The next coach of UND football is....

[gfhockey]

bubba understands north Dakota and north Dakota football...

where was deboer from?

bubbas from zeeland, nd.

I bet most high school coachs in ND would respect him over klieman but respect ndsu football program over UND currently.

[Siouxdonyms]

DeBoer is the man for the job and would be a great fit. A little biased since he's from my hometown, but he is a hell of a coach.

[gfhockey]

carr on twitter is mad

Aeron Carr ‏@Dreamerrr9 2h

It's one thing to keep the info from the fans, but the players? Come on.. Last time I checked we are the ones who it affects the most.

[Siouxperfan7]

Obviously Deboer and Bubba know each other and worked together as top assistants at Southern Illinois. Given the current situation there with Lennon, any chance they chose each other to come with them if selected?!!

[SIOUXFAN97]

Obviously Deboer and Bubba know each other and worked together as top assistants at Southern Illinois. Given the current situation there with Lennon, any chance they chose each other to come with them if selected?!!

money talks??? its up to faison and his pocketbook

[gfhockey]

maybe deboer would follow bubba but I know bubba wont turn on his ole pal lennon and be second fiddle to a youngster with naia head coaching expeirence

[Irish]

DeBoer please. Bubba doesn't excite me. NEW BLOOD PLEASE.

The odds of new blood in this neck of the woods are slim -

[homer]

carr on twitter is mad

Aeron Carr ‏@Dreamerrr9 2h

It's one thing to keep the info from the fans, but the players? Come on.. Last time I checked we are the ones who it affects the most.

Well he'll find out in a couple days. And starting in the spring he gets a chance to show his stuff on the field and be the man. Lots of opportunity for him now. These young guys will all get their chance.

[choyt3]

Former Sioux assistant Jeff Menage has passed away. http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/819989/Menage-Jeffrey.php

[BigGame]

Your sources also told there would be a hire last Wednesday and then Friday and also there was five finalists not two. I'll take it with a grain of salt.

Also, what if Bubba's defenses perform like they have at SIU, poorly and worse than DeBoer's offenses?

I'll support whoever the choice is and am excited for them to return it back to where it belongs.

SIU was a good team this year, Lennon just couldn't seem to win most of the close games. He seemed to winall the close games at UND.

I think both coaches are good and think both will be successful with proper support. I personally feel Deboer has the greater upside but you don't really know until it all plays out.

[BigGame]

Former Sioux assistant Jeff Menage has passed away. http://www.obitsforl...age-Jeffrey.php

I feel a little weird now because with all the coaching talk I was thinking to myself, what happened to the coach that was hired at UND the same year as Mussman.

[Shawn-O]

We have mandatory postings and HR point systems. Meanwhile in Austin, UT has retained Korn Ferry International for their search. Good God.

[UND92,96]

Ironically, even Muss is criticizing the length of this ridiculous process via twitter...

[Oxbow6]

Ironically, even Muss is criticizing the length of this ridiculous process via twitter...

Least Muss has a pulse on something as it relates to this program.

[Oxbow6]

We have mandatory postings and HR point systems. Meanwhile in Austin, UT has retained Korn Ferry International for their search. Good God.

My guess is their search will come down to more than the OC and DC at SMU or Houston.

[ericpnelson]

Should we start taking bets on who and when it happens? My guess is Bubba, tomorrow 3 PM (probably wishful thinking on timeline)

[UND Fan]

Some observations regarding the frustrations we all have regarding how long it is taking to name a new HC….

I will preface this by saying I am as (or more) concerned as anyone else about how long this is taking. I am one who almost gets more excited about winning a recruiting battle than winning a game. I am the guy who posts all the recruiting updates on Wiki and have followed UND recruiting efforts in most sports for many, many years. Our loss of players and what will ultimately be a poor recruiting class is very concerning and disappointing.

These are observations – some of which may or may not be applicable in this situation. I don’t really care to “debate” any of these thoughts.

Replacement List

– I have no doubts that Faison had a list of potential replacements long before Muss was let go. He simply isn’t so naïve that he wouldn’t start thinking about a replacement until after the firing and then wait until after all the applications are in to start working on this.

– We may never learn the “real story” but I bet a coach or two that had initially expressed interest in the job and then changed their minds. I will list some reasons why some talented coaches would not be interested below.

The Process

– We all agree that the hiring process, as dictated by those outside the athletic department, is ludicrous and must be changed.

– I agree with most that it certainly appears that, despite the process, a replacement should have been named a few days ago – before current players left for the holiday break.

National Search

– It is a given that, unless it is a likelihood that an assistant will be promoted, every program states there will be a national search for a replacement so making the statement is not unique.

– I would guess that there was a national search – it simply didn’t result in a candidate either qualified or interested in the job.

– I have probably hired a few hundred people in my business career and often felt I would have a bunch of talented candidates to choose from. At times, I have been surprised and disappointed that, for one reason or another, the pool of applicants is not what I expected. I, then, hired someone that didn’t quite have the background/experience that I had hoped for. In many of these cases, the person I hired did an outstanding job for the company.

Challenges in Finding an Interested Candidate (not necessarily in order of importance)

– While the salary available has increased, it was likely still not enough to lure a “name” coach that would excite all of us. I wish we could offer more but, like in your household or in your business, there is a limited budget to work with – whether we like it or not. The budget available for assistants may also have been a concern.

– The IPF will be a great tool for recruiting and development of the team but, unless you really understand the heritage of the program, is the job really that appealing due to the state it is in? Probably not.

– UND’s reputation of being a hockey school with FB coming in a distant second.

– Does a coach who hasn’t lived in a most northerly climate really want to move his family to North Dakota?

– If you think you have the credentials to be offered a HC job in the near future and you are not from the area, is this truly a desirable, sexy job? Probably not!

Recruiting (I will preface this by saying that SU certainly knows how to overcome these challenges. Many of these issues have been candidly confirmed by coaches that we have had – in most sports at UND)

– Like it or not, it is difficult to recruit players to the remoteness and climate of North Dakota.

– Coaches must have a concern about being able to land the best prospects in ND/MN/WS as SU will likely get them – for at least the next few years until our program starts to turn the corner.

– While some upper Midwest players may be excited about playing in the Big Sky, many (along with their parents and girlfriends) prefer to play at a school in the Midwest where relatives/friends can more easily see many of their games. Parents, etc. living in MN, NE, IA are able to drive to most MVC games while parents of UND players would only be able to drive to games in GF – and in many cases, it is a long drive to GF.

– Budget concerns – many of the better FCS schools don’t need to fly in as most of their recruits for visits. The lack of substantial, relatively nearby population is an issue. Just compare ourselves to SDSU. They have many times the number of prospects within 200-300 miles than we do (the Cities, Nebraska, Iowa, etc.). Prospective coaches may be concerned whether they have the necessary budget to successfully recruit against our competition where many recruits can drive to campus.

Bottom line – despite all of our (me included) excitement about the potential of bringing in a “name” HC, doing so was likely much more difficult than anticipated. That said, this has taken too long! However, we are where we are and we need to support the new coach rather than debate the decision that was made. I am one of the offenders but this board has become so negative that any potential recruit taking a look here will be turned off – and they (and current players) do read what is posted here.

Based on the above, I have come full circle and now think that either Bubba or Deboer would be a great choice

Let’s get excited about the future, write checks to help the effort (if able to do so) and move forward.

[tnt]

carr on twitter is mad

Aeron Carr ‏@Dreamerrr9 2h

It's one thing to keep the info from the fans, but the players? Come on.. Last time I checked we are the ones who it affects the most.

Yeah, like if you told all the players they would keep it quiet. Some names are out now, but what if candidates didn't want their name out there to protect their current jobs? You tell the players, the fans would know within hours after that.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Yeah, like if you told all the players they would keep it quiet. Some names are out now, but what if candidates didn't want their name out there to protect their current jobs? You tell the players, the fans would know within hours after that.

Like it or not, the players have got the raw end of this deal. The length of this hiring process is particularly the reason. As we can see, without a leader and father-figure heading the program, some players get a bit restless and move on. Losing guys like Golladay, Jackson, and Brown are all major blows that shouldn't be taken likely. Whether you like it or not, this hiring process has been a failure. Perhaps not in terms of the guy hired, depending on whether Bubba/DeBoer pans out, but the length has been ridiculous. It's not coincidental that programs around the country make hires as quickly as possible; they realize a mass exodus of players, like we have seen here, is possible otherwise. Knowing the 15-day posting period was a requirement, Faison should have narrowed down the list to only 2 or 3 after Dec. 10 and had someone hired by Dec.12 or 13.

[UND-1]

I like that Carr is frustrated, at least it shows he cares still. The others have just left, no 'frustration' there.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Ironically, even Muss is criticizing the length of this ridiculous process via twitter...

Never thought I would say this, but with how long this process has dragged on, you have to think it may have been better to have just retained Mussman. Oh well, that's water under the bridge now.

[gfhockey]

If deb gets it...he better bring schmidt along for the ride.

We need und blood to resotre the tradition of und footvall

[UND-FB-FAN]

If deb gets it...he better bring schmidt along for the ride.

We need und blood to resotre the tradition of und footvall

Most Subjective Post of the Day Award goes to...

[bincitysioux]

Never thought I would say this, but with how long this process has dragged on, you have to think it may have been better to have just retained Mussman. Oh well, that's water under the bridge now.

No.

[UND-FB-FAN]

No.

Make no mistake, I honestly believe both Bubba and DeBoer are better leaders than Mussman. I'm not sure about the recruiting part, so we'll have to see about that.