The 2011 College Football Season

[None]

Watching Urban Meyer in a Scarlet and Grey tie.

He will coach start next season, but interim coach Luke Fickel will coach the Ohio State Bowl game.

I’m kind of torn. On one hand he’s a proven coach with Ohio roots whose name alone will get Ohio State a better recruiting class (and OSU has never been a slouch in that regard). However, I am not a big fan of the spread offense, which he is known for.

How awesome would it be if Corch Meyer did get to coach the bowl game? I believe TOSU is projected to the Gator Bowl, as is Florida.

It’s a remarkable turnaround, him healing up so quick-like.

[LockerK]

Jim Tressel was spotted at UAkron’s basketball game Saturday night, and reports are saying he’s on campus today to interview. I’m shocked. The big question is if we’ve got the money to spend on a big name coach like Tressel; with the new stadium that opened in 2009 I could see them willing to spend to bring attention to the program and boost revenues – the team has been so bad that the stadium is more or less empty on game days and I can see the interest in The Vest changing that.

[Sammich]

The possibility of a Show-cause order on Tressel could be another snag there.

[Greatatlantic]

I have to believe Tressel could get a better gig than Akron. Not to offend Locker, but Akron is in the bottom 5 of FBS schools. Yes, he has potential sanctions hanging over him, but his record as a coach means any program that recruits out of Ohio would be willing to take a chance on him.

[Bluto]

He could get plenty of better jobs, but he just might be the kind of guy that wants to stay local and build a program up. I’m skeptical though.

[Sarkus]

It doesn’t matter who fucla hires as long as Dan Guerrero is your AD.

Some reports say Guerrero was told to fire Neuheisel, so the real control he has may be up in the air.

Washington State just officially fired Wulff (scheduled news conference later today) and rumors are that they are very serious about Mike Leach. Makes me wonder if they can compete for a coach of that level. They do have more money then ever with the new Pac12 TV deals.

[LockerK]

I have to believe Tressel could get a better gig than Akron. Not to offend Locker, but Akron is in the bottom 5 of FBS schools. Yes, he has potential sanctions hanging over him, but his record as a coach means any program that recruits out of Ohio would be willing to take a chance on him.

Not offended in the slightest (I came here for the free Masters, not the football) and I agree with you completely. Have to believe that this is Akron trying to get some publicity and Tressel putting his name back out there. That said, if he does want to stay close to home to try and build up both the program and his reputation, Jim Tressel with show-cause penalties is still the best hire Akron could make.

[Woolen_Horde]

WSU can be a pretty solid program. Mike Price had a ton of success, enough that it got him the Alabama job (and imploded before he even started there). And Erickson did well enough at WSU to replace Jimmy Johnson at Miami. WSU produced a #1 and #2 overall pick in the draft in the past 20 years. (Yeah, the #2 was Ryan Leaf, but everyone thought he was a sure thing.) And they do have a lot more money, and a new AD who used to run Oregon’s athletic department during their rise.

I hear UCLA is gunning hard after Boise State’s Petersen. Number is something like $4 million a year.

[Sarkus]

WSU can be a pretty solid program. Mike Price had a ton of success, enough that it got him the Alabama job (and imploded before he even started there). And Erickson did well enough at WSU to replace Jimmy Johnson at Miami. WSU produced a #1 and #2 overall pick in the draft in the past 20 years. (Yeah, the #2 was Ryan Leaf, but everyone thought he was a sure thing.) And they do have a lot more money, and a new AD who used to run Oregon’s athletic department during their rise.

A “ton of success” at Washington State is relative. Price was 83-78 in 14 seasons with five bowl appearances. Its just that the expectations were so low that two Rose Bowls in five years were enough to make the it count as a “golden age” of football in Pullman. Erickson had one good season of his two, including only the second bowl appearance in nearly 50 years, and thats why he got the Miami opportunity, though it didn’t hurt that Erickson had ties to the then Miami AD.

That said, every Pac12 school now has a decent chance of being good with the right coach in place, including Washington State. So the expectations should be greater then Wulff’s 9-40 record the last few years. The question is whether they can really compete for proven D1 coaches now, as opposed to their traditional approach of hiring coordinators or offering the job to coaches looking to move up to a top D1 conference.

[Woolen_Horde]

ESPN guys tweeting WSU hired Leach. And Leach is confirmed by the Seattle Times on a plane to Pullman right now.

[triggercut]

I have to believe Tressel could get a better gig than Akron. Not to offend Locker, but Akron is in the bottom 5 of FBS schools. Yes, he has potential sanctions hanging over him, but his record as a coach means any program that recruits out of Ohio would be willing to take a chance on him.

See the post above yours regarding a show-cause order possibly being attached to Tressel. If he’s actually talking to Akron and it’s serious, it means that Tress pretty clearly expects to get slapped with a show-cause. A school like Akron might be willing to put up with the NCAA penalties involved to get a guy like Tressel, and Tressel might recognize them as his only chance to land an FBS head coaching gig until the show-cause expires.

[bluemax]

Some reports say Guerrero was told to fire Neuheisel, so the real control he has may be up in the air.

Washington State just officially fired Wulff (scheduled news conference later today) and rumors are that they are very serious about Mike Leach. Makes me wonder if they can compete for a coach of that level. They do have more money then ever with the new Pac12 TV deals.

I still predict that ucla will hire some boring retread who coached at/played at ucla previously. Just like all their other coaching hires.

They’re paying out almost $3million to Neuheisel and his assistants next year. Gotta wonder how much the UC system will really let them spend on a new coach.

I hear UCLA is gunning hard after Boise State’s Petersen. Number is something like $4 million a year.

Yeah I can’t see this happening. He’s not a big city guy, he’s turned down other similar gigs and I don’t think ucla can actually afford that.

[Woolen_Horde]

I still predict that ucla will hire some boring retread who coached at/played at ucla previously. Just like all their other coaching hires.

They’re paying out almost $3million to Neuheisel and his assistants next year. Gotta wonder how much the UC system will really let them spend on a new coach.

Yeah I can’t see this happening. He’s not a big city guy, he’s turned down other similar gigs and I don’t think ucla can actually afford that.

Considering the Pac-12 schools are flush with money from the richest TV deal in college sports, and considering that head coaching salaries come out of the athletic budget, it’s not unrealistic to offer that much. According to the news, WSU just made Leach just became the third highest-paid coach in the conference. Imagine what UCLA could do?

[Scuzz]

Radio pundits are saying Peterson, Sumlin or Belotti to UCLA. I think Peterson turned the job down when Neuheisal took it. What has changed since then?

[bluemax]

Considering the Pac-12 schools are flush with money from the richest TV deal in college sports, and considering that head coaching salaries come out of the athletic budget, it’s not unrealistic to offer that much. According to the news, WSU just made Leach just became the third highest-paid coach in the conference. Imagine what UCLA could do?

Hire Tom Cable and pay him maybe a million dollars?

Radio pundits are saying Peterson, Sumlin or Belotti to UCLA. I think Peterson turned the job down when Neuheisal took it. What has changed since then?

He also turned down Stanford last year. Since then he’s gotten a pay raise at Boise State and Boise State has been invited to a BCS conference. Petersen is a NorCal guy and likes being able to drive from the practice field to the lake in less than 30 minutes, something he can’t do at ucla. Also I saw on some BSU blogs that his current BSU salary is about equal to $2.4 million a year in LA, so a $3 million salary isn’t a massive pay upgrade.

Sumlin is interesting but I think a lot of schools are gonna be after him. Also you can’t announce him as a hire until January so that sets your recruiting back by a month. Also the dude went 5-7 without Case Keenum last year, that has to be kind of scary.

I feel like Bellotti is more likely to end up at ASU than ucla.

[Sarkus]

For what its worth, the AD at Washington State was the guy that hired Belotti and when he was asked about him yesterday (before they hired Leach) he said he didn’t think Belotti would come back to coaching. Another guy on Seattle radio who works with Belotti in covering games also thinks he isn’t interested in coaching again.

Peterson could end up being another guy like Few at Gonzaga in basketball. The rare guy who is more then happy to coach for a long time at a “second tier” school and try to become a legend in building it up to something special.

[triggercut]

Hearing a lot of buzz that Sherman’s getting canned today or tomorrow in College Station. A&M is going to go after Kirby Smart pretty hard for that gig.

[Cougar]

What’s the show-cause stuff you guys are talking about in regards to Tressel? I understand it is sanction related, but I don’t know/understand the specifics.

~C~

[Rimbo]

Hearing a lot of buzz that Sherman’s getting canned today or tomorrow in College Station. A&M is going to go after Kirby Smart pretty hard for that gig.

Chip Brown just tweeted Sherman’s staying, so he’s as good as fired. :)

[Rimbo]

In other news, A&M AD Bill Byrne had this to say for himself on Wednesday:

What a gut wrenching football loss. Being raised Catholic, I wondered driving home whether I had wanted the victory so much that it was my fault for the loss. Catholics call these lessons Venial Sins, and like many of you, I must have wanted it too much. My Mom used to tell me thinking it was as bad as doing it, and believe me, I really wanted the win so I’m likely off to Purgatory. Judging from some of your mail though, I believe there’s an even warmer place some of you prefer to send me, and I don’t mean Hawaii.

I’m hearing the Queen of Hearts solution from Alice in Wonderland from many of you.

TexAgs.com was quick to comment.

I don’t get the alice in wonderland reference.

Is that some Disney story for little girls or something?

ShaggyBevo’s MilkmanDan got the reference a little too well…

The chief difficulty Sherman found at first was in managing his offense: he succeeded in getting the running game tucked away, comfortably enough, behind the line, with handoffs and toss sweeps, but generally, just as he had got the first half straightened out, and was going to give the opponent a blow with the passing game, it would twist itself round and blow up in his face, with such a puzzled expression that he could not help bursting out laughing: and when he had got Tannehill’s head down, and was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the defense had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this, there was generally a ridge or furrow or bat in the way wherever he wanted to send the football to, and, as the play soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the ground, Mike soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed.

By the way, SEC… No take-backs!