Petrino - not riding solo (and fired at Louisville)

Sports maybe. Business I'm not so sure. Not that the skill sets are equivalent. But, I kind of doubt a VP of Marketing caught with the wrong trim/wrong shaft gets the same kind of pass that leads to an equivalent VP position elsewhere. If we need a real life example to follow in that regard, Brian Dunn from Best Buy would be a textbook example.

 

Maybe not a VP of Marketing. But say a guy is making 70 percent of your sales. He'll get another chance if somebody thinks he can still make sales. Football coaches get hired if they can win games. Michael Irvin doesn't get cut because he catches touchdowns. Lying, cheating politicians get reelected if the economy is good.

 

What makes Bret Bielema's wife crazy?

 

What makes Gus Malzahn's wife crazy, for that matter? Because she sounds like someone you'd enjoy drinking wine with? The Stepford wife box we demand these ladies fit into is absurd.

Also, remember when Houston Nutt and his staff mocked and undermined Malzahn and pissed away one of the most talented backfields in SEC history? Good times.

 

Given Mustain's post Arkansas career, No. 3 quarterback at USC, it appears he was way more system and not talent.

And comparing recruiting classes, it isn't terribly hard to see why Auburn is more successful. The 2010 class, this year's seniors, Auburn was ranked fourth. Arkansas was 49th. The next class, with Arkansas coming off a Sugar Bowl appearance, Arkansas and Petrino had a class at No. 24 and Auburn was 7th. The last four years, Auburn has been in the top 10 every year, while Arkansas's best was 24th.

Auburn also, of course, won a national championship in that mix.

2013
Auburn 8
Arkansas 27

2012
Auburn 10
Arkansas 34

2011
Auburn 7
Arkansas 24

2010
Auburn 4
Arkansas 49

2009
Arkansas 16
Auburn 19

 

Arkansas is a tough place to be. They have the money and the facilities to compete with almost anybody, but I'm guessing it's not the easiest place to recruit to, especially the kids in Florida and Georgia where there is a ton of talent, but Arkansas seems pretty far away. Even in the southern states that are closer to Arkansas, it's easy to see why they might favor LSU, Auburn, Alabama or even the Mississippi schools.

The state of Arkansas only had 15 high school kids sign with Division I schools. By comparison, Louisiana had 81, Georgia had 184, Mississippi had 34. Missouri had 35, Florida had 332, Texas had 346, Tennessee had 40, Alabama had 83, South Carolina had 24 and Kentucky had 17. I'm guessing it's easier for South Carolina to recruit a kid from Florida or Georgia than it is for Arkansas.

I would say Arkansas is probably one of the toughest football coaching jobs in the country, at least for a school that doesn't have money issues.

 

Malzahn's wife got the tag thanks to a heavily-edited tape that a Bama booster released. Watch the whole thing and she comes across a bit ditzy, but not full-on crazy.

 

Possibl

I think those passed over could bring what I call a "reverse quid pro quo" hostile work environment claim -- he never asked me to sleep with him to get the job, but the only reason a less qualified person got the job was that she was sleeping with him. Those are tough claims to win, but not impossible. Certainly messy.

As to firing him, if they really disciplined him (took away a significant amount of money and maybe forbid him from having a say in hiring all but direct reports), they could have protected themselves from future suits alleging that they were soft on this type of harassment.

 

Yes, though I agree with H.L. Mencken, I didn't have to ask why people think of Gus Malzahn's wife as crazy. But Bret Bielema's wife just seems to support her husband enthusiastically. We all should be so lucky.

 

The former Vegas "model" who married a guy 20 years older than her? Uh huh, yeah, she's just down-home fun. Donna Reed of the 21st century.

 

Mrs. Bielema touched off a Twitter crazy after a midnight tweet when Arizona State beat Wisconsin.

Find another BCS wife that was able to bring that level of hatred with a five-character tweet.

 

And Terry's Saban's Carmella Soprano act is much more refreshing?

I'm not really familiar with Bilemma's spouse, but Kristi Malzahn seemed like the one SEC wife actually willing to speak a little truth in that video. This suggestion her behavior made her seem "crazy" is a little absurd, and frankly the idea that it scared off major programs from hiring Malzahn seems completely overblown. Any "major" program that shied away from a coach like Malzahn because of concerns over his wife deserves its silly fate as an SEC also-ran.