How Woodward operated w/Jimbo and A&M compared to Riley/OU (long)

As the clock ticks and smoke heats up on Riley with you guys, it’s hard to not see some clear similarities in the signals from both sides with when Woodward brought Jimbo over from FSU. I am not in any way trying to compare them as coaches, just the situations since both are high profile coaches with the same AD making the hire.

- Things heated up big time on our end a few weeks before Thanksgiving weekend, with most of our insiders reporting in early November he was target number one when Sumlin got canned. They also expressed confidence we would be able to get him. This conference was largely laughed at by FSU folks (sound familiar?) The most notable was Bud Elliott, who insisted Fisher was going nowhere and constantly offering to put money down that he was staying

- Confidence among those in the know (reporters and reputable message board posters) continued to grow over the next few weeks, and by the time this same weekend rolled around it was pretty much accepted among our folks Fisher was coming (FSU had another game left after UF because of a PPD hurricane game). FSU insiders continued to deny, and most considered us delusional (usually a fair opinion) and wondered what could offer Jimbo that they hadn’t (this is where I see a lot of similarities).


- Suddenly the week after UF, things heated to a fever pitch. It was suddenly obvious to all at this point Jimbo was gone (the ppd game and recruiting urgency had clearly fricked with Woodward’s timeline IMO). FSU folks started throwing mud at him (expect this with Riley), with Elliott reporting FSU players were going to transfer if he came back. Everyone remembers the Christmas tree in the garbage, and the Friday before their makeup game he was gone.

The clear difference between the situations is that Fisher had worn thin on some folks, he had been at FSU a while and was in the midst of a rough year. Riley has been at OU for less time and still has a lot to play for today and this year. I am interested to see how that impacts timing if OU wins tonight. But I can’t help but notice the similarities between OU and FSU - blindsided, dismissive, not understanding why, until suddenly it was happening and they hated the guy. I think it speaks to how well Woodward operates when pulling this type of hire off. And IMO I do think he is pulling it off for you guys.

Tl;dr - There are some obvious similarities in the smoke signals, especially coming from the school that is getting their coach took. Flame away, Jimbo sucks, Aggy is gay etc. Looking forward to a good one tonight and Riley is a hell of a hire, I would expect nothing less from Woodward