Schools Spin Coaching Wheel Of Fortune
Memphis moved quickly to hire LSU's Larry Porter. He's a Memphis guy, so he's already passionate about a program that few are passionate about.- Al Groh is out at Virginia. This is the perfect opportunity for Phillip Fulmer or Tommy Tuberville, even though I think the ACC is a bit below them simply because it is primarily a basketball conference and football is an after thought.
- Mark Snyder is done at Marshall. It's a nice gig for an assistant coach at an SEC, Big Ten or Big 12 school. Maybe, say, Greg Knox from Mississippi State would fit nicely here.
- Steve Kragthorpe gets shown the door at Louisville. Fulmer and Tuberville might be rumored, but like the ACC schools, Louisville lives and dies with basketball. Charlie Strong from Florida may get this gig, which would be great because he deserves it.
- We expect to hear that Charlie Weis is gone at Notre Dame no later than tomorrow. Reports indicate that he has already cleaned out his desk and that his staff is looking for new gigs. I think this will be an interesting hire. I'd honestly like to see someone like Fulmer get this job. Bob Stoops apparently doesn't want it. Neither does Urban Meyer. And why should they? It's a sideways move for them, especially Meyer. Many coaches (can you say Jim Harbaugh?) will use this as leverage to improve their situations at their schools, i.e. better practice facilities, more money for assistants, etc. Brian Kelly continues to be the front runner, although he won't be available for conversation until the first week in January.
- Mark Mangino is almost certainly gone at Kansas, which is really too bad. I think he did a terrific job taking a nothing program and turning it into a competitive one. However, given the investigation into his alleged (and perceived) abusive behavior and his bonehead moves in the Missouri game Saturday, his goose is probably cooked. Given A.D. Lew Perkins UCONN connections, can Randy Edsall be far behind?
- Ralph Fridgen wants to come back in 2010 as coach at Maryland. Your guess is as good as mine, but odds are he won't get the chance.
- Dan Hawkins keeps his gig at Colorado despite many calls for his head. He'll probably have one more year to get it together.
- Then there is Bobby Bowden. Given his tight relationship with the university President, I think dad gum Bobby will come back for a farewell tour (which he has earned) with Jimbo Fisher taking over full time in 2011. I don't know how that bodes for recruiting, though.
- J.D. Brookhart is fired at Akron which has as much impact on the real world as this.
- Dick Tomey retires at San Jose State. Zzzzz. This is a job for an ambitious assistant looking to come in, fix it and leave in three years. Same at UNLV, although Dennis Franchione is rumored to be the front runner. Actually, Fran is better at fixing small programs then he is at running larger ones, so he would be a good fit there.
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