Good News/Bad News on Kruger hire

[38Special]

Good News: Most qualified coach ever hired for OU basketball.

Bad News: The most qualified coach ever hired for OU football.......was Howard Schnellenberger.

Let's hope this one works out better.

 

[seniorsooner]

Let's just hope Lon doesnt spend as much time at "O'Connor's" as Howie did.

 

[ouboomer]

Schnellenberger was a panic hire when Mack decided not to come to OU..I think Joe C did his homework on this while Duncan paniced.

 

[coolm]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW082_UENkU&NR=1[/ame]

 

[Shooterms]

Good News: Most qualified coach ever hired for OU basketball.

Bad News: The most qualified coach ever hired for OU football.......was Howard Schnellenberger.

Let's hope this one works out better.

I bet you are great at parties.

 

[Tony]

One thing I have always wondered is how the real story of the Schnellenberger era at OU never came out. There is a great book to be written about that if anyone were to try and do it. So many rumors, but the story wasn't ever really told in any formal matter.

 

[skyvue]

Good News: Most qualified coach ever hired for OU basketball.

Bad News: The most qualified coach ever hired for OU football.......was Howard Schnellenberger.

Let's hope this one works out better.

Perhaps you mean experienced rather than qualified. Obviously Bud Wlkinson, Barry Switzer, Billy Tubbs, Kelvin Sampson and Bob Stoops were all qualified, or they would have achieved all that they did.

In any case, it is a major and ill-founded reach to compare Schnellenberger and Kruger. The two men have almost nothing in common.

I knew Schnellenberger was a mistake the day he was hired -- I was apoplectic that he got the job. And I've rarely in my life been happier than the day he departed.

Kruger won't embarrass us, as Schnelly did -- of that you can be certain.

 

[38Special]

I bet you are great at parties.

Oh I'm all on board for this hire. Just thought I'd point that out.

 

[seniorsooner]

One thing I have always wondered is how the real story of the Schnellenberger era at OU never came out. There is a great book to be written about that if anyone were to try and do it. So many rumors, but the story wasn't ever really told in any formal matter.

Ive always heard that it originated when Donnie Duncan ran into Howie at a hotel bar.

 

[38Special]

Perhaps you mean experienced rather than qualified. Obviously Bud Wlkinson, Barry Switzer, Billy Tubbs, Kelvin Sampson and Bob Stoops were all qualified, or they would have achieved all that they did.

In any case, it is a major and ill-founded reach to compare Schnellenberger and Kruger. The two men have almost nothing in common.

I knew Schnellenberger was a mistake the day he was hired -- I was apoplectic that he got the job. And I've rarely in my life been happier than the day he departed.

Kruger won't embarrass us, as Schnelly did -- of that you can be certain.

Switzer and Stoops had never been head coaches before, Schnellenberger had resurrected Miami football from the grave, and won a National Championship. That equals more qualified.

Sampson was at Washington State, and had never won an NCAA game. Tubbs came from Lamar. Kruger has been to a Final Four. That equals more qualified.

I'm not comparing Kruger and Schnelly as people, not at all. I just had the thought that Kruger is the most qualified coach we've ever hired in basketball, and it made me wonder who was the football version for OU.

I obviously don't think Kruger will be a one and done drunk.

 

[Iknowzilch]

Schnellenberger was a panic hire when Mack decided not to come to OU..I think Joe C did his homework on this while Duncan paniced.

Duncan's age peers revered Howard because he was and is a damn good coach. He was a poor fit at OU. Duncan unlike Joe had an enormous ego. Duncan cared how the hiring would be perceived by the national media and his heritage.

 

[skyvue]

Switzer and Stoops had never been head coaches before, Schnellenberger had resurrected Miami football from the grave, and won a National Championship. That equals more qualified.

Not necessarily. A track record makes it easier to know what to expect from a coach, to quickly sum up what his qualifications might be, but the lack of a track record doesn't mean a candidate isn't qualified. Admittedly, what makes many of us confident in Coach Kruger is his track record; some were excited about Schnelly for that same reason.

But obviously the five coaches I mentioned all had the qualities, the qualifications, to be good head coaches. They were qualified. Their track records prove that in retrospect.

Here's one definition of the word "qualified" I found at merriam-webster.com:

"Having the necessary skill, experience, or knowledge to do a particular job or activity"

That "or" is key. Experience is great, but a candidate can be fully qualified without it if he has the necessary skill and knowledge. It just takes well-honed appraisal skills on the part of the person doing the hiring to recognize that skill and knowledge.

 

[jerry]

Duncan's age peers revered Howard because he was and is a damn good coach. He was a poor fit at OU. Duncan unlike Joe had an enormous ego. Duncan cared how the hiring would be perceived by the national media and his heritage.

Good analysis and very true.

 

[WaymanFan]

Howard Schnellenburger was/is famous for taking programs with NO HISTORY OR TRADITION, and subsequently building one. He only had two opportunities in taking over established traditions or teams, and failed at both (OU and the Baltimore Colts in the early 1970s). Like other posters pointed out, he simply wasn't a good fit.

Lon Kruger, on the other hand, has done well at every college stop and resurrected programs which had been down. Unlike Howard S. in 1995, this is a perfect fit for him.

 

[61sooner]

Donnie Duncan was the A.D. when Barry Switzer was pushed out the door. Nuff said about his tenure at OU.

 

[sanguinetti]

Howard Schnellenburger was/is famous for taking programs with NO HISTORY OR TRADITION, and subsequently building one. He only had two opportunities in taking over established traditions or teams, and failed at both (OU and the Baltimore Colts in the early 1970s). Like other posters pointed out, he simply wasn't a good fit.

Lon Kruger, on the other hand, has done well at every college stop and resurrected programs which had been down. Unlike Howard S. in 1995, this is a perfect fit for him.

Howard was also famous for being the OC for 3 of Bear Bryant's MNC Bama teams (MNC according to wiki, at least) and the OC for the 16-0 Shula Dolphins. i can't stand the guy and he was a catastrophe both personally and on the field at OU, but he's got a blue-blood resume.

 

[Shooterms]

Perhaps you mean experienced rather than qualified. Obviously Bud Wlkinson, Barry Switzer, Billy Tubbs, Kelvin Sampson and Bob Stoops were all qualified, or they would have achieved all that they did.

In any case, it is a major and ill-founded reach to compare Schnellenberger and Kruger. The two men have almost nothing in common.

I knew Schnellenberger was a mistake the day he was hired -- I was apoplectic that he got the job. And I've rarely in my life been happier than the day he departed.

Kruger won't embarrass us, as Schnelly did -- of that you can be certain.

Can't remember where the quote is, but Kruger said something along the lines of "we will aggressively reach out to OU's former players and coaches". That quote, alone, speaks volumes about the difference between the two men.