Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Skip navigation

Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

Post

So I asked myself "I wonder when Howard will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame?"

I assumed that he would, based on what he has done, but then I got to wondering what the requirement are.

Criteria for coach nominees

  1. The nominee must exhibit demonstrated citizenship, "carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and his fellow man with love of his country." Check
  2. The nominee must fit one of the following criteria:
        1. Be retired from coaching for at least three years No
        2. Be at least 70 years old and retired No
        3. Be at least 75 years old March 16, 2009
  3. The nominee must have held a head coaching position at the collegiate level for at least ten years. Check
  4. The nominee must hold at least a .600 career record over the course of 100 games or more. Uhoh

So I looked up his college coaching record and it turns out he is 141-119-3 with a 0.53 win percentage.  So he is missing the last component, and he won't be able to be inducted in 2009 so then I got to wondering, what can the Owls do to help him get past .600 and when would it happen.

Heres the results.


The earliest we can get HS to the .600 mark would be 2011.  This would occur if we had an undefeated season every year up to and including 2011.  If that happened then we might have a national championship. Average annual record 13-0

If we averaged 1 loss a season, including bowls we would also get him over the .600 mark in 2011.  Average annual record 12-1

Now come the two most feasible, both in terms of achievability by the team as well as how long HS will stay.
If we go, on average 11-2 over the next 6 years (through a completed 2013 season) he would get to .600

The last chance IMO is if we go 10-3 over the next 8 years (through a completed 2015 season) he would get there.

The next one comes in at 2021 with an average of 9-4….but at that point HS would be 88 and I think its unlikely he would still be coaching (but I could be wrong!)

I hope that they might make an exception…..I hope he doesnt get left out over a technicality considering all he has done in college football.  An interesting question to ponder is whether they might count his time as Offensive Coordinator at Alabama and his time at Kentucky towards his wins-losses, but I fear they wouldn't.

Florida Atlantic University Owls
2007 Sun Belt Football Champions 2007 New Orleans Bowl Champions 2008 Motor City Bowl Champions 2011 Sun Belt Basketball Champions No Bowls without Owls
Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

IMO, HS is there regardless…look at Louisville…was  THE absolute garbage dump of college football…look at us, well, there wasnt even a  blade of grass to be had or as he puts it "a nail to hang a jock strap on" when he took over…

The record has no bearing whatsoever…in bnoth situations, he took the worst scneario you could psossibly take and made them winners…practically from scratch both times…who else has ever done that?  he is the premier "architect" of college football…if they cant see that, then shame on "them".
Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

I think most of us on the board would agree with you, this isnt an Urban Meyer weiner who would take over good programs, Howard went into Miami and Louisville when they were wretched and made something of them.  That will rarely get you a .600 win percentage when you do that and then build a team from scratch to boot.  Just putting up the official criteria/

Florida Atlantic University Owls
2007 Sun Belt Football Champions 2007 New Orleans Bowl Champions 2008 Motor City Bowl Champions 2011 Sun Belt Basketball Champions No Bowls without Owls
Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

SeminOWL2006 said

Howard went into Miami and Louisville when they were wretched and made something of them.  That will rarely get you a .600 win percentage when you do that and then build a team from scratch to boot.

Exactly…

They should let him in sheerly based on what he did in that capacity - ruins to RESPECT! :)

For some reason, i think there weould be an uproar from others like Corso, etc who feel the same way…they would make mods more than likely…he has to be there…
Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

Nonetheless…I'd like to see the owls average 10-3 or better in the next few years..That would get us more respect and assure HS a spot in the Hall of Fame, no special rules needed.

Florida Atlantic University Owls
2007 Sun Belt Football Champions 2007 New Orleans Bowl Champions 2008 Motor City Bowl Champions 2011 Sun Belt Basketball Champions No Bowls without Owls
Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

Having 10 wins year after year is a difficult task. There will always be down years. Even if that means getting only 8 wins. I think we should be good for 10 wins this year and probably fall back a bit in 2009 due to the number of starters that we will lose. To get coach to .600 is going to be extremely difficult. However, if FAU can finish the season in the top 25 that should go a long way toward showing what kind of coach he is.

Has an SBC team ever finished the season in the top 25??

Could be another first for FAU!!

GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

owlfan1 said

Having 10 wins year after year is a difficult task. There will always be down years. Even if that means getting only 8 wins. I think we should be good for 10 wins this year and probably fall back a bit in 2009 due to the number of starters that we will lose.

Yeah, I'm not too optimistic for 2009. I just hope we achieve at least 6-6 to be bowl eligible. In order to do that well, I think we're going to have to get our second-string guys and our freshmen some playing time in the second quarter for SBC games (and second half for FIU and WKU … unless WKU turns out to be a threat in the SBC)

Hopefully guys like Alex Pattee and Yourhighness Morgan live up to their hype and can step in as starters next year to replace the seniors.

But I don't really see that happening since we're deep and are shooting for the stars here. HS will put in our best guys, which will be good for '08 at the expense of '09. No-win situation I guess.

Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

owlcountry said

owlfan1 said

Having 10 wins year after year is a difficult task. There will always be down years. Even if that means getting only 8 wins. I think we should be good for 10 wins this year and probably fall back a bit in 2009 due to the number of starters that we will lose.

Yeah, I'm not too optimistic for 2009. I just hope we achieve at least 6-6 to be bowl eligible. In order to do that well, I think we're going to have to get our second-string guys and our freshmen some playing time in the second quarter for SBC games (and second half for FIU and WKU … unless WKU turns out to be a threat in the SBC)

Hopefully guys like Alex Pattee and Yourhighness Morgan live up to their hype and can step in as starters next year to replace the seniors.

But I don't really see that happening since we're deep and are shooting for the stars here. HS will put in our best guys, which will be good for '08 at the expense of '09. No-win situation I guess.



Rusty will be a Senior with a talented/very experienced WR group and Harmon back in 09'…and a Senior Willie Rose and hopefully a more talented RB situation than we have now.  Furthermore, we have a better chance of beating Nebraska and South Carolina than Texas and Michigan State…I think 09' is the year we will have a chance to win 10 games.  Not to be negative, but we have not exactly won games based on our defensive prowess…I expect the defense to get better and better every year.

Teambeer is the most knowledgeable FAU sports fan I know, way smarter than me.
Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

walty12 said

owlcountry said

owlfan1 said

Having 10 wins year after year is a difficult task. There will always be down years. Even if that means getting only 8 wins. I think we should be good for 10 wins this year and probably fall back a bit in 2009 due to the number of starters that we will lose.

Yeah, I'm not too optimistic for 2009. I just hope we achieve at least 6-6 to be bowl eligible. In order to do that well, I think we're going to have to get our second-string guys and our freshmen some playing time in the second quarter for SBC games (and second half for FIU and WKU … unless WKU turns out to be a threat in the SBC)

Hopefully guys like Alex Pattee and Yourhighness Morgan live up to their hype and can step in as starters next year to replace the seniors.

But I don't really see that happening since we're deep and are shooting for the stars here. HS will put in our best guys, which will be good for '08 at the expense of '09. No-win situation I guess.



Rusty will be a Senior with a talented/very experienced WR group and Harmon back in 09'…and a Senior Willie Rose and hopefully a more talented RB situation than we have now.  Furthermore, we have a better chance of beating Nebraska and South Carolina than Texas and Michigan State…I think 09' is the year we will have a chance to win 10 games.  Not to be negative, but we have not exactly won games based on our defensive prowess…I expect the defense to get better and better every year.


You make some good points. I think the biggest detriments for 2009 will be losses on the O-line and the defense. This year we have a very experienced O-line. In 2009 we won't have quite as much experience since we will be replacing three starters. On the defensive side we will be losing 8 senior starters. Hopefully we will have the depth and experience to replace those guys without missing a beat. I said it in another post and I think it holds true here. We should now be to the point where we can reload as opposed to having to rebuild.

GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
Back to the top

Post

Re: Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

Howard....Hall of Fame Coach?

walty12 said

Rusty will be a Senior with a talented/very experienced WR group and Harmon back in 09'…

Absolutely but if Rusty doesn't get the protection he needs because the O-line is getting broken apart and manhandled… he's not going to be as successful as he was in '07 and hopefully '08 because he's going to make some rash decisions in the pocket. That's what concerns me there.
Back to the top
Control functions: