Zach Manoogian
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Who might join Randy Esdall and Dan McCarney on the chopping block?
Zach Manoogian via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Not a good week for college football head coaches. Who is next?
Week six was not kind to college football coaches. Sure, Charlie Strong got to wear his gold cowboy hat and put off unemployment for the time being, but both Maryland and North Texas finally decided to pull plug on their head coaches, the later after losing by nearly 60 points to an FCS program.
With half of the college season in the books, we may be seeing a few other coaches get axed over the next few weeks. The blind optimism of August is giving way to the grim realities of October, after all.
Let's welcome Randy Edsall and Dan McCarney to the Tim Beckman Unemployment Club
Randy Edsall, Maryland
Record this year:2-4
Record at Maryland: 22-33
Possible replacements: Al Golden, Chip Kelly, Justin Fuente, Matt Rhule, Dino Babers, Frank Reich
The rumors were true and Saturday's 49-21 loss at Ohio State marked the end of the Randy Edsall era at Maryland. Truthfully, the Edsall hire never quite made sense. He was a coach who had done a nice job building off of what Skip Holtz started at UConn, but never appeared to have that high of a ceiling.
The finances of all this is where it gets messy, given that Maryland isn't swimming in cash.There's little doubt that Maryland will want to make a splash with this hire, but significant doubt it has the resources available to pay enough to make that happen.
The Under Armor connection helps, but can they pony up enough cash to lure a top name?
Dan McCarney, North Texas
Record this year: 0-5
Record at North Texas: 22-32
Possible replacements: Sonny Cumbie, Major Applewhite, Manny Diaz, Eric Morris
You don't get your ass-kicked 66-7 by a FCS school and live to tell about it. Not even at North Texas. Thus, Dan McCarney was relieved of his head coaching duties late Saturday. A rare miss from the Urban Meyer coaching tree.
This is probably never going to be an easy place to win. Texas high school football is still the best in the country, but the Mean Green have to make due with Texas, A&M's, and all too often SMU's and Rice's leftover recruits.
That being said, there are far worse jobs out there and someone will jump to take this opportunity. It's more of a question of how high North Texas will attempt to reach in their search.
Steve Sarkisian, USC
record this year: 3-2
record at USC: 12-6
possible replacements: Kyle Whittingham, Gary Patterson, Ed Orgeron, Tom Herman
The "Sark after dark" situation has turned from embarrassing and a little funny to tragic and sad. There's a person who needs some real help here, and let's hope he gets it.
But if USC wants to get serious about fixing this thing and save face a little bit - then maybe it's time to talk about Pat Haden. Haden has enjoyed near royalty status at USC as athletic director, but the embarrassing moments keep showing up under his watch.
And here's another suggestion - move on from the Pete Carroll tree. It was a great run for the Trojans, but it doesn't look like the magic can be replicated.
USC is still USC. This is a premier job. Drive a dump truck of money to Kyle Whittingham's house and refuse to leave until he comes with you. Problem solved.
George O'Leary, UCF
Record this year: 0-6
Record at UCF: 81-66
Possible replacements: Brent Key, DJ Durkin, Doug Meachum, Brent Venables
This one seems inevitable, but UCF seems content to let O'Leary finish the season out and he's probably earned that.
Prospects of O'Leary continuing on as athletic director seem just as grim as the University begins to embark on a national search to fill the position. Reports are O'Leary will step down as AD today.
UCF is a pretty good non-Power five job. You've got a talent-base to recruit, newer facilities, and some recent success/name recognition. It's the exact type of job that coaching talent can use on the upswing of their career.
Key is O'Leary's preferred replacement, but with team performance so bad in 2015, it might not matter.
Al Golden, Miami
Record this year: 3-2
Record at Miami: 31-24
Possible replacements: Ed Orgeron, Butch Davis, Dan Mullen, Bob Stoops, Mark Hudspeth
So close, but so far. The Canes nearly pulled the upset against Florida State, but instead it counts as another disappointing close call for Al Golden.
Miami, in their glory days, overachieved. That hasn't been the case recently and memories of those championship years are fading fast. This is certainly a top 20 job in the country, but it is not without its flaws. You have an amazing talent-base to pull from, amazing brand appeal, but then you've have facilities that don't stack up to some elite high schools in this country, and a stadium miles and miles away.
In other words, it's not like the Canes can plug in anyone and start competing for national titles immediately.
However, when/if the Canes do make a change - has there ever been a more perfect match than Ed Orgeron? Can we please make this happen?
Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Record this year: 2-3*
Record at Rutgers: 25-19*
Possible replacements: Greg Schiano, Matt Rhule, Brady Hoke, Randy Edsall
*Counts games for which he was suspended and did not actually coach
Flood deserves as much of the blame for Saturday's loss as Chris Laviano and Norries Wilson, even if he wasn't on the sideline. Rutgers, like their B1G partner in crime Maryland, is a complete mess right now. Look for the Scarlett Knights to clean house and try to start over after the season, but given that this is Rutgers, they'll probably find a way to screw it up.
Jim Harbaugh, TUN
Record this year: 5-1
Record at TUN: 5-1
Possible replacements: John Harbaugh, Wayne Fontes, Jim Caldwell
Only ten second half points? No passing touchdowns? Can't see how many more of those kind of performances are going to be tolerated in Ann Arbor.
Continue reading...
Zach Manoogian via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Not a good week for college football head coaches. Who is next?
Week six was not kind to college football coaches. Sure, Charlie Strong got to wear his gold cowboy hat and put off unemployment for the time being, but both Maryland and North Texas finally decided to pull plug on their head coaches, the later after losing by nearly 60 points to an FCS program.
With half of the college season in the books, we may be seeing a few other coaches get axed over the next few weeks. The blind optimism of August is giving way to the grim realities of October, after all.
Let's welcome Randy Edsall and Dan McCarney to the Tim Beckman Unemployment Club
Randy Edsall, Maryland
Record this year:2-4
Record at Maryland: 22-33
Possible replacements: Al Golden, Chip Kelly, Justin Fuente, Matt Rhule, Dino Babers, Frank Reich
The rumors were true and Saturday's 49-21 loss at Ohio State marked the end of the Randy Edsall era at Maryland. Truthfully, the Edsall hire never quite made sense. He was a coach who had done a nice job building off of what Skip Holtz started at UConn, but never appeared to have that high of a ceiling.
The finances of all this is where it gets messy, given that Maryland isn't swimming in cash.There's little doubt that Maryland will want to make a splash with this hire, but significant doubt it has the resources available to pay enough to make that happen.
The Under Armor connection helps, but can they pony up enough cash to lure a top name?
Dan McCarney, North Texas
Record this year: 0-5
Record at North Texas: 22-32
Possible replacements: Sonny Cumbie, Major Applewhite, Manny Diaz, Eric Morris
You don't get your ass-kicked 66-7 by a FCS school and live to tell about it. Not even at North Texas. Thus, Dan McCarney was relieved of his head coaching duties late Saturday. A rare miss from the Urban Meyer coaching tree.
This is probably never going to be an easy place to win. Texas high school football is still the best in the country, but the Mean Green have to make due with Texas, A&M's, and all too often SMU's and Rice's leftover recruits.
That being said, there are far worse jobs out there and someone will jump to take this opportunity. It's more of a question of how high North Texas will attempt to reach in their search.
Steve Sarkisian, USC
record this year: 3-2
record at USC: 12-6
possible replacements: Kyle Whittingham, Gary Patterson, Ed Orgeron, Tom Herman
The "Sark after dark" situation has turned from embarrassing and a little funny to tragic and sad. There's a person who needs some real help here, and let's hope he gets it.
But if USC wants to get serious about fixing this thing and save face a little bit - then maybe it's time to talk about Pat Haden. Haden has enjoyed near royalty status at USC as athletic director, but the embarrassing moments keep showing up under his watch.
And here's another suggestion - move on from the Pete Carroll tree. It was a great run for the Trojans, but it doesn't look like the magic can be replicated.
USC is still USC. This is a premier job. Drive a dump truck of money to Kyle Whittingham's house and refuse to leave until he comes with you. Problem solved.
George O'Leary, UCF
Record this year: 0-6
Record at UCF: 81-66
Possible replacements: Brent Key, DJ Durkin, Doug Meachum, Brent Venables
This one seems inevitable, but UCF seems content to let O'Leary finish the season out and he's probably earned that.
Prospects of O'Leary continuing on as athletic director seem just as grim as the University begins to embark on a national search to fill the position. Reports are O'Leary will step down as AD today.
UCF is a pretty good non-Power five job. You've got a talent-base to recruit, newer facilities, and some recent success/name recognition. It's the exact type of job that coaching talent can use on the upswing of their career.
Key is O'Leary's preferred replacement, but with team performance so bad in 2015, it might not matter.
Al Golden, Miami
Record this year: 3-2
Record at Miami: 31-24
Possible replacements: Ed Orgeron, Butch Davis, Dan Mullen, Bob Stoops, Mark Hudspeth
So close, but so far. The Canes nearly pulled the upset against Florida State, but instead it counts as another disappointing close call for Al Golden.
Miami, in their glory days, overachieved. That hasn't been the case recently and memories of those championship years are fading fast. This is certainly a top 20 job in the country, but it is not without its flaws. You have an amazing talent-base to pull from, amazing brand appeal, but then you've have facilities that don't stack up to some elite high schools in this country, and a stadium miles and miles away.
In other words, it's not like the Canes can plug in anyone and start competing for national titles immediately.
However, when/if the Canes do make a change - has there ever been a more perfect match than Ed Orgeron? Can we please make this happen?
Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Record this year: 2-3*
Record at Rutgers: 25-19*
Possible replacements: Greg Schiano, Matt Rhule, Brady Hoke, Randy Edsall
*Counts games for which he was suspended and did not actually coach
Flood deserves as much of the blame for Saturday's loss as Chris Laviano and Norries Wilson, even if he wasn't on the sideline. Rutgers, like their B1G partner in crime Maryland, is a complete mess right now. Look for the Scarlett Knights to clean house and try to start over after the season, but given that this is Rutgers, they'll probably find a way to screw it up.
Jim Harbaugh, TUN
Record this year: 5-1
Record at TUN: 5-1
Possible replacements: John Harbaugh, Wayne Fontes, Jim Caldwell
Only ten second half points? No passing touchdowns? Can't see how many more of those kind of performances are going to be tolerated in Ann Arbor.
Continue reading...