Salon.com > Ralph D. Russo

COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’12: Who went where and why

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 07:45:49 +0000

Nearly a quarter of the 124 teams playing major college football this season will have first-year coaches.

Who ended up where and why, and what they need to do to keep their new gigs.

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AKRON — Previous coach: Rob Ianello. New coach: Terry Bowden.

How he got the job: The former Auburn coach has been angling to get back into major college ball for a while and finally found a taker.

How he can keep it: The better question is will Bowden land a bigger job if he's successful?

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ARIZONA — Previous coach: Mike Stoops. New coach: Rich Rodriguez.

How he got the job: Rising star athletic director Greg Byrne struck quickly and swept the former Michigan and West Virginia coach off his feet.

How he can keep it: The Wildcats have never been to a Rose Bowl, so expectations aren't Michigan-level. With seven to 10 wins per season and regular victories against rival Arizona State, Rich Rod can retire in Tucson.

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ARKANSAS — Previous coach: Bobby Petrino. New coach: John L. Smith.

How he got the job: Kind of a long story having to do with an ill-fated motorcycle ride, but the main thing is it's Smith's job for now.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’12: 28 coaches start new jobs

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 07:45:19 +0000

The job has never been more difficult. The rewards have never been greater.

As for job security, let's just say it's best to have a real estate agent on speed dial.

But even if it's only for a few years, the chance to run a major college football program is an opportunity just about any coach would take.

"It's tougher because we're being held accountable and responsible for these young men 24 hours a day," said South Florida's Skip Holtz, the son of Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz who is entering his 14th year as a head coach.

"We're held to a higher standard academically. We're being asked to win. And win now. We're not quite as patient as we once were. So I think it's changed a little bit. I don't think it's for the bad. I think if you're the head coach, you should be held responsible for those things."

This season, 28 of the 124 schools that play in the Football Bowl Subdivision will have a new man being held responsible for the program, including Penn State, where Bill O'Brien takes a job the late Joe Paterno held for 46 years and then lost in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

That list also includes some big names returning to the sideline, such as Urban Meyer at Ohio State, Rich Rodriguez at Arizona and Mike Leach at Washington State.

Former Penn St players say Freeh report “flawed”

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 00:14:38 +0000

Franco Harris and two other former Penn State football players say the report about Penn State's handling of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal "is highly flawed, and factually insufficient."

Harris, Rudy Glocker and Christian Marrone sent to other Penn State alumni an email and letter criticizing the Freeh report that they plan publish in The Wall Street Journal and other large publications.

The email and letter were obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

The email says there was a rush to judgment by the media, the board of trustees, university officials and the NCAA after the blistering report was released two weeks ago.

The report accuses school officials, including late coach Joe Paterno, of covering up the abuse to avoid bad publicity.

Big Ten splits up Michigan and Ohio State

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:42:00 +0000

The expanded Big Ten will place Ohio State and Michigan into different divisions.

The conference announced its divisional breakdown Wednesday night, though neither division has been named.

Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern will make up one division when the league grows to 12 teams in 2011. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana are in the other.

Commissioner Jim Delany said creating divisions with competitive equality was the top priority and No. 2 was maintaining a cross-division rivalry game.

Big Ten teams will play eight conference games the next two seasons, but that could increase in the future.

"The athletic directors have the intention of exploring a ninth conference game in 2015," Delany said.

Ohio State and Michigan will play each other every year on the last day of the Big Ten season, and could conceivably play each other twice in one season. Because they are in different divisions, the Buckeyes and Wolverines could play in the new Big Ten championship game.