Gentlemen, start your agents.  The get quick rich season is about to begin.  This is the time of the season where rumors start, extensions are hastily signed and big names move on.

Already names are being bandied about for possible openings at Notre Dame, Maryland and Kansas.  How does this start you ask.  Not with the coaches.  In fact, the coaches hate this kind of talk, simply because they want to focus on coaching.  It's the coaches agents that start the rumors and alert the media.  Why?  It's all part of the game.

If a plumb job opens at a major university, the agent leaks the coaches name as a possible candidate.  It doesn't matter if the coach hasn't been contacted or isn't even interested, all that matters is the name gets out there.  For instance, the Bob Stoops to Notre Dame rumors are pretty lame.  It's not that Stoops doesn't fit the profile, it's that Stoops is happy at his current job.  And when Stoops' current employers, the University of Oklahoma show him the love to make sure he stays where he is, he'll be even happier.

Remember when the Les Miles to Michigan rumors were red hot two years ago?  LSU quickly cobbled together an extension to keep their coach on the bayou.  Cincinnati will be hard pressed to match a Notre Dame offer for Brian Kelly.  Few coaches besides maybe Chris Peterson at Boise State and Nick Saban at Alabama will be happy to stay put without any muss of fuss.  Urban Meyer to Notre Dame?  Florida won't let that happen.

Most of what you hear are rumors.  Rumors started by agents to help drive up the price.  If a school is interested in a noted coach at a major university, it becomes a high stakes poker game between the coach's current and perhaps future employers.  And if the current employer is willing to improve the facilities, sign the coach for a guaranteed amount of additional years and line his pockets with lots of money, he will stay, declaring "I'm a (insert name of school here) man! 

In truth, one, maybe two coaches will move on.  Kelly is a definite candidate, considering he's in the Big East.  Gary Patterson of TCU, whose name I haven't heard, may also be a candidate for a bigger job, especially if Mike Sherman is fired at Texas A&M.  Of course, both of these coaches may enjoy being in weak conferences knowing that they have a yearly BCS ticket where they are now.  Moving to a Notre Dame or a Texas A&M makes it a lot tougher and depending on the degree of challenge they want will go a long way to determine where they land, if anywhere.  It's not the Notre Dames or Texas A&Ms that are the gigs coaches look at. 

Opportunities like Virginia and Maryland appeal to coaches at medium scale universities that want to move up to bigger dollars or better facilities.  Those jobs also attract coordinators or guys out of coaching who want to get back in.  Former Alabama and Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione has been rumored to be on the list at Nevada. Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer and former Auburn and Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville are also being mentioned at Memphis and Virginia.  Terry Bowden, now at Northern Alabama, is rumored for Memphis.  Those names are all out there because of agents and others making sure people know that there is interest.

Enjoy the conference championships and the bowl games, but don't forget to keep an eye on college football's other second season: Coaching Carousel season.