Here are the five college football head coaches who should be on the hot seat.
1. Charlie Weis, Notre Dame- Charlie Weis came to South Bend in 2004 with a ton of promise. Viewed as the mastermind behind the New England Patriots offense and given credit for developing Tom Brady as a superstar quarterback, Weis has yet to live up to expectations. After a solid record of 19-6 in his first two seasons, Notre Dame was just 10-15 in the next two seasons under Weis. Now I’m the first to admit Notre Dame fans have unrealistic expectations. A lot of them believe they can contend for the national titles every year like Florida, USC, Texas, Ohio State and Oklahoma. In this day and age of college football I just don’t see it. Academic requirements at Notre Dame are much higher than that of some of the big time programs now. That being said Notre Dame should be a school that’s in the top 15 most years and contends for BCS games. Kids still want to come to Notre Dame no matter how many Super Bowl rings the head coach has. However, Charlie is flat out not getting the job done. I believe he thought this job was going to be easy. Notre Dame is just nowhere near being a contender right now and if Weis does not win nine or more games in 2009 with as soft as their schedule is I believe he will and should be shown the door.
2. Randy Shannon, Miami- If you are going to fire a coach who goes 60-15 in six years you better have a good reason. Larry Coker was fired by the University of Miami in 2006. In his first three years Coker was 35-3 with a team built by current North Carolina head coach Butch Davis. In his last three years Coker was 25-12. That’s just not acceptable at the “U”. Enter Randy Shannon. A starting linebacker on the Hurricanes 1987 National Championship team and Miami native, Shannon had a reputation as one of the best defensive coordinators in the country. In six years running the Hurricane defense Shannon had a defense that ranked 7th in the country or higher five times. Those defenses would not only beat you but would steal your lunch money. In his first two seasons at Miami, Shannon has led the Hurricanes to a 12-13 record. Now I hate Miami to the point where I won’t get into it because this is a family board but this is the freaking “U’! Miami should be a program that contends for the National Championship most years and at least BCS games. With the fertile recruiting ground in The Sunshine State Miami is loaded with talent year in and year out. Last season Miami lost to Cal in the Emerald Bowl. The Emerald Bowl? What the heck, Miami? Much like Notre Dame you are NOT playing like champions today. With their first four games on the road against Florida State, at home against the vaunted option attack of Georgia Tech, at Virginia Tech which is one of the toughest places to play in the country, and home against Oklahoma it’s not out of the question to think Miami starts 2009 with an 0-4 record. If Miami does not turn things around soon they need to move forward and look in another direction.
3. Dan Hawkins, Colorado- If you thought I didn’t like Miami I could make comments about Colorado that would make a sailor blush. However, at the time in 2006 when Colorado hired Dan Hawkins I thought it was a good hire. Well, I’m wrong once every few years so it looks like this was a case of that. Hawkins did a fantastic job at Boise State going 53-11 and winning two bowl games. It’s obvious now the offensive mastermind at Boise State was the offensive coordinator Chris Peterson (Boise State’s current head coach) who has kept that program moving forward. Hawkins on the other hand has put Colorado behind just about every team in the Big 12. After an embarrassing 19-10 loss at home to Montana State to start the Hawkins regime, it didn’t get much better. The Buffs started 0-6 and finished 2-10 in 2006. With a new, complex offensive system Hawkins got a free pass form a lot of critics. However, he inherited a team that won the Big 12 North the year before. Throw in two more losing seasons and a season opening loss this season to in-state rival Colorado State and the Buffs are now 13-25 under Hawkins. As much as I’d love the Buffs to remain a doormat they should be able to contend for the Big 12 north most years and make bowl games. The Buffs don’t have the best facilities but they seem to recruit well most years. In the 24 seasons prior to hiring Hawkins the Buffs won 175 games and eight of those were bowl games. Success in college football in Boulder, Colorado can happen again but I don’t see it under Hawkins.
4. Al Groh, Virginia- In the first half of this decade it seemed to be the hip trend to hire an NFL guy as your college football coach. It didn’t work for Nebraska when they hired Bill Callahan and it sure as heck isn’t working at Notre Dame with Charlie Weis. Virginia fans will more than likely be saying this soon as well if they are not already. Al Groh was a good assistant coach in the NFL working with Bill Parcells and coaching in two Super Bowls. In 1996 Groh was the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots and was the leader of the attacking 3-4 defense the Patriots still run today. Groh took over as the head coach at Virginia in 2001. He had some success early. In his first four seasons Groh compiled a record of 30-21 with two bowl victories. However, the fact remains there is little consistency for Virginia under Groh. After a 5-3 start in 2008 Virginia went on to lose their last four games to finish 5-7 not to mention they lost to Duke 31-3. Yes, this story is about football and Duke beat someone by four touchdowns. . In his eight seasons in Charlottesville, Groh has had three seasons under .500. To make matters worse, Virginia was upset by William & Mary in their opener this season. That’s a 56-45 right now for Groh. This won’t get the job done at a school like Virginia where the High School football talent is solid and in a conference like the ACC which is up for grabs more years than not. Groh is also 65 years old. Unless you are a legend like Joe Paterno, Tom Osborne, or Bobby Bowden I don’t see how 17 year old kids will listen to what you have to say or want to come play for you. Groh is coaching on borrowed time right now.
5. Mike Sherman, Texas A&M- I have long thought Texas A&M is a sleeping giant in college football and with the right hire they would be dangerous. With state of the art facilities, a passionate fan base, and fertile recruiting ground in the lone star state Aggie football should be in the upper echelon of the Big 12 if not the country. Athletic Director Bill Byrne wanted Mike Sherman to take over his football program in 2008. After a 4-8 season you have to wonder if this was the right move. Now I know it was one season but 4-8? Really A&M? I mean they lost five home games in 2008. Remember when Kyle Field was a tough place to play? Remember when their defense was nicknamed the “Wrecking Crew”? A&M finished 114th in total defense in 2008. The offense wasn’t much better finishing 78th in total offense and averaging only 88.5 rushing yards per game. Sherman was a decent NFL coach with the Green bay Packers going 59-43. Of course he had Brett Favre, Donald Driver, and Ahman Green in their primes for most of those years but still someone had to be the coach and Sherman won three division titles. Sherman was open about how being the head coach at Texas A&M was his dream job. That’s awesome and all Mike but I want to be the general manager for a Major League Baseball team. I haven’t checked my voice mail in a few hours but I don’t think the Chicago Cubs have called me today to make an offer. Byrne is a good athletic director and he might give Sherman a year or two more to see what he can do but make no mistake about it if A&M has the right head coach they can win a national title.
Dishonorable Mention- Mike Stoops, Arizona/ Rich Rodriguez, Michigan/ Tom O’ Brien North Carolina State/ Tim Brewster, Minnesota
Boom!
