of the 3 possibilities mentioned, Franklin is the only one that could excite me. there's still other really nice possibilities though. I think Woodward will make a good decision. his track record indicates that and I can't see him doing anything different at his dream job.
You 100% deserve a victory dance along with Tap and everyone else who was screaming about O not truly being changed. Time has proven your concerns valid. Now, I don't know if he was this way in 2019. I still think he had tried to change and learned, but it's clearly not of any interest in him to either continue to live changed or to continue to pretend he changed. We may never know which it was either. Maybe he made changes and fell off the wagon with them or maybe he just fooled lots of people like me. Either way all that matters is he's had hundreds of days to make meaningful changes and his choices show the decision he has made. He cares far more about personal wants than those of his job, his team, and his state. It certainly appears far too late to change it, too.
The big names USC fans want are Urban and Franklin from what I've heard but that doesn't mean anything.
If we have to make a change it's Aranda then Brady in my view. For Aranda to be the answer he could bring in a high powered OC who knows the state and high schools and or the same thing for DC. They plus the other assistants must be good recruiters cause Aranda aint that. Brady would be good too. He knows Louisiana, has a good reputation here and his pro connections would an asset. I think he would be a good recruiter too. After that it's a gamble on who might work.
Not knocking you individually, but knocking the collective "Brady/Aranda" mind trap. I think people find these 2 candidates appealing simply because they are like a warm blanket on a chilly day and remind them of past success. Brady was only successful in conjunction with Burrow and Ensminger. Many think he was the main reason we had a great season in 2019. The truth is that he was one ingredient in that cocktail. Same for Aranda. The jury is still out on both Aranda and Brady. That is not to say that they are not very good coaches, they are both very good coaches. What has yet to be determined is if they would be effective head coaches at the highest level. If only we could go back to 2019, everything would be good again. We need to move beyond 2019. The rest of the college football world has and we need to stop trying to play catch up.
@Brian I never want to condemn a man on past actions, so I did not know he was the same. I gave him a chance to prove he was a different man than the one I know. I think you are right that he did change for a short while but I think the fame triggered what we are seeing now. He had every chance to be the beloved coach, local hero, and he threw it away. I am grateful for 19 because it was great and he deserves credit.
Auburn had a lot of problems within their lockeroom that required Chizik to hire monitors to keep that team in line and out of trouble. While the two situations aren't alike, it was as much the off the field issues that led to Chizik's firing as it was the on the field.
Couldn't have said it any better, @Pjoe. I think O is currently not the same man nor coach that he was in 2019. I base this off listening to him, observing his behavior on and off the field, and all of the reliable things I've been told, not just rumors. I hate speculation like this but I really do wonder if it was his sobriety and his divorce which is awful for everyone not just him. My understanding is that was an incredibly painful thing and he was trying his best to salvage it. Suddenly you're on your own and you're the most popular native son in your state and you're single and you're massively wealthy and famous.. I'm not sure going home to a ham sandwich and Sportscenter is going to leave you feeling fulfilled. Often times crisis leads to relapse and he had the pain of losing his marriage and the means to very much occupy his mind and time with things that will make you feel good, distract you from the wounds, and he was being celebrated everywhere he went which means temptation is everywhere. I don't know if I'd say no every single time to such temptation. I hate that it's even a topic because these guys deserve their privacy, but we're in a world where he's put a lot of this stuff out in the public himself or allowed it to get out. He's put himself in position for this to be discussed because it clearly has affected his performance. I don't think it's unreasonable in that vein when his current behavior is reminiscent of old Ed to then wonder if perhaps it is due to his habits being that if old Ed. I really hope that's not the case. Hopefully O is happy and healthy and this is just a matter of poor hires, bad evaluations, terrible decision making, etc. He's got plenty of money. He's got the greatest season he led in college football history and arguably the greatest team. No one can take those things from him. The rest of his story has been his to author and it's just sad I think for everyone involved that these were the chapters he penned. He can flip the script again and I hope he does. Think he already wrote himself out of his time at LSU though. I know I'm forever grateful for him giving us 2019.
