...UH now faces the unenviable task of hiring a third straight successful coach in a row.
I've been saying for years now that non-AQ schools with success need to think about their succession plans since their coaches ARE going to be poached by automatic B(c)S qualifying schools looking to rebuild programs. TCU did a great job of this, as has Boise St. So far Houston has struggled. The Art Briles defection was a personal failure on Briles' part (his poaching of UH assistant coaches before the bowl-game was reprehensible) the Cougars got lucky picking the right successor in Sumlin. By all accounts Sumlin has been honest and forthright with U of H, and will leave them in pretty good shape for the bowl.
But once again, the Cougars appear to have to go outside the current system to find a new coach, seemingly having no one on staff who can keep the machine rolling in the Big East. The hope, for Cougar fans, should be that UH finds and hires another young, up-and-coming coach with a flashy offense but who takes defense seriously. What they don't want to do is follow the basketball program's example and find an old retread who's looking to finish out his career quietly. I also think it's going to be important to find someone with Texas ties. Houston's biggest Big East advantage is going to be the superior players they have first shot at in recruiting.
UH football appears to be firmly back on the road to respectability. They need to find the next Kevin Sumlin, and not fall into the Kim Helton trap. Although given the fickle nature of UH fans (some are already calling Sumlin 'gutless' on the message boards, for what reason we have no idea) they won't be happy with anyone who's selected anyway.
