As we near the end of the college football season (wipe away those tears, we still have some really good football left) we are now entering the time honored tradition of the "Coaching Carousel". Houston Nutt was fired today and he won't be the only coach that will have a real estate sign in his yard by the end of the season. In honor of Houston's firing I took a few minutes to look at how likely it is that each coach will be fired before next year. (Spoiler Alert: It's unlikely Frank Beamer is going anywhere this off-season.)
GONE- This group of coaches need to get their resumes in order.
1. Frank Spaziani (Boston College)- As of this post Spaziani's record at Boston College is 18-17 with one win coming in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl, then a 8-5 record in 2009, a 7-6 record in 2010 and he currently has a 2-6 record this season. Spaziani became the third Boston College head coach in four seasons when he took over in 2009 and the swinging door of coaches seems to have hurt this program. The problem for Spaziani is he gets all the blame. Recruiting is down and the play on the field might be even worse. The best team they have beat this season is Massachusetts, a I-AA or FCS team. The only other team they have beat is Maryland. Boston College is getting worse each season and this will cost Spaziani his job.
2. Everett Withers (UNC)- Everett Withers had a chance to keep his job beyond this season but I think he's definitely lost it after this last week. He sits at 6-3 in his first year as interim head coach at UNC but he's done nothing to rally this fan base behind him. He also just lost to NC State, UNC's 5th loss in a row to their hated rival from Raleigh. It also didn't help that he ran his mouth about academics at NC State, which resulted in his Chancellor Holden Thorp apologizing to NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson. When your Chancellor has to apologizing to a rival Chancellor for a head coaches comments, your job is probably not safe.
ON NOTICE- This group of coaches have had little to no success and their jobs are on the line.
3. David Cutcliffe (Duke)- This will sound odd to most of you but I think Duke is turning it around. That's hard to say after some of the losses they have had this season, including losing to Richmond and getting blown out by Miami 49-14 just this past weekend, but I think Cutcliffe is a good coach and this team looks like an actual football on Saturdays. That cannot be said about Duke football before Cutcliffe got there. I think Duke will give him time to continue improving this program and if he does, Duke could move all the way up to finishing 4th in the Coastal Division and make a bowl game in the next few seasons. If not they will be quick to cut ties and bring in another head coach just crazy enough to coach Duke football.
4. Tom O'Brien (NC State)- The UNC-NC State game might have lost Withers his job and allowed Coach O'Brien to keep his. O'Brien's biggest mistake this season is the mishandling of Russell Wilson's senior year but the quarterback play of Mike Glennon and Wisconsin's recent slip in play have lessened the contempt for that decision. His record at NC State is 30-29 and that is after having a record of 75-45 at Boston College. I think NC State definitely expected better results from Tom O'Brien at this point in his career.
5. Randy Edsall (Maryland)- I know that this is Randy Edsall's first year in College Park but this team regressed in a way no one saw coming during the preseason. I know we should be patient with Edsall, he is implementing his offensive and defensive schemes, bringing a new culture at Maryland, but come on this team should be better than 2-7. Maryland was 9-4 last season. 9-4 to 2-7 and the season isn't over yet. Maryland still has to play Notre Dame, Wake Forest and NC State. I struggle to see even one win over their next three games. Chances are Edsall won't be fired at the end of this season but there's a pretty good chance he should be.
SAFE FOR THE NEXT FEW SEASONS- This group of coaches are safe in their jobs but don't yet have the job security if things take a turn for the worse.
6. Al Golden (Miami)- I like Al Golden and think he is a very good coach. I mean if you can win at Temple you can win just about anywhere. It think Miami should be more worried about Al Golden leaving than Golden is worried about being fired by Miami. We don't know what is going to come out of the investigations into Miami's program and the sanctions that will come down on them. With all of this swirling around the program, Golden has had a pretty successful season in Miami. The team currently sits at 5-4 and have three remaining games to win the one game needed to be bowl eligible. If other jobs open up and Golden is worried about the punishments that could be levied against Miami, the Hurricanes could be looking for a coach again this off-season.
7. Mike London (UVA)- Mike London is moving UVA in the right direction (That is not fun for a Virginia Tech fan like myself to say) Virginia finished last season at 4-8 and this season are now 6-3 and bowl eligible for the first time since 2007. Also if UVA wins their remaining games they will play in the ACC Championship game. That's a quick turnaround for a program and that should excite this "wine and cheese" fan base. Sadly it hasn't (See the NC State game at home this year) but UVA will continue to improve unless some program comes and takes London away from Charlottesville. Fingers crossed!
8. Jimbo Fisher (Florida State)- The only reason that Jimbo Fisher falls ahead of Dabo Sweeney is that college football is a "what have you done for me lately" sport. Actually all sports are "what have you done for me lately" and that's why Jimbo Fisher lands at the 8th spot, Clemson's success is more recent than Florida State's. The fans are disappointed in this season but should still be excited about the level of recruiting and the success outside of a few loses this season. If things do slip under Fisher, FSU will not stick with Jimbo like they did with Bobby. Maybe the hype surrounding Jimbo and this Florida State team calms this off-season but somehow I doubt it. Get your summer headlines ready "FLORIDA STATE IS BACK!!! AGAIN!!"
9. Dabo Sweeney (Clemson)- It took just nine games for Dabo to move from near the top of this list to near the bottom. Dabo entered this season on the hot seat and would now be considered 1A or 1B for the ACC coach with the brightest future with Jimbo Fisher. This season has bought Dabo a few more years as the coach at Clemson. The team is young and with the offensive explosion this season the future is bright for Clemson with Dabo as their head coach.
COACHES SO GOOD THEIR ATHLETIC DIRECTOR'S JOBS ARE SAFE- These coaches jobs are safe but don't quite have the resume to be almost un-firable (Ie. Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno)
10. Paul Johnson (Georgia Tech)- This is only Paul Johnson's fourth season in Atlanta but he has already built a tough program at Georgia Tech. His triple option offense has once again put this team in position to win the Coastal Division. If they beat Virginia Tech on Thursday night Georgia Tech will be in a good position to win the Coastal Division for the second time in three years. Johnson has invigorated this fan base and built a solid football program at the same time, though those usually go hand in hand. Georgia Tech is extremely happy (and lucky) to have Paul Johnson and he seems more than happy to stay there.
11. Jim Grobe (Wake Forest)- Jim Grobe and Wake Forest are extremely lucky to have each other. Wake Forest has a basketball fan base that gets behind their football program and in turn Grobe gives them good to great football almost every season. Obviously the talent level isn't as good as many of the other ACC schools but the coaching at Wake Forest is typically better. Once again Jim Grobe has coached up a good football team again this season, with a match-up against Clemson deciding the Atlantic Division champion. This is Grobe's 11th season in Winston-Salem and it doesn't seem his tenure will end anytime soon.
TENURED- This group of coaches (OK just one coach) has had enough success during his career that he is the program he coaches at. His name will by synonymous with that University.
12. Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech)- Frank Beamer is already a Hall of Fame worthy coach who is actually having the most success of his career. He's an old school coach that is having success in the quickly changing landscape of college football. I don't think enough is said about Frank Beamer's success at Virginia Tech. Beamer's record over his 25 seasons at Virginia Tech is 205-96-2. His program currently has seven straight seasons of 10 win and should get to their 8th. Tech has gone to 18 straight bowl games and are bowl eligible for their 19th straight bowl. Frank Beamer played defensive back at Virginia Tech and came back to his Alma mater to bring them success that few in Blacksburg could have predicted. With no disrespect to the Michael Vick's and Bud Foster's, Frank Beamer is Virginia Tech football. His career resume is impressive with only that National Championship trophy eluding him.
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1. I like the tag, "You're Fired". 2. I think it is funny the second to last title of the group of coaches. I know what you are intimating and I'm not calling you on it. This is a comment on the ridiculousness of the Bobby Bowden career that the most successful AD in school history was fired because the President would not fire the progressively failing HC. 3. I do not think it is FSU's fault for being hyped. We don't ask for it. We don't want it. We want recruits and wins, so I blame national media pundits who do not do due dilligence. If a team is only as good as their record, by the end of the year the FSU record is not worthy of a #5 ranking. Therefore, the mistake made is not that of the team for not living up to the ranking, they are only as good as they are. It is the mistake of the "experts" for screwing up the ranking. ... more on this later.
ReplyDeleteI also blame the media for Florida State's hype last off-season. And while this may sound condescending I don't mean for it to, I feel bad for Florida State fans who had no choice but to buy into the hype the national media was feeding you. We all thought FSU was going to better this season because of that national media. I am not putting that on Florida State. That being said depending on the last few weeks of the season and a bowl game the hype could once again surround this team. I don't want to sit through another summer of ESPN and the like telling us Florida State is back but that's sports coverage now. Better to be ahead of they cycle and end up being wrong than behind the cycle and know what you are talking about.
ReplyDeleteMitch, How would you have responded to being unranked this preseason?
ReplyDeleteThink about it this way, at least FSU football was exciting for 4 weeks! With the preseason ranking at #5 you guys were able to be excited for 6 weeks or more.
p.s. where would YOU have ranked FSU this pre-season?
First to Dan's question, I would have not been ok with not being ranked. I think we were/are a top 25 team. I think we are a top 15 team. However, top 5 was reaching, IMO. I accepted it and got excited, but everyone in Tallahassee knew our o-line struggled.
ReplyDeleteBut to a larger point, I think, without being arrogant here, I think FSU is a top 15 now. I think our losses to OU and CU are as good and/or justifiable as anyone else who is ranked in those positions. I think we showed by comparison to a common opponent we are better than VT against Clemson.
However, I know why we are unranked, we lost to WF. we shouldn't have even with a back up as QB. That being said, I think our team at this moment is the best team we have fielded all year. The o-line is better, the running game is better, the qb play is better, and the defense is much much better than they were at the beginning of the year.
I also accept know the reason why we will not get credit for the opponents we beat from here on out. Our schedule is frontloaded and we stumbled when we should not have.