South Carolina Football: Will Ellis Johnson Be a Candidate at Southern Miss.?
by Gamecock Man on Dec 6, 2011 12:36 AM EST
in South Carolina Gamecocks Football
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PrintThere are a variety of high-profile coaching jobs available this winter, with some of the choicest locales being Texas A&M, UNC, and UCLA. You can expect to see Southern Miss. coach Larry Fedora be a candidate for these and other positions. Fedora has always been considered an up-and-coming coach who would likely make his way to a BCS position, and his stock has risen during USM's run to a Conference USA Championship in 2011.
If Fedora leaves, message board chatter suggests that Ellis Johnson may be one of USM's top targets. Now, there's no need to panic just yet. Fedora may not leave USM; he reportedly turned down Ole Miss, so it's possible that he's only leaving Hattiesburg for a plum gig, and he'll be competing with other top coaching prospects like Houston's Kevin Sumlin and Auburn's Gus Malzahn for the top jobs. However, if Fedora does bolt, USM will have options other than Johnson. That said, Johnson has ties to Mississippi, and his track record at USC will prove attractive to the Golden Eagles.
If USM comes calling and Johnson has any interest in trying his hand at head-coaching again, I expect him to take this job. There are some head-coaching gigs one doesn't give up a nice coordinator position for. Southern Miss. isn't one of them. USM has a tradition of being one of the country's best mid-majors. They are capable of going toe-to-toe with Ole Miss and Miss. St. for recruits and also get a lot of the Louisiana and Alabama players who aren't quite good enough to play for 'Bama, Auburn, or LSU. They're a perennial player in CUSA and often spring upsets on good BCS foes. Johnson could win if he goes there and does a good job.
A lot of Carolina fans will probably be resentful if Johnson leaves, but they really shouldn't be. This would be a good opportunity for him. In reality, we should be honored if USM comes calling; this is the kind of job that the nation's top coordinators are typically candidates for. Obviously, we should do what we can to keep Johnson, but it may just not be possible. We'll just need to hope we make the right hire for his replacement. Although not much of a defensive mind himself, the good news is that Steve Spurrier has a history of choosing good coordinators to run his defenses. Bob Stoops was one of his proteges, and now it looks like he's groomed another guy for a nice head-coaching job. Hopefully Johnson's replacement, if we need to hire one, will be of a similar caliber.
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Suppose he goes... (And I really hope he doesn't)
Outside hire or promote from within?
AND IS THERE ANY POSSIBILITY WE CAN GET THE ZOOKER????
I may be wrong, but I don't think Spurrier is on great terms with Zook.
He was a crappy d-coordinator at Florida, anyways. Good recruiter, though.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Dec 6, 2011 10:11 AM EST up reply actions
Guessing that CT was joshin'.
Thinking Zook is kinda toxic at the moment!
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by Gamecock'n'Balls on Dec 6, 2011 10:13 AM EST up reply actions
I don't know. I would assume that some place would take him as a coordinator. His head coaching career is probably over, though.
And he does have ties to Spurrier from Florida. Just not sure that they like each other anymore.
I don’t exactly recall, but I think Spurrier may have actually demoted him from DC to position coach at some point.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Dec 6, 2011 10:57 AM EST up reply actions
I really don't want to see Johnson leave, but if he does he's earned it.
He’s done great things for our defense, and he deserves a shot at a HC gig. Since it looks like Spurrier is here to stay for awhile, I don’t begrudge him looking at other places.
Age
I think EJ’s age might be a factor in any decision to make him a head coach. More of the new hires are young coaches these days. Do you have information that suggests that USM is actually interested in him? I see EJ as a Mickey Andrews type that stays until the HBC is ready to go.
I was thinking about the age factor, too.
Ellis is 60 years young—maybe he’s content to continuously run one of the nations best defenses.
Although I don’t see the Mickey Andrews comparison—EJ’s had about six jobs in the past ten years, so he’s obviously a bit more prone to wandering.
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by Gamecock'n'Balls on Dec 6, 2011 8:06 AM EST up reply actions
Wasn't aware
that he had been that nomadic, just so used to him being in Columbia and being Spurrier’s associate head coach.
by wilmywoodcock on Dec 6, 2011 8:39 PM EST up reply actions
Hmmm
Do you have any thoughts on up-and-coming D coordinators? I have to think that given the current talent, it would be a pretty attractive gig.
I would be shocked if he leaves.
Based on what I’ve heard about his family situation, they’re very happy in Columbia. Although I have the utmost respect for Southern Miss and their program, I can’t picture him getting much more money to be a HC there than his current salary.
Now if the HC position was open at another SC school, I could understand him taking a long look at it.
That's what I've always heard, but if he wants to be a head coach again, this is probably about as good as it gets.
All depends on what his career ambitions are at this point.
As someone else said, age may play a role on both sides. USM may want to go with someone younger (although that may mean they end up with another Fedora—someone who bolts after a couple of years), or Johnson may feel like he’s settled in.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Dec 6, 2011 10:10 AM EST up reply actions
Leaving to be a head coach is better than leaving to be a Defensive Coordinator at another school.
Kinda like Charlie Strong’s stop in Florida before heading to Louisville.
- FOW
The defensive coordinator I most covet is Manny Diaz.
But obviously he’s not leaving UT to come to take the same job at South Carolina.
I’d prefer to promote from within, if possible. I’m assuming it would be Lorenzo Ward, since he technically bears the title of defensive coordinator right now anyway… but I’m not crazy about it. There isn’t really an internal option that excites me.
Didn’t Johnson have some sort of health issue several years ago? I kind of always assumed that would keep him from pursuing an HC gig.
by Connor Tapp on Dec 6, 2011 11:07 AM EST via iPhone app reply actions
Yeah, I've heard that, too, and it very well may be true.
My point is more that if he wants a head-coaching job, this is good opportunity if USM comes knocking. I have no idea if he actually wants one that badly, though.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Dec 6, 2011 11:16 AM EST up reply actions
If Spurrier left aft this season
(and I’m not in any way saying that’s even a possibility) I would totally be for making Ellis Johnson our HC.
Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina
by The Feathered Warrior on Dec 6, 2011 12:16 PM EST reply actions
Related topic
Jay Graham leaves for UT to take same position he had here
I think you're overplaying Southern Miss big time.
When I think of “one of the country’s best mid-majors,” Southern doesn’t come to mind. In fact, the ones that do come to mind either have already jumped up to a BCS conference (Utah, TCU) or are primed to do so (Boise State, though one could argue they weren’t a “mid-major” when they played in the WAC). USM was good in the late 90’s and 2003, winning a bunch of C-USA championships under Jeff Bower, who led them to something like 15 straight winning seasons. Since 03, they’ve been pretty under the radar, and I don’t think they’ve ever threatened to be a “BCS Buster.”
I respect USM, and I wish that Ole Miss and MSU would actually play them, but I don’t think that being the head coach there would be a big step up from being a DC at USC, especially given all the ink that’s been spilled about Johnson and his wife “being home” and settling down in Columbia.
Community Manager for Stumptown Footy
You're right that I'm probably overselling USM.
Let’s go with “very solid mid-major where you win lots of games.”
That said, I don’t think being USC DC is a comparable job; if it was, you wouldn’t see up-and-coming coaches like Fedora taking jobs there. That said, USC DC may be better for someone like Johnson, who seems to want to stay in SC and is on the tail end of his career. If he was a young coach jumping at the bit to move up, then this would be a no-brainer. As it is, it’s a bit more complicated.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
Is there a timeline for this situation?
Or do we just keep an eye out for “USC extends contract with Johnson…” ?
Community Manager for Stumptown Footy
souther miss is number 4 in most winning seasons in a row like 18 years in a row
if Florida loses in the bowl game, they move to number 3…
they like to win and if not for the crappy ad who has just been let go, they would be in a bcs conference already,,if fact, im not sure why they are not already,,,,
they typically beat a bcs team every year,,ie virginia this year,,,
the job pays in the 1 million range for a hc which is low…
the recruting ground is filled with players and they are the best team in the state with ole miss and miss state dropping then in the 90’s after loseing to them regularly,,miss state decided to schedule them for 2013 after hiring mullen but they will be miss state for sure…
I think Ellis would be a good fit as they like a high powered offence with a stout defense,,that is their key to winning…
word I am hearing is its either Ellis’s or Mark hudspeth (ULL HC) or the current OC as a long shot.
Ellis is 60% chance its his
The president is pissed that the retiring AD did not position USM for the move to the big east and that is why he was let go,,,(retiring)…
look for ellis to get the offer if he wants it,,imo..hope this helps…
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