do is go and find the person with the closest ties to UM possible and hire them regardless of their qualifications, or lack thereof.
 
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