From Sportsfan
Jay,
I was with a client at lunch, and we got into a lengthy discussion regarding announced, upcoming, and rumored college football coaching vacancies. Can you give the 5-10 readers a break down next Friday of what's open, expected to be open, and who might possibly fill the vacancies thereby creating more openings? We expect the dominoes to start falling in early December to minimize recruiting impacts. What do you have to say about that?
Sportsfan -
Great question, as usual. we'll rank the openings in order of attractiveness and offer a blurb about each. We can offer a name or two that would make sense, but lists like these are little more than guys who have links to said program and/or guys who would love a shot at a place like that and are trying - either through their agent or by themselves - to get linked to the opening.
Side note: There are going to be a lot of guys who had OK-to-pretty good seasons who will get a monster raise because of the profile of these openings. Somewhere Jimmy Sexton and other super-agents of his ilk are smiling. Broadly.
Side note, II: This is going to be a crazy coaching search season already, and it will be made even crazier if a) Texas coach Charlie Strong walks off to Miami and/or b) if Les Miles gets bought out in Baton Rouge.
As for jobs that we 'expect to be open,' well, if Miles stumbles today there is too much noise and smoke there not to believe he's in trouble. We think the other underperformers in the SEC West - Kevin Sumlin and Gus Malzahn - will be on the hot seat this time in 2016. We think Idaho will sack Paul Petrino. We think Virginia will sack Mike London if the Cavs lose today. We think Kyle Flood gets the ax at Rutgers, and in a lot of ways - like Petrino at Idaho - that's as much about those guys being jackwagons as well as being bad at their jobs.
We thought a month ago that Purdue was going to sack Darrell Hazell, but they announced earlier this month that he will return. (And that could be a precursor to the thought-process on a lot of middle-of-the-pack, to lower-tier FBS programs because the job market is already filled with openings and that competition - and the trickle up spiral caused by those openings would make a job like Purdue - or Colorado or Kansas, which is dreadful, by the way - difficult to fill with someone other than a retread.
Here are the 13 FBS openings we know of as of right now (there were 14 head coach openings, but Minnesota pulled the interim tag off of Tracy Claeys):
1. USC. A true top-10 all-time program that is starving for the right guy. Since Pete Carroll sneaked out of town before the NCAA posse came calling, the results have been disastrous, and this hire will succeed or will be the end of Trojans legend Pat Haden's career as AD. My list for a true A-list job like this would be in order, 1. Chip Kelly (and after that egg the Eagles laid on Thanksgiving, for the first time, we think he's in trouble); 2. Utah's Kyle Whittingham (who had Utah in the top five this year - Utah); 3. Houston's Tom Herman (and as much success as he's had at Houston this year, the struggles THE Ohio State has had without him calling plays is every bit as big a compliment for what he does).
2. Miami. A job with great talent easily within reach, but a little overrated considering the facilities and the salary, by comparison. (And yes, we are sadly to the point in major college football that a job paying someone almost $3 million annually is considered less-than-great. Sigh.) The 'connections to the program' stipulations with this job are puzzling, since the last time they tried that Randy Shannon was their guy and that didn't work either. (And sweet buckets, getting coaching intel from Luther Campbell, the rapper known as Luke Skywalker - aka Uncle Luke - who penned the literary classic, "Me So Horny" along with several others that are actually even more offensive, is ludicrous.) There is talk of former coach Butch Davis, who has more NCAA baggage than almost anyone out there, and we think Herman is in play here, too.
3. South Carolina. This is an interesting opening because the talent level has bottomed out and currently the Gamecocks are the worst team, but like every other SEC big-boy job, they have lofty expectations. It appears that Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart is the frontrunner here.
4. Virginia Tech. Replacing Frank Beamer will be tough. Dude built that program. But buying the best house in the neighborhood that was built in 1988, there are several modernizations that can work immediate dividends. The most interesting question about this job will what become of Bud Foster, the longtime defensive coordinator. The Hokies assuredly need an offensive guy because the plan on that side of the ball has assuredly been like those '88 kitchens with the awful floors in cheap tile colors. This could be a place that could go as steady as promoting from within or roll the dice on a young guy or even look to a retread of a former head coach who currently is a coordinator somewhere.
5. Missouri. Great conference and replacing a long-time successful coach makes this a tough gig. Could they lure Herman with a big check? It would be the best fit, since he has great recruiting ties in Texas, a state Mizzou needs to have success in to stay competitive in the SEC.
6. UCF. A potentially great job in that the facilities are good, the recruiting base is great and it was not that long ago, this was among the best second-five gigs in the country. There are whispers that Florida defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, who has worked at UCF, could be a top target.
7. Syracuse. An interesting job that could be good but is a big challenge. Here's a name we'd make say no: Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, who has the Middies on the cusp of making a big six bowl. Different style, comfortable recruiting kids to fit it and willing to work in tougher academic standards - and since this is Syracuse football rather than Syracuse basketball, that could be a point of contention.
8. Maryland. A sleeping giant of a job with the potential springboard that the Under Armour backing could provide. Go and find that offensive mind - Bowling Green;s Dino Babers comes to mind - who will fling it up and down the field and let those received do the interlocking gloves thing in the end zone.
9. Iowa State. Here's a name to watch: Georgia Southern's Willie Fritz.
10. Illinois. Tough gig in a tough league, and there is change over at the top with an interim AD and an interim president. This is the worst of the Power Five openings because the guys doing the hiring may not be there this time next year.
11. North Texas. This feels like a spot for a young guy who believes he can really make a leap. North Texas should embrace the approach Arkansas State used to rebuild its program, and go and hire the best young coordinator around and do it quickly. Heck, if Lane Kiffin would say yes to help rewrite his narrative, go there. But like Arkansas State did - with successful one-year stops from Hugh Freeze, Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin
12. Hawaii. Good luck. Arguably the toughest gig around with the highest cost of living. Now living in Hawaii would be sweet. This feels like a retread hire - they landed June Jones and Norm Chow in recent years - because those retread guys already have enough coin to make the ends meet.
13. Louisiana-Monroe. We love the SI suggestion of Ed Orgeron here. Love it.
Tell 'em 'bout it JoJo.
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From David (and others)
Belated, like u I am very thankful for many things and one is ur talented writings. Happy Thankgiving!
Did you guys do a Rushmore of Thanksgiving movies on Press Row?
Gang -
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you too.
And since we spilled about 3,000 words on coaching searches, we're going to move quickly from this point forward.
No we didn't do a Rushmore of Thanksgiving movies, but that's OK.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is the clear No. 1 here. We'll go Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving, Grumpy Old Men, Rocky (yes, it's a technicality, but there are not a lot of Thanksgiving movies, folks).
Plus, with Creed being released this week, any Rocky shoutout seems appropriate.
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From Chanceamillion9 and others (via Twitter)
@jgreesontfp nobody cares if u don't like getting Titans games in this region, you live in TN so stfu. nobody is forcing u to watch
Gang -
Background: We said on Wednesday on Press Row that it's time to move the Lions off Thanksgiving. (That was before they looked like the '88 49ers too. Of course.) We also said the NFL TV rules of showing us pretty much the Titans, Falcons, Cowboys, Packers and Patriots on Sunday (other than prime time) means we get limited viewings of some of the more fun teams across the league.
This ticked off some of the Titans fans around the area, most notably Chanceamillion9.
OK. Our response was that we don't watch a lot of the Titans because they arguably have the worst roster in the league. (This did not also suit. Happy Thanksgiving.)
Which left us with the question: What needs to happen for the Titans to be relevant?
We think Marcus Mariota can be a franchise guy in this league. We think Dorial Green-Beckham could be a legit No. 1 wide out.
We think defensively, the addition of Dick LeBeau has transformed a nameless, faceless group into a top-10 defense in the league.
We believe the head coaching hire will be critical. (And man, if the heat keeps coming on Chip Kelly, he almost assuredly would be interested in a Titans chance and the opportunity to reunite with Mariota.)
That said, the next two drafts will be huge for a team that has huge holes everywhere, including across an offensive line that welcomed underperforming first-round picks in 2013 (Chance Warmack) and 2014 (Taylor Lewan).
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From E.C.
Youy have not mentioned a lot about UTC's playoff game this week. What do you expect? And have you ever done a Rushmore of coach-son combos?
Thanks and keep up the good work.
EC -
UTC is better than Fordham. The Mocs should win.
How about that big-time breakdown?
We got UTC 27-17. Whatcha got?
Side question: If we set the over/under on attendance at 7,500, whatcha got?
As for the Rushmore of coach-son combos, well, we'd likely have to start with Roy and Joey Turner from the Bad News Bears.
As for real life, we'll go with Doc and Austin Rivers, who are doing it at the highest level. So did Moises Alou playing for his pop Felipe, and so did the Boones (multiple versions). Finally, and this is a bit of a reach, but we think Dale Earnhardt did most of the coaching on driving for Junior, too.
That said, we'd be remiss not to mention that Jacob and Russ head into what could be his final game.
And while Terrell Owens may be the most recognized and NFL-accomplished UTC player of all time, if you look at what they did in the Blue and Gold, Jacob is best UTC football player ever.
Good luck Mocs.