Rich Rodriguez comes up again as candidate for Auburn

This was tweeted today by CBS’ Bruce Feldman.

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise to regular readers here. We were hearing his name floated around in early November, before Auburn made the decision to fire Gene Chizik.

With reports swirling that early fan favorite Bobby Petrino was only given what amounted to a courtesy call, it’s anyone’s guess who will emerge as the choice for Alabama’ biggest rival. But it stands to reason that the coaches who won’t have to completely rewire the football philosophy there would have the most success early on. Clearly, Rich Rod wouldn’t need to change much to make his system work with that roster.

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If Gus Malzahn takes the Auburn job, they skate with the NCAA

It is irrefutable logic. Gus Malzahn was Auburn’s offensive coordinator for three years. If Auburn has committed any major NCAA recruiting violations, he knows about them and he knows where the bodies are buried.

No intelligent head coach would walk into a situation knowing that impending NCAA sanctions might cripple his program for the next three to four years. Further, under the new NCAA penalty system those sanctions would likely include hefty fines for the program, a multiple-year post season ban and heavier scholarship reductions than anything that might have been imposed previously.

Malzahn knows all of this. He also knows that in the modern era, no Auburn head football coach since Shug Jordan has left that program on his own terms. Only one—Tommy Tuberville—went on to coach a major college football program after leaving the plains.

If the NCAA finds major violations and imposes harsh sanctions, it will be many years before Auburn is competitive again in the Southeastern Conference. Going 0-8 in the SEC will become the new normal and as we all know, there is no fan base in this league patient enough to stomach that.

So if Auburn does announce Gus Malzahn as their next head coach, you can rest assured that there won’t likely be any major NCAA violations found.

You can extend this logic to candidates who have recruited against Auburn since 2009, the year Gene Chizik and his staff took over the Auburn program. That would include Bobby Petrino, Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, Chadd Morris and James Franklin. You don’t go head-to-head for top recruits for three years running and not know if a program is exceeding the speed limit by enough to get nailed by the local constabulary.

It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at these guys, either. They’re all relatively young men with relatively bright, yet brief resumes. They’re all up-and-comers, which means that they won’t take a short term cash bonanza if it means wrecking their longer term potential as head coaches. They’re too smart for that.

The only one with an ego—and sense of desperation—large enough to risk his future thinking he might win anyway is Petrino, and even he might take pause.

So mark this down: If Gus Malzahn takes the Auburn job, there won’t be any major NCAA sanctions levied against the Tigers.

The logic is irrefutable.

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Tennessee fires Derek Dooley UPDATE: It’s official

Per Knoxville’s Jimmy Hyams.

  This means that both teams playing next Saturday will be looking for new coaches for the 2013 season. Arkansas will also be in the market, and there are strong indications that Auburn will also be joining the bidding war.

As the Carousel Spins.

Update: UT, Dooley issue statements confirming the dismissal.

Nov. 18, 2012

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of Tennessee announced today that Derek Dooley will not return as the head football coach of the Vols. The announcement was made by Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Dave Hart, who will immediately begin a search for a new head coach for the Vols.

Hart will address the media at 2 p.m. today (Sunday, Nov. 18) at the Stokely Family Media Center at Neyland Stadium. The press conference will also be streamed live on UTSports.com.

"We very much appreciate the effort and energy that Derek Dooley and his staff have poured into our football program at the University of Tennessee," said Hart. "Derek and I met early this morning, and I informed him that I believed a change in leadership, despite the positive contributions he has made to the overall health of the program, was in the best long-term interests of Tennessee football. We will immediately begin the search for the best possible candidate to assume this leadership role."

Dooley will not coach the Vols in the season finale against Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 12:21 p.m. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney will serve as interim head coach for Saturday's game.

"I am sorry we could not generate enough wins to create hope for a brighter future," said Dooley. "Although progress was not reflected in our record, I am proud of the strides we made to strengthen the foundation for future success in all areas of the program.

"During the last 34 months, I've given my all for Tennessee, and our family appreciates all this University and the Knoxville community has given us."

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It’s late December. Cue the Jon Gruden rumors!

It’s that time of year again, folks!

While the college coaching carousel is spinning down (only Penn State has yet to name a new head coach), the NFL version is just warming up. The final weekend of the 2011 season is upon us and all of the usual suspects are being rounded up as we speak.

What would an NFL coaching carousel be without rumors of Jon Gruden returning to the brotherhood of football coaching?

The San Diego Union Tribune cites typically anonymous sources in reporting that if the Chargers fire General Manager AJ Smith, the Rams will pick him up and Smith will bring Gruden with him.

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People familiar with Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s plans said Monday that Kroenke is waiting for [Chargers owner Dean] Spanos to make a move on Smith. If Smith is available, league and agent sources strongly indicated that Smith will be hired as Rams’ general manager and bring along Jon Gruden as head coach.

Sources said Gruden has decided to return to coaching in 2012 and that his current employer, ESPN, is already preparing for his departure.

Spokesmen for ESPN and the Rams declined comment on Monday night.

Smith also declined comment when asked both about his future employment or his association with Gruden.

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Gruden was fired by the Buccaneers following the 2008 season and joined the ESPN Monday Night Football crew for the 2009 season. Although his name has come up each year since then, he has never shown any interest in leaving the broadcast booth.

ESPN announced in October that the network and the former coach had agreed on a new contract that would keep him in the booth for the next five years.

"I said I want to get good at this," Gruden said at the time. "I was serious about this from the day I started it and I am serious about wanting to get good at it. I spent 26 or 27 years in coaching, 18 of them in the NFL. I want to focus on this and get better every day."

Gruden’s name also comes up in connection with high profile college coaching jobs. In 2009, rumors swam that he was the lead candidate for the Tennessee Vols job, eventually filled by Derek Dooley. In 2010, unsourced reports had him agreeing in principle to take the Miami Hurricanes job, eventually filled by Al Golden. Google “Jon Gruden” and “Penn State,” and the predictable parade of Bleacher Report stories linking him to the Nittany Lions top the list.

The Union Trib is a credible news organization. They may have legitimate sources and Gruden might actually be considering a return this time. But given his comments just a couple of months ago, I’m betting it’s not likely.

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Pipe Dream: Randy Shannon as a defensive coordinator

When Arkansas forced out defensive coordinator Willy Robinson earlier this month, reports quickly surfaced that former Miami Hurricanes head coach Randy Shannon had moved to the top of the “wish list.” There were even reports that he had interviewed for the job and “insider” claims that the deal was done.

Arkansas instead announced that it had hired Ohio State’s Paul Haynes.

Not surprisingly, Shannon’s name has also been connected with other high profile defensive coordinator positions, including the now vacant Ohio State job, the Auburn job vacated by Ted Roof’s dismissal and expected openings at Texas A&M, North Carolina and UCLA. While getting such a credentialed coach as Shannon to run your defense would be a home run hire, it’s more likely than not that Shannon has his sights set much higher. He wants to return as a head coach.

In an interview last month with the Associated Press, Shannon made it very clear that since his firing from his alma mater, he’s been on whirlwind tour of college programs across the country, learning more about the business of being a head coach in college football. He’s spent time at Alabama, TCU, North Carolina, UNLV, Oregon, Iowa State and Minnesota.

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"I needed this year to sit out. I needed to learn something new. And I think I've done that.

"I spent my money and went to college," he said. "I met with the strength coaches, the policemen who are around some teams, compliance people, athletic directors, support staff. It wasn't just football. It was very little football. I needed to see other things, see a lot of ways to do different things, and it made me a whole lot better."

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That doesn’t sound like the itinerary of a guy looking to take a step down from head coaching and serve a stint as an assistant, even if it’s a big time program. Shannon said he has interviewed at a few programs looking for head coaches, but said none were the “right fit.” He did not say whether he’d discussed any open or pending defensive coordinator positions.

Part of the lure of linking Shannon to these jobs—particularly Arkansas and Auburn—is that Shannon’s base defense is a 4-3 cover two, very similar in scheme and philosophy to what those two programs had run under Robinson and Roof. The sense is that Shannon could come in, make very few tweaks to scheme and personnel, and reverse some of the misfortunes those two programs suffered defensively and cost the two coordinators their jobs. That’s reasonable and good for discussion.

It’s more likely that Shannon lands at one of the many still open head coaching jobs on the spinning carousel. There are still several good positions yet to be filled, including Texas A&M, Arizona State, UCLA, Southern Miss and any of the positions left open should one of those programs hire a sitting head coach. Shannon has taken the year off to learn how to be a better head coach, and this year will likely present several opportunities for him to use what he’s learned.

At least for now, it doesn’t seem likely that Randy Shannon takes second chair.

[ed note: at publish time, both the Texas A&M and UCLA jobs were open. Texas A&M has apparently hired Houston’s Kevin Sumlin, and UCLA has hired Jim Mora, Jr.]

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The Coaching Carousel’s Crazy Spin

We call this the College Football Silly Season© for a reason. Yesterday, a normally solid reporter at the Houston Chronicle wrote that Georgia coach Mark Richt had emerged as a legitimate candidate for the Texas A&M position. Texas A&M is one of a handful of big time college football coaching jobs. Big school, big budget and big aspirations usually draw big name candidates.

It’s not hard to believe that they’d be interested in the longest serving head coach in the SEC. What is hard to believe is that the interest is mutual, especially after Richt coached himself from hotseat to SEC East Champ; from imminent termination to contract extension. The same report, citing an Texas A&M “insider,” also said that Richt moving to take over the Aggies would also send Alabama DC Kirby Smart home to coach the Bulldogs. Call me silly, but I have a hard time believing that any Texas A&M “insider” has knowledge of who Georgia would tap as a replacement. I also have a hard time believing that Georgia would hire an assistant as its new head coach. After 11 years of relative success, UGA goes with a proven head coach, or you can label that coaching search a dismal failure.

The Penn State job remains open as well, but whoever takes that job in the wake of the revolting Sandusky scandal would have to be insane, unless his name is Jay Paterno or Scrap Bradley. Both have reportedly interviewed and the Football Alumni are said to be firmly insisting on a Penn Stater as Joe Paterno’s replacement. Indeed, I’ve been told by business contacts within that community that “it’s either a Penn Stater, or else.” There had been heated speculation that the Nittany Lions would turn to Al Golden, but that seemingly came to an end when Golden signed a contract extension last month.

Out west, UCLA and Arizona State are still both looking for head coaches after firing Rick Neuheisel and Dennis Erickson, respectively. ASU appeared to have their search wrapped up early this week as reports surfaced that SMU’s June Jones was set to take over. That all fell apart only hours later when negotiations were abruptly broken off. UCLA’s search appears to be only slightly less clueless.

With four BCS automatic qualifying jobs open, there’s real potential for an entertaining spin on the carousel. The hires made by those four programs will create openings elsewhere, setting off new rounds of coaching searches, new rounds of speculation and “insider” reports and more silly season enjoyment.

A few entertaining names to watch: Kevin Sumlin, Houston Nutt (seriously), Phil Fulmer (no, seriously), Kirby Smart, Gus Malzahn, Charlie Strong and Ellis Johnson. Chris Peterson’s name comes up every year, and every year he returns to the Smurf Turf. Could this year be different?  Spin, baby. Spin!

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I’m the Ole Miss coaching search committee, and I’m trimming the “short list”

I’m Archie Manning, FedEx Vice President Mike Glenn, and an as-yet-to be named committee of Ole Miss Yes Men. I haven’t met yet, but I’ve already put together this list of coaches I’m going after. I’ve also put together a list of coaches that have no chance of moving to Oxford.

Here are the coaches that WILL NOT be on the “short list” to take over the Ole Miss Rebels at the end of the season.

Mike Leach. Sure, he’s interested. He did something with almost nothing in the middle of nowhere (nee, Lubbock) Texas. He’s coached and recruited in the SEC and his wide open offense was exciting to watch. But Coach Arrgghh is involved in a bitter contract dispute with his former employer and is also suing ESPN for defamation of character. ESPN pours billions in the the SEC and what conservative, business-oriented members of a search committee want to interview a guy who sues his former employers?

Rich Rodriguez. Another offensive guru with a history of litigation with former employers. There’s a reason why this guy hasn’t been seriously considered as a legitimate candidate for other profiled coaching jobs since being dismissed from Michigan. But the real knock on RichRod is that in his last football game, Mississippi State shellacked him 52-14. Wouldn’t you rather have somebody who’s at least beaten your in-state rival?

Gus Malzahn. Here’s a candidate that the search committee is drooling over. But alas, we recognize that there are other, much better opportunities for a hot name assistant coach than Ole Miss. Name one? Ok. North Carolina. More populous state. More fertile recruiting territory. Less brutal competition than the SEC West. Deeper pockets and less pressure.

Kirby Smart. See the entry for Gus Malzahn. If Malzahn inexplicably turns down the North Carolina opportunity, Smart is the next best option on the table and, being that he’s at least as smart as Malzie, he sees a better opportunity at Carolina, too.

Urban Meyer. I’m a very deliberate, very intelligent search committee. I’m going to make this process last a little bit longer than the last one did, and I’m going to be reasonably sure I’m getting the best guy I can afford. Which means I’m not wasting the going after a $3.0 to $5.0 million man after paying millions to buy out Houston Nutt.

Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy or Jon Gruden. Name one successful NFL head coach who transitioned down to the college ranks and succeeded in recruiting and managing a college program. Name one who was financially set for life, repeatedly said he was happy doing what he was doing, and made the move anyway.

Names missing from this cut sheet are Houston’s Kevin Summerlin, Texas DC Manny Diaz, Southern Miss’ Larry Fedora and former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden.

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