COACHES HOT SEAT BLOG

 

Before we get to the MUST WIN Games for Coaches and Teams in Week 3 let’s quickly recognize what today, Saturday, September 19, 2009.  Yes, it is Rosh Hashanah for our Jewish friends, but it also…

 

Lane Kiffin’s Day of Comeuppance

 

Dictionary.com defines Comeuppance as:

 

“A deserved reward or just deserts, usually unpleasant: “He finally got his comeuppance for his misbehavior.”

 

What a very appropriate term, COMEUPPANCE, for what Lane Kiffin deserves today against the Florida Gators.  Kiffin’s behavior and comments since arriving at Tennessee are just completely beyond the pale and Lane clearly needs to be taught a lesson.  How can a guy that has basically done nothing in his life make outrageous and over-the-top comments as Kiffin has done he took over the job at Tennessee, and then actually have people that we used to respect like Tennessee AD Mike Hamilton say that they approve of such behavior because it brings notoriety to UT?  Just unbelievable!  We have some news for Mike Hamilton, if you are actually teaching your children to behave the way that Lane Kiffin has behaved since he arrived at Tennessee then we have to wonder what the Hell has gotten into the water supply in Knoxville.  Any idiot can be a fool and a braggart, but a real idiot is someone that talks before he has ever done a damn thing in his life, and to that point any man or woman that has completed 8 weeks of basic training in the US armed forces has done more in his life than Lane Kiffin.  That is a fact Lane Kiffin and we wonder if Kiffin has spent a few years in the US military instead of being pushed up the coaching ladder by his Daddy’s friends wouldn’t have done this kid a world of good.  Watching Kiffin on ESPN this past week we know it would have done him a lot of good, because this guy just doesn’t have a clue to what the real world is really like.  8 weeks in boot camp, yes, that would have done a lot for Lane Kiffin.

 

Yet, the Kiffin stupidity continued during most of the offseason, encouraged along by Mike Hamilton and others at Tennessee that are either telling their own children to behave in a completely opposite way to the way Lane Kiffin behaves or they themselves are raising children that will act like idiots and brag about doing things before they have ever done a damn thing with their own lives.

 

How nice, but then we have come to expect this from Lane Kiffin, because those of us here in the San Francisco Bay area got an almost daily dose of Kiffin when he was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.  We can assure everyone, that Kiffin’s behavior at Tennessee has been consistent to the way he acted at Oakland, the only difference being that no one gives a damn about the Raiders.  Yes, we have seen this play before, and the last time around it ended very badly for all, and the folks at Tennessee better hope that the Second Act doesn’t turn out like the First or the Vols will have a hellava mess on their hands.

 

Yes, today is the day that the Eddie Haskell of college head coaches gets his Comeuppance, and just like Eddie Haskell the beating that Kiffin and the Vols should get today will be richly deserved.  For everyone that always though that Wally Beaver should have just delivered a haymaker to Eddie Haskell and been done with it, they should get their just due today.

 

Yes, today is the Lane Kiffin Day of Comeuppance and to Lane Kiffin and the Vols we welcome you….

 

 

 

 

At the end of today’s Tennessee – Florida game when Urban Meyer shakes the snot-nosed kid’s hand he should lean in and deliver the same message that the sheriff did to the City Boys at the end of the movie Deliverance:

 

“Don’t ever do nothin’ like this again.

 

Don’t come back up here.”

 

Hopefully, Lane Kiffin will learn his lesson today, but we kind of doubt it and we might have to have a couple more Kiffin “Woodshed Weeks” to really get the message through to the young man that there is an adult and proper way to act and then there is arrogant ass – Eddie Haskell way to act in one’s life.

 

Big difference between the two Lane and it really is too bad that no one every taught you the difference……………….UNTIL TODAY THAT IS!

 

By the way, the City Boy said to the sheriff at the end of Deliverance when he told them to stay away:

 

You don’t have to worry about that, Sheriff.”

 

That should be your response today Lane, but then maybe 1 beating and lesson will not be enough….No, it may not be enough…

 

 

OK, let’s get to the Week 3 MUST WIN Games for Coaches and Teams

 

11 Coaches Face MUST WIN Games in Week 3

 

 

Charlie Weis, Notre Dame – With a record of 30-22 (.577) in his fifth season at Notre Dame, Charlie Weis is facing the defining game of coaching career.  Very simply, Weis and the Irish cannot lose today to the Spartans.  The schedule that so many people thought was a cake walk at the beginning of the year is starting to look a lot tougher and if Weis starts 1-2, the Irish will have to win out to keep his job.  Charlie, this is the game where you need to prove your chops.  It is either cut bait today vs. Michigan State or go back to calling plays in the NFL.  Let’s all see if Weis can do it and back up all that smack talk he was throwing around when he arrived in South Bend. 

 

 

Dan Hawkins, Colorado – In his fourth season at Colorado Dan Hawkins has lost to a second year coach in Colorado State’s Steve Fairchild, a first year coach in Toledo’s Tim Beckman, and today the Buffs will face a first year coach in Wyoming’s Dave Christensen.  If Dan Hawkins at a Big 12 school in Colorado cannot beat a team in Wyoming that has been down for years, and is under a new coach themselves, then there are serious problems in Boulder and those problems will have to be addressed immediately.  We are going to find out today if Hawkins can really coach under pressure and more importantly if his team will show up and play for him.  If the Buffs don’t show up, then Hawkins has lost this team and something will have to be done to avert a disaster for Colorado football in 2009.  Yes, Colorado MUST BEAT Wyoming today in Boulder.

 

 

Ralph Friedgen, Maryland – Ralph Friedgen is 15-13 in his last 28 games at Maryland and that kind of record will get him fired if it continues.  A beating by Cal, a close win over I-AA James Madison in overtime, cannot be followed by a loss to Middle Tennessee State at home, because a loss to MTSU will let everyone know that the wheels have come off this football program.  Yes, Friedgen and the Terps MUST WIN today.  If not, changes could be coming to College Park long before the ’09 season is over. 

 

 

Al Groh, Virginia – If Al Groh has any hope to hang onto his job for the 2010 season then his Cavaliers must beat Southern Miss in Hattiesburg today.  Only problem, Southern Miss is a very good football team.  A loss to the Golden Eagles and Virginia will find it next to impossible to get to 7 wins, which we believe is the number that Groh as to hit in ’09.  Groh does have a $4.3 million dollar buyout working in his favor, but if some influential UVA alumni and boosters can be convinced that UVA will hire the same quality of coach they hired in basketball (Tony Bennett), that $4 million dollar plus check will be written.  Only in America could a coach with a career winning percentage of .549 at his current school have a $4 million dollar buyout.  Only in America, but that is the crazy side of America!

 

 

Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville – Now in is third year at Louisville, Steve Kragthorpe is 12-13 after taking over a team that won 41 games in 4 seasons under Bobby Petrino.  Another loss to Kentucky and things could real ugly in the land of the Run for the Roses.  Very simply, Kragthorpe needs at least 6 wins in ’09 to keep his job, and the Big East is looking like a very competitive conference this season.  Play hard Cardinals!

 

 

Paul Wulff, Washington State – It is not easy to find out what is going on in Pullman, Washington, but the quiet by everyone in the Washington State athletic department speaks volumes about the real nervousness about the WSU football program.  Paul Wulff lost his WSU team in 2008 and he is on the verge of losing them again in ’09.  A win over SMU at home is MUST for Paul Wulff, because the fans might desert this team in droves if they cannot beat a weak SMU team, and empty stadiums at WSU could put the entire athletic department in danger as well.  Beating SMU is a MUST and in sad way might be the biggest MUST WIN game of the day.  Come on Paul, we are pulling for you, but you need to get this team playing some football.

 

 

Mark Snyder, Marshall – Mark Snyder has been on Hot Seat almost the entire time since CHS launched in January of 2007 and he is really on the Hot Seat right now.  In his fifth season at Marshall, Mark Snyder is 17-32 (.347) and he needs at least 6 wins and a bowl trip in ’09 to keep his job.  Now at 1-1 in ’09, Snyder and the Thundering Herd MUST BEAT Bowling Green at home today to have any shot at 6 wins this season. 

 

 

Bobby Bowden, Florida State – We have been hearing some very disturbing things out of Tallahassee about dissension among the FSU coaching staff and either Bowden is going to get the Seminole ship righted soon or there might be an incredible blow up within the FSU football program that is now on the BOIL setting.  The problem at the core of this mess is the bogus “Coach in Waiting” philosophy which we believe to be one of the stupidest things to come down the pike since New Coke.  You just can’t have two leaders at one time, especially when the “Coach in Waiting” is fighting with other members of the coaching staff, of whom he would fire if he was running the show.  The game against FSU could turn out many ways today, but if it turns into a blowout, Bobby Bowden will be on the Hot Seat come Monday morning.  Keep an eye on the FSU sideline, because it is not all wine and roses among that coaching staff!

 

 

George O’Leary, UCF – In his sixth season at UCF, George O’Leary really needs a win today over Buffalo at home to get this UCF train going in the right direction.  Another loss and O’Leary will drop to 27-38 overall at UCF and we believe that the Knights need 6 wins a bowl trip to keep their head coach employed in Orlando.  With East Carolina, Miami and Texas still on the schedule, 6 wins will look impossible if they lose today.  Play hard Knights!

 

 

Dennis Erickson, Arizona State – Now at 16-10 in his third season at Arizona State, Dennis Erickson should know that the natives are getting restless and not showing up to ASU football games as well.  The latter development has not been lost on the Admin folks at Arizona State and that is why Erickson and the Sun Devils must beat Sun Belt team La. Monroe today.  Last year they lost to UNLV early in the year and it sent the ASU season into a tailspin.  Erickson cannot let that happen again, because another losing season in ’09 and Erickson may find himself out of a job, because Arizona State athletics cannot sustain itself without at least decent crowds at home football games.  Beat La. Monroe today is MUST!

 

 

Rich Rodriguez, Michigan – Rich Rod has Big Mo on his side, but a letdown and loss to Eastern Michigan at home today would put Rodriguez and the Wolverines right back at square one.  Believe us, square one is not a happy place to be hanging out at, because all the same old questions about Rodriguez practicing his team too hard (did some Candy Ass really write that in an article a couple of weeks back or was that just a dream!) and being involved with shaky people in condo developments will come right back to the forefront.  Play hard Michigan!

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