1621

Crazy day. I’m hearing that Gus Malzahn will accept the Vandy job tomorrow. And that Will Muschamp is asking Kirby Smart to go to Gainesville with him. Also, seems that Texas recruits are being told that Randy Shannon will be the new DC in Austin.

1622

Not good times for Texas fans. I’ll leave it at that.

1623

Why Gus Malzahn would come to Vandy when there are better teams who’d snap him up is a mystery. I’m a little surprised he wasn’t up for the Florida job.

Either way, I hate to see him leaving Auburn.

1624

$3M at place with low expectations sounds like a good job to me.

1625

Yeah, it wasn’t that long ago that Gus was a high school coach. As is, he’s still unproven as a head coach. Going to Vanderbilt for that much money seems like a good decision in that he’ll get a chance to learn on the job at a place where seven to eight wins and bowl game is quite the improvement. It remains to be seen whether he can actually get those seven to eight wins and a bowl game but Vanderbilt has shown great patience before and, after signing him to $3M, what else are they going to do?

Gus Malzahn could end up going the way of the Spurrier, where he makes a quick stop at a stepping stone to work on his chops on the way to something much larger.

Edit: Wanted to add that all of this is just conjecture because Malzahn hasn’t actually come out and taken the job yet; just that I’ve heard that he will.

1626

WaPo reports that he’s already accepted it.

I don’t know how low expectations are at Vandy right now. They just canned a guy after just one season for not doing any better than his predecessor. Maybe Malzahn negotiated more time to turn the team around. At the very least, recruiting may improve with him given what he’s done at Auburn.

1627

(Disregarding that Spurrier coached in the USFL) Vanderbilt could be Malzahn’s Duke.

1628

This has been verified false. That said, my understanding is that he is Mack’s top target, that he has a prior relationship (a good one) with Mack, and that he has withdrawn from consideration for the Kentucky job.

1629

It’s true; Malzahn to Vandy.

Also, Al Golden to Miami.

1630

Be still, my heart.

1631

Incidentally, if Texas’ new DC is Randy Shannon, I will be very, very happy.

All kinds of crazy rumors going about the OC position. Some are saying that Major will head to Florida because he wasn’t going to get promoted into a play-calling co-OC position. Others are saying that that won’t happen because Urban is retaining ultimate say in coach hiring and firing decisions. Still others are saying that Major’s just torn between the two. Most folks seem to think that Harsin’s the #1 candidate for the role, but there have been some crazy wild-ass rumors as well (e.g., Leach).

Fun times.

1632

What? The departing head coach gets to make decisions on coaching staff? That’s ridiculous.

1633

Anger! I hate losing Muschamp. I am sure Applewhite will choose Texas over Florida if he is offered the same job at both schools.

1634

The rumor is that while he’s leaving coaching, he’s moving into the AD somewhere.

He would. Trouble is, the rumor is that Muschamp’s gonna offer him a full OC title, and Mack’s only going to offer him co-OC with no play-calling duties.

1635

Auburn had better win it all now, because they’re cruising for a letdown year without their OC and Heisman quarterback. The windows close fast in college football.

1636

…although not normally as fast as they closed in Texas.

1637

That’s misleading. Caldwell was an interim coach who had to fill in because Johnson retired right before the season. He was never a HC hire.

Also, quit being mean to Vandy! We never did anything to you. Let us have this one fleeting moment of feeling like we might actually win something.

1638

I’m not being mean to Vandy. :) I have nothing but warm feelings for the entire institution, especially its fine medical staff. I’d love to see it have some success in football, but that balance between academics and athletics is tricky. Stanford and Northwestern are held up as examples of schools that have gotten it right, but no one can seem to think of more than two.

I’d also love to see an SEC school prove that athletes don’t have to be class-skipping dummies to win football games. (Yes, I’m including my beloved Auburn in that.)

EDIT: One other thing: History shows us that coaches who can’t win at Vandy don’t go on to bigger and better things. Their careers circle the drain. I hope for Malzahn’s sake that he can turn things around and at least do better than .500.

1639

I was just teasing. Actually, Vandy does well in other sports, but football requires too many players, including depth players. Vandy just can’t compete with the other schools in the SEC in football. But whenever someone says Vandy shouldn’t be in the conference, I point out that the other teams do fine. Plus, it gives the SEC some academic credibility, which is probably Vandy’s main purpose.

I actually grew up an Auburn fan and am still loyal to that team. But I went to Vandy, so I consider them my number one team, and Auburn a close second.

Now that I’ve moved to Ohio, I am trying to embrace OSU, but even though I like the program and its tradition, I just can’t seem to really care. I guess it’s hard to intentionally become a fan of something.

1640

Texas just made the job posting for a new DC (as they’re required to by state law) and among the requirements are:

• minimum 12 years experience coaching in college
• minimum 7 years experience coaching in the NFL

The way this “job posting” law goes is that you find the guy you want, you make the job posting, and then you hire him.

Now, go look at Florida DC Teryl Austin’s bio and tell me if you see any… similarities. :)