Larry Kehres for Head Coach

by rgalloucla on Dec 11, 2007 10:47 PM PST Comment 13 comments

With the majority of the big-name head coaches seemingly being eliminated from our coaching search, I'd like to propose a long shot to succeed KD. Larry Kehres of Division III Mt Union College has established a program that is unparalleled in college football, even if it isn't at a D-I level.

"Under Kehres, the Raiders have won nine Division III National Championships in the last 14 years ('93, '96, '97, '98, '00, & '01, '02, '05, '06).

Since 1990, the Raiders have made 17 playoff appearances while posting college football's most wins and best winning percentage (230-10-1/.956). During the last 16 regular seasons, his teams have posted a phenomenal 162-2 (.988) overall mark."

Like I said, I know its not D-I but the guy obviously knows how to run a program and I don't think it would hurt to at least interview him. I was most impressed by the following:

"According to Kehres, a successful football program is built on organization and consistency.

"We have built a successful program, in part, because our coaching staff has remained intact and is committed to our system," he said. "We feel our program is well-organized. Our players know what is expected of them. They know that we believe in taking advantage of opportunities and not beating ourselves with mistakes.

"Offensively, we like to attack the defense and make them cover the whole field. Defensively, we want to create big plays. As for the kicking game, I believe in being aggressive and winning the field position battle. Being consistent in all three phases and being well-conditioned puts you in a position to win games in the fourth quarter."

This sounds like exactly what we are looking for and he just may be the diamond in the rough UCLA needs if its not going to pay to get a high profile guy.

The whole article can be read here:
http://www.muc.edu/athletics/men_s_teams/football/head_coach_larry_kehres__1

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Why not Bobby Hauck?

I know he's been mentioned before, but I'm surprised he's not getting more attention. I'd take Hauck over Leach (although I'd happily welcome Brian Kelly or Bronco Mendenhall to Westwood as well). Kehres sounds like a great coach at the D-3 level, but a great coach at the D-1AA level is even better, and Bobby Hauck fits the bill. He has UCLA connections too.

Wikipedia

by xapis828 on Dec 11, 2007 10:55 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I had him

in a list a while ago, but the more we looked into him, the worse it looked. He has had MAJOR disciplinary issues at Montana and someone on BN did some great research finding multiple players arrested for significant crimes and a bunch of other things.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Dec 11, 2007 10:57 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Bad news this season

http://www.grizzoulian.com/tags/bobby-hauck/

Another potential successor -- Montana's Bobby Hauck -- appears to be a longshot. Even though Hauck, a former University of Colorado assistant, has won five consecutive Big Sky Conference championships, his program has been criticized for a series of off-the-field incidents involving his players. At least seven players have faced a variety of charges within the past year, including murder, armed robbery, assault and DUI.

It's an interesting question. Because if someone did, they would've seen he had a warrant out for his arrest when he came here. The warrant was for not completing his community service after he was charged with misdemeanors for assault and criminal trespassing. Bobby Hauck wouldn't recruit a kid with a warrant out for his arrest, right?

I liked him a few months ago, but with what's been going on at his program in Montana, I couldn't imagine the types of problems he'd have at UCLA.

by sfatoo on Dec 12, 2007 12:11 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

There it is

thanks for finding this stuff

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Dec 12, 2007 12:13 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Did Burt Reynolds recruit these guys?

..sounds like the cons' team in "The Longest Yard".

by whp68 on Dec 12, 2007 6:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

He has an impressive resume

but I really think that when you go from a lower level to D-1, you really have to stay in the same region. If you look at the really successful coaches to come from a lower level (Jim Tressell, Brian Kelly) that was the case. Also, Kehres has been at Mount Union since 1986 and has been extremely successful. I'd be shocked if other programs hadn't approached him, but my guess would be they have and he likes Mount Union and has no intention of leaving. I do like that you found a candidate from a lower level, something I wouldn't mind DG doing, but try to stay more local because that usually works out best in that situation.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Dec 11, 2007 10:56 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hey Rye

Why do you think it is best to get a local guy when it comes to coaches moving from the lower divisions to D-1? I haven't seen anything to convince me that the local guy is usually the right fit.

It's my understanding that the D-2 guy that is local is usually the one that gets hired because he's somewhat known by the D-1 school because he's local. So therefore, the D-1 administrators are more comfortable with him, even if this local guy isn't neccessarily the best potential D-2 guy for the D-1 school.

I recognize that an understanding of the local recruiting environment helps the local D-2 guy, but that can quickly be overcome by the right D-2 guy.

by bornagainbruin on Dec 12, 2007 7:01 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I haven't really thought it through

but based on history, the most successful coaches coming from a lower level have been local guys. Recruiting is the most obvious one and I don't think having local ties can be underestimated. I know for a fact that the majority of recruits are overly dependent on their high school coaches when it comes to recruiting so having strong relationships with as many high school coaches as possible is key. Also, you often see lower level coaches be invited to watch practices and games of the local D-1 schools from the sidelines. This allows them to be familiar with the program and the other teams in the conference making the transition to the higher levels much easier. When you're a lower division school, you don't play a national schedule. In fact, nearly all won't leave their region until the NCAA tournament starts. While other D-1 coaches get exposed to the country, the lower level coach doesn't. Going from D-1AA, D-2 or D-3 to D-1 is hard enough, but making them learn an entire region and the national landscape at the same time would be nearly impossible. I'd be much more comfortable with a local guy.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Dec 12, 2007 11:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

This is great

This guy should be a candidate. He fits the criteria, as far as I'm concerned. And I don't remember a whole bunch of things about OJ Simpson of Mt. Union College ....

His schemes might be based on physical abilities and limitations of the guys he gets, of course. But he's still a proven winner.

There might be a million reasons why we wouldn't want to hire him, but there is no reason we shouldn't be looking at and for guys like him. Instead, we get a whole bunch of feces about DeWayne Walker and Norm Chow. Hey how about this - Walker and Chow can go coach at Mt. Union, figure out how to do it and then audition on the big stage.

by Fox 71 on Dec 12, 2007 6:11 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Wow

what a novel concept....hiring an experienced, proven winner from a lower division or conference and promoting him to the same position at a high-profile school. Hmmmmmm....that just might work!

No wait, I take that back. Let's hire the assistant coach with no head coaching experience, cross our fingers, close our eyes, and just hope for the best. I'm sure that's the best course of action.
(rolls eyes, shakes head, takes a shot of whiskey)

"This is not a place for just any coach" Dan Guerrero

by godblesstyus95 on Dec 12, 2007 8:11 AM PST reply actions 0 recs