What is Up with College Football Coaches These Days?

I don't understand all the drama with football coaches for something or another. I mean, so much of this hoopla shouldn't be happening as teams prepare for bowl games. I'm referring mostly to Brian Kelly, Urban Meyer, and Mike Leach. And I guess I just want to put my 2 cents in on these issues.

Something needs to be done about recruiting to keep coaches and athletic directors from job hunting in December and leaving their former schools right before a bowl game. I know the notre dame head coach position is one of the most prestigious in the game but seriously, they need to wait until the end of the season (post-season, that is) to grab the media attention. With national signing day in the first week of February, I understand that it is imperative to get a head coach in place right away once a school has decided to let go their previous coach, so I would suggest moving national signing day back to the end of February and not allow any recruiting of coaches or players to take place between the end of the regular season and the national championship game. There is just entirely too much attention being drawn away from the current teams who still have a lot to play for in favor of all the business of next year's team.

Secondly, I don't understand why coach Urban Meyer would come out just as bowl season is heating up with his resignation/leave-of-absence announcement. That's quite tacky in my opinion. I could have understood if this announcement came 2 weeks ago when there was a little lull but, again, it seems like another coach wanting more attention, as if being to coach of a Sugar Bowl-bound team isn't enough. Actually it isn't enough for Meyer and the Gator fans - the all expected to make it to the BCS title game. I still have yet to hear what his health condition actually is that is forcing him to give up coaching for awhile, and I am very skeptical of all this. It kind of seems like he wanted reassurance that the Gator fans still love him and want him around even after getting torn apart by the Crimson Tide in the SEC title game. The attention between the end of the regular season and the college bowl games should be on the players, on the teams that still have games left to be played.

Finally, there's Mike Leach, known for engineering high-powered passing offenses but having only moderate overall success. After last season's 11-1 campaign, his status was bumped way up and perhaps his ego got to him a little bit. I knew him 15 years ago - well, I knew his daughter more - when he was a coach at Valdosta State University and very well liked. VSU was and still is a regular contender for the division 2 national championship and we all knew he would be off to bigger and better schools before long. I have a hard time believing that he actually prescribed some of the torturous things like locking up Adam James in a tiny dark room for hours. I know he is an intense guy but I really do believe that it was mostly a miscommunication/misinterpretation/player who wanted more attention. Leach certainly wasn't the one looking for attention in this case. The doctor says that James was under supervision by a certified trainer and that Leach did nothing to deliberately harm him. More investigation needs to take place before such serious reprimands take place. I mean, pretty much the only thing against Leach is the testimony of Adam James. Don't get me wrong, it's not something that should be taken lightly, but we need more evidence before we oust a guy who has gained such a good reputation as Mike Leach.