Topic: If we lose Huff to Southern Miss or Appalachian State...

[THECHAMPISHERE]

...we just hit a new low in Football Athletics.

UCF was one thing with Donnie Jones...he was going to a school in a much better standing, with a much better climate, and in a place that had a lot more going on.

But we have major problems when we start losing coaches to peer Sun Belt schools in places like Hattiesburg and Boone. That to me should be eye opening about the state of Huntington, the football program, the people in charge, and the university. What are we doing when coaches would rather be anywhere in the FBS than here?

[herd2win]

I agree.  Boone is not as nice as Huntington and is very isolated.  They have great fan support but living there daily is a challenge.  Hattiesburg is also not a premier location in my opinion.  Also, MU has more resources for football.

[MUsince96]

It's not losing him if he's finding a landing spot.

[herdorbust2]

It's not losing him if he's finding a landing spot.

Well if he is being forced out then we have bigger problems with our leaders. That means they are idiots. Win the conference but we don't want you back? Or he is leaving on his own and would rather be at S Miss? I don't see a positive in either.

[herdloyal]

I was talking to my best man whom we both were for each others wedding. He being a Michigan football fan and the Big ten conference in general so he agrees that NIL has brought lots of changes to college sports as making more Semi-Pro sports. Everyone has had to change in many ways with the Transfer Portal and now the money which covers pay for play as NIL. Marshall?s problems stem from no political power and no Law School to combat WVU?s financial sucking machine in Charleston and Morgantown. I do know that the system is corrupted beyond belief and remedy is coming that will eventually level the playing field. Michigan will b paying their new Qb recruit which is being lured away from LSU with 5Miliion in NiL over 4 years with penalty?s for not fulfilling those four years contract. That seems to be a away of solving the longivity issues with players transferring out early to greener pastures.

[whf]

Hattiesburg and Boone aren't the issue, it is the cities they are ultimately close too; which makes it New Orleans and the greater mid to eastern NC cities, all of which are pretty popular.

[miltonherdfan]

It's not losing someone to somebody if you don't want them. Our admin doesn't want him back. I mean, we can play this game to ridiculous levels. What if the best he can get is a position coach at a G5. Did we "lose" him to a G5 asst job?  No. It's called he wasn't wanted here, & the best he can do is wherever he lands. The less prestigious job he ends up with the BETTER it looks for us!  Wherever he ends up is the market "rate" for his coaching services. If he ends up somewhere "lower" than us, then that means we've been thinking more highly of him than the rest of our peers have. He's considered a loss if we offer him a job & he turns it down for an inferior job. We aren't offering him a job.

[herdorbust2]

It's not losing someone to somebody if you don't want them. Our admin doesn't want him back. I mean, we can play this game to ridiculous levels. What if the best he can get is a position coach at a G5. Did we "lose" him to a G5 asst job?  No. It's called he wasn't wanted here, & the best he can do is wherever he lands. The less prestigious job he ends up with the BETTER it looks for us!  Wherever he ends up is the market "rate" for his coaching services. If he ends up somewhere "lower" than us, then that means we've been thinking more highly of him than the rest of our peers have. He's considered a loss if we offer him a job & he turns it down for an inferior job. We aren't offering him a job.

So if we win next week we didn't want a coach that win a SB title? Looks like egg on our face and not his. I'm trying to think of another school that win a conference title and the coach wasn't wanted back without violations.

[herd2win]

It makes zero sense that President Smith hasn't offered Huff some type of extension over the last year.  If it is true that even now no effort was made to keep Huff then I have lost all faith in Spears and Smith. 

I didn't like the Corny hire so I have zero faith in them replacing Huff if he in fact leaves.

[MCA23]

...we just hit a new low in Football Athletics.

UCF was one thing with Donnie Jones...he was going to a school in a much better standing, with a much better climate, and in a place that had a lot more going on.

But we have major problems when we start losing coaches to peer Sun Belt schools in places like Hattiesburg and Boone. That to me should be eye opening about the state of Huntington, the football program, the people in charge, and the university. What are we doing when coaches would rather be anywhere in the FBS than here?

No.  We didn't lose anything.  Huff was wanted to leave for a while and he was gone no matter what at the end of this season.  If anything he's the one that looks foolish.  He burned bridges in the town and the athletic department and bet on himself to get a better job and now the only thing left for him is to go to one of the worst teams in college football.

One of our current coaches told me that Huff is not a likeable guy.  He puts on in the press conferences, but behind closed doors he causes friction.

[Flat Tire 2]

Well, if it's true that Huff refused the Marshall extension offer due to the buyout clause and not increasing the assistants pay? Southern is stepping up and giving him $2 million for his assistants.

It sounds like Southern is getting serious about football. I am starting to question Smith's commitment to sports. Spear isn't impressive either. I guess we will know a lot more with the new hire and his budget for football assistants.

[herdorbust2]

Well, if it's true that Huff refused the Marshall extension offer due to the buyout clause and not increasing the assistants pay? Southern is stepping up and giving him $2 million for his assistants.

It sounds like Southern is getting serious about football. I am starting to question Smith's commitment to sports. Spear isn't impressive either. I guess we will know a lot more with the new hire and his budget for football assistants.

People are going to wise up to Smith and some already are. And Spears is very unimpressive.

[Garbanjo]

People are going to wise up to Smith and some already are. And Spears is very unimpressive.

Wise up to Smith?

LMAO

[BipolarFan]

If they wouldn't make an attempt to resign a coach who just won the Sun Belt East Division, the most consequential anything we've won since 2014, then the admin is completely incompetent.

[jdonaccbus]

It makes zero sense that President Smith hasn't offered Huff some type of extension over the last year.  If it is true that even now no effort was made to keep Huff then I have lost all faith in Spears and Smith. 

I didn't like the Corny hire so I have zero faith in them replacing Huff if he in fact leaves.

I don't know the truth. I doubt we ever will. Rumors are that Spears house is up for sale now. I don't care for Spears, but if Smith did an override on his decision not to make Corny the head coach in waiting, then I would be put off too. Smith gave Dan way too much stroke.

One thing I know is that the players play extremely hard for Huff. They go at it for their head coach. 9-3 is 9-3. Division champs is division champs. He brought in some good talent with the portal. He knows how to reach these modern day students and can work the portal into getting kids to come here. Huff runs good press conferences. No one says everything perfectly. Which coach here did? How about the Mandingos remarks?  But the guy for the most part has represented the school well. I don't read about his kids with run-ins with the law. Local guys like Osburn, Porter and Roberts speak highly of him. He comes across as a tireless worker. I thought Dan got lazier and lazier ever since Smith arrived. But he got to name his replacement? Huff made necessary changes on staff and it worked.

Sorry, but something doesn't smell right here. Huff has flaws and I don't like how he handles every situation. But we have a ton of momentum and every thing on the administration side has been quiet all season. Now we are going to have to have a serious re-start because it seems we have people not knowing how to run things.

[MCA23]

Well, if it's true that Huff refused the Marshall extension offer due to the buyout clause and not increasing the assistants pay? Southern is stepping up and giving him $2 million for his assistants.

It sounds like Southern is getting serious about football. I am starting to question Smith's commitment to sports. Spear isn't impressive either. I guess we will know a lot more with the new hire and his budget for football assistants.

The Soutern Miss development is interesting.  I don't think that it was just perks and compensation that was why Huff was turning down the two extensions that have been offered prior to last season.  One that I know of happened around the ND win.  Huff has always wanted to move up.  He's had his eyes on the P4.  He declined to bet on himself and then things after ND weren't so rosey and it  appears as though Southern Miss is his only other option and there have been rumors that his relationships within the athletic department have become strained and he just wants to leave.

Allegedly he's now talking with us again.  Maybe USM was a power move to gain leverage.  Maybe he's just taking the only train left out of town.

I just don't believe it's just because Southern Miss is offering him a little more than we are.  Going there for what they're offering him is pretty short sighted on his part.

[Flat Tire 2]

Let me clarify my position about Brad Smith. He is a great university president and he will probably save Marshall as an academic institution. Marshal was on a course of becoming a state normal school like the other WV colleges with a bleak future. He has changed the course of Marshall to a much higher trajectory.

That said, he is not an athletic oriented president. We have seen that before at Marshall and at other MAC schools. I get the feeling that Smith is not a "pro' athletics like some presidents at other schools at our level. I would like to see Smith hire an outstanding AD and let the guy run the program. Occasionally Marshall will hire a good AD like Lee Moon and Lynn Snyder and an outstanding AD like David Braine. On the other hand we had Joe MuMullen as an AD.

[Jbabbington]

Let me clarify my position about Brad Smith. He is a great university president and he will probably save Marshall as an academic institution. Marshal was on a course of becoming a state normal school like the other WV colleges with a bleak future. He has changed the course of Marshall to a much higher trajectory.

That said, he is not an athletic oriented president. We have seen that before at Marshall and at other MAC schools. I get the feeling that Smith is not a "pro' athletics like some presidents at other schools at our level. I would like to see Smith hire an outstanding AD and let the guy run the program. Occasionally Marshall will hire a good AD like Lee Moon and Lynn Snyder and an outstanding AD like David Braine. On the other hand we had Joe MuMullen as an AD.

I think Brad is very much an "athletic oriented president", maybe just not in the way we want? I believe that's made apparent by his appearance at almost all Marshall sporting events, for the entirety too, as well as his consistent social media posts about them. He also made it apparent that he watched every football game during his career along with other miscellaneous sports.

In my opinion that no one asked for, I think we're seeing the business side of Brad when it comes to athletics. Spears is the guy who was put in charge of Athletics, and he's going to let him do what he does.. whether he's doing it well is another question. Brad's too busy securing $250mil in investments for the Innovation District.

The day we see the majority of people going to Brad over Spears is the day that Spears loses his job and Brad finds someone who can get it done. I think that train has already started with the DD debacle.

[Flat Tire 2]

I think Brad is very much an "athletic oriented president", I believe that's made apparent by his appearance at almost all Marshall sporting events, for the entirety too, as well as his consistent social media posts about them. He also made it apparent that he watched every football game during his career along with other miscellaneous sports.

In my opinion that no one asked for, I think we're seeing the business side of Brad when it comes to athletics. Spears is the guy who was put in charge of Athletics, and he's going to let him do what he does.. whether he's doing it well is another question. Brad's too busy securing $250mil in investments for the Innovation District.

The day we see the majority of people going to Brad over Spears is the day that Spears loses his job and Brad finds someone who can get it done. I think that train has already started with the DD debacle.

Attending the sporting events is nice gesture and most MU presidents in the past have attended games. He even has has his own private sky box at the Joan. What I meant being pro athletics is investing money in facilities and people. He should be hiring the best possible people to coach and run the athletic department. All of our coaches should be the short list of richer program potential hires. The Cam and the Joan are in bad shape needing painting and cleaning. If he was pro athletics he would want the public to have a good experience in the venues and keep them at least clean.

I am not sure what is going on with Huff. Smith should at least be trying to keep him at Marshall, but Huff may want to be leave. There should be no reason to lose Huff to a bottom feeder in the same conference. The replacement for Huff will tell us a lot about Smith attitude about sports.

[2xBison]

So if we win next week we didn't want a coach that win a SB title? Looks like egg on our face and not his. I'm trying to think of another school that win a conference title and the coach wasn't wanted back without violations.

It is.  What a %^&* show.  Our administration has totally screwed the pooch if we do lose him to lesser or similar programs. 

I'm about to the point of forgetting BB and FB and focus on soccer.  We finally have a very good season and we still hear nonstop bitching, our administration screws up, and after the title game if we win, we may get a sub coach for game with several players opting out.  Well done.


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[2xBison]

Well, if it's true that Huff refused the Marshall extension offer due to the buyout clause and not increasing the assistants pay? Southern is stepping up and giving him $2 million for his assistants.

It sounds like Southern is getting serious about football. I am starting to question Smith's commitment to sports. Spear isn't impressive either. I guess we will know a lot more with the new hire and his budget for football assistants.

I think you are on it.  So Miss can take our coach after making title game?  %^&* just shut down the football program


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[Jbabbington]

Attending the sporting events is nice, he even has has his own private sky box at the Joan. What I meant being pro athletics is investing money in facilities and people. He should be hiring the best possible people to coach and run the athletic department. The Cam and the Joan are in bad shape needing painting and cleaning. If he was pro athletics he would want the public to have a good experience in the venues and keep them at least clean.

I get what you're saying, and I agree..to your point on investing I actually asked this question over on the other forum.. like I mentioned, Brad is on track to secure almost $250mil for the Innovation District and private investments into it.. can he not secure even just some chump change for athletics/football?

This is where I get the idea that Brad is an athletic guy, but more importantly he just wants to be a fan of Marshall sports and let his AD handle everything... who I don't really think is handling it well.

[Big Ol' Hillbilly]

Boone is not as nice as Huntington

I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read this. I would've spat it everywhere. Time to put the crack pipe away, sir.