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Coaching Carousel On High
November 27, 2006
By Benjamin Miraski
With most teams finally finishing their seasons, coaches around the country have started to fall.
Today's casualties:
Alabama released Mike Shula of his duties. You will remember that Shula was hired over Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom, another Alabama alum. Croom and the Bulldogs beat Alabama this season, for the program's first signature win.
"I am deeply disappointed to be fired as the Head Football Coach at the University of Alabama. From my very first day on this job, I had a single mission: To return the Crimson Tide to its place among the elite programs in college football. Although I maintain that we were moving steadily in that direction, I regret sincerely that I will not be given the opportunity to finish the job I was hired to do." - Mike Shula on his firing
Usually doing the job at Alabama involves beating Mississippi State, and also beating Auburn, something that Shula failed to do in his four years. Athletics Director Mal Moore seemed to indicate there was no list of candidates at this point, but indicated the program was looking for a proven winner.
Sources indicate that Butch Davis coveted the Alabama job, but has already been hired at North Carolina, and was announced as the head coach officially today. The MRI likes Bobby Petrino for this opening, should he be willing to part with Louisville. He has ties to the SEC and has proven he can win with the Cardinals.
Chuck Amato was fired from North Carolina State on Monday. During his time at NC State, Amato was over .500 overall, but couldn't break through in the ACC. However, Amato did have a strange success that many other ACC teams couldn't find. He beat Florida State. North Carolina State was 4-3 against the perennial leaders in the ACC during Amato's time at the helm.
"When I came to North Carolina State University, I set my dreams very high. My vision was to take this program to places that it had never been before in 100-plus years of playing football. We really don’t know how long or how difficult it is to be able to attain those types of goals because we’ve never been there before in football." - Chuck Amato on his firing
Early rumors have two names in contention. Norm Chow is by far the leader. The former USC offensive coordinator, and now coordinator for the NFL's Tennessee Titans, worked at North Carolina State during the time when Philip Rivers was the Big Man on Campus. Also in the rumors is Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, who recently bought a house in the area.
Meanwhile three jobs found their men. Butch Davis was officially hired at North Carolina today. While sweater vests work for Jim Tressel, I am not sure that they do as much for Davis.
In addition, Mark Dantonio was hired at Michigan State to replace John L. Smith. Dantonio was the coach at the University of Cincinnati, and led them to a 7-5 record this season, including a big win over Rutgers. This will be the second year in his three year tenure that the Bearcats qualified for a bowl game.
"It's tremendous to be a Spartan. To me, I know the phrase 'boldness by design' exists here right now. I can tell you as a Spartan, whenever I walked into any school in America, whether that was in Michigan, Ohio, the East Coast, in Florida, Texas, California, I walked in with boldness because I knew I represented something that was special. I knew I represented something that had history behind it, had tradition behind it, had championships behind it, a place that was nationally known for its athletics, not just basketball and football, but for its entire athletic program. I am so, so proud to be here today, to represent Michigan State University in this capacity." - Mark Dantonio on his hiring
Dantonio is no stranger to Michigan State, where he served as the secondary coach for six years. He has a tough job on his hands. The Spartan program which went 4-8 this season will be losing their starting quarterback and just imploded after losing a big lead against Notre Dame in September. His biggest challenge might be teaching the players to hold on to the ball. The Spartans fumbled the ball 15 times this season, most costly in the game against the Fighting Irish.
Gene Chizik, defensive coordinator at Texas and former defensive coordinator at Auburn, who was looked at for many of the openings around the country, has accepted the head coaching job at Iowa State. Chizik signs a five year deal for the Cyclones program which has had only two winning seasons in the last five.
“It’s been a lifetime professional dream to be the CEO of a football program and I couldn’t be more pleased that Iowa State University is the institution providing me this opportunity. I’ve had great mentors to learn from in my career, and I am fully prepared and energized to begin my Cyclone tenure." - Gene Chizik on his hiring
Chizik will have to reform a defense which surrenders nearly 400 yards and 31 points per game. He will begin coaching Iowa State right away and will not coach the Longhorns in whatever bowl they attend.
Jobs open, in order of prominence (outgoing coach): Miami (Larry Coker), Alabama (Mike Shula), Arizona State (Dirk Koetter), North Carolina State (Chuck Amato), Cincinnati (Mark Dantonio), North Texas (Darrell Dickey), Florida International (Don Strock)
Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted November 27, 2006 7:15 PM