Obviously what Klieman said at his presser and how he said it was wrong, but I totally understand the sentiment. He can see the negative energy engulfing the program, and once that happens, the head coach is firmly on the hot seat and a firing inevitably follows within a year or two.
We see it time and again.
Texas is on its fourth coach in nine years. Kansas is on its fourth coach in eight years. Texas Tech is on its third coach in 10 years and will probably be looking for a new one next year. On and on.
The next coach is always the best coach—except they rarely are.
Before K-State hired Klieman, most fans settled on Seth Littrell as the savior coach to take K-State to the next level. Since spurning K-State, Littrell has gone 9-19 and now North Texas fans want him fired. Neal Brown was another popular choice. He's 13-15 overall in his third year at WVU. Mike Norvell was another popular choice. He stayed at Memphis, left for Florida State, and in Year 2 he's 5-10 and the fans there want him gone. Bret Bielema was another popular choice. He's 2-5 in Year 1 at Illinois and the first headline if you Google his name is "Bielema offers us a crash course in 'How To Lose Your Locker Room 101.'" Blake Anderson was another potential candidate. He went 12-12 his last two years at Arkansas State and then left...for a Mountain West school. Craig Bohl was another potential candidate. He's 14-11 since then and he's 0-2 in MWC play this year, and he has a losing record at Wyoming overall. Chris Creighton? He's 14-14 with a losing MAC record. Willie Fritz? He's 14-19 and this year's squad, which was oozing with potential, is 1-5 and a monster disappointment. The list goes on.
I thought Klieman was the best hire K-State could have made at the time. And I think he is a surer thing than just about any coach they could bring in next year. Fact is, he is doing exactly what is expected given the talent on the roster and the schedule they faced. In future years, he will have a better team—and hopefully a friendlier opening schedule. I find it interesting that nearly 25% of the current top 25 is teams who could have fired their current coach either last year or in prior years.
#16 Wake Forest 6-0
#18 NC State 5-1
#23 Pitt 5-1
#6 Michigan 6-0
#25 Purdue 4-2
#11 Iowa 5-1
Dave Clawson is in his 8th year at Wake and finally climbed above .500 this year and is now having a breakthrough season. It's a breakthrough not terribly dissimilar to the ones that Gary Pinkel and Mark Mangino enjoyed. Both coaches were firmly on the hot seat—and nearly fired—the year before both ascended to being top 5 nationally.
Ferentz was regularly on the hot seat after five straight unranked seasons. Now Iowa is widely viewed as a model program.
Dave Doeren was nearly fired after a disappointing 4-8 year in '19 and now NC State looks as healthy as they've ever been.
Anyway, I think Klieman is fine. There is a ton of variance in 12-game seasons. You get bad injury luck. You draw a death opening schedule. You catch a few bad breaks. Most years, there isn't a monster difference between an 8-4 team and a 4-8 team. This isn't K-State's year. Next year might not be either. But hitting reset every four years is a losing game. The best bet is almost always to support the coach and program and hope that the positive attributes that earned him the job in the first place eventually shine through.
We see it time and again.
Texas is on its fourth coach in nine years. Kansas is on its fourth coach in eight years. Texas Tech is on its third coach in 10 years and will probably be looking for a new one next year. On and on.
The next coach is always the best coach—except they rarely are.
Before K-State hired Klieman, most fans settled on Seth Littrell as the savior coach to take K-State to the next level. Since spurning K-State, Littrell has gone 9-19 and now North Texas fans want him fired. Neal Brown was another popular choice. He's 13-15 overall in his third year at WVU. Mike Norvell was another popular choice. He stayed at Memphis, left for Florida State, and in Year 2 he's 5-10 and the fans there want him gone. Bret Bielema was another popular choice. He's 2-5 in Year 1 at Illinois and the first headline if you Google his name is "Bielema offers us a crash course in 'How To Lose Your Locker Room 101.'" Blake Anderson was another potential candidate. He went 12-12 his last two years at Arkansas State and then left...for a Mountain West school. Craig Bohl was another potential candidate. He's 14-11 since then and he's 0-2 in MWC play this year, and he has a losing record at Wyoming overall. Chris Creighton? He's 14-14 with a losing MAC record. Willie Fritz? He's 14-19 and this year's squad, which was oozing with potential, is 1-5 and a monster disappointment. The list goes on.
I thought Klieman was the best hire K-State could have made at the time. And I think he is a surer thing than just about any coach they could bring in next year. Fact is, he is doing exactly what is expected given the talent on the roster and the schedule they faced. In future years, he will have a better team—and hopefully a friendlier opening schedule. I find it interesting that nearly 25% of the current top 25 is teams who could have fired their current coach either last year or in prior years.
#16 Wake Forest 6-0
#18 NC State 5-1
#23 Pitt 5-1
#6 Michigan 6-0
#25 Purdue 4-2
#11 Iowa 5-1
Dave Clawson is in his 8th year at Wake and finally climbed above .500 this year and is now having a breakthrough season. It's a breakthrough not terribly dissimilar to the ones that Gary Pinkel and Mark Mangino enjoyed. Both coaches were firmly on the hot seat—and nearly fired—the year before both ascended to being top 5 nationally.
Ferentz was regularly on the hot seat after five straight unranked seasons. Now Iowa is widely viewed as a model program.
Dave Doeren was nearly fired after a disappointing 4-8 year in '19 and now NC State looks as healthy as they've ever been.
Anyway, I think Klieman is fine. There is a ton of variance in 12-game seasons. You get bad injury luck. You draw a death opening schedule. You catch a few bad breaks. Most years, there isn't a monster difference between an 8-4 team and a 4-8 team. This isn't K-State's year. Next year might not be either. But hitting reset every four years is a losing game. The best bet is almost always to support the coach and program and hope that the positive attributes that earned him the job in the first place eventually shine through.
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