From Bruce Feldman’s look back at Meat Market ($$):
“The approach (Orgeron) took would eventually have led to success,” former Ole Miss linebackers coach Dave Corrao says. “He had the willingness to go into places and out-recruit people because at Ole Miss you’re not a name-brand program. You’re trying to break through.
“No disrespect to (former Ole Miss head coach David) Cutcliffe, but there were probably only five draft-quality players in the whole program when we got there. And keeping up with the Joneses in the SEC is a hard thing, man.”
Which is why Coach O is getting a contract extension at LSU and Cutcliffe is a lifer at Duke.
Get The Picture 
That’s not fair, Cutcliffe could’ve pursued any number of jobs and would’ve gotten hired. He’s a lifer at Duke by choice.
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The only SEC school that’s given him a thought is Tennessee, and that was with the condition that he didn’t get to choose all of his assistants.
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Avery Johnson and David Cutcliffe have the best jobs in the free world. (my point is even more valid if you are now googling Avery Johnson)
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That’s fine and all, and he did improve recruiting some. He also won ten games in three years, with his final season being his worst. Let’s just say I’m skeptical that his approach would have led to success. I also doubt LSU is going to put up with 9-3 seasons forever, if he even sustains that.
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Not saying he did a good job at Ole Miss. He didn’t. I’m saying he’s coaching in the SEC at present and Cut isn’t because of recruiting.
After what happened to UGA in Baton Rouge last season, though, not sure I’d sneer at his future prospects at LSU right now.
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That’s fair. Though I imagine Cutcliffe could have gotten the gig at Vandy if he wanted it. Not that I expect he would want it. It’s just Duke with a larger disadvantage against every other conference member.
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To be clear, the point of my post wasn’t to disparage Cutcliffe’s coaching ability. He’s a good coach and has done well at Duke. But if you can’t recruit in the SEC, eventually you won’t be a head coach in the SEC.
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I wasn’t arguing the point. I agree with you. It just made me think about possible SEC coaching spots for Cutcliffe, and Vandy was the only one that made sense.
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David Cutcliffe is probably the best X’s and O’s Coach in CFB. UGA could never beat him at Tennessee
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Not trying to be snarky here, but what do you base that on? He’s good, but I’m not sure I’d go as far as you.
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He does pretty good at Duke even with a lack of talent.
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(A) He’s a good coach and (B) it’s the ACC.
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He was probably the best thing that ever happened to Ole Miss and I think you would have to agree that they would be better off if they had kept him
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Cutcliffe? Ever? Nah.
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yep….thought he got a raw deal at Ole Miss also.
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Why? How long do you think someone who can’t recruit well should hold an SEC head coaching job?
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15 years?
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Richt sure recruited better than most coaches.
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You’re right of course but I couldn’t help it. It just popped out. 🙂
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Speaking of his record there, look it up….compare & contrast from those before him (Ole Miss). Recruiting don’t mean shat about shat if you can’t do anything with it…
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I’ve already said he did a crappy job there. It was his first gig and he flopped as a head coach. What’s his record look like since then?
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Why is Cutcliffe not a good enough recruiter for the SEC? Is he lazy, smug, a poor evaluator of talent, too old, what? The fact that he didn’t land superior classes at Ole Piss seems to be the benchmark. Only Freeze has really done that. Orgeron gets lots of credit for misses here just because he tried. Another loss to Bama and he’ll be on the hot seat at LSU.
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Orgeron has recruited well at every school he’s coached.
Cut’s never been known as a recruiter. He signed Eli because of his great relationship with the family, but other than that, his work at Ole Miss left a lot to be desired. Why do you think UT wanted some control over his staff when he was offered a shot there?
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To be fair what Coach O for made up in recruiting, he didn’t have in X’s and O’s. Cut was a 7-5 / 8-4 head coach at Ole Miss which is traditionally what Ole Miss did. Tubberville did basically the same and was hired out to Auburn. Cut had the best season of the 3 with a 10-3 year followed up by 4-7 and calls for him to change his staff which he refused. The refusal to change cost him his job.
Orgeron was a 3-8 Coach at Ole Miss which means Cut was a great X’s and O’s guy or Coach O’s talent was overrated.
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Your answer to that last question can be found in Houston Nutt’s record at Ole Miss.
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Valid, Cut is a good guy and good coach but a mediocre recruiter (my post below expands on that) I hate seeing the guy getting crapped on, especially with Coach O comparisons. On the flip side Cut would need to hire great recruiters to make fan bases at UGA, UT, LSU etc happy, and for better or worse he won’t let boosters dictate his coaching staff like Tuberville and Chizik would.
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Good guy quote:
I dunno, that kind of strikes me as a dick move. But maybe that’s just me.
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Going all the way back to Champ Bailey, in profession built on head lines, this a blip on the radar.
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I have always heard Cut is a stand up guy even from rivals. ‘Cruitin is a slimier business than most realize. As you said Freeze managed to get superior classes at Ole Miss……..
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Remember, Cut is the guy who just hired Trooper Taylor.
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Cutcliffe is where he is appreciated and doing a good job at a basketball school. More power to him.
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I think we buried the lead here. Coach O speaks French? I know its part of the Cajun history and all, but doesn’t translate in my brain.
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I agree. I’d love to hear him go off on some lineman in French.
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Again, if I couldn’t land the Duke football job…..my #2 is to be the head basketball coach at Alabama.
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…with the buyout these are guy are getting….. I would not really care, and then I’ll go wash Saban’s Mercedes for a few years. After that I’ll live on the lake and have my own AM radio call in show 1 day a week for 4 months a year.
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I think with those buyouts, I’d be on the job 24/7…… That’s 24 hours per week, 7 months per year.
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Without the French, we’d still be bowing to Queen Elizabeth instead of thinking she’s just a cool ol’ grandma.
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Kirby has got to learn how to coach against West teams on the road.
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Oh yes How many times did UGA beat UT when Cutcliffe was the OC, I don’t recall any. Oh yes and congratulations to Cump er Champ Baily on the NFL HOF.
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