The Characteristics of an Attractive Coaching Job: Does NU fit the Bill?

Came across this article by Bruce Feldman over on ESPN.com, and thought it was worth mentioning on here. People have been wondering this season, what exactly makes a head coaching job an "elite" one. In the changing world of major college football, simply being Michigan or Nebraska doesn't make a job a great one. The following are Feldman's 10 characteristics of a good coaching job. I'm gonna look at each one, then give the NU head coaching gig a rating in that category on the classic 1 to 10 scale.

1. Financial commitment: The old adage 'You get what you pay for,' isn't always true, but it's close. Having the resources to pay a head coach is key. However, it's also vital to ensure the opportunity to bring in a talented staff as well as having a recruiting budget to travel, evaluate and chase talent. On top of that, it is a must to keep up with your competition.

Obviously we aren't Alabama, who is willing to give Nick Saban 4 million a year to lose to UL-Monroe and earn a bid to the PetroSun Independence bowl, but Nebraska has spared no expense in making sure that their staff is rewarded handsomely in addition to having spectacular facilities (which will be touched on later in this post). NU is one of the big boys of college football, and their boosters are more than willing to open the pocketbooks if they have an AD who they support.

Financial Commitment Rating: 8.5

2. Tradition: Two of the coaches I consulted actually had this near the bottom of their lists, but I disagree. There's a reason why many of today's elite programs were also the powerhouses from the '70s and '80s. It's why it didn't take Bob Stoops or Pete Carroll very long to take middling programs back to the mountain top in the last decade. It's also why Notre Dame and Miami can go through disastrous seasons and still be putting together top 10 recruiting classes. It's also why Michigan doesn't need to be in such a rush to name a head coach while other programs frantically try and line up a guy to close ground on the recruiting trail.

My take on this is that Nebraska, despite what ESPN and all the other d-bags might say, is still Nebraska. We have 5 national titles, 43 conference championships, are one of four programs with 800+ victories, and still have the longest bowl streak in history. I could keep going, but it would be overkill. But the real question here is, do 18 year old kids really care about Johnny Rodgers or Mike Rozier? Do they even have the respect for the tradition that kids even 10 years ago had? It's tough to say, maybe tradition isn't as important as it used to be. But I still think that having that history is what enables great programs to bounce back, as Feldman pointed out. This is why I think with the right coach, we can once again become a juggernaut. Prove me right Bo.

Tradition Rating: 10

3. Conference appeal: The difference between being in a BCS conference and a non-BCS conference is eye-popping. Bowl money, bowl tie-ins and TV exposure are the start, followed by the appeal to sell recruits on the lure of playing in the SEC or Big Ten as opposed to Conference-USA or the MAC. In essence, even if you're at a second-tier BCS conference school, you can tout playing against your leagues superpowers as a draw.

A couple of years ago, when the North was playing Stephen Baldwin to the South's Alex, we might not have been very high in this category. But the rise of Kansas and Mizzou, coupled with NU's sleeping giant and Colorado's return to respectability, has turned the Big 12 into the 2nd toughest conference behind the SEC (some may argue this point, but the ACC is terrible, the Big East still hasn't sold me, and the Big 10 has one good team). If you're in the Big 12, you have a great chance of at least having regional network coverage every week if you keep your team above respectable.

Conference Appeal rating: 9

4. Recruiting base: Everything starts with recruiting, and if you have players in your backyard, you have a chance to build something. Miami had virtually none of the other factors on this list, but because the program sat right in the heart of fertile recruiting soil, the Canes built a powerhouse after Howard Schnellenberger coined his "State of Miami" by drawing a line across the lower portion of the state of Florida. Of course, you can still thrive far from a big population base (Boise State is a great example), but it is very hard.

This is obviously a bit harder. The Dakotas and Nebraska/Iowa isn't exactly fertile territory, unless your definition of stud recruits are hard-nosed white guys with an abundance of heart and a lack of speed. Sure, there are gems out there that can be unearthed, and sometimes we'll get a bumper crop of lineman, but this isn't Florida or California we're talking about here. And despite the proximity to Minneapolis, Nebraska rarely gets anybody from there, despite there being 4 or 5 stud recruits from that area per year (Murtha and Swift are the only exceptions I can think of).

Recruiting base ranking: 4

5. Stability of the administration: You can usually trace success back to the top. Smart, confident leadership lends itself to sound decisions. And the inverse is also true. Sketchy ADs make bad, short-sighted decisions. The schools that are quick to hit the reset button tend to be mired in a constant state of mediocrity. Virginia Tech became a powerhouse only after the Hokie brass was patient and gave Frank Beamer some time. Rutgers is no longer a laughingstock because the Scarlet Knights didn't pull the plug in Greg Schiano in his first five years.

Only a couple of months ago, I would have given this a negative rating. The Pedersen/Callahan debacle really didn't do much to bolster confidence in the administration, but with the hiring of Osborne as AD, you have to think this is headed in the right direction, which is probably what Bo Pelini thought when he accepted the job. The question is, how long does T.O. stick around for? And who does he appoint as the AD once he's gone? Because of this, the rating takes a hit, but it's still better than having a dumbass like Pud in office.

Stability of admin rating: 6

6. Facilities: You can win without fancy indoor practice facilities or a sprawling new weight room or posh players lounge or expansive, glitz stadium, but it ain't easy. Miami and USC are probably the best examples of doing without, although both of them sit in the heart of prime recruiting soil. Everyone else is trying to lure kids by outdoing their neighbor. Often the first question before any coach takes over a program is about what the school is planning on doing to upgrade the facilities.

The crown jewel of Nebraska's athletic program, the facilities were fantastic before they built the Osborne complex. After it's completion, I don't think there is any argument that NU's facilities are the best in the country.

Facilities rating: 10

7. Admissions Flexibility: Private schools often get hit harder by this than state schools although don't say that to UCLA coaches. Admissions flexibility varies greatly not just from school to school but really from year to year at a given school. For instance, the academic environment Pete Carroll lives in is different now than what it was five years ago. Such "presidential" exemptions can explain why some schools are doing well with a blue-chipper while your school might not be able to talk to him.

NU was one of the biggest fans of the Prop 48 student athlete, and even though that is no longer an option, we still will let just about anybody in who qualifies with NCAA requirements. Let's just say we aren't Notre Dame when it comes to this category. But when it comes to the job being an attractive coaching stop, this is a GOOD thing.

Admissions Flexibility rating: 9

8. Campus feel: It might be sad to say but very few people I spoke with listed this one high on their list. The reality is most top recruits, even the ones who are strong students, realize they are picking a school first based off the athletic program. If they don't like the direction of the program, the coaching staff, etc., they don't care how nice the quad is. It can help on an official recruiting visit, but probably not as much as a fancy indoor practice facility.

We have a fancy indoor practice facility. Boo-yah! In all seriousness, I don't have that good of a feel for NU's campus, but I have to agree that the beauty if the campus is far down the list of potential recruits, whose main goal is their development into players who can play on Sundays. As such, this really doesn't matter. But the atmosphere on campus is great for football games, so I'm going to bump up our rating a bit.

Campus feel rating: 7

9. Fan sanity: One assistant I spoke with Sunday night said this factor probably has jumped on the board in just the last few years, pointing to a school like Southern Miss dumping perennial winner Jeff Bower after 17 seasons. Thanks to talk radio, 24-hour sports channels and above all, message boards, fans and boosters feel more powerful than ever before. How realistic a fan base is something many coaches should be thinking about, argued the assistant.

I've always thought we were the most polite fans in the country, and I still do. But this year, we saw the real teeth of Husker nation, a focus and intensity and an anger that we have rarely been exposed to. We are indeed a rabid fan base, perhaps even more than most other schools due to the fact we have absolutely nothing else to do. If the football team sucks, as it did this year, our entire fall and winter is ruined. Loyalty like that is hard to match. While I think it is one of our best traits, an incoming coach might not want National Title expectations every year when a more realistic goal would be competing for conference championships and then making a NC run every 3 or so years. So it's tough to give us a rating on this. Our fan insanity rating? Easily a 10. But in terms of attracting a coach? Might not be the best thing all the time.

Fan Insanity rating: 8.5

10. Climate: Two different former head coaches I consulted raised this point, saying that people forget "that families have to adjust too." On top of that, a favorable climate makes it easier to recruit junior college kids and also can help you recruit assistant coaches -- and their families -- easier.

I love the midwest. I do legitimately enjoy having all 4 seasons. That said, going to my car every morning when it's 10 below zero makes me contemplate suicide, so I understand the appeal of heading to Coral Gables or Southern Cal. But that said, Lincoln isn't as bad as it was 10 or 15 years ago. Sure, they'll have a couple of bad weeks (like they are right now with the ice storms and all that), but aside from that, it gets warmer every year (thanks global warming!) and spring and fall are absolutely gorgeous. The south can have their balmy September nights in the swamps. I don't think you can beat the smell of crisp autumn air and the feeling of a hooded sweatshirt on a nice October Saturday.

Climate rating: 9 (If kids can go to f*cking Ann Arbor or Columbus, they can go to Lincoln)

The total overall score: 81

The most attractive coaching job right now, in my opinion, would be Florida, due to the climate, the bevy of talent in the state, and other factors like playing in the SEC and the commitment to athletics. But still, Nebraska, no matter what anybody says, is still one of the most attractive jobs out there. And if you win, you'll be revered in the region for all time. Not a bad deal, in my opinion.