I just think there is no way you send all those people to make a final push. I think they all went up there because it was him signing the deal. You don't send the president of the school up there with the possibility of being turned down. I think it's done and were holding off on a press conference until after fsu. I could be wrong but that's what it seems like to me.
UF is obviously the better program... But UCLA may be he better fit unfortunately. I too fear we've been had. Hope to God I'm wrong because I don't see a scenario where frost doesnt take the Nebraska job and the dropoff after chip and frost is HUGE....
Absolutely. The point I'm making is that this didn't happen weeks ago because they were still hammering out the details. I don't have sources. I can't tell you that they closed the deal. I can only tell you that they didn't send that contingent up there without a deal in place. Kelly could have backed out. We'll find out the answer to whether he did or didn't in the coming days.
Taking a step further, they wouldn't have even drawn the actual contract up without the terms being agreed to.
I think Stricklin actually was tired and messed up with the "productive discussions" line in regards to what's next. If they traveled and failed, they either would have avoided landing in Ocala or Stricklin would have answered much more broadly as in "we are deep into a very involved process in selecting the next coach for the University of Florida" or perhaps even a first public denial of Chip Kelly being a direct candidate. In other words, a failure to sign would have been a lot more polished of a PR response from Stricklin (he would have thought about this on the long plane ride back). Instead, we got the somewhat uncharacteristic fumbling for words and "productive discussions" description.
Another theory: UF and CK had a few last sticking points to iron out. When news of UCLA broke, SS said “screw it, we can live with those demands”, called CK and said you’ve got a deal, then got the prez up there to finalize, etc. I have a really hard time buying that Fuchs would fly up there to negotiate unless something was falling through and bringing all those heavy hitters was a show of force/commitment to pursuade CK to come (really don’t think it’s likely since UAA was aware fans would be tracking their every move - it would be embarrassing for them all if that level of leadership couldn’t land a coach).
The UCLA/Kelly connection has been sitting there for months. UCLA fired their coach today. It makes total sense that the rumors would spread like that. Frankly, I thought before we fired Mac that Kelly wouldn't have any interest in us because the Kelly to UCLA rumors were so strong back then. I think you're putting too much stock in the smoke there and not enough stock in the smoke here.
Did you all notice every person in the entourage was wearing Calvin Klein jeans? CK??? That's a big tell.
How do you know nothing was signed? Do you honestly think Stricklin was going to come off the plane with the contract in hand shouting "HE SIGNED IT!" to every person at the airport? Of course he's going to play it coy, whether Kelly signed a contract or not. Put it this way, you don't fly the AD, President of the University and the associate AD's all the way to New Hampshire just to hear a coach say "I'll think about it, I want to talk to UCLA."
I hope that's the case. If we lose out on CK and Frost (if CK doesn't come), I really worry about having to google our next coach to see what his story is....
SS and co. should have gotten off the plane, stumbling around a little and just said "boys night out" and left it at that.
Not really. It would be more embarrassing in their circle of peers if they failed by not laying it all out there. Maybe he signed or will sign but I tend to think we are still in negotiations if SS said they will have more talks this week.
Let's not forget Franz beard and the Uaa guys son saying chip signed. Are we assuming that info was false? Also feel like all those tweets from players and commits have to mean saying...altho reporters have said that they were not briefed. Still, more smoke. I'm holding up hope the deal is done. The alternatives are too stressful and I want to be able to focus at work this week.
I agree 110%. As I said earlier, my theory is that the players caught wind of something from either an influential booster or a member of the AD. They didn't have to be briefed for someone to leak it to them. And once you leak it to a player or two, you know their group chats are going to start blowing up. At that point, the word will also start to funnel down to the recruits who are tight with the players. I don't believe what we saw was a coincidence. I also don't believe it was the players reacting to a twitter rumor. I think they caught wind of something from someone in the know.
“Productive discussions” could mean anything - like what the plan of attack for securing the recruiting class is or what spring practice might look like. If Fuchs was there, I have no doubt a printed, signature ready contract with agreed upon terms accompanied them. It’s not guaranteed he signed it but nothing SS said made me think he didn’t. Sounded like he was being coy and choosing his words wisely.
If UCLA will pay well and invest heavily to upgrade facilities CK can feel he's making a huge, positive impact for UCLA. He could see it as a great job to have and a school he can improve drastically and as well compete for a spot in the final four. UF is an uphill battle because our roster is depleted and we are thin at most positions.
