Jan
31
Ga Tech’s Tenuta Goes to Notre Dame
January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator drove his ramblin wreck up to South Bend to become Notre Dame’s new Assistant Head Coach for Defense. In stints with Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Ga Tech Tenuta has gotten the reputation as something of a blitz wizard. His teams constantly bring five, six, or even more defenders at the quarterback. It will be very interesting to see if he can revitalize a Notre Dame defense that ranked a respectable 39th in the country last year, but at times looked completely over matched.
Jan
31
Rodriguez Offers to Pay Part of Buyout
January 31, 2008 | 1 Comment
In what appears to be an attempt to finally bring a close to what’s become a very messy divorce, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has offered to pay $1.5 million of his $4 million buyout to West Virginia. According to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach Rodriguez filed a letter of credit Tuesday with the U.S. District Court in Clarksville, WV. The letter says “in the spirit of compromise and as an act of good faith to assure West Virginia University that if this Honorable Court makes an award against Defendant, said monies will be paid.” That’s probably the first gesture of good faith that’s happened since Rodriguez accepted the Michigan job.
Keeping with the spirit of good faith, a representative of West Virginia said the university won’t settle for $1.5 million. Looks like this is going to keep on being ugly.
Jan
18
Funny Joke
January 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Ok, so this is completely unrelated to coaching, but it IS related to college football, and it IS funny, so here goes:
What do Oklahoma and Marijuana have in common?
They both get smoked in bowls!
Ha!
Jan
16
Did Rich Rodriguez Destroy Player Files at WVU?
January 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment
From the WTF file…
West Virginia is investigating the disappearance of player and program files from Rich Rodriguez’s office. The disappearance allegedly occurred between Rodriguez’s resignation and the team’s return from the Fiesta Bowl. Apparently the files detail every player on the Mountaineers’ roster and the ins-and-outs of the program over the last seven years.
Now here’s the interesting part. ESPN is reporting that:
According to the report, multiple sources said several people in the Puskar Center reported seeing Rodriguez and at least one of his assistants, video coordinator Dusty Rutledge, in Rodriguez’s private office shredding paperwork on Dec. 18 — the day he returned from Ann Arbor after being named Michigan’s new head coach.
Add this to the fact that Rodriguez is in the midst of being sued by WVU for alleged non-payment of his $4 million buyout, and this adds up to a very, very messy situation.
Let’s assume for a second that Richie-boy actually came back to the school after he quit and shredded files. What would his motivation be? If there was nothing compromising in the files, if they were just academic and strength training records, then his only apparent motivation would be spite. And I would hope a big-time college football coach would be a little bit above that. So that means either he was hiding something or he didn’t do it. Either way this is one wacky game show…
Jan
15
Hawaii to Name Defensive Coordinator McMackin Head Coach
January 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Initially it appeared Greg McMackin was going to follow former Hawaii coach June Jones to SMU. But at the last minute he decided to throw his name in the ring for the Warrior’s top job. And good thing he did, since it appears Hawaii is set to name him their new head coach on Wednesday.
McMackin served as the Warriors’ defensive coordinator last year. It was his second stint with Hawaii, sandwiching jobs with Texas Tech and the San Francisco 49ers. He’s known as a great recruiter, winning Rivals.com’s Big XII Recruiter of the Year while at Texas Tech. But really, how hard is it to recruit kids to come to Hawaii? Let’s see, it’s 80 degrees and sunny most of the time, there are beaches everywhere, and you’re constantly surrounded by gorgeous women. I’m pretty sure even I could recruit there.
Jan
6
Hawaii’s Jones Resigns; Negotiating With SMU
January 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Hawaii coach June Jones has resigned and is currently in negotiations with SMU to become their head coach. Jones resigned over unhappiness with the athletic department, not over salary concerns.
Jones led the Rainbow Warriors to a 12-1 record this season, including a perfect regular season and berth in the Sugar Bowl (where Georgia showed them what it takes to play with the big boys). Jones has built Hawaii into a regular threat in the WAC, earning him the #5 spot in our rankings.
SMU, looking to fill the vacancy left when they fired Phil Bennett, flew Jones to Dallas on Saturday to negotiate. It’s believed they’re offering him between $1.7 and 2 million, which would be a hefty raise from the $800,000 Hawaii paid him, and quite frankly seems ludicrous for a CUSA coach. Currently Tulsa’s Todd Graham is the highest paid at $1.1 million.
The big question is how Jones’ lei will go over in Dallas…
Dec
31
UCLA Hires Rick Neuheisel
December 31, 2007 | 3 Comments
UCLA hired former Bruin player and two-time college head coach Rick Neuheisel as their new head coach. Neuheisel steps in to replace Karl Dorrell who was fired earlier this month.
Coach Neuheisel has previously destroyed programs coached at Washington and Colorado, leaving each of the programs in shambles. His most recent job was offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, a team notorious for having no offense. So what exactly makes this guy a good pick? Oh, he’s an alum. Great. Pete Carroll is laughing his ass off right now.
Congratulations UCLA. Enjoy 5-7 seasons.
Dec
27
West Virginia Sues Rodriguez for $4 million
December 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Apparently doesn’t believe that former coach Rich Rodriguez’s is going to pay his buyout, because the school filed suit against Rodriguez today for $4 million. Rodriguez left WVU after seven years to take the job a Michigan, and his contract stipulated a $4 million buyout if he left. Typically the team that hires a coach picks up the buyout, but Michigan doesn’t want to pay full price, and it seems that WVU doesn’t want to negotiate. That could be because Michigan hired WVU’s basketball coach earlier in the year and negotiated a lower buyout. I guess WVU is once bitten, twice shy.
Dec
19
Kansas’ Mangino is Coach of the Year
December 19, 2007 | 1 Comment
The Associated Press has named Kansas’ Mark Mangino their Coach of the Year. He’s a pretty good choice, having led Kansas to an 11-1 record and a birth in the Orange Bowl. It’s the Jayhawks’ first major bowl bid in almost 40 years. All of that was enough to place him 13th in our rankings. Congrats coach!
Dec
16
Michigan Has its Man
December 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Michigan’s long strange journey to find a head coach is apparently over. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez had a meeting with his team at 1:30 today. During that meeting he apparently told the team that he’s leaving for Michigan. Looks like Michigan athletic director Bill Martin finally got his act together and got a deal done.
This appears to be credible, since three separate news sources are reporting it independently. ESPN is also reporting that Rodriguez will not coach WVU against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
This move leaves only SMU, UCLA, and now WVU without a coach.
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