2012 NCAA College Football Season - Page 9

What's the better job opening up, Tennessee or Arkansas?  10 years ago it would have been a no brainer, now I think it's pretty close.

Arkansas is willing to pay top dollar, but I think Tennessee has a big advantage, especially with the construction of a new football facility that will be one of the best in the country.

After this season I see no reason why ND joins a football conference.  A BCS championship game will carry them for a decade.  And now with a 4 team playoff it will make it even easier for them to stay somewhat Independent.

 

No Barkley for the USC game.  No excuses now.

Just out of curiosity, what excuses would those be?  People have been waiting for Notre Dame to lose all season, and it was only this freshman QB having to start for Southern Cal that allowed them to be favored in the game.  Win or lose, they're going to a BCS bowl game.  That's much more than most people expected from them this year.

 

So rumor has it that Gruden is getting offers from Arkansas and Tennessee.  Seems like he'd be more inclined to take an NFL offer, but I can also see him being really effective in college.

Thought ND was all about the National Championship, not just bowls.  They have no excuses for a shot at that now.

 

Gruden won't leave ESPN.  Too cushy a job. 

All about national championships? They've barely been good in two decades. They're trying, for about the fourth time, to build themselves back up to something since the Holtz years. You're right that they have no excuses, but I don't know that anyone was looking to make any. If they lose to USC Barkley or no Barkley, I can't imagine anyone thinking they'd deserve a better bowl than whatever they'd end up going to.

I'm pulling for OSU today. U of O was so crap last week, plus I have fond memories of Corvallis.

I guess we now have a new "Choke at Doak." At no point in time did I think Florida was winning that game.. until they won that game.

So everyone is going to pull for UGA, right? Go dawgs!

If it's Notre Dame vs. Georgia, I'm pulling for Black Sunday. Or, Monday. Or whenever the hell they play that game.

 Fuck Alabama.

 

Some bad coacing calls last few minutes in USC/ND.  ND throws the ball on 3rd down and forgets the RB on final 3 plays.  USC tries some horribe runs inside the 5 and doesn't kick a FG on 4th down when down 9.  They can always onside kick. Lane Kiffin deserves it.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

 

Cannot

 

Fucking

 

Believe

 

It

 

 

Eh, where is Saban going to go? He already washed out of the NFL...as a matter of fact he's the one who bailed, he wasn't fired. Unless some other BCS goliath drops serious coin to poach Saban, he's there until he decides he's done. 

 

 

 

As far as "top 5 in the country" I don't know, I'd say there are no more than a dozen schools where there is SERIOUS infrastructure as far as if/when you start winning big, you will get the salary, the recruits, the notoriety where there really is no "step up" from that job, the best you can do is sideways. 

 

 

Off the top of my head, those schools would be: Bama, UGA, ND, Texas, USC, Michigan, Ohio St, LSU, Tennessee, Oklahoma, maybe Fla. 

 

 

I'd like to put Penn St and Fla St on there, but JoePa and Bobby were there so long, I'm not sure if there's an overarching identity to those programs outside of those 2 guys. 

 

I'd probably say there are another 20 schools where if it isn't one of the above schools making the offer, you're an idiot to leave (unless someone gives you so much money you'd be an idiot to NOT leave). 

 

 

EDIT - shit, left Nebraska off my list of "big dogs" 

 

 

Most likely because about the time his players realize he's full of shit, their 4 yrs will be up. 

 

 

Should I have prefaced the above with "ohai not a Gruden fan"

 

So? WTF is the NCAA going to do, revoke their long-since-done scholarships? 

 

 

He's not necessarily going to go anywhere, but he will retire eventually.  I'd give him at most five more years before he either tries one final job somewhere else or retires.

 

I would say no doubt Florida and Florida State are premiere jobs.  The talent pool in that state is very deep.

 

Also, don't discount the allure of a change of scenery.  Some coaches like rebuilding a new program, or finding a different challenge.  I think Saban has that that kind of personality, honestly.

 

Yeah, I'll say you're right about Fla - I was probably focusing a bit too much on the "yeah, but where were they w/o Spurrier or Meyer?" factor. 

 

Like I said, I'd love to put FSU and PSU on there, but just not sure where they are without the icons. 

 

 

FSU was NOTHING before Bobby Bowden got there. Penn St was OK but nothing to scream about prior to JoePa - it raises the question of "ok, is this an elite program, or does it drop a notch without that guy in the drivers' seat?" - think of Miami - when they aren't in contention, their attendance is a joke. A good example of what I'm talking about would BYU post-Lavell Edwards - certainly a good, solid program, but not one that has any juice to non-alums or hardcore CFB fans, whereas I think it had a bit more cachet when Edwards WAS there, even though it's still probably a pretty damn good job to have. 

 

 

As far as Saban leaving for rebuilding....tough call. I think he's certainly got the ego to think he could go somewhere else for similar money and rebuild it (Penn St?), but he also will probably start getting some serious mention as BETTER than Bear Bryant if 'Bama continues on their current course, and that would have to be pretty gratifying as well. 

 

I think that would have been a possibility prior to the Tuscaloosa tornado. Since, he and his wife have been kinda endeared to the community, and I don't really see him leaving.

 

To the rest of you, Roll Tide.

As a fan of the Vols and the Cleveland Browns, this rumor has certainly piqued my interest: According to News Channel 3 in Memphis, Jon Gruden was offered the coaching position at UT, with the lure coming from UT booster/new Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who offered Gruden an ownership stake in the franchise.

 

This has already been denied by Haslam and Gruden's reps, but what an insane offer. For starters, is this even allowed under NCAA rules? Or NFL rules, for that matter? This rumor is so insane that it goes around the bend and becomes sane again. I still think Gruden-to-UT is ludicrous, but at least it led to an intriguing story.

 

Silly Season, Part 2: Arkansas' AD, who knows Les Miles from their days at Michigan, reportedly offered miles a 5 year, $27.5 million deal to coach the Razorbacks. People are already saying this is a ploy by Les' buddy to raise his price at LSU, but who knows?

 

Few things are more ridiculous than SEC coaching searches.

 

You shut your pirate whore mouth! God, he's the practically the only saving grace on the sideline these days. I keep hoping for beloved Frank to announce his retirement so Bud can ascend to his rightful HC spot and clean sweep the offensive staff that keeps letting him down, year after year after year. But then Beamer keeps getting contract extensions... I figure we'd lose Foster eventually to an HC job (which he never actively pursues; he wants to be courted); if he flies for just another DC job, Christ. Fans will certainly take that as a massive indictment of the program.

 

Meanwhile, the ACC files suit against UMD for that cool ~$50 mil the Terps don't want to pay, and also quite swiftly replaces them with Louisville. Maybe we should just change the conference name to The Big Atlantic East Coast conference, with the Big East division and the Atlantic Coast division.

Man, the Orange Bowl has been a parade of sadness for the last few years:

 

 

January 2, 2007	Louisville	24	Wake Forest	13	notes
January 3, 2008	Kansas	24	Virginia Tech	21	notes
January 1, 2009	Virginia Tech	20	Cincinnati	7	notes
January 5, 2010	Iowa	24	Georgia Tech	14	notes
January 3, 2011	Stanford	40	Virginia Tech	12	notes
January 4, 2012	West Virginia	70	Clemson	33	notes

Ugh.

 

Tennessee is in a tizzy. These Gruden rumors have lots of perfectly sensible people losing their minds, even though there's no way in hell that's happening. However, another name in the mix who appears to be a more likely candidate: FSU's Jimbo Fisher. 

I think all of the speculation might be moot anyway, as UT's paying so many coaches not to coach that they're low on funds. Vol fans are eager for a marquee name, but I'm not sure the school can afford it.

 

Fisher denied interest today.

These schools are so desperate to get any name that it's really embarrassing at this point.  Why not put some of these these millions towards a method of discovery that might allow you to find the next great coach, instead of overpaying for someone else's current good one?  All these schools are doing is driving up the cost of doing business.  Hey Arkansas, you got Les Miles a raise at LSU, way to go!

I'm convinced that the Les Miles/Arkansas story was solely about Arkansas' AD helping his longtime buddy get a raise.

Jinx, you owe me a Coke.

This article at Deadspin talks about how Southern Miss sold their home-field advantage in the Nebraska game next year in exchange for Nebraska paying for their recently fired coach's buyout:

 

http://deadspin.com/5964003/to-buy-out-failed-coach-southern-miss-sold-home+field-advantage-back-to-nebraska-for-21-million

 

A fascinating look at how the sausage gets made in college athletics.

Oooh, that just got forwarded to all my Husker loving co-workers. Thank you.

 

 

Gregg Easterbrook (ESPN's Tuesday Morning Quarterback) has a theory that D1 schools should poach the good coaches from lower divisions. 

 

 

Heck, Mt Union went to something like 6 straight NCAA D3 title games, and was in several more before that run. The coach/coaches who were in charge during that dynasty obviously know SOMETHING about winning football games. 

This is from a site called Volquest.com, a pay site run by some guys in Knoxville. The Woodward and Bernstein-like seriousness of this report makes me smile:

But this is probably my favorite part:

It's a shame that this kind of dogged investigation isn't being used on Tennessee's schools.

Yep.  When you start hearing about planes and tail numbers in conversations about football coaches, you know you're in SEC country.

 

And their "companions."

More clock mismanagement that costs a big time team a game.  Unbelievable.

 

First off, how do they not clock it?  The could have gotten THREE plays off into the end zone.  And second, how does the player not have the presence of mind to know with no time outs if he catches it outside the end zone they will not get another play?

 

Just unreal.

Terrible terrible terrible. Just dumb no matter how you look at it. He should have realized exactly that... Don't catch it unless it's in the end zone. But it should never have even got to that point. They should have spiked the ball with about 20 seconds left and taken two or three shots into the end zone. Fuck Alabama.

'Bama and ND in the NC game.  Anyone giving ND a chance?

The spread should be about a touchdown.  That's hardly a matchup where the underdog has no chance.  Alabama's not as good as they were last year.  I still think they'll win, but of course ND has a shot.

Let me say that I really, really despise that fake scaffolding-score graphic they insert into the stadium after every break. It just looks... wrong.

ON WISCONSIN!

 

 

That was unexpected, to say the least. 

...but not as well as Bo Knows Losing Conference Championships or Bo Knows How to Lose by 25 Points+ At Least Twice a Season.

I'm not a bitter Nebraska fan. Nope. Not at all.

I think they will win.  I hope they do anyway.