Wanted: College Football Coach : There’s No Proven Search Formula; Luck Seems to Be a Major Factor

In 1916, Jesse Harper was the head football coach of a private Midwestern college.

Harper knew his X’s and O’s, but when it came to pep talks, he left the rah-rah stuff to his young assistant, who knew just what to say and how to say it.

With his team facing a game against Wabash, the young assistant gave such an emotional speech that one player said his feet were left tingling.

Wabash was defeated, 60-0.

Harper was soon forgotten, a footnote in college football history.

The college was Notre Dame.

The inspirational young assistant was Knute Rockne.

So much for X’s and O’s.

That’s not to say that Rockne didn’t know his football. But a head coach, especially a college coach, has to be able to do more than diagram plays on a blackboard or run a film projector. He has to be able to inspire and lead.

How do you determine whether a man possesses the ability to generate such intangibles? If you’re looking for a coach to run your program, how do you know whether an assistant coach or a high-profile head coach from another school is the right choice?

Those are questions being considered by UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis as he tries to replace his football coach, Terry Donahue, who is retiring after 20 years on the job.

Sometimes it simply comes down to luck. Back in 1920, St. Mary’s College in Northern California was desperate.

The school had just lost to California, 127-0. It was such a humiliating defeat that St. Mary’s officials canceled the rest of their football season.

And they agreed to hire a little-known, 25-year-old junior college coach from Oregon named Slip Madigan, whose biggest claim to fame was that he had once played for Rockne.

Madigan went on to build St. Mary’s into a collegiate powerhouse that competed on equal footing with such schools as USC before slipping back into obscurity after Madigan left. Madigan himself became known as the Knute Rockne of the West.

But such stories are exceedingly rare.

Of 10 recent head coaches hired for major-college programs, only one, Howard Schnellenberger, came from a head-coaching position. The remaining nine were previously assistant coaches, five at the collegiate level and four for NFL teams.

Five of those hired had worked on the defensive side of the ball, the other four specializing in offense.

The first question to ask, according to Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos, is, are we replacing a successful head coach?

In the case of the Oregon Ducks a year ago, the answer was certainly yes. Rich Brooks left at the end of last season after 18 years to take over the Rams. His last Duck team had gone 9-4 and ended its season in the Rose Bowl.

Why fool with success?

“If things are operating the way you want them run,” Moos agreed, “there is no reason to change.”

Oregon officials stuck with the program and promoted offensive coordinator Mike Bellotti. The result was a 9-2 season and a berth in the Cotton Bowl.

“We felt that we had a highly qualified person on our staff, so it made sense to stay with him,” Moos said. “That is not always the case.”

At Stanford, Bill Walsh seemed to have lost touch with his players last season in his return to college coaching.

When Walsh left, Stanford officials looked to the pros, hiring Minnesota Viking running back coach Tyrone Willingham, a former Stanford assistant.

The result was spectacular. Stanford went from 3-7-1 to 7-3-1 and an upcoming appearance in the Liberty Bowl.

But reaching into the pro ranks is not always the obvious solution. It hasn’t worked at Boston College, where, when Tom Coughlin moved on after the 1993 season, he was replaced by Dan Henning, the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions at the time. Henning had had two previous NFL head-coaching jobs, with the Atlanta Falcons and the San Diego Chargers. But he has been a disaster at Boston College, the team going from 9-3 in Coughlin’s last season to 7-4-1 and 4-8 in two years.

Nor does a big name necessarily produce big results right away.

Schnellenberger had been a head coach in the collegiate ranks for 15 years, five at Miami and 10 at Louisville. So when Oklahoma, coming off a 6-6 season under Gary Gibbs, went looking for a proven motivator, they came up with Schnellenberger.

The result?

Not much. Oklahoma still finished at .500 this season, going 5-5-1.

Of course, the coach can do only so much. Butch Davis was hired away from his position as defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys to rebuild the shattered, scandal-ridden image at the University of Miami. He did fine on the field, going 8-3 this season, but the school was still slapped with penalties by the NCAA for previous sins.

Dan McCarney, a former defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, took over at Iowa State this year and went 3-8.

Disappointing?

Not when you consider that his predecessor, Jim Walden, was 0-10-1 in his last season there.

The good news for Dalis, according to Moos, is that he will find plenty of willing candidates for the UCLA job.

“The Pac-10 programs attract head coaches from across the country because of the competitiveness of the conference, the large recruiting base and the quality of life out here,” Moos said.

And sometimes, you just plain get lucky.

Like Madigan.

* NORTHWESTERN: Team arrives in Southland, while Barnett nears 12-year deal. C11

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The Hiring Line

A look at how 10 prominent schools filled their football coaching vacancies in the last two years:

Name: Tyrone Willingham

School: Stanford

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Minnesota Viking assistant

Comment: Took over after Bill Walsh resigned citing burnout and went from 3-7-1 to 7-3-1, Liberty Bowl.

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Name: Mike Bellotti

School: Oregon

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Oregon offensive coordinator

Comment: Carried on Rich Brooks’ success with 9-2 mark, Cotton Bowl berth.

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Name: Rick Neuheisel

School: Colorado

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Colorado assistant

Comment: Succeeded Bill McCartney with a 9-2 record, berth in Cotton Bowl.

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Name: Butch Davis

School: Miami

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Dallas Cowboy defensive coordinator

Comment: Took over scandal-ridden team, went 8-3, tied for Big East title.

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Name: Howard Schnellenberger

School: Oklahoma

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Louisville coach

Comment: Replaced Gary Gibbs, who was 6-6; fared no better at 5-5-1.

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Name: Dan Henning

School: Boston College

Hired: 1994

Previous Job: Detroit Lion offensive coordinator

Comment: Program has gone from 9-3 under Tom Coughlin to 4-8 in two seasons.

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Name: Bob Simmons

School: Oklahoma State

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Colorado assistant

Comment: Not much difference. Went from 3-7-1 under Pat Jones to 4-8.

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Name: Lloyd Carr

School: Michigan

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Michigan defensive coordinator

Comment: Replaced Gary Moeller, who left in controversy, and went 9-3, got spot in Alamo Bowl.

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Name: Nick Saban

School: Michigan State

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator

Comment: Big improvement over George Perles, going from 5-6 to 6-4-1 and Independence Bowl.

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Name: Dan McCarney

School: Iowa State

Hired: 1995

Previous Job: Wisconsin defensive coordinator

Comment: Nowhere to go but up. From 0-10-1 under Jim Walden to 3-8.

* NORTHWESTERN: Team arrives in Southland, while Barnett nears 12-year deal. C11