USF and USC Coaching Speculation
Just a brief post to throw out some random candidates, both plausible and implausible, for the two open BCS Conference coaching jobs at USC and USF. Please comment on what you think might happen!
USC: Jack Del Rio is supposedly the favorite of the USC administration. I suppose if you had such incredible success with a NFL coach who led underachieving teams in the NFL before coming to SoCal, you’d be willing to try it again. Steve Sarkisian’s name is in the mix, though he says he’s not going anywhere. Yesterday, Gary Patterson of TCU said he didn’t know what he’d do if he was asked, which is interesting. Who else might be in the mix?
USF: Florida’s defensive line coach Dan McCarney, who has head coaching experience at Iowa State and was an assistant for the Bulls a couple years ago, has indicated he’d take the job if offered. Tony Dungy visited the USF players yesterday, getting ESPN all lathered up, but Dungy won’t come back for a college gig. Kevin Sumlin of Houston would be a great choice, but he may want to wait for a bigger job next year. Rick Stockstill of Middle Tennessee State would be an awesome hire; a former QB at FSU, Stockstill has done a great job recruiting mid-level players in Florida and has a lot of connections down here, but is he “sexy” enough as a hire to make Bulls fans happy? Finally, there’s Tommy Bowden, who would likely love a chance at such a gig, but if USF is going to tap the Bowden tree, one hopes they’d go for Terry. Who else?
Chris Borglum:
The Bulls should actually hire BOBBY Bowden. They play FSU at home in 2011, and it would be awesome for Bobby to try to beat Jimbo.
12 January 2010, 2:31 pmDan Greenstein:
USF is the kind of opening that should attract some significant interest. It is a program in Florida in a major conference. It is a program with limited success but has a solid foundation and has had flashes of brilliance. Not much work is needed to make this program a consistent 9 or 10 win a year program. It seemed this program was starting to get stale under Jim Leavitt and could use some new blood; firing a guy for hitting a kid provides the perfect opportunity.
On the other hand, the USC job is not as attractive as it seems. Remember, this program is likely going to be hammered with NCAA sanctions in a few months for all the shady dealings in paradise. These sanctions will hobble the program for 3-4 years until the poison is purged and the next great era can begin. An A-list coach is not going to touch this program with a 39 1/2 foot pole. That leaves an up and coming coach willing to do his time and either start the next great era himself or use it as a springboard to another job, a retread who does not mind following a legend and is willing to suffer through a few lean seasons to rehabilitate his image, or an NFL coach (like Jack Del Rio) wanting to escape the NFL grind.
12 January 2010, 2:54 pmChris Borglum:
You’re right about USC, of course. It’s going to be hard for them to win even the PAC-10 the next two years, even without NCAA penalties, and even a coach who’s doing the right things behind the scenes will likely be blamed for any decline in the program more than Carroll is.
12 January 2010, 4:53 pmChris Borglum:
Oh, and I should note that Phil Fulmer, here in Orlando for the college football coaches’ association meeting, has said good things about USF. That should depress Bulls fans. Of course, maybe now Tennessee will ask him back!
12 January 2010, 8:50 pmAndy Vann:
Dan, I guess you were right about no A-list coaches being interested in the USC job. That’s how they ended up with Kiffin. Ha! See what I did there?
12 January 2010, 10:13 pmChris Borglum:
Comedy gold!
Also, a secret source, who is probably some skinny, pasty, Christian guy who doesn’t use big words, tells me that Skip Holtz of ECU may be on his way to coaching at USF.
Man, what does Tennessee do? Would Will Muschamp, the Texas DC, consider this gig? Or maybe Kirby Smart, the Alabama DC? What about Butch Davis? Could he be enticed into a big-time SEC job?
12 January 2010, 10:31 pmAhmad Ragab:
What kind of losers at USF do you know that are skinny, pasty and Christian?
13 January 2010, 4:35 amChris Borglum:
I’d say “Rob Fernandes,” but he’s only pasty. And Holtz’s interest is hardly a secret now, as the Orlando Sentinel wrote about it today.
Back to the Vols, I forgot about David Cutcliffe. He’s an ace Southeastern recruiter,has Tennessee ties, and has done okay at Duke, so I imagine he’ll be getting a call.
13 January 2010, 7:44 amRicky C:
Another ‘heard it this morning’….Mike Leach is also interested in USF…Would they take one player abuser over another?
13 January 2010, 10:13 amChris Borglum:
Ooh, Leach! I hadn’t even thought of that. Though USF can’t hire him for the reason Ricky joked about (it wouldn’t help their defense against Leavitt’s lawsuit to hire a guy fired for the same damn reason!), surely someone will, right? And probably Leavitt, too. They may have to sit out a year and/or go to a non-BCS or smaller school.
13 January 2010, 11:32 amAndy Vann:
Again, just speculation on the street, but I’ve heard from more than one person that they are considering Leach. For the reason Chris mentioned, it makes no sense whatsoever, but wouldn’t be the first time someone did something asinine in college football.
13 January 2010, 10:15 pmDan Greenstein:
My hypothesis for Leach wanting to coach at USF is he would gain a valuable abstract character reference if he is hired at the same school that fired a different player abuser. Never underestimate a pirate scorned. For his part, Jim Leavitt would have ammunition in his pending lawsuit over his dismissal that USF hired a player abuser. Is there collusion at work here?
Even if the alleged player abusers sit out a year, schools from Les Six will be lining up for their services in 2011. A good coach only becomes radioactive if the NCAA slaps them with a show-order.
14 January 2010, 12:17 amChris Borglum:
Norm Chow has officially turned down USC’s offer to be OC there. That hire never made sense, as Kiffy and Norm supposedly didn’t get along when they were there the first time, and Kiffy wants to call his own plays, so what would they have been paying Chow for anyway?
14 January 2010, 2:16 pm