2020-21 CFB Coaching Carousel

Bielema is official.

Illinois hires Bielema to replace Smith as coach

 

It woulda been more than $22M to dump him last season. It would be a bit less this time around, maybe $17M-$18M. Still might be too much for USC, all things considered (Covid, diddling doctors, druggie admins).

The Trojans lost last night's game two years ago when they couldn't recruit Thibodeaux, and last night when they couldn't block Thibodeaux. He grew up down the street in South Central and went to high school 30 miles away in Westlake Village. VERY big miss for USC.

 

Vols might soon be joining the coaching search ranks if the burgeoning NCAA investigation somehow gets them out from under the $19M payout for firing Pruitt.

 

So they'd whack him for cause and hope he settles because he doesn't have the stomach for delay and deposition?

 

Bill Clark to interview for the Auburn job. He's attracted some head coaching interest previously, but the talks were done quietly behind closed doors. It had to come after playing for the conference championship three straight times at a program that was a perennial doormat before his hire, I guess. I've said for several years that I thought he would not go anywhere before coaching at least one season in our new stadium he helped design, but I've also said that when he left it would be for a team in the top half of a P5 conference, a team with a legit shot at a national championship, probably in the SEC. Auburn fits that bill, and has every resource he could ask for. They could triple his salary and it would still be at the bottom of the SEC. He might very well take the job if offered, and I could not blame the guy if he did. He's earned his shot at the big time, and AU is one of the two power teams in his home state. That chance does not come often.

That said, there are other factors that offset that take a bit. First, AU sacked Gus and went looking for a name coach to replace him. They've been rebuffed. Hiring a coach away from a local low G5 team won't sit well with the more delusional Auburn fans and boosters. I think he's a great fit there, he coaches tough defense and he's already wired in with the state's high school coaches, but a number of Auburn people won't think he's good enough for them. Clark has also seen both sides of support/non-support by a school's power brokers. He was knifed by UAB's board, even if they are all big boosters at Alabama. He's also been lifted up by having the big boosters, fans, and local businesses getting behind him. He's been in state his whole career, he's well aware of Auburn's history with regard to their head coaches and would have to be a bit cautious about dancing through a mine field.

I don't *think* he'll get hired there. I think that ultimately they won't have the courage to roll the dice on the guy and will go with someone "more proven at the P5 level". I could be wrong. I understand that good G5 coaches are going to attract attention by schools further up the food chain, and that it is basically a compliment that he has. He's going to leave sooner or later, and I wish the guy all the best if he does. I just hope that we get to keep him for a while longer.

Second link is re a P5 candidate.

Update on Auburn's coaching search

https://footballscoop.com/news/auburn-appears-to-add-another-candidate-in-head-coach-search/

 

Passing on guys like Bill Clark usually happens when schools hire guys like Kevin Steele. And they often regret it.

 

If Pruitt is out, and it's inevitable because as head coaches he's a solid defensive coordinator, I think Gus would actually be a good retread fit for Tennessee. They need a coach that can navigate through a tough schedule that includes annual matchups against Alabama, Georgia and Florida and can keep them competitive. Gus has his flaws, but Auburn usually had the toughest schedule in the SEC and he kept them competitive.

 

Bill Clark ain't got time for the BS

 

This makes no sense unless they told Clark that he wasn't going to get it and they let him say, "I didn't want to go to prom with her anyway!"

Given the pandemic, will schools like UAB even have football in 5 years? (Yes, I know they dropped it, came back under Clark and they're really, really good.)

 

It makes sense if you're happy. Clark makes about $1M/season. In FBS coaching world that's poverty, but in the real world that's a lot of fucking money. And he seems happy and he seems to love that school and their commitment to him. The Auburn job generally sucks because of the people around the program and he just might not want to be beholden to a such a group of entitled assholes. Would I take 4x the salary for a job that might make me miserable? Probably. But not everyone is like me.

 

AU says that Clark is "no longer a candidate" after his second interview, and I understand that he has told the team that he is staying at UAB. Clark makes around $1.6m with incentives. If I had to make a semi-informed guesstimate they tried to get him with money while telling him that his control was going to be limited. He's loyal to his staff to a fault (a bunch of us want a new OC but so far Clark has not budged) and my guess is that they wanted to keep Steele as DC, maybe let Clark bring a couple of guys but not control staffing. He's got a house in town and another on the lake, and his grandchildren are in Birmingham. A million and a half is a lot of money here. Everyone always wants more, but he's more than comfortable. He's also at a place that will be putting up a statue of the guy at some point in the not too terribly distant future. He is beloved here, and he's earned every bit of it.

I got this from a guy I tailgate with. He's not one of the half a dozen big money boosters, but he's far further inside than anyone else I know.

"Earlier I spoke with a VERY, VERY RELIABLE source regarding Auburn University's coaching search.

I was informed, Coach TRULY LOVES, ADORES, and plans to remain at our University. In fact he hopes this situation helps negotiations for a longer contract extension. As of yesterday (Sunday), Coach agreed to interview, however; made it clear his decision wasn't solely financially based, and that his family's input means the world and DEFINITELY plays a huge role in any and every situation.

The source said that the Clarks are invested in UAB, its players, future players, the city of Birmingham, UAB staff members, graduates, and all affiliated.

Yes, I'm totally aware things can and may change within a minute however per our discussion unless something changes it appears Coach wants to retain his impact, imprint, and image as the face of UAB football."


I would add something else that I *know* to be true. HCBC grew up a 'Bama fan. When he was head coach at Prattville High the Auburn coaches hated recruiting there, because they wasted their time and got nothing out of there. Throw in the history of coaching shenanigans at AU and that they may have misjudged his loyalty to his staff and they might have made it easy for him to turn down the job.

He also got a really good dose of mistreatment and lies from the Alabama Board of Trustees and the politics there, and I suspect that he's nowhere near as fond of UAT as he once was..

 

There is no way to judge the dynamic here from afar. When the UA BoT killed UAB Football, they absolutely kicked a hornet's nest. This town was seriously pissed. Even the bammers here were supportive, to the extent that there were former members of the BoT who gave money and support. UAB President Ray Watts wielded the knife, but he was their puppet. There is a UAB team now because we by god paid for one out of pocket. We raised $40m before the return was announced, and about $15m of that went to offset what it cost to abruptly shut down the program. (Yes, they really did make us finance the damage done when our football program was gutted.) Another $22m went to build a state of the art football building and practice facility.

UAB is still hamstrung by the UA Board of Trustees. The stadium that we move into next season was financed by the local convention center because UAB is not allowed to issue construction bonds for athletics. We can do pretty much anything we want to with regard to those facilities - as long as we pay to do it. Hell, no one pays cash for a house, they take out a mortgage, let alone paying cash money for a $22m building - but we did and continue to do so.

Unless there is a catastrophic failure at the G5/C-USA level, UAB will have a team going forward. The new stadium will sell more season tickets, as will playing for the league championship three straight years and winning two of them. This is a college football town, and it appreciates good football. We'll never be UAT (and don't want to be) but we can be self sustaining. I also think that UAB is very well positioned to move up the AAC, and that would be a big help in terms of TV contract and improved conference matchups.