As the coaching carousel keeps turning, the newly-available Ty Willingham might be expected to be bitter. After all, his record at Notre Dame was essentially the same as Charlie Weis' after three seasons. Yet Willingham got the gate from the Domers, while Weis got the dreaded vote of confidence from his athletic director this week. You wouldn't blame Willingham if all of a sudden he started talking like Yosemite Sam with a habanero seed stuck in his throat. Gibbering, barely coherent anger would seem to be an appropriate response to such a regrettable circumstance.
"It's not just my issue, it's a college football issue - we have to give coaches a chance to do their job," Willingham said Thursday from Seattle, where he recently was fired as the University of Washington's coach after four seasons, the last of them winless.
"Because now we have coaches ... especially some of the minority coaches ... they are losing their jobs after 2 1/2 years. That's not right."
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.
$ With the big news of the week being the firing of Tommy Bowden at Clemson, the crew at ESPN will be sure to debate the thought process at Clemson. Lou Holtz will most certainly defend Bowden and Mark May will defend the administration. So we give you a straight up bet that Holtz will forget the camera is still rolling again this week and have some less than flattering words for Clemson. What the heck, +/-5 on the number of times he says "damn."
$ Jim Harbaugh and Rick Neuheisel are both known for taking jabs at opposing teams and coaches in the week leading up to the game. As both have been quiet this week, we're sure they are saving everything for the post game handshake when Stanford plays at UCLA. The conversation will most certainly revolve around the post-game speech Neuheisel gave after the Tennessee game. Straight up, one of two thing will be said depending on the outcome of the game. Neuheisel-"Jim, I'd love to stand here and talk, but I've got a speech to give. Better luck next year, loser." Or, Harbaugh-"Doesn't look like anyone stuck around for your speech tonight. You guys got any games left on the schedule you think you can win?"
$ When Mississippi State travels to Tennessee, we'll be seeing the 103rd and 104th worst offenses in the country. So we'll put the over and under on the closeups of each team's offensive coordinator at +/-10. Because if someone is going to go, these guys are going to get the boot first.
As FanHouse previews each BCS conference, the college football songbook will cast an unflattering light on each conference in the only way we know how. Next up the SEC.
My old high school football coach was fond of saying he couldn't make chicken salad out of chicken... excrement, but there's a reason Sylvester Croom was named SEC coach of the year: he can come close. Not long ago, like a couple of months actually, the only time we'd post about Mississippi State here at FanHouse would be to tally their blowout losses, speculate on the next Crooming, or mention in passing that their next opponent could take the day off. Things change quickly. In Sylvester Croom's fourth season, State ended up being a solid football team on their good days and tough out at worst (OK, at worst they were picked off six times and blown out by LSU, but after that).
The Bulldogs' reward for putting together a pretty good year is a trip a couple hundred miles north to Memphis to play Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl. Many SEC teams see the Liberty as just a little better than the Independence Bowl in Shreveport and overall a pretty "meh" consolation prize. But for MSU fans who haven't seen their boys in a bowl game since 2000 and haven't even won more than three games in a season over the last six years, this trip to Memphis might as well be the Sugar Bowl. State fans have bought more than 30,000 tickets to the game, and many more than that will probably show up in Memphis on Dec. 29. State AD Larry Templeton says Bulldog fans "now look forward to coloring the city of Memphis maroon." Good, Memphis could use a fresh coat of paint.
What the Bulldog faithful might find when the game kicks off, however, could be something completely different than what they expect. Central Florida features the nation's leading rusher in junior Kevin Smith (188 yards/game, 29 TDs), while State gives up a middle-of-the-road 159 yards rushing per game. MSU also gave up over 4.5 yards/carry in games against Auburn, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas. State's ability to stop UCF's running game could be the main factor in how this bowl game turns out.
(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.
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.
This past weekend was certainly a target rich environment with Kentucky beating Louisville, Utah beating UCLA, and Tennessee getting crushed by Florida. But for our money, the best story was Auburn getting upset at home by Mississippi St. So sit back and enjoy. And remember, losing to Sylvester Croom can get you fired!
Special Hat Tip to Pete Holiday for putting the video together!
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...
to cause (a person) a painful loss of pride, self-respect, or dignity; mortify the fans and administration of an opposing SEC football team, resulting in the removal or firing of their head coach
[Origin: 2004–05; < LL humili?tus (ptp. of humili?re to humble), equiv. to L humili(s) humble+ -?tus-ate1, see Mississippi State vs. Florida, Ron Zook; Mississippi State vs. Alabama, Mike Shula]
-Synonyms dishonor, disgrace, shame; degrade, abase, debase. See humble.
-Antonyms exalt, honor, contract extension.
Sylvester Croom's three years at Mississippi State have been remarkable similar: in each of his football campaigns, he's managed a total of three wins with a major upset thrown in two out of three times.
The upsets have been so massive that by winning, the opposing coach ends up Croomed. Evidence: Ron Zook was canned after the Gators lost to Croom's Dogs in 2004, and Mike Shula didn't survive 2006 at Bama after losing to Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa.
Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is not taking any chances when it comes to this week's match-up with Mississippi State. And as fans, you shouldn't count it as an automatic win. I'm not saying that the Tigers won't win. They will. They are three touchdown favorites and are playing a team with a red-shirt freshman at quarterback.
With that said, there's still plenty to worry about. We talked in the last post about the Bulldog's defense. They are no joke. But most importantly, while Auburn is chasing a conference title, MSU coach Sylvester Croom is trying to hold on to his coaching life - that can be very dangerous.
The Bulldogs have lost 35 of their last 41 SEC games. They haven't won more than three games in a season since 2000. Croom has a total of six wins in his two years on campus. While publicly, Mississippi State officials say Croom's job is safe, others aren't so sure. Croom must win more than three games this year to have any chance of being invited back for a fourth season.
A win Saturday against Auburn would right the ship in a big way. Can it happen Saturday? Sure, anything can happen; ask Ron Zook and the Florida Gators. Will it happen? There's probably a better chance of it snowing at Scott Field than State winning.
Auburn must still come to play. A wounded dog is a dangerous dog. That's why Tigers offensive coordinator Al Borges and Tuberville have been careful to talk up this Bulldog team. Their defense could keep things close for a half, maybe longer.
The MSU offense is a different story. And that should finish the story. Auburn will win Saturday. They will win big. But I don't look for it to be a cake-walk early on. Brandon Cox will have to connect on his short passes better and they must correct the issues they had in the red zone during the first half last Saturday. By 4:00 Saturday afternoon, Sylvester Croom will still be looking for that first win of 2006.
As the coaching carousel keeps turning, the newly-available Ty Willingham might be expected to be bitter. After all, his record at Notre Dame was essentially the same as Charlie Weis' after three seasons. Yet Willingham got the gate from the Domers, while Weis got the dreaded vote of confidence from his athletic director this week. You wouldn't blame Willingham if all of a sudden he started talking like Yosemite Sam with a habanero seed stuck in his throat. Gibbering, barely coherent anger would seem to be an appropriate response to such a regrettable circumstance.
My old high school football coach was fond of saying he couldn't make chicken salad out of chicken... excrement, but there's a reason 
(BTW: Totally ignoring firecoachnicksaban.com because... well because you people are just nuts)
Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is not taking any chances when it comes to this week's match-up with Mississippi State. And as fans, you shouldn't count it as an automatic win. I'm not saying that the Tigers won't win. They will. They are three touchdown favorites and are playing a team with a red-shirt freshman at quarterback.
