Dodd: In-season coaching changes now normal
Thirty years ago last month, Larry Travis stood at the entrance to the Kansas State locker room in full view of the KSU Stadium crowd.
It was clear his coach, Jim Dickey, would basically have to go through Travis, the Wildcats athletic director, to get inside the building that day.
Travis was obviously upset and it was only halftime of what was eventual loss to I-AA Northern Iowa. Dickey was fired a few hours later in what — even at moribund K-State — was a shocking development.
Fire a coach during the season? It just didn’t happen. Coaches were usually afforded the dignity of finishing the year. Short of some cataclysmic event, forget about those coaches quitting in midseason. It just wasn’t done.
This season — this week — may have changed college football protocol forever. Five schools go into the halfway point of the season with an interim coach, someone other than who began the season. That group includes Steve Spurrier, who abruptly resigned at South Carolina on Tuesday.
In a wild 30-hour period, USC’s Steve Sarkisian was put on leave, then fired. That was followed by Spurrier’s resignation. Their stories don’t exactly sync up, but it’s clear patience is as scarce these days as coaching security.
Maryland’s Randy Edsall wasn’t given the common courtesy of being the first to know he would be fired. Word leaked last week. North Texas’ Dan McCarney was run out after losing to an FCS team (Portland State), four months after being extended.
The issues with Sarkisian, Tim Beckman (fired at Illinois) and Kyle Flood (suspended at Rutgers) were conduct related.
Some had Charlie Strong run out at Texas halfway through his second season for on-field performance. It got so silly, this thought occurred as Texas was beating Oklahoma on Saturday: Does Chip Kelly now have to take his name out of the “running” in Austin?
Silly, of course, but not that much. Kelly has gone from a subject of Twitter gossip to legitimate collegiate candidate, now that USC is officially open.
Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson basically narrowed the field for Edsall’s replacement when he told reporters, “Fans want exciting, wide open offense.”
You listening, Chip?
In the digital age, rumor becomes some sort of fact in the recruiting universe. You think rival USC recruiters weren’t using Sarkisian’s situation against him before this week?
We’ve come a long way since Fireronzook.com was up and running before the former Florida coach even took over.
“ … that’s my legacy to coaching,” Zook, who has been with the Packers as an assistant since 2014, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Still, there was a level of surprise when Zook really was fired 12 years ago this month. Now it’s become accepted practice for schools to get out in front of recruiting and in front of potential candidates if things start to go South.
“I think North Texas probably did that from a firing perspective,” said Bobby Burton, a respected national recruiting authority. “You look at Maryland, I don’t think there’s any question they wanted to go in different direction and get ahead of the curve in hiring and recruiting.”
Maryland, USC, Illinois and South Carolina ¬are theoretically in competition with each other for talent from a similar pool. Rutgers still has to make a decision on Flood, of course.
That it’s come to this in mid-October suggests a certain de-construction of protocol. This year’s silly (hiring) season should be epic.
USC had a coach fired in the middle of the season for the second time in three years. (USATSI)
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It’s fair and just that Spurrier is immediately eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame. He can be nominated by either Florida and/or South Carolina. From there, he’d be a slam dunk for the next available slot in the Class of 2017. Spurrier would be the fourth ever entrant to join the hall as a player and coach, joining Bobby Dodd, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Bowden Wyatt, a former Tennessee great. |
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Will Grier seems at least guilty of bad judgment. The plan for now is to appeal the Florida quarterback’s positive NCAA drug test. Grier has been contrite saying the substance came from an over-the-counter supplement. Consider that the overall NCAA positive rate for drug tests is 2-3 percent, meaning Grier is in the extreme minority. Some of what the NCAA calls “unregulated dietary supplements” have been classified basically as a food by the Food and Drug Administration since 1994. The NCAA noted on its website that some of those supplements do not need to prove “safety or purity.” And there’s not a trainer in the country who doesn’t know this. The default setting should be to just stay away. The third-party company that drug tests for the NCAA says there is never a complete list of banned substances because of the ever-changing market. “I’m saying the kid screwed up and he knows he screwed up,” explained Rod Walters, a veteran sports medicine consultant. Several schools are partnering with Aegis — a respected third-party drug-testing company — to get an app that has a database for 140,000 products. Kids can literally walk into a GNC and see if the product their interested in will cause a positive. The NCAA provides a reference website that athletes can access at anytime. Not to mention the NCAA usually gives 48 hours notice before it is on campus. Depending on the substance, an athlete can simply stop using and test clean. Unless the NCAA botched those urine samples, Grier’s chances of a successful appeal look slim. |
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Did anyone notice who Maryland named as its interim coach in place of Edsall? That would be offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, who had three embarrassing off-field incidents in his past while at New Mexico. Among other things, Locksley was accused of punching an assistant, and in a separate incident, of sexual harassment by an administrative assistant. This is the guy you want to lead the program through a trying transition? Locksley is known as a top-notch recruiter and coordinator, but we doubt if he’ll ever be a head coach again given his New Mexico experience. The school certainly could have found someone on the staff with a cleaner background. And we thought Maryland was a basketball school. |
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Trevor Clemons-Valdez was dove hunting a couple of weeks ago when he heard Baylor’s No. 1 tight end, Tre’von Armstead, had been kicked off the team. Clemons-Valdez had plenty of time on his hands at the time because essentially the same thing happen to him in the spring. Coach Art Briles had asked for his scholarship. “My role had kind of diminished,” the fifth-year senior told CBS Sports. “It was one of those things you could see it coming. It just wasn’t looking good. It’s hard. It’s absolutely hard. This game you love and you put so much into it.” To stay close to the team, Clemons-Valdez became a paid student assistant coach while working toward his master’s in sports management. In a blink, though, he was back on the team in September after a quick text to Briles. The Bears needed depth at tight end. Clemons-Valdez may have had a fat guy touchdown Saturday against Kansas had the 295-pounder not been overthrown in the second half. He also could have lobbed the middle finger at the coaching staff that asked for his scholarship back. It never occurred to him. “I’m a firm believer in karma,” Clemons-Valdez said. “I’m a firm believer in you reap what you sow. Good things happen to good people. I want to help those younger guys. We were still scrubby little Baylor back then [when I came].” |
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Has Boise become the establishment it once despised? A case can be made. The Broncos (5-1) are the top Group of Five (non-Power Five) program in this week’s AP Top 25 at No. 21. Boise has risen 15 spots in the poll in the last three weeks beating Virginia, Hawaii and Colorado State (combined 5-12). While we should give credit to the Broncos for playing two Power Five opponents (Washington, Virginia), clearly other teams have accomplished more. No. 24 Houston is undefeated, has won at Louisville and scored at least 49 in three of five games in the strongest Group of Five conference (AAC). Memphis, from the same league, is unranked. The Tigers (5-0) have beaten Cincinnati, some folks’ AAC preseason favorite. And how is Temple not in the conversation having beaten Penn State and winning at Cincinnati? That’s three undefeated teams from a superior conference, all with a higher cumulative schedule strength than a one-loss Boise. The College Football Playoff Selection Committee can’t begin voting fast enough. |
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Quote of the Week
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“OK, let’s get moving. I’ve had enough here.” — Steve Spurrier at the end of his farewell press conference |
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