College FB coaching openings

And now, Chizik has his second staff member. Gus Malzahn, offensive coordinator at Tulsa, will have the same role at Auburn.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3796147

 

DeWayne Walker gets on at New Mexico State, bringing the number of black coaches to seven and leaving the number of black coaches with good jobs at one.

Steve Sarkisian, meanwhile, gets Washington. Yeah, the BCA has no point about white coaches getting better gigs faster than those of a darker skin tone.

 

As one who figured Sarkisian would be a top candidate for the UW gig, I was surprised how he came off in interviews on TV. He doesn't seem to be the most dynamic individual, he did promise that he would open practices to boosters and former players (a practice Willingham stopped that really helped grease the skids), but I don't see him talking a recruit into going to UW that was planning to go somewhere else.

 

Looks like Terry Bowden is back in the game. At the Division II level. Nice.

http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20081231/NEWS/812310292?Title=Bowden_to_become_UNA_s_head_football_coach

 

Wow. Interesting.

 

Yeah, UDub proved how racist they are. Like they would ever hire a black coach who was a retread that flamed out at another BCS school.

 

Vol fanboy here is thrilled by the staff Lane Kiffin has put together; he promised to bring a staff that would be right at home in the NFL, and he's certainly followed through with his promise:

DC: Monte Kiffin. 'nuff said.
DL Coach and Head Recruiter: The ragin' cajun Ed Orgeron, known far and wide as the best recruiter in the country.
OC: Jim Chaney, Rams TE coach and former Purdue OC, where he coached Drew Brees and coached the Big Ten's No. 1 passing offense 5 times.
QB Coach: David Reaves, known for locking down SC and NC for Steve Spurrier -- two states that helped make UT a powerhouse under Fulmer in the past.

Hard to argue that this won't be the top staff in the SEC.

 

Where did Walker flame out at, exactly? Or am I missing something?

 

Ignore me ... I get it now.



That said, UW is not the issue as much as the culture of the game. Young white guys seem to be hot commodities while black guys of the same age would never get a sniff. Not one to cry racism -- there are greater battles than college football coaching -- but Sarkisian's first coaching job as compared to Walker's is a pretty telling comparison.

And let's not get started on Kiffin.

 

Not really. Sarkisian has been an assistant coach for a team that has dominated the Pac10 this decade. Walker coached at UCLA. The easiest way to get a good HC job is to be from a program that has had recent success.* That's why Turner Gill's name is popping up right now. If Buffalo is 2-10 next year, the interviews will dry up pretty quickly.

*This statement does not apply to Auburn since logic does not apply at Auburn.

 

Walker was with Carroll and left for an NFL job, and probably could be on the staff now (Nick Holt or DeWayne Walker, anyone?). But I get your point and there's a lot to it no matter how shallow the thinking is ... that Sarkisian and Kiffin weren't simply Carroll's monkey boys.

And again, this is not a pet cause of mine, it just stuns me at how many bad jobs these guys are getting. Once you become a guy who got fired -- and many, many of these are in man-eater jobs -- you have a hard time getting back on the radar.

 

Everyone keeps bringing up Charlie Strong as why the NCAA process is racist.
Bright, talented black DC. Super huge resume, and by all appearances he is getting passed over for head coaching gigs.
But look at like this. DeWayne Walker was hired to be the head coach at New Mexico State. His base pay is $375,000 and he gets the super huge bonus of getting to live in Las Cruces, New Mexico along with a TV show, radio show and constant time demands.
Strong's base pay is $300,000. By getting in the title game, he makes another $75,000. matching Walker's pay, and if Florida wins, Strong makes another $15,000.
And he doesn't have the joy of the Las Cruces lifestyle or the media demands or the other things that go along with a head coaching job.
This leads me think two things:
• Strong is emulating the path of Mickey Andrews or Monte Kiffin, two notable career DC's, by his choice. Of course, Strong could leave for the UCF job tomorrow.
• He's waiting his turn for the right offer. Maybe Florida and understands that it would be career suicide just to take a head coaching job anywhere, just to have it on the resume.
What purpose does it serve to spend four or five years out of the spotlight at a New Mexico State? In terms of money, prestige and coverage, the DC's job at Florida is light years ahead of New Mexico State and just about all the other jobs that have been open with the exception of Washington, Auburn and Tennessee.
If Walker isn't crazy successful in three or four years, he'll get canned and its back to being an assistant coach again. Maybe Strong doesn't want to be a coaching vagabond.
He's been a coach for 27 years and 15 have been at Florida. Maybe he just wants to stay there and put his name in the hat for the head coaching job when Meyer jumps to another gig.