Which Coach(es) Get Fired First This Season?
In light of yesterday's thread on the board regarding who you all think would be the next pick for new head coaches after this season, I will pose this question: who do you think gets canned first this upcoming season? Got a few choices to choose from:
Gus Malzahn - probably the top choice. Minus his first season, his teams have consistently underwhelmed given the talent he's brought in. Even when they beat Alabama in 2017, they fell apart in the SEC title game and in the Peach Bowl. Another 8-5 year could be the end of this guy.
Willie Taggart - may be a bit unfair for him to be on this list after only one season, and he inherited a bad situation from Jimbo Fisher. But still, there was more than enough talent on last year's team to at least make a bowl game. If they fail to make another bowl game this season, he may be on his way out.
Clay Helton - got to imagine Helton is on his last life, too. A really underwhelming season last year and almost getting canned anyway. I imagine if USC can't at least make the Pac-12 Championship, with probably having the most talented team in the conference, he's gone.
Lovie Smith - a few miserable years in Champaign. Wonder how much more they're willing to take. They seem to be going nowhere fast under Lovie.
Chris Ash - Same story as Illinois. Maybe Rutgers is willing to hang on for another year, because they've improved little by little each year. But I imagine this year has to be bowl or bust for Rutgers.
Brian Kelly - I hesitated writing his name because he's won plenty of games the last two years and made the playoff, but still doesn't change the fact that a lot of the ND faithful just don't like the guy. And especially with Urban Meyer suddenly becoming available, if ND thinks it has a chance to lure him to South Bend, I wonder if they tell BK to just hit the road. Especially if ND stumbles a bit with a much tougher schedule this season.
That's all I got. Who you got for being canned first?
Clay Helton for sure
Seconded
Thirded
Fourthed - it's not even close
Fifthed...
The only hiccup here is wondering whether Lynn Swann has actually figured out that SC football sucks with Helton at the helm, or if he's still asleep at the wheel. I don't see any hope for Helton having success, but I also don't see Swann doing anything that feels right...
Sixthed--No coach in college football has underwhelmed with as much talent as that guy.
Seventhed - gotta make room for Urban
This would be something...Helton gets fired and Drevno gets the interim gig. I might actually watch USC just to witness that train wreck.
Actually, there's some real sense to this. Firing the HC before the end of the season is extremely disruptive to the team, which is why it is rarely done. But if you are a school that has enough pressure on it to fire a guy, it helps to have someone who can move in as an interim coach, but that nobody considers a legitimate candidate for the job. That way, the interim coach can keep things going in practice and on the field, keep the players on board, while you begin your public search for a successor.
Drev, who has that kind of experience but is clearly not material to move up, is a good guy to have for that. Compare with Brady Hoke's role on the Butch Jones staff and his inevitable elevation to interim HC (he lobbied for the job, of course, but nobody took it seriously and there was zero public pressure to consider him) when Jones was tossed overboard at Tennessee.
Hiring Drevno probably wouldn't lose any recruits because everybody knows Meyer is getting the job.
I think USC is a more likely home for Urban than Notre Dame is. Unless Helton manages to turn it around in a hurry (and I don't see that happening), he's gone this year or the next.
Kelly on the other hand did have Notre Dame in the playoffs last year (even if they lost badly). Whatever else you say about Notre Dame, they don't fire coaches quickly. I don't see them firing Kelly unless he does something off the field to warrant it or strings together at least a couple of bad seasons.
You mean like playing a role in the death of a student assistant? Oh shit. My bad. That happened on the field.
Carry on..
I think USC is a more likely home for Urban than Notre Dame is. Unless Helton manages to turn it around in a hurry (and I don't see that happening), he's gone this year or the next.
Kelly on the other hand did have Notre Dame in the playoffs last year (even if they lost badly). Whatever else you say about Notre Dame, they don't fire coaches quickly. I don't see them firing Kelly unless he does something off the field to warrant it or strings together at least a couple of bad seasons.
I don't know. . . How's his ankle flexion?
Eighthed..?
the SC list of alumni is long and distinguished (in honor of the new trailer). No way they take another mediocre season if he doesn’t do something substantial this year.
Clay Helton - got to imagine Helton is on his last life, too. A really underwhelming season last year and almost getting canned anyway. I imagine if USC can't at least make the Pac-12 Championship, with probably having the most talented team in the conference, he's gone.
I think this depends very strongly on Urban Meyer's interest level. If Urban wants that USC job, then Helton is hitting the road regarldess of his record this season.
IMO he's gone either way unless he pulls a miracle and wins the Rose Bowl or something. Going 5-7 at USC when you have superior talent to everyone you play is a Hoke-level accomplishment.
Nope - that might hasten things a bit but dude needs to win 10 games and get to the Rose Bowl or he is gone. Too many good young coaches out there.
USC over the past 10 years has been the counterpoint to all the STARZZZ folks. Top 5 recruiting classes struggling against a weak ass schedule.
How many top 5 classes has USC had in the last couple years? I'm genuinely asking, since I don't know.
2019 - 20th
2018 - 4th
2017 - 4th
2016 - 10th
That's amazingly good given the product on the field.
SoCal is a hotbed for top prospects and the football magnet schools tend to be USC pipelines. They need to turn things around in a hurry to avoid a total breakdown of recruiting.
UCLA is already there.
Yeah, I was at Cal when USC was humming. They always had tons of talent back then. I just didn't realize that they still did.
UCLA is in a weird spot. They have real academics like Michigan but basically zero sports culture (none of the Pac 10 schools do when compared to UM/OSU/ND). I also really hated Westwood when my wife lived there.
UCLA really doesn't give a shit about football. They're more of a basketball school which makes sense given their history, but they're not exactly good in the last few years.
I don't think they even give a shit about basketball. I was shocked at how much sports matter in the B1G. No Pac 10 school cares that much about any sport.
All that talent and they play in the PAC-12, to boot. It defies logic that they are so mired in mediocrity. Beware the Drevno Effect.
USC......another school that Urban can leave in disgrace after a few years? Florida, Ohio State and USC would be quire a trifecta of disgrace!
It's true. All he needs to do is get run out of Alabama and he'd be a blue blood scandal legend.
Interesting. This is a very realistic possibility. This just in: Urban’s neurosurgeon states brain cyst responds better closer to sea level and salt air!
Realistically, Auburn is a better landing spot for urbz, given their very relaxed adherence to any sort of ncaa rules or morality in general. Basically OSU,
And USC Co-eds
Would Urban going to USC hurt OSU from a recruiting standpoint? It seems like it would have to have some effect.
With the trail left behind, not even the most crazy and insane ND fans would stand for Pope Urban as next HC.
I actually laughed when he suggested Meyer to ND.
Oh yes they would. When was the last time you talked to an ND fan?
My wife went to ND and is a fan, and she would not be okay with that
When was the last time you talked to your wife?
LMFAO
Logged in to upvote...well done sir
The old guard of fans at ND? Yeah, probably. But much of the younger generation of ND fans would be kicking down the door to his house and dragging him all the way to South Bend if that was what it took. As would many other fans of other programs in America that are desperate to win as much as he does.
Is it likely? No. I think Meyer would go to USC before he went to ND. There are quite a few non-football related reasons why its fair to assume he wouldn't be offered the job (which I won't go into on this board, given the no politics/no religion rule), but he's coached there before, he wins big, and he'd make ND as relevant as its been in 30 years.
Its far from impossible. If he was interested, I'm sure ND would at least interview him.
At this point in his career, I don't think Meyer interviews for another job. They either offer the job or not.
ND would. Just so the powers-that-be could at least say they did their due diligence and ask if he's really put his past behind him, and then set proper expectations upfront should he decide to take the job.
I do think USC would offer the job straight up, but its different at ND. Your football team isn't just representing the university. Its representing the Catholic Church, so you really have to wonder if the head honchos there want to mingle with a guy who brings baggage like Meyer does. Especially when you consider what many people in today's society think of said church. May be a PR fiasco they just don't want to deal with.
I won't delve any further than that so as to try and stay in line with the no politics/no religion rule. But ND is supposed to hold itself to a higher ethical standard than a place like USC. So I bet they'd at least interview if Meyer showed interest.
"Its representing the Catholic Church, so you really have to wonder if the head honchos there want to mingle with a guy who brings baggage like Meyer does."
If the scissor lift incident—somebody died—didn't get Kelly fired, I'm skeptical that they'd find Meyer unacceptable.
Religious people are as likely as anybody else to ignore niceties of morality when it comes to winning sports teams, especially in footbaw. Just look at Baylor and all the coaches flaunting the Bibles on their desks and spouting Biblical verse like Dantonio and Freeze at the same time they're looking the other way while their star players break the law with no consequences.
Any school will recruit any player, and hire any coach if they determine benefits > risks. This is college athletics with boatloads of $$ and every school wants it. Nothing is sacred, unfortunately.
Do you think they would interview Meyer in the confessional? They would probably make him take communion after it was over.
Meyer has said before that ND was one of his 'dream' jobs. So if they think he's available they'd offer. That dude doesn't need to interview, his body of work speaks for itself.
That said, I think USC would be the more likely landing spot. Unless, as some have said, Lynn Swan is just asleep at the wheel. And given the fact that Clay Helton is still the coach I'd say he's asleep.
He said that before when the job was open at ND, and he took the Florida job.
I doubt Mayor Pete wants him in his town either.
I wish that were true. Any fan base is ok with any coach, so long as they win. Why do you think OSU loves Urban, Bama loves Saban, Sparty loved Mork, SC loved Carroll, etc etc etc? If Harbaugh left tomorrow for the NFL and Saban decided he wanted to coach us and brought us a national title, we’d be building a statue too. Don’t be so naive to think we are any less addicted to winning than any other fan base.