Craig James reacts to the Washington State hire
Football takes a hiatus and goes to the Pro Bowl - but who really cares?
What is interesting is the Coaching Carousel is taking its final turns
Below are all the changes (click on read more) - who got fired, who got hired and a little Doofus commentary
GO JUMBO Oct 20 2012!!
What is interesting is the Coaching Carousel is taking its final turns
Below are all the changes (click on read more) - who got fired, who got hired and a little Doofus commentary
GO JUMBO Oct 20 2012!!
| Team Akron Arizona Arizona State Arkansas State Colorado State FAU Fresno State Hawaii Houston Illinois Kansas Memphis Massachusetts Mississippi New Mexico North Carolina Ohio State Penn State Pittsburgh Southern Miss Texas A&M Toledo Tulane UAB UCLA Washington State | Out Rob Ianello Mike Stoops Dennis Erickson Hugh Freeze Steve Fairchild Howard Schnellenberger Pat Hill Greg McMackin Kevin Sumlin Ron Zook Turner Gill Larry Porter Kevin Morris Houston Nutt Mike Locksley Butch Davis (i) Everett Withers (i) Luke Fickell Joe Paterno (i) Tom Bradley Todd Graham Larry Fedora Mike Sherman Tim Beckman Bob Toledo Neil Callaway Rick Neuheisel Paul Wulff | In Terry Bowden Rich Rodriguez Todd Graham Gus Malzahn Jim McElwain Carl Pellini Tim DeRuyter Norm Chow Tony Levine Tim Beckman Charlie Weis Justin Fuente Charlie Molnar Hugh Freeze Bob Davie Larry Fedora Urban Meyer Bill O'Brien Paul Chryst Ellis Johnson Kevin Sumlin Matt Campbell Curtis Johnson Garrick McGee Jim Mora (Jr) Mike Leach | Previous Position Head Coach North Alabama Head Coach Michigan (2010) Head Coach Pittsburgh Offensive Coordinator Auburn Offensive Coordinator Alabama Defensive Coordinator Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Texas A&M Offensive Coordinator Utah Interim Head Coach Houston Head Coach Toledo Offensive Coordinator Florida Offensive Coordinator TCU Offensive Coordinator Notre Dame Head Coach Arkansas State Head Coach Notre Dame (2001) Head Coach Southern Miss Head Coach Florida (2010) Offensive Coordinator New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator Wisconsin Defensive Coordinator South Carolina Head Coach Houston Offensive Coordinator Toledo Wide Receivers Coach New Orleans Saints Offensive Coordinator Arkansas Head Coach Seattle Seahawks (2009) Head Coach Texas Tech (2010) | Doofus Commentary Nice hire but can he replicate his success down in Dixie up north - Bowden returns to Akron where he was an assistant under Gerry Faust (who was probably the worst HC in Notre Dame history) in 1986. Bowden went 47-17-1 at Auburn from 1993 to 1998. After a stint with ABC he returned to the sidelines to coach Div II North Alabama to a 29-10 record. He brings credibility to Akron which had been a joke under Ianello (2-22) Ianello was recruiting coordinator and asst coach under Charlie Weiss (those hires always work out so well) and was fired via cell phone on his way to his mothers funeral - talk about your crappy days What can I say - I loved him at Michigan because he was so bad. His defenses were absolutely atrocious, the offenses faded as the year wore on and the injuries mounted and his recruiting consisted of landing 10-12 5 foot nothing scat backs. Now he heads to the PAC 12 where the entire conference seems to want to play only offense (See Arizona St and Washington St). How long will it be before we hear "You raise me up"? And who can forget this classic at the end of the 2010 seasonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZvoZCYUehY Graham is a douche. He texts his players telling him he is leaving Pitt after one year (6-6) and bolts for ASU. He did this before at Rice when he left after one season. What do you expect from the former DC under Rich Rodriquez? And who do you root for when Arizona and ASU meet in Territorial Cup? Graham will either fail and be fired or succeed and bolt. Nice hire ASU Gus - what happened? A year ago he was playing Maryland and Vanderbilt for millions - now he takes a Sun Belt job for 800K. Guess he is not such a genius without Cam Newton. He did help himself to a little going away gift - taking Auburn RB Mike Dyer with him. He was a high school coaching legend in Arkansas and should bring in some talent. In the end he will have some success and restart his move up the coaching ladder The main qualification for being an assistant with Nick Saban is putting up with his crap. McElwain main job with the offense was to not lose games. He did that very well. This is a yawner of a hire. Side note - I will be cheering for him. McElwain followed John L Smith up from Louisville and coached wide receivers at MSU. Schnellenberger was a legend and built FAU from scratch. Too bad his teams were terrible. Now they go with a brother hire - taking the brother coordinator from the brother HC. Those never work - see Mark Stoops at Arizona. Still - after years of using 1980's schemes the Owls will at least get into the 21st century. Must have missed it - did A&M even play defense? When it came to crunch time A&M's defense opened up like at WalMart on Black Friday. Cost me a few Mega Bets (not that I am bitter) He replaces the other 'Stache - legendary Pat Hill. Hill had been surviving on reputation the last 5-10 years so a breath of fresh air may help. Nooooorm! It’s a dog eat dog world and I am wearing milk bone underwear. Still my favorite Cheers line of all time. Has nothing to do with the hire - I just wanted to put it out there. After years of being lots of short lists to be HC, Chow returns to his native Hawaii to finish out his career (he's 65) . It's a good fit as Hawaii is all about the offense since the June Jones days. He may be fading as an offensive guru (he's moved from Tennessee Titans to UCLA to Utah since 2004) but he will bring back some good times on the islands A very risky hire. Levine was interim coach when Sumlin bolted to A&M. You gotta root for the guy. He was a walk on WR at Minnesota ultimately becoming a 2 time Academic All Big Ten. He rose through the ranks as a Special Teams and Strength and Conditioning coach. Never a coordinator let alone Head Coach - Houston really went out on a limb with this time. Expectations are high down in Oil City but Houston is headed back to the middle of the CUSA pack Beckman took a floundering Toledo squad to the MAC west co-champions. He rose up through the ranks on the defensive side of the ball ending up as DC for Oklahoma State before becoming HC at Toledo. He was one of those defensive coaches that ended up with great offenses - the Rockets averaged 42 points per game last year - including back to back classic Tuesday night games against Northern Illinois (63-60 loss) and Western Michigan (66-63 win). My guess? He keeps Illinois in the middle of the pack How does this guy keep getting gigs? He embarrassed Notre Dame, went to the Chiefs as OC where he did nothing, dropped to OC at Florida where he made a shambles of the Gator offense. He just keeps eating his was down the football coaching food chain. Kansas will remain a basketball school and old Front Butt will drop down to being the most laughable strength and conditioning coach in NAIA history. Larry Porter battled Mike Locksley (see New Mexico below) for the worst coach in Div 1A. The former recruiting coordinator at LSU - his 2011 squad was ranked 120th (out of 120) a drop from last years ranking of 118. Nice! Fuente is a risk. He's young (35) but his resume includes coaching up Andy Dalton (QB Cincinnati Bengals) and guiding the Horney Toads to the 26th ranked offense overall. Good hire. In reality the Tigers can only move up Welcome to the big leagues Massachusetts! And unlike Western Kentucky back in 2007 they decided to go with a new head coach to make the transition. Molnar has been following Chip Kelly around for the last 5 years. Time to find out if the offensive production is Kelly or Molnar. My guess - Molnar has learned enough to guide a team in the MAC. And you need offense in the MAC. Defense is optional. Like WKU it will be years before they are competitive but Molnar will be OK Freeze is on a moon shot up the coaching ranks. Two years ago he was the HC at NAIA Lambuth. Now he skips several rungs and lands a position in the SEC West? Wow! Freeze returns to Ole Miss where he was TE coach and recruiting coordinator (Uh Oh). This one looks like a bridge too far. Freeze will flounder for a couple of years and get knocked down a few weight classes Former Illinois OC and recruiting coordinator (anyone see a trend?) Mike Locksley was one of the worst head coaches of all time. On top of an horrendous losing record (2-26) he was sued for sexual harassment and suspended one game for punching an asst coach. Davie was a mediocre coach - 10 years ago! If the Lobos get to mediocre it will be a big step up. Too bad - betting against UNM used to be easy money. The North Carolina fan base wanted offense - they got offense! Fedora had great success as OC at Florida and Oklahoma State before taking the helm at Southern Miss back in 2008. Last season he stunned 6th ranked Houston in the CUSA Championship game. Anyone named after a hat I'm going for. The Tar Heels will take awhile to transition but they got themselves a good one Boy that didn't take long. After stepping down in 2010 at Florida (for the second time!) for health seasons and to spend more time with his family - now he returns to the coaching ranks. I guess his family got tired of him too. OSU was known as an SEC school up north. Now it's official. They have already started with stealing committed recruits like the $EC. The expectations are through the roof in Columbus. Meyer will wilt under the pressure and start going haywire. This is going to be fun to watch. Side note - I was hoping former interim UNC coach Everett Withers would land on his feet after getting passed over in Chapel Hill. Guess where he ends up - as DC for Urban. Maybe the OSU brain Trust figured they needed someone to step in for Urban when his train starts veering off the rails. The Penn State fan base has been in complete denial. Wake up Nittnies! No one was coming near that toxic waste dump of a situation. Just be glad you were able to land anyone with credibility. And the last person you needed was someone from the PSU family. You need a complete overhaul, fumigation and tear down before you can become relevant again. This fix is going to take years. O'Brien is a Bill Belichick disciple (a coaching tree that doesn't stand too tall) and will likely be nothing more than a caretaker until things blow over. The curse of Wannstadt continues! First they fire the 'Stache only to have his replacement get fired before the season starts for beating up his girl friend. Then they figure they lucked out by upgrading to Todd Graham only to have him bolt after one year. Next up Paul Chryst former Wisconsin OC. Chryst is a blue collar kind of guy - perfect for Pitt. His offenses were terrific. Great hire. Pitt is going to roll through whatever is left of the Big East. A good ol boy from the South with several stints in the ACC and SEC - unlike DeRuyter his defenses were actually quite good. But he takes over a team known for offense (a total reversal of the North Carolina situation. Johnson has been around the block a few times (he's 60) and knows the recruiting landscape. Southern Miss will be decent but not spectacular. The hottest prospect out there. Sumlin was on everyone's wish list after 3 years of high octane offenses at Houston. Now he gets to try his offensive juggernauts against the SEC West. Should be fun to watch. His defenses sucked so Arkansas type results wouldn't be too bad. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Toledo stayed in house after Beckman uprooted the family over to Champaign. The Rockets went to their strength by promoting their Offensive Coordinator. Campbell becomes the youngest HC in Div 1A (32). We will see if he is a prodigy or stop gap. I'll go with stop gap. Never understood why it is so hard to recruit kids to the Big Easy. Who wouldn't want to go to college in New Orleans? But Tulane has always struggled. Now they get a guy from New Orleans. Johnson was born in New Orleans and comes over from the Saints where he coached Wide Receivers. Johnson has a reputation as a good recruiter having brought Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott from New Orleans to play for San Diego State while he was there. He is a risk as he has only coached WR and has never been a coordinator let alone head coach. Things should get better as Tulane has been miserable for years. They haven't had a winning record since 2002. Another of the young hot shot offensive coordinators. Mc Gee is only 38 and has shot up the ranks after successful stints as OC at Arkansas and Northwestern. One of these young guns will pan out - why not McGee? UAB has underperformed for years and has not had a winning since 2004 and has never won more than 7 games since joining the Div 1A ranks in 1996. McGee will fine tune his craft having some solid seasons before moving up the chain A strange hire indeed. Maybe UCLA was thinking they were getting his Dad - Jim Mora (Sr) who coached there under Dick Vermeil in 1974. Junior has tremendous coaching experience but all in the pros. He took the Falcons to the NFC Championship game in 2004 but was fired after going 7-9 in 2006. He was also fired after going 5-11 in 2009 after his first season with the Seahawks. Now he tries his hand in the college ranks. He will have to learn how to recruit and all those darn NCAA rules. Sometimes these pro to college hires work out (Pete Carroll) sometimes they don't (Al Groh). Things will probably get better. They certainly won't be losing to USC 50-0 any more and getting exemptions to play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Holy Crap Bat Man. Washington State is desperate enough to bring in Leach and his container ship full of baggage. Last we saw of Big Mike he was being fired for treating players like dog crap including the son of ESPN motor mouth Craig James. Leach is a lunatic but should make things interesting in Pullman. They will have lots of exciting games and pull off a few upsets. Another fun one to watch. |
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