That’s an awfully expensive hot seat if Finebaum is to be believed. And as a side note, has anyone ever seen Finebaum and the Crypt Keeper in the same room?
I wonder how much Finebaum makes, because his function in life seems to be to irritate college football fans from about 40 states. Highly specialized skill set.
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Crazy thing is I probably have listened to him for 45 minutes in my life. He has more importance outside the SEC. Most of us know he’s there to play to the Wal-Mart crowd.
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I can’t say I believe him. I’ve only ever, in passing, listened to him on ESPN. I couldn’t tell you how he even got hired by ESPN. He strikes me as a the classic pot stirrer.
I would think another guy with a massive contract has to be on the edge -Mel Tucker
"Somebody buy Chris Hill a beer" - text to Canzano from another PAC school administrator.
Canzano: Fire the football coach?! Cheers to one who stayed the course (johncanzano.com)
EDIT - the backstory on how Hill did his job is pretty notable, especially given tensions the other way, at times, when KW was pushing one thing or another.
I can attest that that Hill was tough, but fair. Way back in the Ronnie Mac days I went to bat for a player who was coming in as a freshman after serving a mission, but had done something really stupid as an 18 year old. Hill said “He just can’t be here. We need to elevate the stature of the program. I’m sure he’s a great young man, I hope he’ll get a chance and make the most of it. But we’ve got to aspire to a higher level”. (Paraphrase)
The player ripped up a JC league in SoCal, then went to Texas Tech where he became a DE. His brother starred at USC and then went on to the league.
Chris Hill wasn’t perfect - nobody is. But he held strong when fans were getting frustrated in the early PAC years. The difference in competition was far bigger than we thought it would be.
@Ma-ake I’m sure you would know better than I, but wasn’t Hill actually considering not renewing Whittingham sometime during that period? I’m also remembering a basketball game in which a sizable portion of the crowd booed Hill as he enter the Hunty, that I think was related to this.
I remember there was some tension in the contract renewal, but I think it was mostly the numbers, not whether or not to renew. KW wanted a sizable raise on a renewal before the contract ended. That spilled out in public and most fans were supportive of KW. But I think that was some time after the 5-7 seasons.
Even before we got to the PAC there were a couple of rocky spots. After Boise cleaned our clocks in 2006, my SIL told me KW wasn’t head coaching material. (He was still in the shadow of Meyer, which wasn’t easy.)
I told her I watched a lot of practice, and I thought he was adjusting to a totally new job & I thought he’d be fine. Brian Johnson & Louis Sakota in particular got us through that storm.
After the Sugar Bowl the comparisons to Meyer evaporated. After Meyer flamed out at UF and the horror of the Aaron Hernandez situation became apparent, KW rose way above UM in stature.
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Yeah, that sounds right now.
BTW - Chris Hill has always been a UofU hero in my book. He brought us the best decade of Men’s Basketball (Majerus quirkiness aside) in the long history of a good program, and moved the football program constantly and significantly forward, after our worst 2 decades. He also brought us PACMAS, and regardless of were the PAC is now, we’ve experienced a decade+ so far that is dramatically better than where we left.
Hill lives a few blocks east of me and I’ve seen him in the neighborhood and grocery stores for years. He is pleasant, and cordial, always friendly with everyone, particularly those in Ute gear.
We should all be very thankful for his contributions.
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That was Havili, right? Stanley was the USC kid. Can’t remember the one that was going to come to Utah. Chris?
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End of this he brings up Jimbo not being accountable about his system.
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Through 53 games at Texas A&M:
Kevin Sumlin: 37-16
Jimbo Fisher: 37-16
Fisher will earn $94,950,000 from 2022 to 2031, That is a ton of coins for the same result. Yes, our backup sucked against them tonight. We’re heading for a loss next week if Bryce is still injured.
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