I know the Monken stuff is absolute catnip for all of us so I thought I would pass this along.
• My source indicated that the interest from Monken’s side is beginning to warm up. It’s (obviously) always been there from OSU’s side. I think that’s pretty much an open secret at this point. The issue has been with Monken.
• As others have noted, I think he really likes the NFL. Stillwater is a very different lifestyle. CFB is a very different lifestyle. But I have flipped a little bit on how optimistic I am here. If I was a 2/10 before, I’m now a 5/10.
• As always with this stuff, the story evolves. What was true before – that interest was more one-sided – is (I believe) no longer true. I believe there is interest on both sides based on who I’ve talked to and I think Monken is genuinely passionate about OSU.
• Monken’s son is going to school at OSU next year, which will likely factor in (although not be a complete determinant).
• There’s now a realistic world in which OSU replaces Sean Gleeson with Todd Monken and keeps Kasey Dunn as some sort of passing-game coordinator (or whatever the title will be). I still think it’s going to be a little bumpy getting there, but it’s not as much of a longshot as I once presumed it was.
I think most of us believe that if Monken does come back, it will likely just be for a 1-2 year rental and I’m fine with that. But, I’m wondering how that might affect recruiting. I would imagine that he would be great at it, but does he really WANT to have to go back to it after being in the NFL the last few years? And, how might that affect any potential QB or other offensive recruit knowing there is a good chance Monken will not be their OC for their entire 4-5 years?
I agree with you. Probably wrong BUT, I could see this being done very discretely to protect Gundy. The University has to publicly disclose some of this, but caveats can be made like offsetting some of Gundy’s due pay with long term features like life insurance to free up some cash flow for other coaches. It would still report like Gundy is making the full ammount and there was just an increase in the budget. This can protect Gundy’s ability to do this without being hand tied in the future by a coach demanding a raise and saying “well just take it from Gundy like X coach did” or a coach becoming butthurt that Gundy isn’t giving up salary to keep/hire him like he did for another coach.
So is this where we all organize to start gently nudging (harassing) the Monkens about how much they’re going to miss their son when he’s in Stillwater and they aren’t, and wouldn’t it be nice if they could stay close to him?
My probably over-simplistic solution with Monken is make Kasey Dunn the OC when Monken leaves again and hire Rashaun Woods as the WR coach. In the meantime, if Jeremy Smith, Zac Robinson or J.W. Walsh wants to take over the RB room, I’m all for it.
I don’t think that is a good look for oSu as it makes the program look second tier. Although that has been the case in the past I think Holder has busted his hump night and day to change that reality. Might have also contributed to Miles viewing oSu as a stepping stone job.
I think the success Gundy has achieved demonstrates he is worth that level of pay. I also don’t think he puts in the hours that other coaches with similar salaries put in. IMO that should only impact his duration at oSu if he can’t maintain the level of winning that contributed to that salary level.