New Gardner-Webb Head Coach

[littlered]

Whomever is named as the head coach has a very daunting task. I just hope he has enough sense about him to not get rid of the entire staff! The student athletes as well as the program itself needs some consistency. GW has some very capable assistant coaches. The new HC needs to look very carefully at the staff and consider keeping the best ones. I am not going to name any names; however, there are several that have consistently done an awesome job both on the field and off!! I pray that GW's new HC will prayerfully consider any decisions that he makes and that the right decisions will be made for the good of all those involved!

[huthuthut]

....(snip)... They routinely have 2,500 or more people in attendance at their games with a high student turn out. He would make an excellent head coach at GW and has proven he can take under funded programs and make winning programs out of them (Wingate has the lowest funding and the lowest coaches salaries in the SAC.) He's an excellent candidate who would do a wonderful job.

Let me clear up a couple of things you've got wrong
(1) Wingate averages 3K per game.
(2) Wingate is one of the BEST funded programs in the SAC and Reich is the second highest paid coach in the SAC.

If we go with vast experience on different levels and coaching talent we would go with Sanders.
Pizz knows our kids, knows the competition, has D-1 coaching experience and has experience recruiting.
Reich knows how to build a team and has experience recruiting NC and SC.
Leipold is the wild card. He obviously knows how to win CONSISTANTLY at D-3 so he must be one hell of a coach
Dickerson has D-1 exprerience and is a minority. I have heard members of the GWU administration say they wanted more minority coaches-could be a factor(?)

[elcid83]

Anybody know who candidate #6 will be - interviewing on Monday.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

[elcid83]

Reich would be a good hire.

Sanders may be a top notch guy, but no offense, we had enough damned drama with Doolittle on the staff and his kid on the team. We don't need that crap again.

I'm still holding onto the pipe dream of Bobby Lamb patrolling the G-W sideline.....

94,

Not to be disagreeable, but I got to know Mike Doolittle pretty well during the 2009 season. I'm not sure what kind of drama Mike created, but I know he hated to lose football games and he did not care who knew it after a poor performance. In 2009, it is also clear after this past season, that we did not have anyone else who could have played QB any better than Stan Doolittle. I recall some asking for John Rock to get a chance to play in 2009 and he proved this past year that he still has some maturing to do before he is ready to be our #1.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

[EagleDawg]

ElCid - I have to agree with your take on the Doolittle's, Coach and QB. Having only 5 ints this season versus the 20 that we had would have resulted in at least 2 if not 3 more wins (WCU, CCU and maybe ODU) and without a doubt OL Coaching took a step back if for no other reason than lack of experience. Hopefully, with a new HC, new Offensive Scheme and a winning attitude our Running Bulldogs can leave last seasons woes where they belong, in the past. One would think by next Wednesday, we have our new guy. Will be nice to get off the coach hiring story and move on to recruiting and what the new coach has in store to improve our football program.

[huthuthut]

This is the Monday guy according to my source. He is a GWU alum with tons of experience in D-1 and pro. He's recruited the SE extensively. http://ucfathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-f ... les00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[99SourceCode]

This is the Monday guy according to my source. He is a GWU alum with tons of experience in D-1 and pro. He's recruited the SE extensively. http://ucfathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... les00.html

Source has misfired on this one big guy. Monday's candidate has no previous ties to the school at all. He is an FBS assistant in a BCS league. That's all I've been told.

[g-webb1994]

My sources have been extremely tight-lipped during this process, moreso than with the basketball hire of Holtmann.

I'd really like to know if Lamb and Broadway are going to be given a shot officially or not.

[ChetSteadman]

Has Chuck Amato been in contact? I know he's itching to get back into coaching.

[elcid83]

Has Chuck Amato been in contact? I know he's itching to get back into coaching.

GW has made it clear that they have no interest in Coach Amato.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

[elcid83]

My sources have been extremely tight-lipped during this process, moreso than with the basketball hire of Holtmann.

I'd really like to know if Lamb and Broadway are going to be given a shot officially or not.

94,

Unless something changes in GW's approach to the hiring process, Monday's interview will be their last and Lamb and Broadway have not been invited to the dance. I'm not surprised that Lamb was not invited. I am surprised Broadway was not. We still have some very solid candidates for our leaders to choose from.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

[huthuthut]

I'm not surprised that Lamb was not invited. I am surprised Broadway was not. We still have some very solid candidates for our leaders to choose from.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

I agree. I heard early on that Lamb didn't make the cut. I asked point blank about Broadway after my hinting around got no response and was told he "was given consideration".

[Sly Fox]

Just as an outsider observer, perhaps Broadway's salary requirements might have been a deal breaker. Because of the list posted thus far, he is the guy as that I as a Liberty fan find most disconcerting.

[elcid83]

Last interview was today with a D-I Tight Ends coach. The candidate has significant D-I college coaching experience including service as OC at a Big South school. He has 1 year in the NFL as a TE coach. Now that interviews are complete, the wait is on for a final decision. Apparently there is a favorite out of this bunch, but it is hard to figure out the accuracy of the report. Hopefully, we won't be kept guessing too much longer since we have recruits coming in for official visits this weekend.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

[huthuthut]

Anyone willing to step out and hazard a guess?

Bob Sanders
Joe Reich
Pizzo
Ron Dickerson
Lance Leipold
Scott Wachenheim.

[dawgpound2012]

I am the head of the Dawg Pound at Gardner-Webb. If you have any ideas on how to improve the student section. I'll welcome any ideas.


Thanks

[Sly Fox]

Wow, it would certainly be interesting if Coach Wach wound up across the field from us.

[elcid83]

I am the head of the Dawg Pound at Gardner-Webb. If you have any ideas on how to improve the student section. I'll welcome any ideas.


Thanks

Dawgpound,

Thanks for posting here. Obviously, the main thing that needs to happen is that more students need to participate. I fully understand that the football team's performance can have an impact on this participation figure. I also want the administration to have a more involved impact on the game day experience. Loud music needs to be played during the kickoffs [and other quiet moments] like they do at every college football game in the country except GWU. There are only 2-3 songs [Soundstorm and Are You Ready For This] that are played at kickoff and they just get the fans jumping up and down. I know it sounds silly, but, every major program in the USA does it. Talk Dr. Bonner into giving the students credit for their Dimensions requirements by attending football games [and other sports]. This is just as important as participating in boring weekday classes where most students swipe their IDs and then take a nap.

Make a trip to the next Liberty home game. Don't wait for GW to play there. Liberty understands the importance of getting the fans involved in a game. We need to ge on board with them or they are going to pass us by.

Thanks again for posting. I look forward to making this a successful transition for GWU.

Go Runnin' Bulldogs!

[EagleDawg]

Just taking a wild guess but here is my descending ranking of the 6 candidates interviewed based on bio's and my own opinions of what GWU is looking for in the next HC.

Scott Wachenheim
Ron Dickerson
Bob Sanders
Frank Reich
Lance Leipold
Joe Pizzo

Of course this could be a huge swing and a miss on my part.

[huthuthut]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Ron Dickerson, Jr. because I know Bonner has pressed hard for more minority hiring.

[gwu7698]

Any updates on the interviews and how they are going.

[EagleDawg]

With the last of 6 scheduled interviews completed yesterday, I believe a decision on the new HC will be forthcoming later today or no later than tomorrow. Official Visits start this week and the new HC will have a lot of work to do on deciding on who he retains on staff, who he hires and also to put faces for position coaches with prospects over the next 2 to 3 weekends.

For sure the search committee waded thru dozens if not a hundred + applications and those 6 who were interviewed have wide and divserse backgrounds in all levels of collegiate football as well as some with NFL experience. The last guy interviewed, to me appears to have the background, credentials and individual traits that would meet all but one trait that the search committee is likely considering (that being a non-minority candidate). I believe that Ron Dickerson would be a great hire as well and IMO he and Scott Wachenhiem are a step ahead of Bob Sanders and then I believe you get in to the 2nd tier candidates but what do I know, nothing, absolutely nothing. I'm waiting with anticipation like the rest of my Running Bulldog friends.

[EagleDawg]

Prophetic, I knew nothing, now the word is that a 7th candidate is scheduled to be interviewed today. Makes one wonder that after going thru their short list of candidates, they were either underwhelmed or more likely offered the job and was turned down most likely over money/salary or some other institutional control thing. More speculation for sure but still doable from an announcement standpoint by later today or tomorrow.

[g-webb1994]

Wachenheim being a former LU coach probably moves him to the front, with Chuck Burch's history of hiring their former coaches.....

I like Reich myself out of all on the list.

[TheSAC]

I've been following the story as a South Atlantic Conference reporter and my sources are telling me Reich will get the HC job at GWU. Unsure what he will do with coordinators but in my opinion he will bring whatever he can. If this pans out true, GWU got a great young and upcoming coach. Has a great family background, son of a longtime coach and brother being former NFL QB Frank Reich.