[NU Sports] League coaching news ...

[Jonathan Hodges]

I'm not sure if the NCAA has any ability to force an AD or president out of
their position (I doubt it), though I agree that Gene Smith certainly
doesn't seem to deserve to stick around there while Gordon Gee hasn't
exactly handled the situation that well, either.

I don't blame any assistant coach from jumping at the chance to take an FBS
coaching position, particularly at a BCS AQ school.  Assistants,
particularly coordinators, may be paid rather well, but they are
essentially year to year employees and may be sacrificed at any time to
spare the head coach (see what Zook did at Illinois a couple of years ago
when he brought in 2 new coordinators).  Plus, I am sure that the vast
majority of assistants are trying to work their way up into the top chair.
And, as you mentioned, Pitt has a potential opening with PSU down and also
them heading to a (slightly) better conference (ACC) in the near future.

Finally, I also don't blame Bowden for being straightforward and answering
the question during a radio interview; he's always seemed to be a straight
shooter and now that he's retired he doesn't have to answer to anyone so
I'm glad he gave a real answer.  I don't think he was trying to put salt in
the wound but just answer the question honestly.  Meanwhile, the PSU
coaching search continues while any remaining candidates seem to be taking
the last jobs out there.

Jonathan

--
Jonathan Hodges
Contributor, HailToPurple
Web: http://www.hailtopurple.com/jhodges/
Twitter: @hailtopurple
Email: j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu



On Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 1:14 AM, SjT (Stephen J. Truog)
<sjtruog at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Was channel surfing and caught a bit from tonight's nameless bowl glut
> game ... the action on screen didn't hold my attention, but the ticker did,
> with three interesting news items about Big Ten coaches ...
>
> - St. Urban of Sanctimonious Pomposity apparently said the bowl ban and
> sanctions were a "sucker punch to the gut" ... aww, that made me feel so
> bad. :) Yup. Just awful. The only bad news out of that situation is that
> the school president and AD seem to have escaped the not-so-long or
> powerful arm of the NCAA.
>
> - Paul Crist will reportedly be the next Pitt coach. Not sure why you'd
> want to leave Madison for a school whose most "successful" coach in the
> past three decades has been Waany ... but maybe he can resurrect Pitt? With
> PSU in transition and the new conference, it could be a good time. Should
> be interesting to see if this affects the Badgers' offense for Pasadena and
> even more intriguing to see how the Smug Smirk of Cheddarland does without
> his offensive guru ...
>
> - And finally, a note comes along the ticker in the "kicking someone while
> they're down" category with bitter ole' Bobby Bowden remarking on how HE
> would have handled the whole Penn State Sandusky scandal differently ...
> not sure what his angle is here ... does he hope Paterno's wins are taken
> away in this mess? And anyway, not sure that Mr. "Echo of the Whistle"
> "International Rules" "Free Shoes U." coach should be handing out advice to
> someone whose graduation rate-to-players in the police blotter ration was a
> heck of a lot better than Po' Ole Daggum Plum Flustered Bobby.
>
> Oh well, I know there have been some exhibition games but don't forget
> that the bowl season kicks off for real tomorrow night in Vegas when we
> finally get a bowl between two teams who people have actually heard of and
> who were each in the top 25 at some point in the season -- so get your bowl
> picks in before ASU/BSU kick off in Sin City.
>
> GO CATS!!!
> -SjT
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> STEPHEN J. TRUOG
> sjtruog at yahoo.com
> GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
> Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
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