Wisconsin Coaching Counterpoint: Time is on Our Side

I disagree with Jackson, but I understand where he's coming from.

For most undergraduates in Madison, this is the first time there's ever been a coaching search for the football program. And this couldn't come with a higher potential to pivot the program in the wrong direction. And right now? There's very little on the news front. You can extrapolate and speculate all you want, but there's very little story going on.

And that's a scary thing. When it's all quiet, it's not all quiet. There are things going on. Things that you so desperately don't want them to screw up. But I'm here to tell you, we shouldn't even be close to calling the Silversun Pickups and getting them to play "Panic Switch."

Why? For one, did you realize that bowl practices have already started? They started on Dec. 8th. For a game that's 10 days after the world's "supposed to end." Most good coaches know how to install a game plan in four days. And even if it takes Barry Alvarez a couple of more days to shake off any would-be rust? We're looking at the day when everyone is going to make some stupid variation on "Mayans, what are we going to do with them LOL?" on all social media platforms to really have to get started in earnest. You know. Because of Christmas.

The reason why there are so many bowls, and most coaches would never turn down a bowl opportunity without some outside reason as to why they did? It's like an extra spring practice, and a way to get ready for the next season. (You heard that Bart Houston's slinging the ball with moxie at practice, after all).

This was also never going to be an exact process. I like to proclaim myself as a man of science and I had a feeling I was going to write at least 10 Badger Breakdowns before we came close to getting something firmed up. Turns out, it might be closer to 15. And then there will be the inevitable return of Chris Petersen to the rumor mill and the we know it's a long shot Boise fans and will you just leave us alone we got this Boise fans and the APPARENTLY THE SEC DOESN'T HATE BOISE STATE FOR WHAT IT REPRESENTS BUT FOR THE FANS THAT TRAVEL INTO THEIR WEBSITES AND PROCLAIM THE AWESOMENESS OF BRONCO FOOTBALL YOU'RE AS BAD AS TOMMY FROM QUINZEE.

Not that that's happened before.

What I'm saying is, we weren't going to get a quick hiring process. It was bound to get messy. And there were bound to be some blind alleys. And you know what? That's okay.

Today is day seven of the coaching search. You know who else took seven days to name its coach? Michigan. And in two years, it had a BCS trip and a solid season despite the injuries. And if no one gets hired today? It's still not a bad omen.

Some highlights from the link?

• It took Texas A&M 9 Days to hire Kevin Sumlin.
• It took UCLA 12 days to hire Jim L. Mora.
• It took Vanderbilt 20 days to hire James Franklin.
• And it took Colorado's new coach (Mike MacIntyre) 31 days to be named the head coach at San Jose State.

All of these hires turned out to be great ones. In fact, there's one that took even longer that I'll close with. A while ago, there was this team that fired their head coach on Nov. 24th. It wasn't until 39 days later that it was able to name a replacement.

The coach that was fired? Don Morton. We all know how it turned out with his replacement. I mean, seeing as he's back on the sidelines for seemingly one night only.

I know it could possibly sound rather patronizing. But we have to trust the process here. We have to trust that the Athletic Director that we've had for going on a decade now has "got this." We'll be fine.

Unless it turns out we hire Brad Childress.