Football Coaches Are Here Today, Somewhere Else Tomorrow

When the dead of winter sets in, and the college and professional football seasons have come to a close, the media and fans wait for word on coaching hirings and firings. This year was no exception. The moves may not yet be complete in the NFL, and there have been 21 college football coaching changes so far. Some of these coaching decisions will pay dividends right away, and some will be huge failures. Let's look at what has happened so far.

The coaching carousel really got moving when Pete Carroll decided to bolt USC and take his act back to the NFL. I was kind of surprised when the Seattle Seahawks job came open. Jim Mora Jr. was only given one year, but Seattle brass thought Carroll would be an upgrade over Mora. Many people forget Carroll previously coached in the NFL. He was head man at New England and with the Jets in the 90s. He compiled a 33-31 record in five NFL seasons but never looked comfortable in the pros. He then became a huge success at USC, winning two BCS National titles and compiling a 97-19 record in nine years. No matter what he says, I think Carroll got out of USC because of the impending NCAA sanctions. The money offered in Seattle didn't hurt either. I like Carroll in Seattle, he should be able to add some young players, maybe even from USC to Seattle's veterans and make them competitive again. The pressure won't be on Carroll right away, but he will be expected to win in two years or so.

The pieces left in Los Angeles by Pete Carroll's departure will be left for Lane Kiffin to pick up. Kiffin stirred things up in Tennessee for a year before heading back to the West Coast. Kiffin takes his father, Monte Kiffin, and top recruiter Ed Orgeron with him to USC. Ask a Tennessee Volunteer fan what they think of Lane Kiffin and they will give you a hundred different answers, but words like weasel, crazy, and idiot will surely be used. I'm not sure how Kiffin gets these top level jobs when the only track record he had was going 5-15 in the NFL with The Raiders and being a total disaster. Well, Kiffin is USC's problem now, and USC is looking down the barrel at tons of problems. I agree Kiffin needed to get out of the SEC and Tennessee, but does he have enough experience to run the USC machine? I think if USC would've waited they would've had many more qualified candidates to choose from. They could've got more serious with a Jack Del Rio, or a John Gruden and see where that would've taken them.

Chan Gailey is the Bill Fitch or Dick Motta of football coaches. He keeps finding teams looking to make a safe hire. Gailey has an impressive coaching resume. He has spent time as head coach at Troy, Georgia Tech, Samford, and of course in the NFL with The Dallas Cowboys. He does have a winning record everywhere he's been. 18-14 at Dallas isn't too shabby, but what was Buffalo thinking by hiring a retread? The Buffalo Bills are a mess and what they really need is a Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells type to set things straight. Chan Gailey isn't that, he's a nice guy, a player's coach. He does have a good offensive mind, and there is some talent in Buffalo on the field. Not sure if there is any in the front office, but Buffalo is a tough place to attract top free agents to. They need to build through the draft. Gailey is a conservative play caller and by doing that he will have to rely on his defense and try to keep things close. Buffalo has been struggling for so long any improvement will be an accomplishment. Good luck to Coach Chan!

Here's some news, Notre Dame hired a new football coach, and his name is Brian Kelly. Kelly comes to The Fighting Irish after performing a miracle at Cincinnati. His career record at Cincinnati was 34-6 in four years and he led the Bearcats to a bowl game every year. Before that Kelly won two NCAA Division II National Championships at Grand Valley State and then had a winning record at Central Michigan. I don't know if Kelly is ready for South Bend, but his players love him, and he's good with alumni. He should be able to recruit top notch talent, but I don't know if his spread offense will translate to Notre Dame. John Gruden would've been another possibility for Note Dame, or even Jim Harbaugh. Note Dame made a safe hire in Kelly, and I can guarantee he will be better than Charlie Weis. Notre Dame doesn't have the luster it once had, but now with a hard worker like Brian Kelly steering the ship, they will be much improved.

These are just a few of the many head coaching changes in football. There haven't been anymore this year than a normal year, it just seems like it. I didn't even mention Charlie Strong who's heading to Louisville, or Tommy Tuberville resurfacing at Texas Tech. Both are great moves for the respective teams. Also, look out for Joker Phillips taking over at Kentucky, he's one of my favorites. Lots of changes so far, and looks like more to come. Hop on the coaching carousel.

Sources:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/01/19/coaching.reportcard/index.html?eref=sihp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Carroll

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_Kiffin#NFL_coaching_record

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chan_Gailey#Head_coaching_records