My current #2 pick after Chris Petersen is Bob Diaco. Here's his bio on the Notre Dame website.

Why I like him:

1. Young, energetic, charismatic, but also tough/hard-nosed (seems almost Harbaugh-esque, minus the douchiness). But even though he looks very youthful, he's not THAT young either. He's around 39, and he's been a college football coach for 14 years already.

2. Diaco is the DC/Assistant Head Coach for the #1 and only undefeated team in the country, Notre Dame. Even though Notre Dame has been down (relatively speaking) until this year, it's still a national powerhouse with perennial high expecations, and they're a legit #1 team right now, so I like the fact that he's been able to thrive in that environment and put them in position to compete for a national championship. Plus he coached on a 12 win team at Cincinnati before coming to ND with Brian Kelly.

3. Notre Dame clearly has one of the toughest, best defenses in the country, and he's coached up Manti T'eo, who's so good that he's a top Heisman candidate ON DEFENSE, which is a real rarity. I also like that he's a linebacker coach, because we have a lot of talent to exploit at that position. Plus we've lost Coach Thompson.

4. Diaco was a Broyles Award semifinalist last year, nominated and might well win it this year.

5. He hasn't been a HC before, but Kelly has made him assistant HC and given him many extra responsibilities this year, and he's widely perceived to be a top candidate and a hot commodity. I think he'd be really ambitious and want to prove himself. Hiring him would definitely make a splash nationally.

6. He's reputed to be an excellent recruiter. I think his relative youth and his charisma helps here. Plus maybe he'd bring some of his recruits over from ND

Seriously, watch some videos of the guy, read up about him. There is so much to like. I know he hasn't been a HC yet, but he's got everything else on the resume, and frankly I'd probably rather get a top-shelf assistant from a top tier program than a guy winning a bunch of games against no-name opponents in the MAC or the WAC. Thoughts?

Also, unlike Petersen, I don't think he'll cost us in the neighborhood of $3M to get. I mean, if we have the money to spend, great, but I think Diaco could be a great hire and he would probably be a lot more affordable, plus you could make it an incentive-laden contract.

Nice research, definitely on the rise.

That said, Midwesterners tend to give me a lukewarm feeling. They tend to like the predictable, middle America, way of living. Thus they like the retired community that is Stanfurd but tend not to "get" or like Berkeley, you know too weird.

For Berkeley, personally I think a West Coast kinda guy works best...they're not afraid of hippies, pinkos, 420, "weird" food like vegetables or any of that.

That said, if the guy can coach and he's game...why not. We need a football coach.

Worth an interview.

beelzebear;842019372 said:

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That said, Midwesterners tend to give me a lukewarm feeling. They tend to like the predictable, middle America, way of living. Thus they like the retired community that is Stanfurd but tend not to "get" or like Berkeley, you know too weird.

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I don't know, I've met plenty of open-minded Midwesterners, especially around the Great Lakes region. Anyway, I wouldn't write off ANY candidate based on cultural assumptions. Let's go after the best all-around coaches and let *them* tell us they're not interested. Besides, there are plenty of conservative folks in Berkeley, and I presume that includes many on the football team. Berkeley might not suit everybody, but many different types of people can make a home there, and folks are generally very accepting.

The guy seems impressive. I'm encouraged by the number of guys we will seem to be able to attract.

Drawbacks to this guy: No HC or west coast experience.

In his favor: Sandy's Notre Dame connections.

Big C_Cal;842019431 said:

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The guy seems impressive. I'm encouraged by the number of guys we will seem to be able to attract.

Drawbacks to this guy: No HC or west coast experience.

In his favor: Sandy's Notre Dame connections.

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I think the lack of HC experience is certainly a drawback (though it's also a plus in terms of actually landing him - unlike, say, Charlie Strong for example), but I don't think "west coast" is such a big deal. Besides, Notre Dame is a national power, they recruit the west coast/California very heavily, plus they're here every single year to play 'furd and USC, which are the two teams we Bears most want to beat.

beelzebear;842019372 said:

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Nice research, definitely on the rise.

That said, Midwesterners tend to give me a lukewarm feeling. They tend to like the predictable, middle America, way of living. Thus they like the retired community that is Stanfurd but tend not to "get" or like Berkeley, you know too weird.

For Berkeley, personally I think a West Coast kinda guy works best...they're not afraid of hippies, pinkos, 420, "weird" food like vegetables or any of that.

That said, if the guy can coach and he's game...why not. We need a football coach.

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LOL.....you haven't been to Madison Wisconsin have you?....They don't call it "the Berkeley of the Midwest for nothing"..... Most big college towns lean liberal to an extent...hell, even Austin Texas is more like Berkeley than other city in the state for sure....

Interesting guy. Also worth remembering that Sandy was the AD at Notre Dame before she came here, so she knows the 'culture' there as well as she does here. I'm curious to see how this plays out.

Cal_Fan2;842019437 said:

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LOL.....you haven't been to Madison Wisconsin have you?....They don't call it "the Berkeley of the Midwest for nothing"..... Most big college towns lean liberal to an extent...hell, even Austin Texas is more like Berkeley than other city in the state for sure....

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I've been to Madison, Ann Arbor, Austin, Boulder...yeah there's hippies there but lets be fair about this, they don't have 20 month Tree Sitters ready to roll. Big, big difference. The lightweight "head shop" stuff is in every college town. The Tree Sitters are not.

BTW, I'm not say it's all hippies and weirdos in Berkeley but if we're honest about it, they're part of the reality here and not everyone likes it. On the plus side, Tree Sitters not likely to cause any more FB trouble.

I like him more than Dykes or Franklin.

Etchebeary;842019439 said:

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Interesting guy. Also worth remembering that Sandy was the AD at Notre Dame before she came here, so she knows the 'culture' there as well as she does here. I'm curious to see how this plays out.

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One more thing about Notre Dame's culture:

Notre Dame tops in NCAA GSR

Also, their football team has a 970 APR, and they have many many teams with top APR scores:

Notre Dame Leads The Way On 2012 NCAA APR Honors List

Yeah, ND actually graduates people. Good school too.

I agree- this guy looks good- actually watch him on tape (youtube etc.)- he reminds me of a young Gruden.

Biggest Drawback IMO- if ND goes to the National Championship- its a week into January. If you do go this route- he's got about 2-3 weeks to get in and make recruiting connections before NSD. This recruiting class is pretty critical in a couple of spots- which is why I think we need to make a hire before the end of the year to give a staff at least a little time to get things together.

I think he's a good possibility though- might be the only time I route for USC today.

HaasBear04;842019445 said:

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I like him more than Dykes or Franklin.

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Me too. Seems like a good coaching and cultural fit. Major drawback is he is not a HC though he does sport the title Assistant Head Coach. Think someone will nab him this year-BC I suspect will go after him hard because of the commonality with ND

beelzebear;842019372 said:

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Nice research, definitely on the rise.

That said, Midwesterners tend to give me a lukewarm feeling. They tend to like the predictable, middle America, way of living. Thus they like the retired community that is Stanfurd but tend not to "get" or like Berkeley, you know too weird.

For Berkeley, personally I think a West Coast kinda guy works best...they're not afraid of hippies, pinkos, 420, "weird" food like vegetables or any of that.

That said, if the guy can coach and he's game...why not. We need a football coach.

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Notre Dame is not like the rest of Indiana

GB54;842019467 said:

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Notre Dame is not like the rest of Indiana

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Yes, I'm familiar with the area they call "The Region", basically suburban Chicago, NW IN, off Lake Michigan...and yet it's still in Indiana and the Midwest.

beelzebear;842019523 said:

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Yes, I'm familiar with the area they call "The Region", basically suburban Chicago, NW IN, off Lake Michigan...and yet it's still in Indiana and the Midwest.

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Sure it is but it was one of the few counties in Indiana to vote for Obama. While I am not comparing it to Berkeley it is culturally and politically more liberal than the rest of Indiana. Whether Diaco holds those views I couldn't say.

GB54;842019567 said:

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Sure it is but it was one of the few counties in Indiana to vote for Obama. While I am not comparing it to Berkeley it is culturally and politically more liberal than the rest of Indiana. Whether Diaco holds those views I couldn't say.

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Fair enough and correct. It is blue like suburban Chicago but there's still plenty of IND weirdness...drive a bit off the beaten path and you can hear the Deliverance theme song in the back of your head.

Well, just to be a bit snarky, but you can put this guy Vandy, and he wouldn't go better than 13-11 either, at least in my opinion.
But my ass comments aside, I like him too because the intangible with ND is West Coast recruiting contacts; heck is best player is from Hawaii. No one outside of the Pac-12 has the California connections that ND has. But also, and I posted this before-could he bring Denbrock in as OC? He for sure knows the West Coast:
http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/denbrock_mike01.html

Notes for the other posts: ND OC's get paid serious money...Cal isn't going to go cheap and get this guy, besides the fact that he could be playing in the NC game and become an even hotter player in the game.
Second note: Cal has hired a head coach from ND before...see, Kuchen, Dick under your historical basketball section.

I too have been intrigued by Diaco as a Head Coaching candidate. Besides what atoms listed, I like the thought of our talented LBing crew getting mentorship from Coach Diaco. Like him as a HC but also like what he can bring to our Linebackers as well. Hope we get a good one.

Go Bears!

Nick

Having not known a lot about Diaco before your post, you have sold me on him. I think that this is also a very good option, and would slide right below Petersen for me. Hope he interviews!

beelzebear;842019372 said:

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Nice research, definitely on the rise.

That said, Midwesterners tend to give me a lukewarm feeling. They tend to like the predictable, middle America, way of living. Thus they like the retired community that is Stanfurd but tend not to "get" or like Berkeley, you know too weird.

For Berkeley, personally I think a West Coast kinda guy works best...they're not afraid of hippies, pinkos, 420, "weird" food like vegetables or any of that.

That said, if the guy can coach and he's game...why not. We need a football coach.

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Yeah, that radical leftist Chris Peterson is no doubt a much better fit.

Plus he's pretty bright and well read. He'll be able to schmooz up the faculty as well as the alumni

Blue&Gould;842019461 said:

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I agree- this guy looks good- actually watch him on tape (youtube etc.)- he reminds me of a young Gruden.

Biggest Drawback IMO- if ND goes to the National Championship- its a week into January. If you do go this route- he's got about 2-3 weeks to get in and make recruiting connections before NSD. This recruiting class is pretty critical in a couple of spots- which is why I think we need to make a hire before the end of the year to give a staff at least a little time to get things together.

I think he's a good possibility though- might be the only time I route for USC today.

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Actually, Jeff Tedford did this too and he was fine at the end of it. "I'm sorry, Johnny Recruit, but can you bear with us while we wait for our new coach whose defense has gotten Notre Dame into the championship game?"

ohsooso;842019606 said:

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Yeah, that radical leftist Chris Peterson is no doubt a much better fit.

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Yeah but CP is from NorCal and is a UCD grad. At least he knows what to expect.

beelzebear;842019615 said:

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Yeah but CP is from NorCal and is a UCD grad. At least he knows what to expect.

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And Bob, if you find the hippies on Telegraph disagreeable, you can always simply commute from Lafayette or Orinda and drive straight to the stadium. If you're hanging out at the Hookah lounge too much you may not be using your time particularly efficiently anyway.

Never heard of him. SB needs to sell tickets. She needs to hire a proven BCS or former NFL head coach. CAL cannot afford to take a chance on an assistant coach.

beelzebear;842019584 said:

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Fair enough and correct. It is blue like suburban Chicago but there's still plenty of IND weirdness...drive a bit off the beaten path and you can hear the Deliverance theme song in the back of your head.

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Ever been to Modesto or Turlock? They're both pretty close to Berkeley.

mbBear;842019596 said:

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Notes for the other posts: ND OC's get paid serious money...Cal isn't going to go cheap and get this guy, besides the fact that he could be playing in the NC game and become an even hotter player in the game.

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Sure, but no coordinator gets paid like an AQ head coach, so this would obviously be a big step up for him. I'm not saying he would come cheaply either, but compared to some other names we're throwing around like Petersen or Jackson or Rivera (the latter two of which are already getting paid NFL money), it would probably take something like $1.8-2M for a guy like Diaco instead of ~$3M for some of the big names, is my point.

bar20;842019622 said:

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Never heard of him. SB needs to sell tickets. She needs to hire a proven BCS or former NFL head coach. CAL cannot afford to take a chance on an assistant coach.

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Well, you've heard of him now. Winning is what sells tickets, not the coach's name. She could say, hire Ron Rivera or whoever and people would be excited in the short term, but if he had a couple of mediocre seasons, all of that excitement would be completely gone. I'm not specifically saying Rivera would be bad or anything mind you; maybe he would be a great Cal HC. But I just want a coach that will seriously turn the program around and build a consistent winner. Cal cannot afford to hire a flash in the pan that turns out to be a dud, and this guy Diaco seems to have all the right characteristics.

I mentioned Rivera because if your criterion is "proven BCS or NFL head coach" then you're talking about him or Jackson, Gruden (haha no way), Carroll (also not happening).... and who else is out there? Petersen isn't a BCS head coach, though he's gone to BCS games. Doeren, Andersen, McIntyre, Dykes... those guys aren't BCS head coaches either.

All I'm saying that Diaco is one of the key figures behind the #1 team in the country. He's widely considered to be one of the top HC prospects in the country. He should be strongly considered IMO. Why wouldn't you want a guy like that?

Maybe. Just as much about his mindset-is he so anxious to get a HC position, that the numbers work for him, or does he wait it out? Certainly no gun to his head to make the move this year....it will be interesting to see how it plays out. But, I agree with your initial thought-a real nice candidate for us outsiders.

Agree with Beelz
Been to all large college towns mentioned - and what they call hippy - we crap bigger hippies in Berkeley in one day than they see in a lifetime...

I'd support him if I were sure he didn't hold the abhorrent views of Notre Dame University.

DCGoldenBear;842019880 said:

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I'd support him if I were sure he didn't hold the abhorrent views of Notre Dame University.

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What abhorrent views does Notre Dame have?