Hot Coaching Updates: CUTigers reports Bowden to stay / Paul Johnson to GT?

* Arkansas-Tommy Bowden-Clemson: Clemson fans may FINALLY get their wish. It is being reported that Tommy Bowden has been offered the vacant Head Coaching position at Arkansas for a considerable raise.

Bowden was offered the Arkansas job Monday night, a source familiar with the proceedings said. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in today’s editions that incoming Razorbacks athletics director Jeff Long met with Bowden to try to broker a deal.

Arkansas is believed to have offered Bowden substantially more money than Clemson, which announced last week its intent to offer their ninth-year coach a contract extension

* But, CUTigers is reporting on Tuesday morning that Bowden is staying at Clemson.

* First, allow me to say that I think Tommy Bowden is much better coach than most Clemson fans. However, I must admit that the inconsistency of the performance of the Tigers is inexplicable and would drive me almost as crazy as it does most of the Clemson fans I know. With this said, I can’t help but scratch my head at Arkansas’ decision to run out a solid coach whom they thought was underachieving to then offer their job to a solid coach that everyone else thinks is under-achieving?

* Important factoid: Tommy Bowden has a $2.5MM buyout in his contract this year. NEXT YEAR that buyout reduces to $500k. This buyout works both ways. So, if Bowden leaves instead of gets fired then he will owe this money to Clemson.

* Interesting factoid: Excluding South Florida’s Jim Leavitt and Connecticut’s Randy Edsall — whose stints began with their programs in the Division I-AA ranks — 12 coaches from the six BCS conferences had been with their school for at least nine years entering this season. Houston Nutt and Tommy Bowden were the only two who had never won a conference championship. If Tom O’Brien had remained at Boston College, that number would have been three.

* Duke-Paul Johnson-Others: Not that anyone really cares…but the local media is interested in who is talking to Duke?. The N&O reported this morning that Duke is wooing Navy’s Paul Johnson.

Duke officials spoke with Navy coach Paul Johnson about its football head coaching vacancy on Monday, according to league sources.
Attempts to reach Johnson, a North Carolina native and Western Carolina graduate, and his agent Jack Reale of Atlanta were not immediately successful.

Duke athletic director Joe Alleva is looking for a replacement for Ted Roof, who was fired on Nov. 26 after going 6-45 in four-plus seasons with the Blue Devils. Johnson, 50, is also considered among the candidates for coaching vacancies at Georgia Tech and Southern Methodist.

Johnson has been a popular, possible interviewee for such jobs in recent years. His name recently was mentioned along with Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe as a candidate for the Nebraska job. A year ago, he was among those considered when N.C. State and North Carolina went searching for new coaches.

Among other possible candidates for the Duke job, Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe said Monday that he would listen if Duke or any other school came calling with a job offer.

* Georgia Tech: Initially pursued UCon”s Randy Edsall but was spurned when Edsall staying at UConn. A lot of people, including some of us, believe that Paul Johnson would be a great fit at Georgia Tech. Johnson has a history of refusing to speak to schools’ if he is not told that he is either #1 or #2 on their list – just as he told NC State last year. ‘Coincidently’ look who has emerged as ‘leading candidate for the SMU job’?

* Dennis Dodd is reporting that Georgia Tech ‘could’ be snagging Johnson with a late offer:

Get ready for the flexbone. Navy’s Paul Johnson seemed set to be set to become SMU’s new coach this week but it looks like Georgia Tech came back with a late offer and could be snagging the hottest coaching commodity on the market.

If Johnson does leave after defeating Army 38-3, he will leave a legacy of a 10-1 record against the two other service academies and a Navy-record five consecutive bowls. Johnson’s triple option flexbone in the ACC? Johnson won’t outsmart himself. Expect him to use at least some spread.

* Just yesterday we commented in this very entry:

Note that you are not hearing a lot of Jimbo Fisher speculation this year? Would this be because he is already guaranteed the Florida State job when Bobby Bowden hangs them up?

* Allow me to turn your attention to Tommy Barnhardt in the AJC this morning:

Word on the street is that Florida State will announce a contract extension for coach Bobby Bowden some time this week. The contract will not set a date specific for Bowden’s retirement. But it will, I’m hearing through the coaching grapevine, stipulate that whenever Bowden retires, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher will become the new head coach of the Seminoles. Fisher has been courted by a number of schools with openings and this was the only way that Florida State could get him to stay put.

* Speaking of Bowdens, Terry Bowden had made it clear that he wanted to get back into coaching this year and spoke with SMU in November. His name has been pretty quiet and we haven’t heard it much. If I were Georgia Tech and whiffed on the next couple of names on my list then I think Terry would serve as a decent move to ‘save face with a name’.

* UCLA-Norm Chow?: Karl Dorrell is out at UCLA. You can feast on links by clicking here. Former NC State assistant coach Norm Chow could emerge as a leading candidate for the Bruins. Other names being mentioned are Boise State’s Chris Petersen (mark him off the list) Texas Tech’s Mike Leach and former NFL coach Steve Mariucci.

* Michigan-Les Miles-LSU-Jim Grobe?: Late last week ESPN reported that a a powerful combination of Les Miles and John Tenuta were heading to Ann Arbor and starting fueling rumors of a Steve Spurrier jump to LSU.

On Saturday Coach Miles held a press conference that seemed designed to announce he was staying at LSU but semantically left the door open for him to speak to Michigan. But, Miles got more specific and emphatic with CBS’s Tracey Wolfson in an interview before the SEC Championship game where he specifically stated that he was returning as the LSU’s coach next season.

CBS says today that Miles is definitely staying at LSU — unless he doesn’t and Fox Sports provides a little more insight into the semantics of there this thing stands today.

AD Martin has said he is looking for the next Carr, who led Michigan to the 1997 national championship and five Big Ten titles while keeping the school above even suspicions about NCAA violations.

Martin has said he had 20 candidates in mind, and now he’ll need them. Possible choices might include Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, California coach Jeff Tedford and Missouri coach Gary Pinkel.

* Jim Grobe says that he would listen to the right schools. This isn’t the best news in the world for Wake Forest fans no matter how you want to spin it. Dennis Dodd reports that Grobe did a little more than just listened at Nebraska this week

Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe dropped out of the running at Nebraska after being told he would have to hire certain assistant coaches. If a guy is going to make a career move like that, he ought to be able to hire his own staff. Bo Pelini, though, will hire several old Nebraska assistants.

* No suprise that Nebraska hired Bo Pellini. after Grobe dropped out.

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71 Responses to Hot Coaching Updates: CUTigers reports Bowden to stay / Paul Johnson to GT?

  1. BJD95 12/04/2007 at 12:03 PM #

    I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again – a failed HC who still showed some potential is what Duke should look for. UCLA’s Dorrell should be #1 on their list.

    Bowden would be stupid not to take the money and run. But people do stupid things all the time. Say what you will about Herb Sendek, but he showed great logic and common sense when ASU came calling.

  2. Texpack 12/04/2007 at 12:03 PM #

    Reports in the last few minutes out of Clempsun have Tammy staying put. My hog co-worker is way more upbeat.

  3. Trout 12/04/2007 at 12:05 PM #

    SFN: I dont care how many hires GT whiffed on, they should never hire Terry Bowden. SMU needs a Terry Bowden, not GT.

  4. RickJ 12/04/2007 at 12:11 PM #

    “I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again – a failed HC who still showed some potential is what Duke should look for. UCLA’s Dorrell should be #1 on their list.”

    I agree with this sentiment but I believe David Cutcliffe is a much better example than Dorrell. Cutcliffe was 44 – 29 at Mississippi while Kurt Dorrell was 35 – 27 at UCLA. John Bunting could have a winning record at UCLA.

  5. StateFans 12/04/2007 at 12:11 PM #

    BJD:

    What if Clemson offered the same amount as Arkansas?

    What would you do if you were Bowden?

    I’d stay.

  6. SuperStuff 12/04/2007 at 12:17 PM #

    I still can’t get over the fact that Jeff Bower will not be the head coach at Southern Miss. I know they were expected to dominate this year in Conference USA and stumbled, but that guy is a solid coach. Somebody needs to take a look at this guy. It’s not like Southern Miss is a school that kids are jumping at the chance to play at and he was successful at that location.

  7. LRM 12/04/2007 at 12:30 PM #

    Arkansas has had arguably more success (two SEC championship appearances) in the SEC since they joined in 1992 than Clemson in the ACC during that same time period.

    But they’re basically the same program. Except for the fact that since Clemson won a title in 1982 its fans believe they have a tradition of national prominence.

    Wait, why does that sound familiar?

  8. Trout 12/04/2007 at 1:12 PM #

    ^ Arkansas has a couple of national titles, back when Jerry Jones played there.

  9. Trout 12/04/2007 at 1:15 PM #

    Would not surprise me if Arkansas hired Skip Holtz

  10. Clever_Wolf_Name 12/04/2007 at 1:24 PM #

    I think Skip Holtz is a bad hire anywhere right now. I know he’s turned things around in Greenville and has the Pirates in a bowl, but his ECU teams have shown a penchant for barfing on themselves in big games (See NCSU 34, ECU 20 and Marshall 26, ECU 7). The Marshall was the more egregious of the two because it cost them the most dearly.

  11. RedTerror29 12/04/2007 at 1:31 PM #

    Hard to believe Jimbo would be the handpicked successor over Ritcht, Amato, Terry Bowden, Tommy Bowden, Jeff Bowden…

    All those guys worked for Papa Bowden so long and he’s picking an outsider? I think the first call has to be to Ritcht regardless, even if he’s a bit of a longshot.

  12. Trout 12/04/2007 at 1:50 PM #

    From the N&O:

    “Grambling State head coach Rod Broadway arrived at Raleigh-Durham International Airport late this morning and left in the company of Mike Sobb, Duke’s assistant athletics director of marketing.

    When asked if he was here to interview for the Duke football job, Broadway said he was “just taking care of some business here.””

  13. ruffles31 12/04/2007 at 1:58 PM #

    Was Broadway “giving him (Duke Asst AD Sobb) the business?”

  14. packbackr04 12/04/2007 at 2:01 PM #

    so if Bowden is staying in Clemson… does that mean Butch is still on Arkansas’ gay-dar?.. i mean radar?

  15. packbackr04 12/04/2007 at 2:05 PM #

    and god, how awful will BC’s offense be next yr if Logan leaves for Durham…

    i mean Jags was doing a good job as OC in Green Bay, right? GB hasnt been playing very well offensively since he left have they?….. (note the sarcasm)

    I think Favre had some of his worst yrs under Jags in GB. and youd better believe if im TOB and still recruiting a few players up in the Boston area, i will be telling them all about it.

  16. ruffles31 12/04/2007 at 2:09 PM #

    In response to the Duke job, I think that Cutcliffe would be an very interesting choice. Growing up in Tennessee and going to the games as a kid in Knoxville, I know that Cutcliffe is an outstanding offensive coach. The quarterbacks under his tutelage include:

    Andy Kelly
    Heath Shuler
    Peyton Manning
    Tee Martin
    Eli Manning
    Erik Ainge

    However, the knock on him at Ole Miss was that he wasn’t the greatest recruiter. So they fired him and brought in Orgeron, who could recruit but couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag. I would be surprised though to see Cutcliffe as the next coach at Duke because I get the feeling they want a previous D-I head coach with offensive prowess (that is Cutcliffe) but also must be a great salesman, not only to recruits but also to the fan base (all 7 fans).

    I don’t see Logan going there as he is too brutally honest for Alleva. I don’t see Paul Johnson taking this gig either. Is Duke that big of a step up from Navy. BCS vs. non-BCS is about it. I would like to see Duke take a Karl Dorrell and give him a chance. Maybe pair him with Charlie Strong as DC. Dorrell didn’t do a great job at UCLA but maybe a less stressful environment would bring out his strengths. He was previously the WR coach for the Broncos before the UCLA head coaching job. I will compare him at UCLA with Sendek’s tenure at State. He was always compared to the rival (Carroll and USC) and he had no championships, a few big victories, a few inexplicable losses (see 2007 home vs. Notre Dame), and typically a lower-tier bowl game.

  17. Pack92 12/04/2007 at 2:13 PM #

    “University of Arkansas Trustees expressed reservations about Bowden possibly being a lateral hire”. Really? Lateral to who?
    Is ‘ol Butch-slap really so expensive that U of A will keep taking egg on the face? Now THEY need Paul Johnson!

  18. Mike 12/04/2007 at 2:24 PM #

    Comparing Bowden to HWSHNBN is interesting, but I think this comparison is an insult to Bowden.

    Just for kicks, ASU is now 4-2, beating up on 4 local high school teams, and losing both games they played with any meaning, Illinois and Nebraska. Against Nebraska, not usually considered a basketball powerhouse, ASU led 21-14 with 8:31 left in 1st half. They did not score again in the 1st half. They scored 1 basket in the first 11 minutes of the 2nd half. So, in essence, they went a whole half scoring 1 basket. Sound familiar?

    Go ahead and bust me SFN, but sorry I could not resist.

  19. Pack92 12/04/2007 at 2:25 PM #

    ^Mike, that is simply hilarious and oh, so familiar!

  20. LRM 12/04/2007 at 2:48 PM #

    Yes, that sounds familiar — isn’t that what happened to us Wednesday night?

  21. LRM 12/04/2007 at 2:49 PM #

    Except the lead we blew was 2-0 rather than 21-14.

  22. LRM 12/04/2007 at 2:50 PM #

    Actually, I’m blaming that on Herb…

  23. MadWolf92 12/04/2007 at 3:06 PM #

    ^ I didn’t want to go there, LRM, but I had similar thoughts at the time.

  24. MadWolf92 12/04/2007 at 3:06 PM #

    (*stands behind LRM*)

  25. Girlfriend in a Coma 12/04/2007 at 3:09 PM #

    So Herb has assembled two sets of players who can’t score for long periods. I’m not sure how that helps his case any.

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