2013 College Football coaching carousel

I honestly can't remember seeing a college coach shit the bed so thoroughly. That was Andy Reid-esque.

 

My paper once did our NFL coach wrong by listing the replacement options, complete with breakout boxes and mug shots, while the coach still had his job: "If Coach gets fired anytime soon, these five people have said they would like his job." All we were missing was photos of vultures circling. I thought it was horrible.

 

Yeah, that seems overboard. The only exception might, emphasis on might... would be if they were likely to be fired mid-season. Even then, probably not since most teams only hire an interim coach at that point...

 

But once a coach is fired, the first question most readers have is "Who could the replacement be?" and that absolutely has to be addressed with the firing news, even if it's just an educated guess.

I always found it very helpful as a beat writer because it was not uncommon to have coaches call and say, "I am not a candidate, but this guy is..." or "How come I wasn't listed as a candidate?" Granted, that second one isn't quite as common, but I did get it a few times.

 

I agree, the beat writer has to be ready to go. But you shouldn't help shove the coach out the door. My paper dressed it up as a huge design package.

 

No idea how reliable, but heard some rumors that Gary Pinkel is going to resign at Missouri.

Several reasons given, including him being dead-set against the SEC move from the start and it being a pretty long process to get the talent level there where it needs to be to compete in that conference. Plus a lot of personal stuff going on, with his divorce, his DUI arrest (apparently with his 20-something waitress girlfriend in the car with him at the time), and him having to pay a ton of alimony, about $23,000 a month I believe, as long as he's the coach at Missouri. Some of the rumors say the AD is fine with him stepping down, as there may be more dirt on Pinkel and the last thing they need there as they try to raise enough money to be on a level playing field in the SEC is a football version of Quin Snyder.

I don't know how much is smoke and if there is any fire, but could be interesting to watch.

 

Agreed. I think there are some exceptions, like when it's a foregone conclusion that a coach is gone (Auburn), and I know there were a few stories about Petrino before Chizik was actually canned. I don't have a problem with any of that.

 

i.e. Bill O'Brien.

 

If true, they need to make a huge hire. Is that realistic? Probably not...

 

Not sure I would go that far, but if Calhoun or someone else takes over and doesn't lose every non-conference game and and wins two Pac-12 games next season, they will look like a hero. It's very realistic to think that a decent coach could win 4-5 games next season.

 

You leave me scratching my head sometimes, Mr. Chef2. How are these things similar? And no, Penn State fans would not have been fine with four wins.

 

I think this season they would have been fine with four wins. The fact that he won eight means he should be national coach of the year...