Sure Sounds Like Mike Houston Is Gone
By now you’ve all heard the news that Coach Houston has been offered, and is considering, an offer to be the next head coach at the University of Charlotte. Well, we have thought on the subject. So many thoughts in fact, that it was far easier just to sit down and record a podcast, than to try to sum things up in a blog post. So that’s what we did.
Here’s the 30 thousand foot view. We like Coach Houston and what he’s done for the school, but he sure sounds like he’s got one foot out the door. Maybe there’s a Hail Mary of a chance that he gets so annoyed by the leak, that he gives pause and JMU swoops in to convince to him stay. More likely, he gives pause and another school makes him a better offer. In any case, he’s said all the right things about loving JMU, but it sure hasn’t stopped him from listening to other schools every time they come calling. If he doesn’t take this offer, he’ll take another one. That 10 year contract sounds nice, but we never thought it bought JMU more than a few years. We didn’t really expect him to leaving right now though.
We go into it more on the pod and our thoughts our still evolving. Again, we hope he stays. He’s been good for JMU. But if he leaves, we’ll wish him well and get excited for the next coach. Because there are a ton of uncertainties in this situation, but the one thing we are absolutely certain about, is that plenty of great coaches will be lining up for a chance to replace him.
Go Dukes! Beat Colgate.
This certainly can’t be good for our chances (which I believe were already shaky) against Colgate this weekend.
Since Houston arrived in 2016 and had that great championship run, I’ve always known he’d be a short-timer and wondered how long we’d be able to hold on to him. He’s a relatively young coach and a rising star, and it seems that even a bottom-tier FBS head coach spot still trumps a top FCS school.
I wish Houston the best and I trust he’ll do what’s best for him and his family, but I’m reminded of about 25 years ago when coach Rip Sherer left JMU to be head coach at Memphis. Sherer had a lot of success in about 3 seasons at JMU and seemed to be a rising star, and then left to take over a struggling Memphis team. If I recall correctly, he couldn’t turn the Memphis program around and left after a couple of unremarkable seasons. I think Sherer is now in his first year as TE coach for the LA Chargers, but I wonder if looking back he’d still make that decision to take that Memphis job. I think coaches like Houston and Sherer will always be short-timers in the FCS, but perhaps instead of jumping at the first FBS offer (which is usually a struggling program) why not stay a little longer and hold out for a better offer?
Anybody know if Bourne has a short list? Or what assistants might follow Houston out the gates? Would Trott remain and could he be a HC candidate (I truly don’t know enough about his situation or how he’s viewed by JMU leadership).
I guess Withers is available (sarcasm)
So is Larry Fedora — think of how the JMU apparel line could expand… who needs a visor?
Or we could look at Jimmy Laycock and have our problem solved for the next 39 years.
Seriously though, anyone got early thoughts on who JMU might be considering?
The funniest comments I’ve seen are along these lines: “Charlotte? That’s a lateral move. Why would he go there?”
Because he thinks he can win 25-30 games there over three or four years and then be a real contender to replace Mack Brown at UNC or go somewhere else in the P5. His move isn’t about Charlotte. Big time FCS schools, with very few exceptions (Jim Tressel comes to mind), don’t hire FCS coaches. Charlotte gives him a low-pressure opportunity to make himself attractive to the big boys, and they’ll pay him more in the meantime. The ECU wrinkle is fun…
Good for him, though. The guy has won everywhere he’s been. No hard feelings. But this ain’t about Charlotte.
I have a nagging thought that all is not right in Dukeville. Can’t be a simple issue as money.
I wish JMU would consider Chris Beatty as the next HC