More College Football Head Coach Firings

[MylesKnight]

Just heard that Indiana let go of Gerry Dinardo (great guy, nearly impossible place to win - IU), and BYU would not be re-upping with Gary Crowton (hmmm, wonder if they regret passing on Norm Chow now).

...and, word is David Cutcliffe may be out at Ole Miss (impatient SEC'ers down there. Did you really not expect a drop off of sorts after the graduation of a certain Eli Manning?)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Crowton apparently forced to resign ... and now AP is reporting that David Cutcliffe has been/will be fired at Ole Miss.

[MylesKnight]

'Tis the season, I suppose.

[Noop]

I pray someone hires Jeff Bowden...

[JeeberD]

And according to trolls at the UTEP board, Mike Price is going to be hired by every one of those schools!

[MylesKnight]

Hey Jeebs, I guess we shall see very darn quickly just how much appreciation Mike Price has for the folks at UTEP and for them giving him the opportunity to coach again at the I-A level.

I hope he stays. What's wrong with being THE MAN at a so called "smaller program"? I'd take this over being another in the long line of coaches at Football Factory U. anyday of the week... and that's including the obvious $$$$$ differences.

Stay in El Paso and build your own program Mike Price.

[Noop]

Ok we might as well turn this into the coaching rumor mill.... what I have heard...

Florida: Tubberville?( I just saw this on ESPNews), I am leaning toward small time coach.
LSU: Will hire from within because I think Nick Saban is going to either Miami or the Browns.
Notre Dame: Urban Meyer

Ok this one I don't know if it is 100% true or not but Butch Davis will be the next head coach for the seminoles... depending on who is hired for the OC job.

[Karlifornia]

Stanford: Walt Harris from Pitt

And no, Stanford will never re-hire Willingham.

[JonInMiddleGA]

How about Willingham to Ole Miss?
{and yes, I'm serious}

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

How about Willingham to Ole Miss?
{and yes, I'm serious}

No way. I could never see it happening.

[scooter]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

How about Willingham to Ole Miss?
{and yes, I'm serious}

They've been talking here about Willingham coming to Washington (old Pac-10 coach, etc.). I'm not sure if it's a good fit or not, but he would be about the polar opposite of Neuheisel.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by scooter

They've been talking here about Willingham coming to Washington (old Pac-10 coach, etc.). I'm not sure if it's a good fit or not, but he would be about the polar opposite of Neuheisel.

And WU is where I expect him to end up, but I'm intrigued by the notion of him at Ole Miss (an idea I really haven't heard from anybody except myself).

It would definitely eliminate any advantage that their in-state rival (MSU) has in recruiting right now, it's a great p.r. move for the school, there could certainly be worse choices for them. Now, I don't believe Willingham's stock has dropped significantly enough for him to even consider the job ... but I think it's a helluva interesting notion nonetheless.

[SunDancer]

Whats up with Ole Miss? They had one down year, and now they want to fire the man who basically built the program up? Does Ole Miss think they are in the same level of the Florida's and Michigan's of the world?

[33sherman]

I'm living in Bloomington right now, and I'm pretty shocked that DiNardo got canned. Ask anyone from around here and they'll tell you that even three years ago Indiana looked like a high school team even when they were playing weak opponents. They were respectable this year. I don't know what IU has up their sleeve, but it seems like they got rid of a popular coach who had the program on the rise.

[Tigercat]

Originally Posted by Noop

LSU: Will hire from within because I think Nick Saban is going to either Miami or the Browns.

You do realize that Saban has already turned down at least 2 NFL jobs he could have had while at LSU, and turned down interviews for 2 other NFL jobs he had a good chance at?

I think Cleveland, not Miami, is one job that Saban actually covets, but there is no way a guy with Saban's controlling personality goes to an NFL job with a powerful GM, which is supposedly what Cleveland wants in place. If Cleveland changes their mind on that, him going to Cleveland is certainly possible, but based on the fact that Saban has said no to the NFL already, saying he doesn't want to interupt his kids schooling, I wouldn't bet on him leaving. All bets are definately off in 3-4 years when his youngest graduates HS, however. Saban will want to challenge himself eventually.

All this aside, IF Saban leaves, and Butch Davis is around, Butch Davis is LSU's new head coach, no doubt about it. Butch Davis would have been hired by LSU in 1999(he actually interviewed with LSU while at Miami), but he told the interviewers that he wanted to try out the NFL before long. He really impressed LSU officials with his record and interview though. It is also a college job he really believes in(odd since he has no history at LSU), so much so that he expressed interest a few weeks ago while still employed by the Browns.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

Whats up with Ole Miss? They had one down year, and now they want to fire the man who basically built the program up? Does Ole Miss think they are in the same level of the Florida's and Michigan's of the world?

I don't think Michigan is a factor in the equation, nor Florida specifically ...
but Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi State, LSU, and Arkansas are. Those are the other members of the SEC West, all of whom have been to at least one SEC Championship game ... except Ole Miss. The only other SEC teams who haven't made it to a title game are Vandy, Kentucky, and South Carolina.
And that appears to be weighing heavily on folks in Oxford, as some of the articles put it: "It's essential that the football program be competitive. It's not now-and-then competitive. It's every-year competitive," chancellor Robert Khayat said. "We expect our program to be outstanding, to be moving forward. We will not accept ... mediocrity."

Still, with that in mind, I don't believe that was enough to get him fired. But refusing to make changes was: (Athletic Director Pete) Boone said Cutcliffe refused to submit a written plan to fix problems within the program, including improving a defense that consistently ranked among the Southeastern Conference's worst.

"He preferred the status quo, keeping things how they are," Boone said. "I didn't hear a plan to make that better."

Meanwhile, on that crazy idea I had earlier ... apparently somebody at ESPN is reading FOFC

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1936031
Speculation has already surfaced around Tommy West of Memphis, Dan Hawkins of Boise State and Tyrone Willingham, who was fired by Notre Dame on Tuesday.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

They had one down year, and now they want to fire the man who basically built the program up?

Actually, Ole Miss won 7 games in 97 & 98 (before Cutcliffe). And average a litte better than 6 wins a year in the 90's w/out Cutcliffe. Basically, their record under him was about 1 win/season better than they'd done recently without him.
And if you go back in their history far enough (say the 50's-60's) as some alumni & boosters do, this really isn't a bad program. Not great, but better than mediocre. And I think that might be the direction they felt the program was heading - toward mediocrity.

Not rippin' on you, just saying that there's a little more history there than I think you were giving credit for.

[Tigercat]

Two thoughts on Ole Miss fireing cutt:

1) It is pretty obsurd to fire a coach after one bad year at Ole Miss. Mississippi is great in talent for its population, but it doesn't have enough talent to support two teams that can compete for the SEC championship, especially with LSU, Auburn, and Alabama taking occational pickings from the state.

2) It may have been the right big picture decision, because last year was mostly an illusion. Without Eli over the past few years, Ole Miss is as bad as they were this year. Ole Miss has been outrecruited most years by Miss St, even when Jackie had Miss St in the gutter. No excuse for that, and its a big reason why Ole Miss doesn't have the talent this year. With a pretty good staff at MSU to compete against for recruits, Ole Miss better hope for a slight miracle if they ever want to get the talent needed to get to Atlanta. Their best hope may be hireing someone with a gimmic system that can temporarily make up for talent problems. Hal Mumme is waiting.

[SunDancer]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Actually, Ole Miss won 7 games in 97 & 98 (before Cutcliffe). And average a litte better than 6 wins a year in the 90's w/out Cutcliffe. Basically, their record under him was about 1 win/season better than they'd done recently without him.
And if you go back in their history far enough (say the 50's-60's) as some alumni & boosters do, this really isn't a bad program. Not great, but better than mediocre. And I think that might be the direction they felt the program was heading - toward mediocrity.

Not rippin' on you, just saying that there's a little more history there than I think you were giving credit for.

Ok...understandable. I know Ole Miss is a pretty decent and competitive program with the Mannings, ect. But can they compete with the bigger schools in terms of recruiting, facilities, education (well, the education may not matter for football players ).

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by Tigercat

Two thoughts on Ole Miss fireing cutt:

1) It is pretty obsurd to fire a coach after one bad year at Ole Miss. Mississippi is great in talent for its population, but it doesn't have enough talent to support two teams that can compete for the SEC championship, especially with LSU, Auburn, and Alabama taking occational pickings from the state.

I strongly disagree with this staetment. I think MS has enough talent to support 3 Division 1-A football teams. If you can keep all of the best talent in MS at one of the major univerisites, you will win a National Championship. However, schhols like Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, and even now Memphis raid the talent.

[Tigercat]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

I strongly disagree with this staetment. I think MS has enough talent to support 3 Division 1-A football teams. If you can keep all of the best talent in MS at one of the major univerisites, you will win a National Championship. However, schhols like Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, and even now Memphis raid the talent.

Thats my whole point, that will never happen. You have Ole Miss and Miss St. in the same conference with comparable support and facilities, how will one ever win enough recruits from the other to ever field a team like that? It would take a coach at the level that neither is capable of paying or attracting right now. Until then you also have competition from other SEC schools with the best instate talent. Then you even have competition from Memphis and Southern Miss. One team would be lucky enough to get enough talent to ever win the SEC. Even then it would take some good/unique coaching to go with it to win the SEC. Miss St. showed what one of those two universities can best hope to achieve when they played Tenn. in the SECCG. Now if Ole Miss or Miss St could start taking good recruits from neighboring states too.. As it is, they get the occational good recruit from neighboring states(Eli) and the rest are just leftovers from Alabama, Louisiana, ect.

I think Louisiana and Mississippi both have the best HS football talent in the nation for their population. If one school in either state is able to take 90% of the top state talent and take some top talent from neighboring states, that school can compete for championships. LSU is lucky because they are heads and shoulders above other schools in state that would compete for recruits. No school in Mississippi has that luxury. If Ole Miss is fireing Cutcliffe because of the lack of SEC or national championships, they better be prepared to pay/attract a coach thats worth the top tier salaries. (2.5 million)

[GoldenEagle]

Another thing is getting players through the clearing house. MS JUCO is stacked with talented D1 prospects but they can not make the grades. Pearl River CC won the national champioship in a blow out. The schools are also limited to eight out of state players so must of the players come from MS.

[tucker342]

ahhh it feels good to not have to worry about Kirk Ferentz leaving Iowa for the first time since 2002

[Sharpieman]

Do we all agree here that Notre Dame is really stupid for getting rid of Willingham?

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Sharpieman

Do we all agree here that Notre Dame is really stupid for getting rid of Willingham?

I think ND was stupid for thinking Ty was going to have them as BCS contenders within 3 years

[Sharpieman]

Well ND was stupid for thinking ANY coach that they hired would be BCS contenders within 3 years. Quinn was working his way into Ty's system and I think ND should have let him coach a year or two more. Its just sad that African American coaches are always on such a short leash when it comes to contracts.

[scooper]

Originally Posted by Sharpieman

Well ND was stupid for thinking ANY coach that they hired would be BCS contenders within 3 years. Quinn was working his way into Ty's system and I think ND should have let him coach a year or two more. Its just sad that African American coaches are always on such a short leash when it comes to contracts.

It had nothing to do with his color. That is an absurd statement. If it were a racist decision, why would they have hired him in the first place? If anything comments like this and from the Wilbons of the world may hurt the future hiring of African American coaches. In this day and age of college football, right or wrong, programs want to be able to make changes. If there is a risk of a media backlash, it may cause some reluctance to hire an AA coach. Which is sad, I think because there are some good candidates out there.

Speaking of ND, there is some speculation that one of the reasons TW was let go was similar to the Cutcliffe situation and his unwillingness to make staff changes. In fact, he was approached about it at the end of the 2003 season and he said no.

[Noop]

I think Notre Dame was classless with their decision to fire Ty... I don't agree with it at all no matter if he didn't want to fire his staff or not. They simply didn't have the talent this year to be good... bad choice it can't be spinned any other way bad choice.

[scooper]

Originally Posted by Noop

I think Notre Dame was classless with their decision to fire Ty... I don't agree with it at all no matter if he didn't want to fire his staff or not. They simply didn't have the talent this year to be good... bad choice it can't be spinned any other way bad choice.

Notre Dame has more consensus top 25 starters than USC, Tennessee and Michigan. * Phil Steele

Only one Notre Dame recruiting class was ranked below consensus #7. That is Ty's latest class.*Phil Steele Notre Dame has 15 Parade and USA Today first or second team All-Americans, including linebacker, wide receiver, defensive back, and every position along the offensive and defensive lines.



ND/USC starters and how they were ranked at their position by a composite of the top 6 recruiting services leaving high school or JC.

OFFENSE

ND - SC
QB Quinn (12) - Leinart (9),
BACKS Walker (13)/Grant (25)/P-Neal (36) - White (7)/Bush (5)/Webb (253)
WR Stovall (4)/McKnight (9)/Holiday (8)/Samardzija (22) - Smith (3)/Buchanan (23)/McFay (76)/Jarrett (4)
TE Fasano (8) - Holmes (5)
OL Sullivan (3)/LeVoir (4)/Morton (14)/Harris (18)/Stevenson (19) - Lutui (4)/Matua (12)/Baker (15)/Kalil (34)/Drake (113)

DEFENSE DL Abiamiri (1)/Pauly (4)/Landri (5)/Tuck (16) - Cody (1)/Jackson (6)/Patterson (140)/Rucker (Unranked)
LB Goolsby (4)/Curry (25)/Hoyte (29) - Grootegood (3)/Santz (23)/Tatupu (Unranked)
CB Campbell (18)/Ellick (Unranked)/Jackson (69) - Wyatt (25)/Nunn (165)
S Zbikowski (9)/Burrell (21) - Bing (4)/Leach (29)

[scooper]

Note: the Phil Steele rankings quoted above are not rankings by him but his composite rankings from the other recruiting sources.

I realize recruiting is a hit and miss prospect, but to say ND doesn't have talent is an out and out myth. They certainly have more than the likes of Boston College, Pittsburg and BYU. One might even argue Purdue though I'll admit that's a tough call.

And if you think it's just about players adjusting to the system, you probably didn't watch the majority of their games and get a feel for the gameplanning and play calling. There's a reason he was asked to make staff changes.

Also, I challenge anyone to cite one instance where you witnessed TY on a sideling coaching a player during a game. He doesn't.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Ty got fired because of Bob Stoops.

Throw in Pete Carroll and Nick Saban as well...

[scooper]

Ack, I also realized I forgot to take the USC starters out of my above list. This was taken from a post following the SC game that compared the talent being brought in.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by scooper

Ack, I also realized I forgot to take the USC starters out of my above list. This was taken from a post following the SC game that compared the talent being brought in.

FWIW, I thought leaving them in illustrated your point about as well as anything could have.

[scooper]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

FWIW, I thought leaving them in illustrated your point about as well as anything could have.

I think so too, I just worry too many names and numbers make it confusing.

The point is, despite what the ESPN pundits say, the cupboard is not bare at Notre Dame, though all indications were Ty's staff was not doing a nice job of keeping it stocked, especially on the lines.

[Noop]

I am sorry but I can name the QB for Notre Dame the rest one huge blank... oh and that safety Zebo...something

[MacroGuru]

It's going to be crazy here in Utah for the next few weeks. With ND stating they will have someone hired in two weeks...

Question is, does Urban leave before the bowl to ND....I think it will happen...

The other question, and it has been tossed around is offering Norm Chow a ton of money (I have heard that thanks to the U getting into a bowl game, they will have extra cash to toss). The admin that shunned him 4 years ago is no longer there.

Just a lot of speculation flying right now.

[scooper]

Originally Posted by Noop

I am sorry but I can name the QB for Notre Dame the rest one huge blank... oh and that safety Zebo...something

Mabye that says something about the prior staff, that all of those highly regarded players coming out of high school were never developed into known players.

And you don't have to apologize. For the first time in a long time, I can't name more than a handful of FSU players. Maybe that's because a. I haven't watched much of them this year, or b. they've kept their names off the police blotter for a change.

[scooper]

Originally Posted by indoorsoccersim

It's going to be crazy here in Utah for the next few weeks. With ND stating they will have someone hired in two weeks...

Question is, does Urban leave before the bowl to ND....I think it will happen...

The other question, and it has been tossed around is offering Norm Chow a ton of money (I have heard that thanks to the U getting into a bowl game, they will have extra cash to toss). The admin that shunned him 4 years ago is no longer there.

Just a lot of speculation flying right now.

I've read the Chow to Utah speculation as well. That would be a great fit for him. It would get him back to the state of Utah, he would inherit players that can run his system, it is a program on a very quick rise and it will provide him a great opportunity to stick it to BYU after they shunned him when Lavell Edwards retired.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by scooper

I've read the Chow to Utah speculation as well. That would be a great fit for him. It would get him back to the state of Utah, he would inherit players that can run his system, it is a program on a very quick rise and it will provide him a great opportunity to stick it to BYU after they shunned him when Lavell Edwards retired.

I would love to see it.

I just look at a the last 4 years, and see what he did at NC State and USC, and you know, if we get the talent, his system with Bronco's defense would be deadly.

[HornedFrog Purple]

I just wonder if Urban Meyer can recruit, scout and win with his own players not someone elses. There is little evidence that he can as yet.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by HornedFrog Purple

I just wonder if Urban Meyer can recruit, scout and win with his own players not someone elses. There is little evidence that he can as yet.

Well, it won't be easy if he does go to Notre Dame. The admissions department hasn't been too accomodating of recruits that are academic risks. Even Lou Holtz's teams got mediocre once they stopped admitting prop 48 athletes...

[GoldenEagle]

Ole Miss is going to have to dig deep to find a coach. I do not see Petrino going there. Tommy West was on the local radio and he said if anyone called he would listen but before he could finish that breath he was talking about the great recuriitng class Memphis was going to have. I do not see Ole Miss hire an African American head coach. Ron Zook would be a poor choice, he could not even win at Florida and I do not see Butch Davis going there.

The AD said he wanted someone with head coaching experience. Unless they are willing to shell out some big time $$$ I do not see it happening.

[scooper]

Originally Posted by HornedFrog Purple

I just wonder if Urban Meyer can recruit, scout and win with his own players not someone elses. There is little evidence that he can as yet.

He was one of the best recruiters on the staff when he was an assistant at Notre Dame. So he's coached well and he's recruited well. We'll see how it looks when you put them together.

By the way, it's looking more and more like Urban's a slam dunk and could be as soon tomorrow. Suposedly, he's on campus right now.

[scooper]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

Well, it won't be easy if he does go to Notre Dame. The admissions department hasn't been too accomodating of recruits that are academic risks. Even Lou Holtz's teams got mediocre once they stopped admitting prop 48 athletes...

I don't know if he's a great source, but Tom Lemming said 90% of his top 100 could get into Notre Dame. I don't think it's a matter of can they get in, but more will they come.

[miami_fan]

Gotta a question for you. Would it be wrong to make the leap that Meyer or whomever is the coach has three years to be BCS worthy and if they are not, the coach should be fired?

Edited for spelling

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Gotta a question for you. Would it be wrong to make the leap that Meyer or whomever is the coach has three years to be BCS worthy and if they are not, the coahc should be fired?

Meyer will get more than 3 years...he will be a golden boy up there...

[SunDancer]

[b]Heres the list of the coaching openings/fires:
Brigham Young Cougars Gary Crowton
East Carolina Pirates John Thompson
Florida Gators Ron Zook
Illinois Fighting Illini Ron Turner
Indiana Hoosiers Gerry DiNardo
Mississippi Rebels David Cutcliffe
New Mexico State Aggies Tony Samuel
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Ty Willingham
Ohio Bobcats Brian Knorr
San Jose State Fitz Hill
South Carolina Gamecocks Lou Holtz Hired: Steve Spurrier
Stanford Cardinal Buddy Teevens
UNLV Rebels John Robinson
Utah State Aggies Mick Dennehy
Washington Huskies Keith Gilbertson
Western Michigan Broncos Gary Darnell


Question, who is the Big East sending to the BCS? W. Virginia is playing in the Gator, and BC is in the Continential Tire Bowl.

[SackAttack]

I think it's still up in the air, it's gonna be either Syracuse or Pittsburgh.

[Tigercat]

Stanford was lucky to get as many wins out of Buddy Teevans as they did. He had been and still was a horrible head coach.

Dinardo can still be a good head coach for someone if he hires good coordinators and assistants. Having subpar coordinators and assistants has always been his greatest downfall, hes a likeable guy overall as well as a good organizer and recruiter.

[Wolfpack]

Big East comes down to Pittsburgh-USF this weekend. The Big East has a schizo tiebreak scheme in that the four teams tied at 4-2 are weeded out by head-to-head among themselves, which relegates BC and WVU because they both went 1-2 among the four teams, while Syracuse and Pitt went 2-1. Naturally, you'd think it should go to head-to-head between Pittsburgh and Syracuse, in which case Syracuse should get the nod because they beat Pittsburgh 38-31. Nope, not the case. That is irrelevant at the moment, since Pittsburgh has the higher BCS ranking (23) (I'm guessing the order of tiebreak is precisely for this sort of embarrassing situation). Pittsburgh would clinch the bid if they win this weekend against USF, since it should keep them in the BCS rankings, though barely. However, if Pittsburgh loses, they'd likely drop out of the Top 25 in both polls (though probably still garnering some votes) and therefore probably slip out of the BCS rankings. At this point, I think the head-to-head would come into play and Syracuse would get the BCS bid at the sterling mark of 6-5, including such great efforts in defeat as 51-0 to Purdue, 31-10 to UVa, 27-6 to WVU, and last, but certainly not least, 34-24 to Temple.