Sorry for getting this out a little late, but between being sick, dad duties including soccer practice and roofers fixing a leaking roof today plus normal practice and daily work, I've been in the weeds.
Ken stole a little of my thunder, though we are hearing different names so I'll jump into what I am hearing. First off, they want this done pretty quickly, like hired within weeks and in place by the start of November to get to work on the football search and other tasks. One source said this is going down quickly.
Geoff Duncan is out of play, the current Lt. Governor didn't really fit the criteria of what President Cabrera and interim AD Frank Neville outlined in their presentation last week and that immediately made me dig a little and sure enough they want someone with legit athletic depart experience. It doesn't have to be someone who has run the show, but someone who has plenty of experience navigating the waters.
One of the big things many of my sources harped on to me is that Cabrera would like someone younger with some energy to tackle moving Georgia Tech football and other sports into the modern landscape with the portal, NIL and realignment all being issues that will likely fall on that hire as well as coaching search for a football coach and fundraising being key aspects.
The name that I first down to one of our subs that has picked up some heat recently is Allen Greene the Auburn AD who quit earlier this season. Auburn is about as dysfunctional as programs get and that has been well-documented through multiple ADs, leadership and football coaching drama. Greene is 45, still on the younger side and was a baseball player who also played professionally. He cut his teeth at Ole Miss before moving to Buffalo and eventually becoming the AD there during the rise of Lance Leipold. Leipold was hired just before Greene took over.
The big concern with Greene is the Bryan Harsin fiasco at Auburn. How much of that falls on Greene is an interesting question. Harsin was one of the last P5 coaches hired that cycle as Auburn waited until December 13, 2020, to fire Harsin. A week before NSD. According to Auburn media at the time there were groups pushing for various coaches including Kevin Steele who was the interim head coach for Auburn's Citrus Bowl that year. Our Auburn guys say that Greene went out on a limb hiring Harsin an outsider with very little ties to the market or SEC, but again I have no inside knowledge on how that all played out, I can just pass along what was said.
I've had a lot of people ask me about John Hartwell the Utah State AD including some radio people, as was said on here before he seems to be in play at Auburn. He is older at 57 and has worked in Atlanta at Georgia State as an associate AD. His track record of hiring football coaches consists of bringing back Gary Anderson to coach Utah State before he retired during the covid season and then hiring Blake Anderson from Arkansas State. The second Anderson went 11-3 last year and finished at #24 in both polls. This year they are off to a slower start at 1-4. Hartwell is very tied to Auburn and that area though so if it is a choice I would assume he is going there.
Charlie Cobb (Ga State) is another name I've heard mentioned and one of the few people I've actually spoken to on this list more than once. He is also like Hartwell a little older in his mid-50s now but he was an ACC football player at NC State, he has a lot of ties with people already working at Georgia Tech who worked with him at App State and speak very highly of him as an administrator and he has been very solid at in a difficult job with the Panthers who are still viewed by many as a commuter school. Cobb is credited with helping purchase Turner Field and come up with that whole concept they have for that area and repurposing the stadium for football and building out their athletic satellite out there which is still an ongoing project. He worked at NC State as well and worked with the Atlanta Sports Council, the Peach Bowl and the old Georgia Dome folks. He hired Shawn Elliott at GaState who has taken that program to four bowl games an impressive feat and he promoted Scott Satterfield to head coach at App when they parted ways with long-time coach Jerry Moore. So he has hired two pretty successful football coaches. I have no idea how serious a candidate he is, I know he has several people who would support his hire in the GTAA now though, but I have no idea beyond that. His name has not been mentioned to me by any of my main sources as being the guy or anything.
I saw Ken put out Mike Buddie, that one I just don't see a fit at all. He has spent the entirety of his career working at military type jobs, Army and Furman before that. That is not a name that has been mentioned either.
My wild card name is Zac Selmon from Oklahoma who has been considered a long-term replacement Joe Castiglione at OU. Selmon is the son of Dewey Selmon one of three legendary brothers along with Lucious and Lee Roy who is a NFL and CFB HoF player. Selmon basically started at the bottom at OU and has worked his way up to being the chief fundraiser and right-hand of Castiglione. He was involved with the hiring of Brent Venables per my sources as well. He does have ACC experience as he is a Wake Forest grad (4-year starting TE including the infamous 2006 ACCCG) and he spent a year working at UNC as an associate AD. He is really highly thought of and pretty young at 37, but he may be ready for prime time.
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If the age thing is less of a big deal they could look at Jeff Bourne at James Madison, his knock would be he was Dave Braine's guy who followed him from VT to GT. (Funny aside Key told us the other day that Braine was one of the funny calls he got after the Pitt game from people he hadn't spoken to in years and years.)
AD searches are hard to cover. I'm sure there are other names I have not uncovered so far. I'll keep digging, but this is what I've got so far. Don't shoot the messenger.
Ken stole a little of my thunder, though we are hearing different names so I'll jump into what I am hearing. First off, they want this done pretty quickly, like hired within weeks and in place by the start of November to get to work on the football search and other tasks. One source said this is going down quickly.
Geoff Duncan is out of play, the current Lt. Governor didn't really fit the criteria of what President Cabrera and interim AD Frank Neville outlined in their presentation last week and that immediately made me dig a little and sure enough they want someone with legit athletic depart experience. It doesn't have to be someone who has run the show, but someone who has plenty of experience navigating the waters.
One of the big things many of my sources harped on to me is that Cabrera would like someone younger with some energy to tackle moving Georgia Tech football and other sports into the modern landscape with the portal, NIL and realignment all being issues that will likely fall on that hire as well as coaching search for a football coach and fundraising being key aspects.
The name that I first down to one of our subs that has picked up some heat recently is Allen Greene the Auburn AD who quit earlier this season. Auburn is about as dysfunctional as programs get and that has been well-documented through multiple ADs, leadership and football coaching drama. Greene is 45, still on the younger side and was a baseball player who also played professionally. He cut his teeth at Ole Miss before moving to Buffalo and eventually becoming the AD there during the rise of Lance Leipold. Leipold was hired just before Greene took over.
The big concern with Greene is the Bryan Harsin fiasco at Auburn. How much of that falls on Greene is an interesting question. Harsin was one of the last P5 coaches hired that cycle as Auburn waited until December 13, 2020, to fire Harsin. A week before NSD. According to Auburn media at the time there were groups pushing for various coaches including Kevin Steele who was the interim head coach for Auburn's Citrus Bowl that year. Our Auburn guys say that Greene went out on a limb hiring Harsin an outsider with very little ties to the market or SEC, but again I have no inside knowledge on how that all played out, I can just pass along what was said.
I've had a lot of people ask me about John Hartwell the Utah State AD including some radio people, as was said on here before he seems to be in play at Auburn. He is older at 57 and has worked in Atlanta at Georgia State as an associate AD. His track record of hiring football coaches consists of bringing back Gary Anderson to coach Utah State before he retired during the covid season and then hiring Blake Anderson from Arkansas State. The second Anderson went 11-3 last year and finished at #24 in both polls. This year they are off to a slower start at 1-4. Hartwell is very tied to Auburn and that area though so if it is a choice I would assume he is going there.
Charlie Cobb (Ga State) is another name I've heard mentioned and one of the few people I've actually spoken to on this list more than once. He is also like Hartwell a little older in his mid-50s now but he was an ACC football player at NC State, he has a lot of ties with people already working at Georgia Tech who worked with him at App State and speak very highly of him as an administrator and he has been very solid at in a difficult job with the Panthers who are still viewed by many as a commuter school. Cobb is credited with helping purchase Turner Field and come up with that whole concept they have for that area and repurposing the stadium for football and building out their athletic satellite out there which is still an ongoing project. He worked at NC State as well and worked with the Atlanta Sports Council, the Peach Bowl and the old Georgia Dome folks. He hired Shawn Elliott at GaState who has taken that program to four bowl games an impressive feat and he promoted Scott Satterfield to head coach at App when they parted ways with long-time coach Jerry Moore. So he has hired two pretty successful football coaches. I have no idea how serious a candidate he is, I know he has several people who would support his hire in the GTAA now though, but I have no idea beyond that. His name has not been mentioned to me by any of my main sources as being the guy or anything.
I saw Ken put out Mike Buddie, that one I just don't see a fit at all. He has spent the entirety of his career working at military type jobs, Army and Furman before that. That is not a name that has been mentioned either.
My wild card name is Zac Selmon from Oklahoma who has been considered a long-term replacement Joe Castiglione at OU. Selmon is the son of Dewey Selmon one of three legendary brothers along with Lucious and Lee Roy who is a NFL and CFB HoF player. Selmon basically started at the bottom at OU and has worked his way up to being the chief fundraiser and right-hand of Castiglione. He was involved with the hiring of Brent Venables per my sources as well. He does have ACC experience as he is a Wake Forest grad (4-year starting TE including the infamous 2006 ACCCG) and he spent a year working at UNC as an associate AD. He is really highly thought of and pretty young at 37, but he may be ready for prime time.
.If the age thing is less of a big deal they could look at Jeff Bourne at James Madison, his knock would be he was Dave Braine's guy who followed him from VT to GT. (Funny aside Key told us the other day that Braine was one of the funny calls he got after the Pitt game from people he hadn't spoken to in years and years.)
AD searches are hard to cover. I'm sure there are other names I have not uncovered so far. I'll keep digging, but this is what I've got so far. Don't shoot the messenger.
