College football can be fun. College football can also leave you scratching your head. Anytime a college football coach is fired there is immediate speculation as to who his replacement will be. That is certainly the case at Oregon State University. Once Gary Andersen walked away from the Beavers different names have been mentioned. This is an important hire for a struggling football program.
The Beavers have to get this right. Have to.
In order to get this right, the powers that be at Oregon State need to steer clear of Florida Gator reject Jim McElwain. Coach McElwain’s name was being talked about in the last couple weeks in connection with the Beaver job even though he was still coaching the Gators.
Now, that McElwain has been let go by Florida, people think he should get an interview for the head coaching job with the Beavers. Stop that thought right now.
I don’t want Florida’s sloppy seconds roaming the sidelines in Corvallis.
The Oregon State football program deserves to have a younger coach that can bring new ideas and new energy to Beaver program. Coach McElwain doesn’t bring any of that.
If McElwain can’t get the job done at Florida with all those resources and Florida recruits, then what makes people think that he’ll get the job done in Corvallis?
There is absolutely nothing with Coach McElwain that makes me think he’ll improve the program for Oregon State. It was readily apparent that the players at Florida were not listening to their head coach anymore. It was also apparent to me that the recruits that McElwain signed to his Florida program were not getting the job done.
Can he recruit? Can he recruit to Oregon State?
We all know the difficulties about recruiting to Corvallis, so I won’t get into that.
I will keep this focused on Coach McElwain.
The last couple of games for the Beavers have seen an improvement in effort for the team, but the result is the same. You don’t get a win for simply putting forth a better effort. You get wins by bringing in better talent, having great coaching on both sides of the ball, and having coaches who are dedicated to the long term health of a program.
I don’t think McElwain would be fully “in” at Oregon State. I would expect him to try and resurrect his coaching career and then leave for a better coaching gig. Which would leave a program like Oregon State back at square one.
I want a guy who wants to be in Corvallis, a guy who want to bring the Beaver program back to respectability, and who can bring the passion back for the fans.
Jim McElwain isn’t the guy for the Beavers.
Beau Baldwin is the answer.