COACHES HOT SEAT BLOG

Wow!  Anyone that doubts how good of a football coach that Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly is then just watch a replay of that USF game last night where he again lost a starting QB but still put away a very good Bulls team.  If you want to know why Brian Kelly has been able to put up an overall record of 165-57-2 (.737) and a record of 27-3 (.819) at Cincinnati look no further than how hard Kelly coaches his players during the game and the high standards he expects of them both on and off the football field.  Anyone that has seen Brian Kelly’s team at Cincinnati play or practice in person knows that they are a very well coached football team and on a neutral field we would give the Bearcats a decent chance to beat any team in the country.

Of course, the BCS Lovers are already debating among themselves which 5 or 6 teams should have the “right” to play in a bogus BCS title game, while Cincinnati, Boise State, TCU and other teams keep playing very good football but are left on the outside looking in because a bunch of Candy Ass elitists deem it so.  No, that is not America and once this BCS is put on trash heap of history where it belongs (the BCS Boys must really be hoping that a federal grand jury is not taking testimony right now in secret on whether the BCS Boys have created a criminal conspiracy to restrict competition in major college football.  Oh, keep hoping boys, because you will only learn about a federal grand jury investigating your sorry asses, if it is happening, when you are arrested in your offices in the future.  Yes, if you are involved in this bogus BCS you might have violated US law, and that includes college and university presidents that have defended and promoted this bogus BCS.  You see bastards, it is illegal to restrict competition in America, but then what would a bunch of Candy Asses know about competition?  Answer:  NOTHING!) we will be able to adapt the same system that is used in every sport in collegiate athletics, a postseason playoff tournament.  Keep yakking media boys about total bullshit, because we know you have been told to shut up and to not dare utter the world “playoff” while on TV, but don’t start saying that you were always for a playoff once these BCS Boys are put in their place.  No, sure the Hell don’t start claiming that, because we will call BULLSHIT on that in a Texas State Fair minute!  “Could I get three corny dogs please?  Yes, three corny dogs and they are all for me!”  

Yes, we give a lot of credit to Brian Kelly for doing a great job at Cincinnati and we also give credit to the ESPN announcing crew last night (see below) for both calling a good game between Cincinnati and USF and also not spending every free moment talking about the BCS (see Rece “I love the sound of Denny Chimes in the morning” Davis and Lou “Call me doctor, but don’t call me Podiatrist” Holtz). 

 Yes, the ESPN announcing crew last night….

Chris “You know this BCS ain’t so bad….What did I just say?  Maybe all of that time I spent on Pearl Street when I was at Colorado may finally be hitting home.  Quick, someone get me a corny dog so I can get this BCS taste out of my mouth!” Fowler

Jesse “Has anyone seen my comb?  Craig James:  Why?  Palmer:  There is this hot blonde down at the concession stand that told me I have a great looking ass and we are meeting for drinks later tonight.  Craig James:  Did she really say that?  Palmer:   No, but she was thinking it!” Palmer

Craig “A stranger from California is coming out of Sonny’s Smokehouse Barbeque on the west side of Dallas (near the Texas School Depository) and James walks up to the stranger.  Craig James (wearing cowboy boots, cowboy hat and has a hayseed in his mouth):  Hey there partner, call me Little Joe Cartwright if you like, but I bet you could use a truckload of hay.  Am I right or not?  Stranger:  Little Joe is it?  I live in San Francisco, what in the Hell would I do with a truckload of hay there?  Craig James:  I have a truck that is being loaded right now up on the North 40, so what will be……a half or full truck?  Of course, there will be some extra cost to get that hay to the west coast.  Stranger looks at James:  You know, I may be able to use that hay.  Just send it to the Ponderosa Ranch, Incline Village, Nevada.  Craig James:  Ponderosa?  Isn’t that where they filmed Bonanza?  Stranger:  Yes, and I will let Ben, Adam, Hoss, Little Joe and Hopsing know that a load of hay is on the way.  Craig James:  Maybe we should do cash on the barrelhead before we ship this load of hay out.  Stranger:  Maybe if you just give me your autograph on this SMU hat I then will be able to get Eric Dickerson to sign it and it will then really be worth something!”  Craig James:  OK, give me the hat, now was that cash or cashiers check for the hay?” James

Actually, Fowler, James and Palmer have become one of the best announcing crews in college football and Fowler starting a few years ago with no play-by-play experience has become very good at his job and rivals the very good work he does on College GameDay each Saturday.  As for Herbstreit………………..just kidding Herbie!

OK, let’s get to some real football conversation!

18 Coaches and Teams Facing MUST WING Games in Week 7

 Charlie Weis, Notre Dame – As Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald said in their 1980s hit…

 THIS IS IT!

 

Yes, that’s right Charlie Weis!  THIS IS IT!  Notre Dame and their head coach MUST BEAT USC on Saturday or Charlie Weis will more than likely find himself back with an NFL team come the 2010 football season.  Now at 33-22 (.600) over in his fifth year in South Bend, Weis has somewhere around 8 to 10 less wins than he should have at this point based upon the records of the most successful coaches in Notre Dame history and it really is time for Charlie Weis and his Irish to put or shut up, and we mean shut up for good!  Charlie Weis is 0-4 vs. Pete Carroll and the Trojans in those 4 losses have been outscored the Irish 124-58 and those two facts add up to the reality that Weis and Notre Dame have no more room to maneuver and must come through on Saturday or deal with the very unpleasant criticism that would come with another loss to USC.  Charlie Weis and the Irish have struggled against the easiest part of their schedule, but they have 4 wins on the board and with the standard at Notre Dame for Weis now “being in the BCS conversation,” Weis will more than likely need 10 wins in 2009 which means a loss to USC will leave no margin for error against the remaining teams on ND’s slate:  Boston College, Washington State, Navy, at Pitt, Connecticut, at Stanford. 

Yes, Charlie Weis….THIS IS IT!

Jeff Tedford, Cal – It’s not just that Cal has lost its first Pac-10 games in ’09, but how they lost those games, 42 – 3 loss to Oregon and a 30-3 beatdown by USC in Berkley.  Jeff Tedford is now 62-32 (.660) and is quickly slipping towards the “Mendoza line” for head coaches, which is anything below a .600 winning percentage, which will puts Tedford’s job status into question.  The bad start to the ’09 conference slate, Tedford’s overall record at Cal, and an unexplainable series of struggles in recent years after getting off to strong starts make this Saturday’s UCLA game a MUST WIN for Tedford and the Bears.  A loss to UCLA and Cal drops to 3-3 and 0-3 in the Pac-10  and they will have 6 Pac-10 games left and all of them but Washington State will be tough games to win.  Yes, beating UCLA is a MUST for Jeff Tedford.

Rick Neuheisel, UCLA – After the Oregon Ducks under a first year coach came in and whipped the Bruins in the Rose Bowl last week, Rick Neuheisel is now facing a very serious crossroads in his coaching career at his alma mater.  A loss to Cal and UCLA drops to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Pac-10 and they have trips to Arizona and Oregon State up next and those will be very difficult games for the Bruins to win.  There is a very real chance that Neuheisel could be facing his second straight losing season at UCLA if he doesn’t get this thing rolling soon in Westwood and another losing season would put Neuheisel squarely on the Hot Seat, a place he does not want to be with Pete Carroll across town still piling up wins and conference titles while the Bruins wallow around in the mud.  Cal is a MUST WIN for Rick Neuheisel and the Bruins and if you don’t believe that just lose this game and see what happens!

Tom O’Brien, NC State – Tom O’Brien returns to his former school on Saturday and we bet that O’Brien would have never believed that when he left the Eagles three years ago that he would have an overall record with his new Wolfpack team of 14-17 (.452) at this juncture.  With a trip to FSU up next, then Maryland, Clemson, at Virginia Tech and North Carolina to finish the ’09 season, Tom O’Brien and NC State really cannot afford another loss which would drop their record to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in the ACC and that is why beating BC is a MUST for Tom O’Brien.

Al Groh, Virginia – After 3 unexplainable losses to open the season and then 2 unexplainable wins to raise the Virginia record to 2-3, we haven’t a clue to which team of Al Groh’s will show up to play at Maryland on Saturday, but that is what makes all of this so much fun!  With Georgia Tech, Duke, at Miami, Boston College, at Clemson and Virginia Tech left on the ’09 Cavs schedule and Al Groh probably needing 6 wins to return for the 2010 season it looks like Maryland will be the pivotal game for UVA.  A loss to Maryland and Virginia drops to 2-4 and 1-1 in the ACC and they would need to win 4 of their last 6 games to keep Al Groh off the unemployment line and we don’t really see 4 wins for the Cavs out of what is left on their schedule.  Yes, Maryland is a MUST WIN for Al Groh and Virginia!

Ralph Friedgen, Maryland – Just like with Al Groh, Ralph Friedgen really cannot afford a loss on Saturday and when two Hot Seat coaches come up against each so early in the season it often leads to a Roman Coliseum-type fight to exhaustion and that is what we expect out of this game in College Park.  After a loss to Wake Forest last week, Ralph Friedgen’s Terps are 2-4 on the season and they have trips to Duke and NC State (not easy games anymore) and then Virginia Tech, at Florida State and Boston College left on the docket and out of the remaining 6 games Friedgen will probably need 4 wins to return in 2010.  Overall at Maryland, Ralph Friedgen is 66-40 (.623) in 9 seasons, but over his last 67 games he is 35-32 (.522) and that cannot be a record that makes anyone in College Park very happy.  We believe Friedgen needs 6 wins a bowl trip to return for the 2010 season and that means that Virginia is a MUST WIN football game.

Greg McMackin, Hawaii – Now at 9-10 in his second season at Hawaii, it looks to us that Warrior football program is spinning out of control after all the great work that June Jones did to put UH on the college football map, and that spinning out of control must be put at the feet of the head football coach, Greg McMackin.  June Jones was 75-41  (.647) in his 8 seasons at Hawaii, but Jones won 23 of his last 27 football games and now McMackin has lost 10 of his first 19 as the head coach with the Warriors and there is just no way in Hell that kind of record can be acceptable to anyone in Honolulu.  After starting the ’09 season at 2-3 McMackin and Hawaii traveling to play a suddenly tough Idaho team in one of the toughest place to play in the country at the Kibbie Dome this is all of the sudden look very troubling.  Greg McMackin and Hawaii really cannot afford to lose another football game because with Boise State, at Nevada, Utah State, New Mexico State, at San Jose State, Navy and Wisconsin, and we believe it will very difficult for the Warriors to win many of those games.  How many wins does Greg McMackin need to return in 2010?  We say at least 7 wins on a 13 game schedule which means Hawaii needs to win 5 of its last 8 games and a loss to Idaho would only make that task much more difficult.

Stan Parrish, Ball State – Now at 0-7, 1 loss in the bowl game last year and 6 losses in ’09, in his short career at Ball State, Stan Parrish is clearly now coaching for his job because we do not believe that the people at Ball State are going to just let all of the hard work of Brady Hoke to be frivolled away by a coach that has a career .250 winning percentage.  With Bowling Green at home this weekend and then at Eastern Michigan, Ohio, at Northern Illinois, Central Michigan and at Western Michigan, Stan Parrish REALLY, REALLY, REALLY needs to beat Bowling Green this Saturday or Ball State might start looking for a new head football coach at the end of the season.  Yes, Bowling Green is a MUST WIN for Stan Parrish.

Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville – With rumors swirling that Jon Gruden is headed for Louisville to replace Kragthorpe at season’s end (Gruden seems pretty happy on TV and even if he wanted into the college game would he really take the Louisville job?  We doubt it…) there is no time to rest as the Cardinals face a MUST WIN game on the road at UConn this week.  With a road trip at Cincinnati up next and then Arkansas State, at West Virginia, Syracuse, at South Florida and Rutgers to finish the season, Steve Kragthorpe needs to focus on one number and that number is 6 wins, because anything less than 6 wins in ’09 and Louisville will be hiring a new head coach come December.  With a loss at UConn, Louisville will drop to 2-4 on the season and that would mean they would have to win 4 of their last 6 games and that wouldn’t be easy if the Cardinals were playing good football, which they are not.  Yes, UConn is a MUST WIN for Steve Kragthorpe.

Dabo Swinney, Clemson – Dabo Swinney is now facing a critical game in his young coaching career as Wake Forest visits Clemson on Saturday.  Now at 6-6 since replacing Tommy Bowden during the middle of the ’08 season, the natives in Clemson are getting restless and Tiger fans have never been known for their patience.  With a trip to Miami, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, at NC State, Virginia, and at South Carolina left on the schedule it is not going to be easy for Clemson to get to 6 wins in 2009, but it will be especially hard if they lose to Wake Forest and drop to 2-4 on the season.  We doubt if Dabo Swinney would be fired if Clemson had a losing season in 2009, but Swinney would enter the 2010 season on the Hot Seat and would be facing a situation where possibly 8 wins would be necessary to return in 2011.

Mark Richt, Georgia – It’s hard to imagine that a coach with an overall record of 85-25 (.773), 4 trips to the SEC championship game and 2 SEC titles in 8 seasons on the job would be facing a MUST WIN game, but yes, Mark Richt is facing a MUST WIN game against Vanderbilt on Saturday.  After an ugly loss to Tennessee, Richt and the Bulldogs are 3-3 on the season and after Vanderbilt they have the Florida Gators, Tennessee Tech, Auburn, Kentucky, and then Georgia Tech in Atlanta and believe it or not there is a real chance that Georgia could have a losing season in 2009.  What has really gotten Richt into the semi-Hot Seat is the success of the Florida Gators under Urban Meyer (and how the Gators have dominated Georgia in recent years) and the rise of Saban at Alabama which makes what Richt has done lately look like nothing that great.  A loss to Vanderbilt and Mark Richt is going to have to answer again why he was not able to handle LSU at home, a very mediocre Tennessee team, and a Vandy team that has less than half the talent of the Bulldogs.  As for what is wrong at Georgia, it is clear to anyone with an IQ over the average temperature in San Francisco (about 70 degrees F) that the Bulldog defense has more holes in it than a spaghetti strainer.  If Coaches Hot Seat sitting in San Francisco, California can see about a half-a-dozen places where we could eat up the Georgia defense don’t you think that people that call offensive plays for a living can see even more?  Of course they can, and unless Mark Richt addresses the very serious problems with his defense he may very well find himself out of job, because there is only so much more that Georgia fans are going to take from the Gators and watching the rise of other teams in the SEC.  If Mark Richt loses to Vandy on Saturday, he will be on the Hot Seat come Sunday!

Tommy West, Memphis – After a much needed win over UTEP last Saturday things don’t get any easier for Tommy West and Memphis as they travel to play at Southern Miss in another MUST WIN game.  At 2-4 on the ‘09 season and with an overall record of 49-55 (.471) at Memphis, it is time for Tommy West to either perform or he will be looking for a new job come December, which really makes this Southern Miss game a BIG one.  We believe Tommy West needs 6 wins in ’09 to return in 2010 and Memphis has East Carolina, at Tennessee, UAB, at Houston, and at Tulsa left after the Golden Eagles and we really don’t see any way that the Tigers can get to those 6 wins if they don’t beat USM on Saturday.  Yes, Southern Miss is a MUST WIN for Tommy West!

Mike Sherman, Texas A&M – As we said earlier this week in the CHS Blog, Mike Sherman is 7-10 at A&M and up to this point he has not beaten a team with a winner record the year that he played them.  That means that Mike Sherman has not yet beat a legitimate football team yet and now the Aggies head on the road to play a Kansas State team that hasn’t beat a team in Bill Snyder’s first year back with the Wildcats.  What should make this Kansas State game very scary for Mike Sherman is that the Wildcats have lost 10 of their last 18 games and if Sherman and his Aggies can’t win this game we have to wonder if they can beat any legitimate football team.  Now at 3-2 and at Kansas State, at Texas Tech, Iowa State, at Colorado, at Oklahoma, Baylor, and at Texas left on the A&M schedule we think that it will be very hard for the Aggies to get to 6 wins if they do lose to Kansas State and can Texas A&M really keep on a coach that puts up losing seasons in his first two years on the job?  If A&M can, then Texas A&M football is finished and the Aggie fans, alumni and boosters just need to put away all of their Texas A&M stuff in the attic and resign themselves to the fact that they have people in College Station that not only accept losing, the celebrate it!  What Texas A&M needs is a Paul “Bear” Bryant type character running their football team, but they have instead the character played by Fred MacMurray in the Absent-Minded Professor running the show! 

Mike Sherman = Professor Ned Brainard, Absent-Minded Professor?

 

Thank goodness Coach Bryant isn’t around to see this mess because they have turned a school that used to be known for Junction into a place where the Aggie crowd is now tougher than the football team!

Ron Zook, Illinois – Now at 19-34 (.358) in his fifth season at Illinois, Ron Zook is facing a serious challenge that he must face head on if he hopes to a head football coach in college into the future.  At 1-4 on the season, Illinois really cannot afford a loss at Indiana because that would almost ensure a losing season in 2009 and that would be Zook’s second straight losing season in Champaign.  It is not clear to us if Zook would be fired if the Illini had a losing season in ’09, but we do know that the pressure is already building on Zook to get this turned around because there is a feeling that this entire football program is spiraling out of control.  With a trip to Purdue, Michigan, at Minnesota, Northwestern, at Cincinnati and Fresno State to end the season we cannot imagine the Illini getting to 6 wins if they lose to Indiana and that makes a win against the Hoosiers a MUST for Zook and Company.

Dan Hawkins, Colorado – There is just no getting around the fact that Dan Hawkins record at Colorado is 14-28 (.333) in 4 years on the job and there is just no getting around the fact that Hawkins record would not and should not be acceptable at any school in I-A football.  Why Hawkins has not done better at Colorado is somewhat of a mystery, but when we watch CU we don’t see a whole lot of very good football players, especially compared to Colorado teams of past.  The Buffs looks very slow to us, they don’t seem to play very physical along the offensive and defensive lines, the defense has several breakdowns in almost every game and the offense…..well, we don’t know what the Hell the CU offense is supposed to be doing.  With the QB soap opera looking like it will continue for at least another week in Boulder we haven’t a clue to what kind of Colorado team will show up this week vs. Kansas, but if CU doesn’t show up they will get beat again.  After Kansas, Colorado has a trip to Kansas State, Missouri, Texas A&M, at Iowa State, at Oklahoma State and then Nebraska at home and we are finding it very hard to believe that there is any way in Hell that CU gets to 6 wins in 2009.  Would Dan Hawkins be fired if he doesn’t get to 6 wins in 2009?  We doubt if Hawkins would be fired if he lost every game remaining on the Colorado schedule because we rather doubt if it matters at all to the folks in Boulder if they have a winning football program or not.  Hey, we lost again, let’s go to Pearl Street and Party!  Such is the life in Boulder, Colorado!

George O’Leary, UCF – After a big win over Memphis, George O’Leary now has another big game with the Miami Hurricanes coming to town and it can’t be a good feeling that beating the Canes is a MUST WIN.  George O’Leary is 29-38 (.433) in eight seasons at UCF, but he is coming off of a 4-8 record in 2008 and the Knights are 3-2 so far in ’09 and O’Leary really needs to get to 6 wins and to a bowl game to feel comfortable come December.  After Miami, UCF has a trip to Rice, Marshall, at Texas, Houston, Tulane and UAB so we do see some games that can be won on the Knights schedule but beating Miami would really give UCF a leg up as they enter a tough stretch of their schedule.  Beating Miami is not going to be easy, but it is a MUST WIN for George O’Leary and UCF!

Mike Sanford, UNLV – Now at 13-40 (.245) in his fifth season at UNLV and on a three game losing streak that has led to a 2-4 record for the Rebels in 2009, Mike Sanford has never needed a win more as Utah arrives in Las Vegas on Saturday.  Mike Sanford knows Utah well as he was a coordinator there under Urban Meyer and a loss to Utah in this spot would be a double-whammy of losing to Utah and putting Sanford’s coaching prospects into serious question and that is the reason that beating Utah is a MUST WIN.  This is very simple, Mike Sanford needs 6 wins in ’09 to keep his job and if he is able to get to 6 wins we will buy him a steak dinner and round of drinks at the Mandalay Bay Casino at the end of the season!  Hell, we might buy him a steak dinner and a round of drinks if he doesn’t get to six wins…  Get Mandalay Bay on the phone and see what their December rates are and tell them we want a room that a view of the pool!

Dennis Erickson, Arizona State – In his third year at Arizona State, Dennis Erickson is 18-12 (.600) which cannot be the kind of record that folks in Tempe thought Erickson would have achieved when they hired him away from Idaho.  ASU is 3-2 on the season after beating Idaho State, La. Monroe and Washington State (next to nobody) and now they enter the Pac-10 schedule with the Washington Huskies coming to town to play in a HUGE game for Erickson and the Sun Devils.  If Steve Sarkisian is able to bring his Washington team into Tempe and beat Arizona State in his first year on the job we think the folks at ASU will look around and ask themselves just what in the Hell has Erickson been doing for the last couple of seasons.  After Washington, ASU faces a trip to Stanford (tough game), California (tough game), USC (very tough game), at Oregon (very tough game), at UCLA (tough game), and Arizona (tough game) and we are starting to wonder if Erickson is going to put up his second straight losing season at Arizona State.  If Dennis Erickson does put up another losing season in ’09 we have to believe that his job will be in question come December and it should be because there is no excuse to win 10 games in the first year on the job and the put up two straight losing seasons.  There are way too many highly qualified head and assistant coaches out there for any program like Arizona State to accept losing football seasons and we have to think that not only is Erickson now on the Hot Seat he is now coaching for his job.  If ASU loses to Washington at home….WATCH OUT!

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