Three-Point Stance: Coaching disasters, recent commits, hot takes

National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here discussing some recent coaches run out of town, a breakdown of some big recent commitments and a new version of Correct Me If I’m Wrong.

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I’m on a roll with coaches, so it got me to thinking — which coaches have been absolutely run out of town in the most public way due to poor results? Here’s my top 10 recent examples.

1. Willie Taggart, Florida State — Is there even a close No. 2 here in recent years? This was just an awful hire by Florida State as it tried to replace Jimbo Fisher and Taggart set them back years. He was 9-12 at Florida State and fired during his second season. And, oh yeah, it cost FSU more than $20 million. Ouch.

2. Rich Rodriguez, Michigan — This was a disaster from the start as RichRod was a square peg in a round hole at Michigan. After years of a power, pro-style offense Michigan decided to hire a guy who would have to recruit prospects with an entirely different skill set. And everyone knew that would take years. Rodriguez lasted three years and actually got better from his 3-9 start, but it didn’t matter. This was just not a good fit. His 15 wins over three years was the worst three-year stretch at Michigan since 1965-67, when they had 10-game seasons.

3. Charlie Strong, Texas — Talk about a bad fit, that was Strong at Texas as well. I said from the start this wouldn’t work as Strong was much better at a school that could recruit the Southeast. He tried to bring some Florida players in but he never connected with the high school coaches in Texas. And his three losing seasons in three years were as many as the Longhorns had had in the previous 23.

4. Mike Riley, Nebraska — Ugh. I thought this was going to be a good fit. Riley is a stand-up guy and I thought he’d recruit well, but none of that happened. His Calibraska push was awful and didn’t pan out and his 9-4 season in his second year quickly turned to a 4-8 season and a dismissal a year later. Three of his final four losses were games in which his team allowed 50 points or more.

5. Will Muschamp, Florida — Replacing a legend is never easy and following Urban Meyer at Florida was going to be tough. But the talent was there and the recruiting muscle as well but Muschamp could never get the offense correct. Aside from his second year when he went 11-2, Muschamp was 17-19 otherwise at Florida. That’s awful.

6. Butch Jones, Tennessee — Vols fans wanted Jones out badly by the end of things despite a solid recruiting scorecard and back-to-back nine-win seasons. Why? Because the talent on the field never equaled the recruiting hype and he couldn’t develop players. After a blowout loss to Missouri dropped Tennessee to 0-6 in conference in 2017, the administration had finally seen enough.

7. Ty Willingham, Notre Dame — Things started nicely at Notre Dame for Willingham with a 10-3 season but that was followed by two awful seasons. He had eight losses at Notre Dame by 22 or more points.

8. Al Golden, Miami — Golden had a winning record overall at Miami and had to deal with some serious NCAA issues he inherited, so he didn’t get a fair shot. However, after a 6-7 season in 2014 and a 4-2 start in 2015, Clemson beat Miami at home by a score of 58-0, the worst loss in program history. Golden was fired the next day.

9. Brady Hoke, Michigan — Hoke replaced Rodriguez and, as a “Michigan Man,” he was set to get the Wolverines back to their traditional ways on offense and defense. Things started great with an 11-2 record but Hoke was 20-18 after that and couldn’t beat any ranked teams. Losses to Ohio State didn’t help and missing a bowl in 2014 like RichRod had in two of his three seasons sealed his fate.

10. Mark Helfrich, Oregon — Chip Kelly handed over the keys to a Porsche to his longtime assistant and Helfrich eventually turned Oregon into a Kia. He had the Ducks in the national championship game in Year 2, but a 4-8 record in Year 4 ended his tenure.

It’s that time of week again where I break down some of the big commitments. And there have been many.

WR Tommi Hill, Arizona State — A big receiver who also plays cornerback, Hill had 45 catches last season with 9 of them for scores. He also picked off four passes.

LB Kendrick Blackshire, Alabama — Blackshire is a big and physical linebacker from Texas who likely would be much higher rated had he not missed last season. The two years before, he combined for 180 tackles and he’s a massive hitter and likely inside linebacker in the Alabama scheme.

CB Trey Washington, Ole Miss — Washington plays big-time high school football and takes on the best receiver each game. He had 16 passes defended last season and has good speed with solid size.

WR Tray Curry, Virginia Tech — Curry had more than 1,200 yards of offense last season playing wide receiver and running back and is very versatile. He comes from a very athletic family and had some nice SEC offers.

WR Adonai Mitchell, Georgia — A very good athlete, Mitchell has played quarterback and wide receiver. He’s a big kid with good football speed and he’s excellent after the catch and in the open field. He’s also a sharp route runner.

DE George Wilson, South Carolina — Wilson is skinny and raw but very athletic and will play the Jack position at South Carolina. He’ll eventually grow into a full-time defensive end with his frame and pass rushing ability. This was a big late push to beat out UNC for his commitment.

LB Greg Penn, LSU — Another nice commitment from the DMV area for LSU as they hit the Mid-Atlantic hard. Penn can play inside or outside and fits well into LSU’s new 4-3 scheme under Bo Pelini.

DT Keanu Williams, Oregon — Williams is a very active and athletic interior lineman who can chase the passer and stuff the run. He has 16 career sacks and had 85 tackles last season.

DB Braelon Allen, Wisconsin (2022) — This is a great in-state keep for Wisconsin early in the process as he has great size and could easily grow into a linebacker. He had three picks last season as well, so he’s good in coverage and had offers from Notre Dame and Michigan.

QB Brady Allen, Purdue (2022) — Allen is a very good early get for Jeff Brohm and his staff as a big kid with a live arm who completed 62-percent of his passes as a sophomore. He’s already thrown for 5,000 yards in his young high school career.

And finally let’s have an installment of Correct Me If I’m Wrong...

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: Lane Kiffin should be further along in recruiting that he is at this stage at Ole Miss.

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: Jaelin Gill and JT Daniels getting immediate eligibility is still puzzling in light of the Luke Ford decision more than a year ago.

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: High school football might need a Transfer Portal if more states decide to cancel football seasons.

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: North Carolina is recruiting well enough to become dominant in the ACC Coastal for several years.

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: Ohio State does the best job of any program of flipping commitments.

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: This is the best year for talent in the state of Michigan in quite some time.

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: Jim Harbaugh needs to land more than half of the top-10 in Michigan to have a successful recruiting year.

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: Clemson needs to be worried about Barrett Carter with his friend and teammate Jordan Hancock decommitted.

Correct Me If I’m Wrong: If the Brockermeyer brothers commit to Alabama it’s the worst indictment of recruiting for Tom Herman so far in his Longhorns career.