According to this report in the Tom Dienhart's blog on the Sporting News website, Duke will interview current Vanderbilt HC Bobby Johnson on Monday. Johnson's name came up much earlier in the search process, but I hadn't heard a peep about him as a candidate until now.
A hire of Bobby Johnson would be an interesting move on both ends. Duke would be getting more or less what they want—a HC that's shown that he can be at least competitive in the nation's toughest conference, and in spite of similar academic recruiting restrictions.
However, I find the move to be less clear cut from Johnson's end. A jump to Duke would be a lateral move at best, and potentially a downward move leaving the SEC and leaving a program that has been on the cusp of bowl eligibility in that conference over the past few years. That said, Duke has a dedication to athletics that exceeds Vanderbilt's (remember, they don't even have a formal athletic department), and we probably could offer more money than Vanderbilt is paying him right now (the actual number is undisclosed, but its probably at or slightly above $1mil).
UPDATE (9:25 am): Some morning reads on Johnson in the Herald-Sun and News & Observer. Also, here is one from a Vandy perspective in the Nashville Tennessean.
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4 comments:
I'm starting to think that Broadway may be the best bet. Just a gut feeling. Johnson is intriguing, though.
Why hire a coach who has only shown himself to be mediocre at best? 20-50, overall. C'mon, we can do better than that!
I agree with the sentiment that 20-50 is just not good enough. bower or terry bowden I think are much better choices. bower graduates players AND wins games. I think that hiring johnson would be yet another case of duke settling for second-best (or worse) when it comes to football, just like they did with roof and the guy before him.
How well do you think any coach would do at Vandy in the SEC?
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