Controversy in College Football Coaching Ranks

Coaching changes are inevitable at the end of every season. However, this season in particular has brought an onslaught of changes to the NCAA. The peculiar number of university moves fall from under a background of misconduct, scandals, and disappointments. There is a strong correlation in the decisions made by major university football programs and their former head coaches. The controversy, apparent in many of the coaching changes this year, shows where loyalties lie.

When Charlie Weis was fired, November 30, just after Notre Dame's last game of the season, it was not a surprise. Since his arrival in 2005, Weis failed to return the university to its former levels of success. The move to fire Charlie Weis after a mediocre 6-6 season is not itself surrounded by a shroud of controversy, but in seeking its next head coach, Notre Dame turned to the University of Cincinnati's Brian Kelly. In his fourth year with the Bearcats, the team finished the regular season undefeated. At this point, Notre Dame approached Kelly who agreed to be the next head coach for the Fighting Irish. Kelly left the Cincinnati Bearcats before the BCS bowl match-up with Florida. He agreed to jump ship from a team entering its most important game to board Notre Dame. Without Kelly, Cincinnati fell to the Gators 51-24. At first glance, the loss is not Brian Kelly's since he did not coach in the game and was no longer part of the team. Nonetheless, Kelly has a greater loss; he lost the trust of over fifty young men whose loyalty he had earned during a successful tenure as their head coach.

According to ESPN, Three coaches were dismissed from their teams for violent or improper conduct. Mark Mangino resigned from the University of Kansas after the introduction of an NCAA investigation into accusations of violence. Jim Leavitt, who spent thirteen years building the University of South Florida from a 1-AA football program into a Big East team, was fired for grabbing a player by the throat and hitting him in the face during half-time. Perhaps most notably, Texas Tech fired Mike Leach after looking into an accusation that he tended to a player's concussion by forcing him to stand in a dark room. The players on these teams deserve the respect of well-meaning guidance. Coaches at the college level have a higher responsibility of loyalty to the players than at the pro level. Each of these coaches failed in this responsibility, putting to much emphasis on getting the most out of players no matter the cost, and lost their jobs as a result.

At Florida State University, it was only a matter of time before Bobby Bowden left the head coach position. After thirty-four years as the coach, and only one losing season, FSU took the initiative to move on. Less than 20 victories away from the all-time wins record held by Penn State's still active Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden decided to step away from the game. His successor, Jimbo Fischer had already been determined and a number of sub-par seasons caused Florida State to put pressure on Bowden to retire or take a position in the program with little authority. Bowden's loyalty to FSU led him to remain head coach longer than he should have been. More importantly, the school's loyalty kept Bowden from an early dismissal.

The recent success of Urban Meyer at the University of Florida seemed to bring a stability to Gator Nation. Towards the latter part of the season, some health issues arose, but they hardly brought any attention until Meyer announced that he would take a leave of absence. For now, Offensive Coordinator Steve Addazio has stepped in as the Gator's interim coach, but it is rumored that Meyer will return by the start of next season. According to the NY Times, Meyer stated that "recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family." Although in the long run Meyer will remain the coach at Florida, the temporary change shows how he has loyalty to his family and a strong attachment to the university.

After years of speculation, USC's Pete Carroll left Southern Cal to head back to the NFL, with what appears to be perfect timing. He is leaving a program which has slowly degraded from a great team, to a good team, to a team that no longer stands at the head of its conference. Carroll also decided to move to the Seattle Seahawks in a year in which several scandals have peeked the interest of NCAA investigators. To replace Carroll, USC sought a number of well known coaches before falling to former offensive coordinator and then-current University of Tennessee head coach, Lane Kiffin. In his one season at Knoxville, Kiffin brought the Volunteers a torrential rainfall of media coverage and controversy, including an NCAA investigation into recruiting procedures. Only a few weeks away from national signing day, Kiffin quickly jumped from Tennessee back to USC to take over as its head coach. By his move to leave Tennessee after one year, Kiffin revealed that he never had any loyalty to rebuilding a successful football program there.

The head coach position in college football is very difficult to handle. The coach must manage a large number of players, deal with media and the pressure to win. The best football programs, consistently at the top of the ranks, have a mutual loyalty between the university, the coaches, and the players. Whenever a university and its head coach face controversy, it can be determined where they invest loyalty.

Sources:

ESPN - Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis fired

Mortensen, Chris; ESPN - Cincinnati confirms Kelly to coach Notre Dame

ESPN - Mark Mangino out as coach at Kansas

Maisel, Ivan; Schad, Joe; ESPN - South Florida Bulls fire coach Jim Leavitt

Schad, Joe; ESPN - Texas Tech Red Raiders fire Mike Leach

Schlabach, Mark; ESPN - Sources: Bowden to Retire

Thamel, Pete; NY Times - Meyer Says He's Quitting as Coach of Florida

Klein, Gary and Farmer, Sam; LA Times - Pete Carroll accepts coaching job with Seattle Seahawks

Low, Chris; Wojciechowski, Gene; Katz, Andy; ESPN - Lane Kiffin to leave Tennesee Volunteers for USC Trojans job