Let's say that you are a coach with aspirations to one day grab your hometown and favorite team Syracuse. To be in position to be eligible when one of the rare occasions occurs that the job opens up, what is the optimal career path? When going to D I is it better to take a mid level, high-ish baseline job like Marquette or take a low prestige BCS gig like Rutgers or Alabama, etc? How much does does the strength of the conference matter?

I would go Memphis, Marquette, Butler or DePaul and try to be at least an NT team every year if possible.  And then when Syracuse maybe opens hope that it was a cycle where you went deeper in the NT.  More of a chance to have an off year at a school like Rutgers when the Syracuse job opens up you would guess.

The strength of the conference has zero direct impact. It is purely your personal resume. So if you think you can build a better resume at Marquette rather than Rutgers, that's where you go.

You go anywhere that has a players named Keith or Smart. That alone "should" trump any sucess the current 'Cuse program has had and land you the job

I agree with Girt.  Go to place where you think you can win the most.

Posted by mizzou77 on 10/2/2013 4:09:00 PM (view original):
You go anywhere that has a players named Keith or Smart. That alone "should" trump any sucess the current 'Cuse program has had and land you the job

here's to Bob, trying to get me banned...

oh, and **** KEITH SMART.

LOL, I can never pass it up Dac.
That's my favoite line in HD.... I never get tired of hearing it