COACHES HOT SEAT BLOG

 

A member of Coaches Hot Seat is down in LA, otherwise known here at CHS as a place where you can pull off on almost any road in the area and get a bag of marshmallows roasted with ease, this week on business and he dropped by USC to see if he could figure out the Trojan QB depth chart.  Earlier this week the great LA columnist TJ Simers pretty much laid out the facts (The truth is out there for USC fans, if they can handle it) of what we have been wondering here at Coaches Hot Seat about the disappearance of backup QB Mitch Mustain, and our guy on the scene thought he would look into this matter as well. 

 

After checking out some incredible co-eds, getting some lunch with some future doctors and generally wasting a lot of time on the USC campus, our CHS member went “Jim Rockford” and was able to come up with the following USC QB depth chart, which we believe explains a whole Hellava lot about what is really going on in Trojanland!

 

The Real USC QB Depth Chart

 

1.  Matt Barkley

2.  Aaron Corp

3.  Joe McKnight

4.  John Manaoogian

5.  Stafon Johnson

6.  Garrett Green

7.  Taylor Mays

8.  Damian Williams

9.  Stanley Havili

10.  Jeff Byers

11.  Brennan Carroll

12.  Ken Norton Jr.

13.  Surfer Dude # 1 (that Pete met at the beach)

14.  That old mangy dog that comes to practice sometimes

15.  Surfer Dude # 2 (that gave Pete some rad advice about surfing)

16.  Blonde USC Cheerleader (The one with the great arm!)

17.  Surfer Dude # 3 (the one that lent Pete 5 bucks for a hot dog at the beach)

18.  Will Farrell

19.  John C. Reilly

20.  Ben Stiller

21.  Owen Wilson

22.  Jerry Stiller

23.  Snoop Dogg

24.  Vince Vaughn

25.  Ryan Seacrest

26.  Ellen DeGeneres

27.  Simon Cowell

28.  Barbara Streisand

29.  Surfer Dude #4 (Sold Pete his wave board a few years back)

30.  Larry David

31.  Jason Alexander

32.  Julie Louis Dreyfus

……….and finally…..

33.  Mitch Mustain*

 

*Mitch Mustain can play QB for USC but he can only turn around and hand the ball off to a running back and then get the Hell out of the way.  Mitch Mustain cannot roll out or throw the ball down the field because if Mustain has any success and leads USC to a win Pete Carroll will have been wrong and the No. 1 Maxim at USC is….PETE CARROLL IS NEVER WRONG!

 

The saddest thing in recent years is that Pete Carroll has come to believe everything that has been written about him in the media and he has removed anyone at USC that would dare directly challenge the Great Pete Carroll, which has left a bunch of folks at Heritage Hall that blow a lot of smoke up Carroll’s ass, but wouldn’t dare ever question him.

 

That set-up is a big mistake Pete, a very big mistake that will bring down the USC football dynasty if you let it.

 

USC has Washington State this Saturday in the Coliseum with the Trojans somewhere around 45 point favorites which means the Coaches Hot Seat Flag Football team would be at least a 2-touchdown favorite over the Cougs.  Even with the “old mangy dog that comes to practice sometimes” starting at QB the Trojans would win by 30, so with freshman Matt Barkley under center this game should be over at halftime. 

 

After Washington State, USC travels to play Cal in Berkeley and that is when will find out just where this USC football program stands and if the choices that Pete Carroll has made are right or wrong…. 

 

Oh, that’s right Pete Carroll is NEVER WRONG!   Yes, the Fonzie of College Football Coaches! 

 

Week 4 MUST WIN Games for Coaches and Teams

 

8 Coaches with MUST WIN Games in Week 4

 

1.  Pat Hill, Fresno State – Pat Hill has done a very solid job in his 13 years at Fresno State but there seem to be some issues between Hill and the Fresno athletic administration and that dissension plus a 1-2 start to the ’09 season has put Hill on the Hot Seat.  When you’re on the Hot Seat the last thing you want to have is a road trip to Cincinnati but that is what faces Hill and his Bulldogs and it will take a gargantuan effort for Fresno State to pull off this upset.  Fresno State’s traditional strength, a physical style of play, won’t do much for them against Cincinnati since the Bearcats tend to go around and over opponents and don’t tend to spend a lot of time worrying about the battle at the line of scrimmage.  If we were Pat Hill we would work like Hell to get to the Cincinnati QB and then attack all over the field against the UC defense when we had the ball.  Cincinnati is going to get their points, probably at least 30 in this game, and Fresno State should focus on making sure they keep up with the Bearcats and try to win a shootout.  For all but very best teams in college football, the only way to beat Brian Kelly’s Cincinnati team is to outscore them and that is why Hill and his Bulldogs must do if they hope to win this game.

 

 

2.  Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech – It doesn’t matter what Paul Johnson says about his offense, the whispers have begun again that his spread-option attack will not work at the I-A level and the LSU bowl game from last year and the Miami game from a week ago are offered as evidence for an argument that must worry the folks in Atlanta.  If the Georgia Tech O-line is not going to be block anyone on about 50 percent of the plays and the Yellow Jackets cannot pass the ball then every defense left on Tech’s schedule is just going to load up the line of scrimmage and blow up every option play by sending players upfield to stop the option before it even has a chance to get going.  The spread-option can work at the I-A level, but only if the team running it has an offensive line that doesn’t mind getting their shirts dirty, which is not the case with the particular group of Engineers on the Tech OL this year.  Maybe Paul Johnson has fixed the problems that have cropped up in the last few Tech games, but if the OL doesn’t block, it doesn’t really matter what Paul Johnson does because if his team won’t block and tackle they might as well just cross the Interstate and get some chili dogs, fries and a Coke at The Varsity and watch the games on TV.

 

 

3.  George O’Leary, UCF – George O’Leary and his UCF team got a much needed win over Buffalo in Week 3 but the Golden Knights 2009 schedule is unrelenting as they have to go on the road this week to play C-USA member East Carolina.  Still left for UCF in ’09 is Miami in Week 6 and a trip to Austin to the play the Texas Longhorns in Week 9, which means this week’s game against East Carolina is a MUST WIN.  O’Leary is 28-37 (.431) in his sixth season at UCF and with the amount of money that is being spent on football in Orlando the expectations for regular winning seasons and bowl games is not going to go away.  O’Leary MUST find a way to get UCF to at least 6 wins and a bowl game in ’09 or his job status will be teetering come December.

 

 

4.  Tom O’Brien, NC State – After losing to South Carolina at home in the season opener, O’Brien’s Wolfpack team beat two next-to-nothing teams in Murray State and Gardner Webb, but they make their return to big-time football this week with Pitt visiting Raleigh.  O’Brien is 13-15 in his third year at NC State and the natives are getting restless for the kind of winning football that O’Brien’s teams played at Boston College and a good place to start would be a home win over Pitt to get this ball rolling.  A loss to Pitt at home and NC State would drop to 0-2 vs. real football teams in ’09 and the Wolfpack still have the entire ACC schedule ahead of them.  To keep the Pack fans at bay, Tom O’Brien really, really needs a win over Pitt in this spot.  A loss and the kind of questions that Tom O’Brien would never want to hear will start to be asked, but a win and the Pack will have made a statement that they are ready for the rest of the ’09 slate. 

 

 

5.  Ralph Friedgen, Maryland – There have been some strange things coming out of College Park this week with Friedgen questioning some of his own coaching decisions in getting his team prepared for the ’09 season.  That the head football coach at Maryland is questioning his coaching decisions is concerning enough, but what Friedgen did or did not do with his football team in the preseason is not the problem with Maryland right now.  The problems with the Terps at this moment is that they are both unmotivated to play hard for their school, coach and themselves, and they are also not getting the kind of coaching they need to get them ready to win football games.  There has been a clear lack of effort by Maryland in ’09 but there has also been many plays where players have been out of position and both of those problems goes straight to the Terp coaching staff.  Whatever the problems, it is Ralph Friedgen’s responsibility to have his team ready to play and this Maryland team had better damn be ready to play Rutgers at home this week.  A loss to the Scarlett Knight and Maryland drops to 1-3 and that will make a .500 record a very difficult thing to achieve in ‘09 and anything less than a .500 record and a bowl trip this season will lead to head coaching change at UM come December.

 

 

6.  Mike Sherman, Texas A&M – Mike Sherman and his Aggies continue their preseason schedule with UAB on Saturday, but after the Blazers visit College Station, A&M has Arkansas in Dallas, Oklahoma State at home, Kansas State on the road and Texas Tech at on the road, which means that A&M cannot lose to UAB on Saturday.  UAB has a very good QB and they have the ability to score some points and the one thing that Mike Sherman cannot have is a home loss to a team that is 7-20 over the last three seasons.  UAB is MUST WIN for Mike Sherman and A&M.  Lose to UAB and the Aggie faithful are not going to be happy and we wouldn’t want to take an A&M team to play in Dallas in front of a lot of pissed off Aggies.  Beat UAB Sherman or trouble ahead…..

 

 

7.  Lane Kiffin, Tennessee – After the Florida Gators let Lane Kiffin pop them with a haymaker and get away with it, Kiffin and his arrogance is now emboldened and as everyone knows from their school days when you let a bully get away with something once he will do it over and over again until someone lays the law down.  Since no one in the SEC has yet stepped up and popped the bully for his behavior, Kiffin goes out of conference this week to play Ohio at home in Knoxville and this is really a game that Kiffin and Company cannot afford to lose.  Of course, if Kiffin and the Vols lose to Ohio at home, the Tennessee faithful will start to wonder just what the Hell is going on and if Al Davis was right!  There’s no way that Kiffin and Tennessee could lose to 23 point underdog Ohio at home could they?  If they do, we would recommend that Tennessee not let Kiffin go the postseason press conference, because that could be mighty unpleasant for a guy that will accuse and blame everyone for his own mistakes……except himself.  That’s just our recollection of what Kiffin did when he was with the Raiders, blame everyone else, but not himself, but that was a different Lane Kiffin wasn’t it…….Right….

 

 

8.  Charlie Weis, Notre Dame – In his fifth season at Notre Dame Charlie Weis is 31 – 22 (.585) so it was little wonder that the folks making decisions in South Bend have laid down the requirement that the Irish “be in the BCS conversation each year,” because to not do so would be to say that Notre Dame football no longer existed.  Charlie Weis’ career at Notre Dame now rides on every game, as it should for someone that has been teetering since the last game of the ’06 season, and the Purdue game this week is yet another MUST WIN for the Irish.  A loss to a 1-2 Purdue team, whose best win is over Toledo, would be devastating to Charlie Weis because it would raise the central question that has been asked about Weis since he arrived in South Bend:

 

“Is Charlie Weis really a head football coach or is he just a playcaller?”

 

Very simply, Charlie Weis cannot afford to lose to Purdue, but if he does we would recommend one of those full body fire suits that are used by those folks that put out oil well fires, because the heat on Charlie will rival anything in the Solar System save the Sun itself! 

 

Notre Dame is a 7 point favorite over a Purdue team that has a new head coach and only won 4 games in 2008.  Please, if Notre Dame is still Notre Dame this should not even be a game….

 

 

Paul Newman

 

We are almost a year removed from the death of the Great Paul Newman who passed on September 26, 2008 (Interestingly, Paul Newman was born on September 26 in 1925).  Coaches Hot Seat gathered tonight to watch the Mississippi – South Carolina game and with New York Strip and baked potatoes we all drank several bottles of Newman’s Own wine.  A couple of years back Paul Newman partnered with Three Thieves Winery in St. Helena, California (a terrific town in the north end of the Napa Valley) to bottle a few different varieties of Newman’s Own Wine and we opened up several bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay tonight for dinner, the football game and of course to watch the one of Mr. Newman’s great many movies on the large flat screen: 

 

Slap Shot

 

 

 

Tomorrow Night we will gather with our family and older kids to watch:

 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid  (Did this movie really premier 40 years ago?  Wow!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

There never will be another Paul Newman…a true American original

 

 

 

 

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