Money, it's been said, can't buy you happiness. It also can't guarantee a Top 25 football team either.
There are at least 31 head coaches in the BCS ranks that will earn more than $1.8 million this season, according to a salary study conducted by USA Today.
Of the nation's 31 highest-paid head college football coaches in America, only nine are currently coaching teams in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll. That leaves 22 of the nation's 31 highest-paid coaches outside the AP Top 25.
Of those 22 coaches, five have a losing record this season -- Florida State's Bobby Bowden (4-5), Wake Forest's Jim Grobe (4-6), Virginia's Al Groh (3-6), Washington's Steve Sarkisan (3-6) and Maryland's Ralph Friedgen (2-7) -- and another is at .500 -- Michigan State's Mark Dantonio (5-5).
Four of the 22 coaches are in the cellar in their respective conferences -- Missouri's Gary Pinkel and Kansas' Mark Mangino (each tied for last in the Big 12 North), Michigan's Rich Rodriguez (tied for last in the Big 10) and Friedgen (tied for last in the ACC Atlantic).
When Houston Nutt signed 37 players to football scholarships at Ole Miss back in February, he knew several would not qualify academically. After all, the NCAA only allows a maximum of 25 scholarship players in any one recruiting class. Thus it was no surprise last week when SEC Commissioner Mike Slive told his coaches they would only be allowed to sign 28 prospects to letters of intent from now on.
This puts the Tennessee Volunteers in a bit of tight spot. The website Gridironstuds.com has counted up and found that Lane Kiffin (above) and his staff have already made scholarship offers to a few more prospects than that. And by "a few" I mean "a metric boatload." The Vols have 187 offers out there for the class of 2010.
Insert your own "doesn't Tennessee have a math department?" joke here. Kiffin went to Fresno State anyway. But what are the Vols going to do?
Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Cotton Bowl (Dallas, Texas), which pits Ole Miss against Texas Tech.
Overview/Matchup: Texas Tech's 2008 season is defining of the "don't lose late" notion that pervades college football. Because the Red Raiders got blown out by Oklahoma in the second to last week of the season -- their only loss of the year -- Mike Leach's team got squeezed out of the BCS and Graham Harrell didn't even get invited to New York City for the Heisman Trophy presentation. And their final reward? They get to play an Ole Miss whose 8-4 season hinges on a crucial win over Florida. They're a talented bunch, and Houston Nutt has done a good job, but if the Raiders' offense can come to life, this should be another pirate club victory.
Hotels: Built by St. Louis beer baron Adolphus Busch in 1912, The Adolphus is the place to stay for luxury travelers in Dallas. Every inch of the baroque-style property underwent a renovation in 1999 and it's still going toe-to-toe with the more modern downtown alternatives. Don't let the 1978 exterior or cheesy spherical tower fool you, the Hyatt Regency Dallas offers a great location with easy access to West End nightlife, recently renovated guestrooms and reasonable rates. Unfortunately there isn't much in the way of cheap accommodation near the Cotton Bowl, so your best bet is near the highway or the airport. With both of those factors in mind, we recommend the Super 8 Motel on Carpenter Freeway.
Prop Bets for the College Football Junkie is a weekly post that cares not for your silly point spreads. If you have the money and the gumption, we'll lay down a weekly gauntlet of propositions that'll take you from the penthouse to the outhouse faster than you can guess the number of times Lee Corso will say "not so fast my friend." As always, this is for entertainment purposes only.
$ Lou Holtz has put his foot in his mouth each of the last two weeks in the controlled environment of the studio. So what does ESPN do? Not suspend him for saying basically the same thing Jemele Hill said. No, they put him in front of a mic for three hours for the Thursday night game between West Virginia and Auburn. If there was ever a "give him enough rope" move by a broadcasting company, this is it. So naturally, we put the straight up bet to you loyal reader. Will Lou Holtz say something inflammatory? Yes, West Virginia jokes count!
$ Lets go with this. Let's say his does get suspended or fired. I'm not advocating it, because I enjoy him in his natural state or doing the pep talks. But let's face it, ESPN will have to do something if he has another slip up. Here's a multiple choice straight up bet that one of the following will happen if Holtz is fired:
-Mark May's perceived IQ will drop 50 points automatically.
-Trev Alberts will walk back into the Bristol studios with a "show me the money" look on his face.
-Regis Philbin will show interest, but someone will mention that the last guy was a Notre Dame guy.
$ Continuing with the same theme, Holtz won't sit idle for long. NBC would probably love to have him doing commentary on Notre Dame games. So we put the over/under on the number of times NBC will ask him to tone down the homerism in the first month at 10.
The College Football Songbook is a weekly feature in which we'll be making as much fun as humanly possible of the most embarrassing moments in college football. Through words, music, and related video we'll leave a lasting memory implanted on the brains of the vanquished that they are not soon to forget. Way too many upsets this week to just pick on one team. Seems like week five gave us a lot of the same last year as well.
As hierarchical as I-A college football is (indeed, much more so than any other American sport), nowhere is the caste system writ larger than in the SEC, where the good stay good, the bad stay bad, and Phil Fulmer stays comically overweight. Were EPL-style relegation ever to be implemented, you may rest assured that no more than two SEC programs would ever be in danger, and we're lucky enough to meet them both again today (plus a few new friends!).
After the jump, the four teams without a prayer of going .500 in the SEC in 2008...
Finally, the speculation can end. It is official now: as of Monday night, the constantly-embattled, often-criticized, sometimes-insane Houston Nutt is no longer the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. That much we've seen coming for some time now, though not many of us would have imagined Arkansas actually asking Nutt to stay and offering him a new contract in the $2.4 million range -- and Nutt turning down said contract to walk away from the school -- but that's what ESPN.com is reporting.
Meanwhile, the Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that Nutt is already in negotiations to become the next head coach at Ole Miss (replacing the newly fired Ed Orgeron), and that a deal could be announced "early this week." The Jackson (MS) Clarion Ledger also cites "several sources at Ole Miss" as saying Nutt is the frontrunner for the Rebels' job, with an announcement possibly coming Tuesday. Both papers say Rick Neuheisel has been considered for the Ole Miss opening, but that Nutt is their man. Should things fall through in Oxford, Rivals.com lists Nutt as a candidate for Georgia Tech's and Baylor's openings as well.
The interesting thing about Nutt to Ole Miss is that in his farewell news conference, Nutt spoke about how much he loved Arkansas and how it was his "dream job." That's not hard to believe, seeing as how Nutt is a native Arkansan. But should Nutt actually become the Rebels head coach (and what a smooth transition for Ole Miss fans from the wackiness of Coach O to the wackiness of Nutt), he'll have to face his former school every year.
As for the Arkansas opening, rumor and speculation have another Arkansas alum, Butch Davis, as the Razorbacks' top target, but can they get him out of Chapel Hill now that he's signed a new contract?
As I'm typing this, Houston Nutt is expected to announce his resignation at Arkansas. Nothing is ever for sure until it is, but it seems kind of ironic that the one man that deserves a Christmas card from Mountaineer fans will probably have to leave a forwarding address.
In a season of improbabilities, the Arkansas upset of LSU seemed expected in a weird kind of way. If you could imagine Darren McFadden running wild on the Tiger defense, you almost expected the Razorbacks to win. Likewise with Arizona beating Oregon, etc., etc., etc. It just seems that one improbable thing after another has happened, at least in my eyes, to get West Virginia to the point where they only need to beat a sub par Pitt squad to get their invite to the national title game.
(BTW: Totally ignoring firecoachnicksaban.com because... well because you people are just nuts)
Back in August, Fanhouse tabbed three SEC coaches in danger of losing their jobs during or after this season. And with the season nearly 1/3 of the way over(!), some have cooled off, while others are squarely in the frying pan. So, it's time to check those coaches' status thus far. I see three levels of heat on the seat of these guys:
1. Hog-roasting, doughnut-glaze-melting heat of a million angry fans: Houston Nutt and Phil Fulmer. Nutt is kind of obvious: he was in trouble before the season (trouble that was completely avoidable), and that was coming off an SEC West title. Dropping games to Alabama and Ken-freakin'-tucky hasn't cooled anything. Plus, he's bat-crap crazy. As for Fulmer, in August I wrote "barring complete and total disaster, Fulmer will be the head coach at Tennessee for awhile, probably as long as he wants it." Yeah, well... the 39-point loss to Florida might not qualify as complete and total disaster, but it's as close to it as Fulmer's been outside of the Season of Which We Do Not Speak. For the first time in his career, Fulmer has lost a significant portion of the fan base and needs some quality wins this year to re-cement his spot on Rocky Top.
Being a coach in the SEC can be lucrative (just ask any coach at Alabama). But because of the insanely high expectations each fan base has for its team, it can also be a pressure cooker (just ask any former coach at Alabama). Coaching in the SEC is kind of like being a salesman in Glengarry Glen Ross: first place, an SEC championship; second place, a set of steak knives; third place, you're fired.
Alright, so maybe third place isn't grounds for immediate dismissal, but it makes the barbecue circuit in the spring a little more uncomfortable. More than half the coaches in the league have been with their teams for less than five years, so turnover isn't unusual. Before we take a look at coaches who need to impress this fall to remain on their respective sidelines, let's be clear about who most likely isn't worried about losing his job anytime soon.
1. Urban Meyer -- current king of college football 2. Nick Saban -- even if he's not Bear Reincarnate, Bama's got a lot of money tied up in him. 3. Steve Spurrier -- If you can charge $100/year for access to your website, you've got job security. Click clack. 4. Tommy Tuberville -- Steadily maintains one of the best programs in the SEC this decade. 5. Mark Richt -- see also Tommy Tuberville 6. Les Miles -- Goofy hat, goofier comments, but wins.
Surprisingly, Bobby Johnson still isn't on the hot seat. He's managed to do something that nobody else has done since George McIntyre in the early 80s: hold the Vandy job for more than five years. And whether or not he also becomes the first coach to lead the 'Dores to a bowl since McIntyre, he's well-liked in Nashville and should be around for awhile. Also, Rich Brooks has gone from fans wearing "Rich Brooks Farewell Tour" t-shirts to writing songs about him, and could take the 'Cats to back-to-back bowl games for only the third time in 25 years.
So which of the four remaining coaches are on the hot seat? After the jump...
Money, it's been said, can't buy you happiness. It also can't guarantee a Top 25 football team either.
When 
Turkey Legs to Go
(BTW: Totally ignoring firecoachnicksaban.com because... well because you people are just nuts)
