Just For Argument’s Sake

Since we ran our kind of “Just For Argument’s Sake” related to Bill Cowher in this entry, ESPN’s article today was worth sharing with you.

Three interesting items related to college football coaches are included in the piece that was very interesting. The crux of the second item is included below:

Many of us have been saying for months that there will be a lot of firings in the coming months, simply because only 11 I-A jobs changed hands after last season.

That low turnover didn’t happen because athletic directors became more patient. If anything, they are noticeably less patient.

History has shown that a low number of changeovers is followed by a higher number. In the past 20 years, there have been six seasons in which 14 or fewer jobs came open.

On four of those occasions, the number of jobs that came open increased by 10 the following year.

However, they are governed by won-loss records, which is why I’m not as confident anymore that a lot of furniture will be needed for this year’s I-A Musical Chairs.

• Of the 62 teams in the six conferences that get automatic bids to the BCS, 48 already have at least four victories.

• Of the 14 coaches with three or fewer wins, six are in the first or second year at the school.

• At least two of the remaining eight, Mark Mangino of Kansas and Glen Mason of Minnesota, have received new contracts this year.

I think the permanent addition of the 12th game to the college schedule has given a break to coaches who otherwise might have been on the hot seat. The remaining weeks of the season, in which the three- and four-win teams will have to climb into bowl contention by winning conference games, might make some more coaches vulnerable. But the revolving door doesn’t appear to be turning quite as fast as predicted.

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6 Responses to Just For Argument’s Sake

  1. Andy 10/26/2006 at 4:45 PM #
  2. legacyman 10/26/2006 at 7:58 PM #

    Isn’t it great that a coach who knows the importance of a PG to a team’s success has already gotten commitments from two of them…I’m assuming that one of the transfers can play the point Wonder why we couldn’t do that in the previous ten years…

    Way to go Sidney…things are looking up for the future and I sense we will, in one to two years, no longer have to say,”wait til next year”. I’m stoked.

  3. BoKnowsNCS71 10/27/2006 at 8:12 AM #

    Hey ACC Basketblog

    We’re tracking this story on the StateFansNation. Get over here!!!

  4. RickJ 10/27/2006 at 9:30 AM #

    The part of the ESPN article regarding Alabama is very interesting. Shula is in his 4th year having gone 4 -9, 6 – 6 & 10 – 2 last year. They are currently 5 -3 with two easy wins coming up (Fla. International & Miss. State). The final two games are at LSU & Auburn at home. He is currently 0 – 3 against Auburn. It might just come down to the Auburn game for Shula. From reading this article, if Bama does make a change, this would be a great position for somebody.

  5. RAWFS 10/27/2006 at 4:11 PM #

    Bama is straightforward: produce or leave.

    There are a number of Tide fans who think Shula is not a very good game coach at all. They question his strategies, play calling and clock management.

    Sound familiar?

    Add to it Shula leaving in Brody Croyle in a game against Western Carolina after the game was long decided a couple of years ago and losing him for the rest of the year due to an injury. Then, the same thing happened last year to their true-threat receiver, Tyrone Prothro. Same mistake, both ruined the potential for a great year for the Tide.

    They are a team with more nattys than the ACC combined, and will settle for nothing less than a top ten team. Count on a coaching change.

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