[Class of 20Something]

What about Vic Keonning? DC at Troy. Knows how to build a defense. His head coaching record is atrocious but the majority of that was more than 15 years ago. May be worth a shot.

[BigRed1]

I want Mike Houston from JMU. My bet is he’ll be at a P5 next year but I want him here. The man is 62-20 in his career as head coach. He flat out knows how to win.

100% agree. I think he’s one of the best coaches out there. Someone will grab him up very soon.

[phoenix]

The JMU board will absolutely implode if we poach their head coach. THAT will be fun to watch

[rogers3]

The JMU board will absolutely implode if we poach their head coach. THAT will be fun to watch

I can't imagine he'd ever consider Liberty. I'd be surprised if any highly successful FCS coach would come here, but who knows.

[Liberty22]

I'd be surprised if any highly successful FCS coach would come here, but who knows.

Why’s that? We’ll be FBS at that point. That’s a step up. Would you be surprised if any successful FCS coach went to any independent school? Pretty successful coach went from FCS Georgia Southern (now FBS) to Army.

[rogers3]

I'd be surprised if any highly successful FCS coach would come here, but who knows.

Why’s that? We’ll be FBS at that point. That’s a step up. Would you be surprised if any successful FCS coach went to any independent school? Pretty successful coach went from FCS Georgia Southern (now FBS) to Army.

Well, Liberty to Army is like crabapples to oranges. And we suck.

[Liberty22]

Well, Liberty to Army is like crabapples to oranges. And we suck.

Army was 3-9, 2-10, 3-9 before their coach came in so sucking doesn’t keep coaches away. Besides coaches can see we have talent just need the coach.

[Liberty22]

While I doubt we could lure Houston, I do think we have an attractive job. Money for the coach and his staff, basically a blank check on facilities and gadgets that they want. If they look at the roster they would have to be happy with the talent that is here as a starting point. Good crowds. A tough, but manageable schedule that could turn heads with a few wins.

No real reason the job wouldn't be viewed positively. I just think Houston will be waiting for a big time gig.

I don’t think he’ll have to wait long.

[Jonathan Carone]

While I doubt we could lure Houston, I do think we have an attractive job. Money for the coach and his staff, basically a blank check on facilities and gadgets that they want. If they look at the roster they would have to be happy with the talent that is here as a starting point. Good crowds. A tough, but manageable schedule that could turn heads with a few wins.

No real reason the job wouldn't be viewed positively. I just think Houston will be waiting for a big time gig.

You named all our positives. I think it’s only fair to mention the negatives:

No conference so no championship to play for or guaranteed bowl tie ins.

No history of winning at a high level (ie playoffs, solo conference championships)

Christian school with decently strict honor code (when compared to other FBS schools)

Schedules where we spend 5 weeks straight on the road (ie 2019)

All those things are definitely able to be overcome, but until someone does it first, you’re not going to see high level P5 coordinators take the leap to us.

[Ewglenn]

While I doubt we could lure Houston, I do think we have an attractive job. Money for the coach and his staff, basically a blank check on facilities and gadgets that they want. If they look at the roster they would have to be happy with the talent that is here as a starting point. Good crowds. A tough, but manageable schedule that could turn heads with a few wins.

No real reason the job wouldn't be viewed positively. I just think Houston will be waiting for a big time gig.

You named all our positives. I think it’s only fair to mention the negatives:

No conference so no championship to play for or guaranteed bowl tie ins.

No history of winning at a high level (ie playoffs, solo conference championships)

Christian school with decently strict honor code (when compared to other FBS schools)

Schedules where we spend 5 weeks straight on the road (ie 2019)

All those things are definitely able to be overcome, but until someone does it first, you’re not going to see high level P5 coordinators take the leap to us.

LU is going to be a hard place to recruit. I've always said with the rules on campus it's going to be hard to have a roster of nothing but 3* athletes.

[Purple Haize]

While I doubt we could lure Houston, I do think we have an attractive job. Money for the coach and his staff, basically a blank check on facilities and gadgets that they want. If they look at the roster they would have to be happy with the talent that is here as a starting point. Good crowds. A tough, but manageable schedule that could turn heads with a few wins.

No real reason the job wouldn't be viewed positively. I just think Houston will be waiting for a big time gig.

You named all our positives. I think it’s only fair to mention the negatives:

No conference so no championship to play for or guaranteed bowl tie ins.

No history of winning at a high level (ie playoffs, solo conference championships)

Christian school with decently strict honor code (when compared to other FBS schools)

Schedules where we spend 5 weeks straight on the road (ie 2019)

All those things are definitely able to be overcome, but until someone does it first, you’re not going to see high level P5 coordinators take the leap to us.

LU is going to be a hard place to recruit. I've always said with the rules on campus it's going to be hard to have a roster of nothing but 3* athletes.

That’s true in every major sport at LU when it comes to coaches and players. It’s true at several schools actually and some of those that embrace it succeed Heck, even Dabo will turn down 5 Stars if he thinks he can coach up a 3 Star who is a better fit. Not everyone can be Alabama where you have future NFL starters on your bench waiting for the current player to exit for the NFL

[Purple Haize]

Some of this is going to be sort of crass, but people need to understand the reality.

I don't buy the "LU is hard to recruit" stuff. The football players basically do whatever they want, just like a state school. When HS recruits come they are taken to parties where there is drinking and guys are getting BJs around the side of the building high fiving each other as it happens. Not exactly a restrictive environment that they operate in.

Yes and no. Having an off campus kegger won’t get you kicked out at ODU. Having sex in your dorm room won’t get you Reprimands or cost you money. (Unless you paid her/him)
There are a lot of land mines you can navigate around at LU and Athletes get their fair share of breaks. But a good number of Athletes won’t want to put themselves in that position (pardon the pun)

[Jonathan Carone]

We can get some talent here. That’s never been the issue. There is a lot of talent we miss out on because of the rules at play. They immediately dismiss us because it’s a hassle they don’t want to deal with. That’ll always be the case and while it’s a negative, it’s a negative that’s worth it to stay who we are as a school.

[ballcoach15]

We seem to always recruit well with skill positions. It's the linemen that we're not getting, in my opinion. We need bigger, faster, stronger linemen.

[thepostman]

Some of this is going to be sort of crass, but people need to understand the reality.

I don't buy the "LU is hard to recruit" stuff. The football players basically do whatever they want, just like a state school. When HS recruits come they are taken to parties where there is drinking and guys are getting BJs around the side of the building high fiving each other as it happens. Not exactly a restrictive environment that they operate in.

I get that and you're right to an extent but I think you're being a bit naive yourself if you are trying to convince yourself that it doesn't have an effect on recruiting.

Obviously athletes get away with more which can be debated elsewhere. I just don't see how a set of rules wouldn't negatively impact recruiting in some way.

[Liberty22]

Ga Southern fired their coach today. Maybe we’ll follow suit this weekend

[rogers3]

Well, Liberty to Army is like crabapples to oranges. And we suck.

Army was 3-9, 2-10, 3-9 before their coach came in so sucking doesn’t keep coaches away. Besides coaches can see we have talent just need the coach.

Army with a losing record will likely draw more interest than LU with a winning record, but I bet your kool-aid tastes good!

[Purple Haize]

Well, Liberty to Army is like crabapples to oranges. And we suck.

Army was 3-9, 2-10, 3-9 before their coach came in so sucking doesn’t keep coaches away. Besides coaches can see we have talent just need the coach.

Army with a losing record will likely draw more interest than LU with a winning record, but I bet your kool-aid tastes good!

[youtube]PH1ZcKc4Pc8[/youtube]

[Liberty22]

Army with a losing record will likely draw more interest than LU with a winning record, but I bet your kool-aid tastes good!

Typical of this board. Can’t back up statements with facts, just tosses out name calling and kool aid comments. I bet you’re the life of the party.

[jinxy]

Id take a look at troy walters the Oc of ucf. Former stanford and nfl wr. Leading the high octane ucf offense and from what ive heard is a strong christian. He also has the strong florida recruiting connections.

[Sly Fox]

I do not like talking about next coaches while we still have a staff employed and battling this Saturday on the field. But I admit that Troy Walters intrigues me. He also has Dungy connections that I suspect would help his candidacy. At 40, he's young and affordable based on what he makes at UCF. He actually has strong Texas recruiting ties where I remember covering him as a player here a couple of decades ago. He would certainly drool over our offensive weapons we have in place for next season.

Now let me go back and state that as horrendous as this season has gone after Waco, as long as Coach Gill is our head coach he'll have my support on Saturdays. He is a great role model for our student athletes and I suspect his current predicament is a motivating factor for his players going down the stretch.

[prototype]

I want Mike Houston from JMU. My bet is he’ll be at a P5 next year but I want him here. The man is 62-20 in his career as head coach. He flat out knows how to win.

+1

[VarsityLu]

Has anyone mentioned Jim Tressel yet? He might just be the guy who could lead Liberty for a few years as we enter the FBS ranks. He is no longer under any show cause ruling from the NCAA and is currently only making 300K as the president of Youngstown State. I know, I know...that tatgate thing. He made a mistake. He paid for it. But, he is one of the best recruiters and on field coaches I have ever seen. Just a thought.

[phoenix]

When Tressel was fired from Ohio State, I told my wife that he'd wind up at Liberty - we'd just wait long enough for the stink of controversy to die down a bit. He's a decent culture fit with LU as well, tatgate excluded. I liked the guy when he was here, and thought he got a bad rap all the way around.

[Class of 20Something]

Can we just reflect on how minor Tatgate was in comparison to BU, UNC, or Louisville? It's almost laughable compared to what's happened since then.