Former XFL coach has reportedly interviewed for Vanderbilt job
As winless Vanderbilt continues its search for its next head coach, a new candidate has emerged.
Veteran NFL assistant Jonathan Hayes recently interviewed for the position, according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. Hayes boasts vast football experience ranging from college to the pros.
Hayes has served as an assistant for the Bengals and collegiately at Oklahoma. Hayes was also the head coach of the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks.
Hayes played 12 years in the NFL with the Chiefs and Steelers after excelling at Iowa.
Sources: Jonathan Hayes has interviewed at Vanderbilt. Long-time NFL assistant (Bengals). Four years under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma. Head coach of XFL St. Louis BattleHawks. 12-year NFL veteran with Chiefs and Steelers. Starred at Iowa.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) December 9, 2020
Former Vanderbilt lineman Bruno Reagan, who played for Hayes in the XFL, offered his endorsement on Twitter:
:O. Vanderbilt fans..this guy is real. Obviously he has been on the pro level for a long time. I was with him on the Battlehawks in the XFL. We al loves the dude https://t.co/epoN3EzzaM
— Bruno Reagan (@BrunoReagan) December 9, 2020
Vanderbilt fired Derek Mason on Nov. 29 after six seasons. Mason finished 27-55 overall in his tenure at Vanderbilt.
Todd Fitch is currently serving as interim head coach. Vanderbilt hosts Tennessee (2-6) on Saturday in their home finale.
Vandy should hire Pinkel, who would like to coach one more time.
Not that it’s relevant to the job, but his son is Pelicans 2019 first-round pick Jackson Hayes.
Could do worse I suppose.
The list is full of too many A-listers to go to a C-list. I hope this guy uses this opportunity to practice for the job he is really qualified to get somewhere else.
The finalists for the job are apparently.
1. Clark Lea–DC Notre Dame
2. Will Healy–HC Charlotte
3. Jeff Monken–HC Army
4. Jeff Fisher–Former HC Tennessee Titans and St.Louis/LA Rams
5. Bill Obrien–Former HC Houston Texans and Penn State
6. Lance Leipold–HC Buffalo
It looks like Jamey Chadwell may have either pulled out, or maybe he just didn’t make the cut, or he was given a bad report by the Parker Search firm.
Of course, this is only hearsay evidence, and Perry Mason would object to it all, and the judge would sustain it and instruct the jury not to pay any attention to the prior statements.
Monken and Leipold seem to be the two candidates that most accurately fit the description Vandyfolks gave prior to commencing with the process. The icing on the cake with either candidate is that at their ages, neither are likely to go hunting for another job, so they would not be as likely to bolt after three years, if they have success.
Lea is the favorite son in this process, but he’s the most unlike the generic person they claimed to be looking for.
The list can be “full of A listers” but reality has to set in. Vandy is a C list job. Nashville is a great city, Vandy is a great campus, but until they care about football the way other SEC schools anyone who goes their isn’t setup for success.
Every game they play is an away game because Vandy fans never have the majority of the seats in their own stadium. It’s tough to recruit to that.
Wow. Wish I could edit **the way other SEC schools do, anyone who goes there….
It hasn’t always been like this. James Franklin filled the seats with Vandy fans.
A payment per year of $3 million makes it attractive enough, and being able to live in Williamson County outside of the De Blasio of the South’s jurisdiction makes the quality of life incredible in the IT city of America.
Mason got a raise and extension off a 6-7 season. Being the guy that replaces the guy that was the best in modern history is the perfect position too. Think of Gene Bartow following John Wooden at UCLA or George Selkirk following the Babe with the Yankees. They were excellent coach and player but had no chance following legends. Gary Cunningham and Tommy Henrich were the next men up, and they had it much better.
It was that way before Franklin and it’s been that way since Franklin. Franklin left after 3 seasons, if it were a better job he would’ve stayed. I think he got a little lucky in his tenure there as well which is another reason why he probably jumped ship, pun intended.
Look, I love Vandy great school in a great city. The investment in football is not there. Their stadium ranks in the 70’s for capacity in college football and is 2/3 the size of the next smallest stadium in the SEC.
I think Vandy is a good job in that it can be a guy’s first shot at a HC position to be a stepping stone elsewhere. But for a coach who really wants the premier college football HC experience, Vandy ain’t it.
Chancellor Diermeier and AD Lee have made public statements concerning the qualifications of the next head coach. Additionally, having read Diermeier’s excellent works on building corporate reputation, where he repeatedly states that a corporation’s most valuable asset is its reputation, I have drawn my own conclusions about this search based on my attempt to read between their lines.
Diermeier and Lee did parse their statements as being not totally exclusive to others, but why make these public statements if they didn’t plan to make them relevant? Wouldn’t this negatively affect their reputations?
Trying to Read Diermeier’s philosophy, these are the five main qualifications I perceive he is looking for in his chosen man:
1. A candidate that has a strong background in high-powered offense.
2. Prior head coaching experience
3. Diversity would be given weight
4. A person that can recruit to his philosophy
5. Somebody that has PR skills that can sell the program
Which candidates best fit this resume? Here is my take on how the rumored candidates fit the above description.
A. Clark Lea–Defensive coordinator with no head coaching experience and unknown PR skills. He doesn’t fit the description at all. His only assets as it applies to this job is his being an ex-Vanderbilt football player and close friend of Tim Corbin. Watson Brown was one of the best players in VU football history, and his coaching reign produced 1-10, 4-7, 3-8, 1-10, and 1-10 seasons.
B. Will Healy–In his fourth year as a head coach, two of them in FCS, where he built the program at Austin Peay. He is more of an offensive than defensive genius, but his best skills are his PR and recruiting skills. He would somewhat fit the description above.
C. Todd Monken–Head coach that basically describes the above qualifications to a T. If you consider the triple option offense as being unorthodox in 2020, it even fits the diversity angle. Most importantly, he’s the candidate that most SEC head coaches and assistants hope they do not hire. His offense may be a hard sell to the handful of remaining fans, but Army scores a lot more points per game than Vanderbilt running their SEC-type offense, which barely crossed the 50 yard line against a weak Missouri defense and has scored 14 points per game this year.
D. Lance Leipold–He’s satisfies everything but the diversity qualification. He’s been a head coach for more years than any other candidate on the list, other than Jeff Fisher. His Buffalo offense has been strong and exciting, and he’s been able to convince decent athletes to come to snowy Lake Erie Buffalo to live. Nashville is the Elysian Fields in comparison.
E. Jay Norvell–If he really is a candidate, he satisfies every qualification, including the conventional term of diversity. He was an outstanding defensive player at Iowa, but he’s been all offense as an assistant and head coach, specializing in the Air Raid, which may be very exciting to fans when there is talent on board to run it, but can Vandy compete with the other teams in the league running this or a similar offense?
F. Jeff Fisher–He has the coaching experience and excellent PR skills, including a great sense of humor when you get to know him. He’s already living in Kingston Springs, a wonderful suburb just outside of Davidson County. There are rumors that he could bring the most experienced football staff to Vandy, including Rex Ryan as his DC, Mike Groh as OC, and Dave McGinnis as assistant head coach. I believe that all these guys have the PR ability to recruit players by convincing them that the best way to prepare for the NFL is to play for a bevy of NFL coaches. The only negative is that there is no college head coaching experience. Ryan’s father and defensive mastermind Buddy Ryan was Bill Pace’s defensive line coach at Vanderbilt in 1967 and helped made Pat Toomay into a pro prospect.
G. Bill O’Brien–He’s got everything that Fisher has above, but he has a tenure rebuilding Penn State from the ashes after the Jerry Sandusky incident.
Good breakdown of the candidates. Thanks LH61.
Who is gonna read all that? We’ve already had article.
Agreed.
More proof that Vandy either doesn’t know what they are doing or just don’t care. He was a TE coach in college and the NFL. That’s basically it.