Tag Archive: Joe Alleva

The Crack-Ups at Tennessee and LSU and Why When Put In Command….Taking Command Is So Damn Critical – Twelve O’Clock High – 2017 Post Week 5 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings – Give These Hot Seat Coaches Hell Johnny Cash!

 

Before we get to the Post Week 5 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings let us say a few words about just what in the Hell is going on at Tennessee and LSU which now have their head coaches in the #1 and #2 slots in the latest CHS Rankings.

Any organization, company, sports team or military unit that wants to perform at a high level more than anything needs a LEADER that the people working for their particular entity can believe in and confidently follow. For the many Coaches Hot Seat members that played on sports teams and served in the US Military the importance of having a LEADER that you believe in and confidently follow is beyond CRITICAL….it’s borderline the sports team or military unit cannot function without a STRONG LEADER and therein lies most of the problems that we have seen with college head coaches getting onto the Hot Seat and eventually fired in what is now the 11 th college football season of Coaches Hot Seat’s existence.

A great story we have told in this blog many times in the last decade-plus is about a couple of Coaches Hot Seat members stationed aboard an US Navy ship that was in late 1990 preparing to deploy to the Persian Gulf to participate in what would become Operation Desert Storm in the Spring of 1991. The Commanding Officer of the CHS members ship was a competent US Naval officer in handling a Navy ship in deployments in support of facing off against the Soviet Union in the Cold War and other deployments required of Navy ships on the East coast in the late 1980s-early 1990s. The two CHS members believed though that the Commanding Officer of their ship posed a Clear and Present Danger to the safety and security of the ship and crew, and with that in mind they went to meet with the Admiral of the Destroyer Squadron at the homeport that the ship was a member of and laid out their concerns about the CO in a clear and concise manner. The Admiral after hearing those concerns leaned back in his chair in his office and looked out through the window at the ships that were under his leadership and says to the two CHS members:

“Your CO is scheduled to rotate off the ship in several months so I am thinking we will move that up a few months and you will have a new CO who will take over in a command change ceremony after the ship gets to the Persian Gulf. Your new CO is going to be “X.”

When the two CHS members heard who the new CO was going to be “X” US Naval Officer they immediately knew that their ship would be in good hands, and more importantly that once the crew got to meet the new CO they would be confident in his ability to handle an US Navy ship in a “hot” war situation. To make a long story short the new CO took over the ship pierside in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf before the ship sailed into the northern Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm, and shortly thereafter the new CO gave a speech to the crew that was similar to the speech given by the character played by Gregory Peck in the movie Twelve O’Clock High when Peck’s character took over an American airplane squadron based in England during World War II.

Needless to say the CHS members’ ship performed very well in Operation Desert Storm and both of them fervently believe that it was the leadership of the new Commanding Officer that turned a ship and crew that was apprehensive about going into a “hot” warzone with their old CO into a well-functioning and high-performing military organization that ended up saving not only themselves from harm’s way but a Helluva lot of other people as well during their 6+ month deployment to the Persian Gulf in 1991.

Relating all of the above the situations at Tennessee and LSU right now should be obvious…but if it’s not…one should understand is that the Tennessee and LSU football programs are cracking…cracking from the inside because the players and some of the coaches do not believe in the head coaches Butch Jones and Ed Orgeron who have through their actions, behavior, and words committed many self-inflicted wounds that are destroying those two football programs….and if those two coaches do not recognize their mistakes and change course soon they will both be out of a job…and soon!

If you want to watch the entire movie Twelve O’Clock High it has been posted on YouTube.com by someone and it is below….it is one Helluva Great Movie about LEADERSHIP in a very trying and tough situation that most of all can teach people and potential leaders about when Put In Command…Take Command!

Let’s get to the 2017 Post Week 5 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings which means let’s bring out the Great Johnny Cash to show these Hot Seat Coaches what they are in the middle of…not that these Hot Seat coaches don’t already know mind you!

Thank You Johnny!

1.  Butch Jones, Tennessee – If there is someone that can explain to us how a head coach at Tennessee in his 5 th year in Knoxville can let his team get its ass whipped in Neyland Stadium by the score of 41 – 0 by a coach at Georgia in this 2 nd season on the job please by all means step your ass forward and let us hear what you have to say!

The Bottom-Line is there is NO explanation for that ass whipping the Georgia Bulldogs gave to the Vols on Saturday and that goes right to the point we made above about how the Tennessee football program is now coming apart from the inside with a head coach that is cracking-up under the pressure of coaching in the SEC and no doubt Vols players are now unsure just who in the Hell is leading them and just where in the Hell he is trying to take them!

Just imagine for a moment if Tennessee had not caused that late fumble against Georgia Tech when the Yellowjackets were going in to score and put away the game….Hell….if the Vols had lost to Tech they would not be at 2 – 3 with only wins over…

Indiana State
And
UMass in a close one!

From where we sit the problems at Tennessee right now are two-fold…

A.  Butch Jones hasn’t a Damn Clue what he wants to do on offense with the Vols and the Tennessee quarterbacks are a severe limiting factor for this team since it is obvious they are getting NO real coaching on how to play quarterback in the SEC…which is something that a talent like Joshua Dobbs was able to cover-up for a few years but which is now a lack of coaching at the QB position that is nothing but a Total Disaster for UT.

B.  The players are starting to question the LEADERSHIP of the Vols football program meaning Butch Jones and if he really knows what the Hell he is doing and that little tirade last week in front of the media…which no doubt EVERY Tennessee player took note of…did nothing but further undermine those players doubts about Jones which in our opinion led to the lackluster..some at Coaches Hot Seat called it “lack of effort” play by the Vols against Georgia.

The reality is that you just can’t get whipped 41 – 0 on your home field by a rival like Georgia in your 5 th year on the job and that is why with these games left to play….

South Carolina
At Alabama
At Kentucky
Southern Miss
At Missouri
LSU
Vanderbilt

….anything more than losing ONE more game and Butch Jones is DONE at Tennessee…Hell he might already be done at Tennessee!

Memo to Butch Jones:  Coach…if you think handling the media in Knoxville is tough Son while making $4+ million dollars a year coaching football on a college campus where your Precious Ass is very Damn safe we would invite you to join the US Military like many at Coaches Hot Seat did and make $3K a month while serving in combat zones and you would quickly find that your ass is living in a Damn Fantasyland. Either toughen your ass up Butch Jones or resign because right now you are a Damn embarrassment to not only the game of football but ALL American Men!

2.  Ed Orgeron, LSU – We wrote in this blog before the season that our LSU-alum friends in the New Orleans area were getting reports from Baton Rouge that the Ed Orgeron regime at LSU was already showing some cracks with Coach O’s personality starting to change as the immensity of the pressure facing him became reality as the 2017 season approached. No doubt, our LSU-alum friends knew what the Hell they were talking about back in the Summer and now they tell us that whatever we can imagine about what is going on inside the LSU program it is much worse than our wildest dreams…make that nightmares for LSU Football fans!

We are going to leave out of this blog 95% of what our LSU-alum friends passed along to us on this Sunday, but we will say that much like at Tennessee the LSU players and some of the coaches have a SERIOUS Crisis of Confidence situation going on with the leadership of Coach O and others in the LSU Athletic Department and let’s go there for a moment.

Assume for a second that you are the Athletic Director at LSU last year and after trying to make a deal to bring Tom Herman to Baton Rouge to coach the Tigers you then turn to Ed Orgeron to coach LSU who has NEVER been a coordinator on any level of college football in his coaching career. Now…a few of us at Coaches Hot Seat first met Coach O 15+ years ago when he was working as a DL coach for Pete Carroll at USC and we love the guy….but now if the LSU Athletic Department had asked Coaches Hot Seat to come up with a list of 100 coaches to coach LSU in the aftermath of the firing of Les Miles the TRUTH is….

Ed Orgeron would not have been among the 100 coaches on that list.

OK…let’s put aside that two times LSU AD Joe Alleva basically tried to hire one coach….Jimbo Fisher in 2015 and Tom Herman in 2016…and then gave his Sorry Ass up and did the easiest thing he could do which was keep Les Miles and hire Coach O. Now let’s look at last year and you come the decision to hire Coach O who has NO offers from other schools to be a head coach or even a coordinator and you as the AD give Coach O a contract that has led to a coach who had no other decent offers to now having a…

$12 Million Dollar Buyout!

Got Joe Alleva is one of the Stupidest Damn Humans on the Earth?

Good then you have the TRUTH!

OK…let’s assume that YOU were the AD at LSU and you stupidly decided to hire Coach O what would anyone with a working brain be thinking after deciding to hire a coach that was not in demand by any other schools?

Of course YOU as someone with a working brain…THINK not the current LSU AD, LSU President or LSU Board of Trustees…you would have said something like the following to Coach O:

“We are going to hire you Coach O and pay you the market rate in the SEC Conference of $3.5 to $4 million dollars a year….BUT….we are only going to give you a $1 million dollar buyout so that if things don’t work out…and let’s be honest here they did not work out the last time you were a head coach at Ole Miss….LSU will be protected. I have a 5 year contract for you with the first year guaranteed and a $1 million dollar buyout at ANYTIME for LSU if fired and you can either take it or leave it Coach O. So what will it be?”

Of course, LSU AD Joe Alleva who is someone we would not hire to wash our cars or shovel shit in West Texas and who happens to be according to our LSU-alum friends….

One of the Most Pompous Arrogant Asses alive on the Earth

….did not do the above because Joe Alleva is simply….A Damn Moron who would be lucky to be shoveling shit in West Texas if he was not working in athletic administration and that applies to ALL these other ADs in collegiate athletics that have given fully guaranteed contracts to their head football coaches when it is the AD who has the Job and thus ALL the Power to dictate the terms of the contract for the coach which is….take it or leave it!

Getting back to the situation at LSU and Ed Orgeron…LSU is now 3 – 2 on the season with TWO wins over FBS teams in BYU and Syracuse who have a combined record in 2017 of…

3 – 7

….and the Tigers still have to play this season:

At Florida
Auburn
At Ole Miss
At Alabama
Arkansas
At Tennessee
Texas A&M

That looks like 5…maybe 6 wins…for LSU in 2017 when playing a schedule that includes only ONE team….Alabama…that has more talent than the Tigers even though a Helluva lot of people in Baton Rouge are crying like Damn babies and making excuses for what is going wrong on a “lack of talent” at LSU to which we say…

Quit crying like Damn babies and making excuses and coach your Damn team Coach O and if you can’t handle the LSU head coaching job and managing the lives and activities of 100+ Tiger players then resign before you DESTROY the LSU football program!

As for LSU AD Joe Alleva…how does this Sorry Damn Bastard and Pompous Arrogant Ass still have a job at LSU?

Oh…he’s working for people….the LSU President and LSU Board of Trustees….that are stupider than Alleva!

3.  Todd Graham, Arizona State – Arizona State put up a good fight against Stanford on Saturday but another LOSS is another LOSS and Todd Graham in 6 seasons at ASU has posted records of…

Overall:  41 – 29

Pac-12:  26 – 21

….and Graham’s record against Power 5 Conference Teams in the last 6 seasons now stands at:

31 – 28

….which is AVERAGE at best and the above records are exactly why Todd Graham is on the Hot Seat and needing 8 wins or 7 wins that includes a win over Arizona at a minimum to return as the Sun Devils in 2018.

Here is what Arizona State had left to play in 2017 with a record of 2 – 3 now:

Washington
At Utah
USC
Colorado
At UCLA
At Oregon State
Arizona

If Arizona State plays the way they played against Oregon and Stanford they have a CHANCE to win 7 or 8 games in 2017…But Frankly…we would be STUNNED if Arizona State won 7+ games in 2017 and if they don’t get at least 7 wins…

The Todd Graham-Era is Over in Tempe!

4.  Mark Whipple, UMass – Mark Whipple’s UMass team has put up good fights the last two weeks against Tennessee and Ohio but with another loss Whipple’s record since returning to coach the Minuteman in 2014 now stands at…

8 – 28

No…that’s not good and why Mark Whipple finds himself on the Hot Seat at 0 – 6 on the season with these games still to be played:

Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
At Mississippi State
Maine
At BYU
At FIU

That looks like TWO wins for UMass in 2017 and probably a head coaching change for the Minuteman come December and maybe the folks at UMass should think about going back to the FCS level of football where they would probably be a powerhouse FCS program!

5.  Bret Bielema, Arkansas – Bret Bielema and Arkansas got their MUST WIN Game or the Freaking Universe would have ended in Arkansas with a loss against New Mexico State on Saturday and now it’s back to Big Boy Football for the 2 – 2 Hogs who have these games left on the board:

At South Carolina
At Alabama
Auburn
At Ole Miss
Coastal Carolina
At LSU
Mississippi State
Missouri

Can Arkansas even get to 6 wins in 2017 in Bielema’s FIFTH year as the head coach of the Hogs?

We don’t see it which reminds us to remind everyone of Bret Bielema’s records at Arkansas in his FIVE years at the school:

Overall:  27 – 28

SEC:  10 – 23

Oh…below is Bret Bielema’s record against Power 5 Conference Schools in the last 5 years at Arkansas:

13 – 28

Oh…by the end of 2017 Arkansas will have ALREADY paid Bret Bielema…

$20+ Million Dollars

…and if they fired him in December they would own him an additional…

$15+ Million Dollars

That’s $35 Million Dollars for a coach that has a…

13 – 28

…record against Power 5 Conference Schools and…

10 – 23

…record in SEC Conference play!

Hell…Arkansas AD Jeff Long might just be Stupider than Joe Alleva and Alleva is one of the Stupidest Damn People alive on the Earth at this moment!

6.  David Beaty, Kansas – Kansas had a bye in Week 5 but head coach David Beaty’s records at Kansas now stand at…

Overall:  3 – 25

Big 12:  1 – 18

…and YES Beaty has a buyout at Kansas that is….

$3 Million Dollars

…if fired and looking at the rest of KU’s schedule do you see any more wins for the Jayhawks in 2017?

Texas Tech
At Iowa State
At TCU
Kansas State
Baylor
At Texas
Oklahoma
At Oklahoma State

Hell…if Kansas can’t beat Baylor they will not win another game in 2017 BUT everything is fine with the Kansas football program….right?

NOT!

Try 4 wins in 3 seasons…even at Kansas…is nothing short of a Total Freaking Disaster and if you don’t believe that realize that in 2.5 years at Kansas Charlie Freaking Weis won…

6 games!

7.  Barry Odom, Missouri – Barry Odom and Missouri had a bye in Week 5 and the 1 – 3 Tigers with only a win over Missouri State get back at it in Week 6 playing…

At Kentucky

…and if Missouri can’t beat Kentucky we rather doubt they will win a SEC Conference Game in 2017 playing the below remaining schedule:

At Kentucky
At Georgia
Idaho
At UConn
Florida
Tennessee
At Vanderbilt
At Arkansas

Hell…can Missouri beat Idaho and UConn? OK…let’s assume Mizzou beats Idaho and UConn that will be THREE wins in 2017 that will be ONE less win than the Tigers won in 2016 in Odom’s first year on the job!

Just for the record here’s our theory on firing college head football coaches or ANYONE in ANY position in ANY line of work….

You can either do the job or you can’t and usually within 90 days or at the most 1 year we know if you can do the job or not and certainly in 2 years ANY Athletic Director would know if his head football coach can do the job or not and if it’s a NO there’s no Damn reason to waste any more time waiting on that coach to figure out how to do a job he should have known how to do on Day One!

8.  Mike Riley, Nebraska – We checked in again with our Nebraska-alum friends today (Sunday) in the Great State of Nebraska and they tell us that Mike Riley still has a chance to coach the Huskers in 2018 IF he can keep things rolling and one them even offered up the following:

“I think if Riley wins all his remaining games except one which would mean a 9 – 3 record he will be the head coach at Nebraska next season…Heck…he might even be able to squeak by with an 8 – 4 record and keep his job if none of the losses are blowouts. Nothing wrong with giving Mike Riley one more season if he wins 8 games with no embarrassing losses because that gives Scott Frost another year to hone his craft down in Orlando.”

OK…let’s see what Nebraska has left on their schedule now at 3 – 2 on the season:

Wisconsin
Ohio State
At Purdue
Northwestern
At Minnesota
At Penn State
Iowa

Can the Huskers go 5 – 2 the rest of way in 2017?

Not likely in our opinion but therein lies the Opportunity To Go Do Something Coach Riley and Great Luck To You Coach!

9.  Jim Mora, UCLA – Clearly Jim Mora got a lot of effort from the Bruins in the Rose Bowl on Saturday night in beating Colorado which is an OK but certainly not Very Good or Great Buffs team and now the 3 – 2 Bruins need to keep things rolling with these games still to be played:

At Arizona
Oregon
At Washington
At Utah
Arizona State
At USC
California

Damn….that looks like a record of….

5 – 7
OR
6 – 6
OR
7 – 5

…in Jim Mora’s 6 th year at UCLA which isn’t anything much at all….even at UCLA!

10.  Steve Addazio, Boston College – Steve Addazio and his BC team beat Central Michigan on Saturday to raise their record in 2017 to…

2 – 3

…and Addazio’s records at BC to…

Overall:  26 – 30

ACC:  11 – 23

…which is Beyond A Joke even at Boston College and the Eagles still have to play in 2017 games against…

Virginia Tech
At Louisville
At Virginia
Florida State
NC State
UConn
At Syracuse

Got 3, 4 or at the most 5 wins or Boston College in 2017 which is Steve Addazio’s FIFTH year the school?

Beyond A Joke BC!