MORALES' COLLEGE FOOTBALL TALK

Win in 2013 … or else

Javier Morales

December 07, 2012 at 11:09 am.

(Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports)

The days of a college football coach getting at least four years to develop a program are diminishing because of the pressure to immediately win.

Colorado’s Jon Embree was fired after two years. Joker Phillips lasted three years at Kentucky. Southern Mississippi had all it could take from Ellis Johnson in one year, finishing 0-12 after a 12-win season the previous year under Larry Fedora. Derek Dooley’s three-year stint at Tennessee in which he was 4-19 in the SEC came to an end a week before the season finished. The Skip Holtz regime at South Florida lasted only three years.

All of these firings can be justified because of the concern about recruiting and attendance only getting worse with them in charge.

None had a full recruiting cycle of four years to prove themselves, but athletic directors — who should be scrutinized for hiring them in the first place — and boosters do not have the patience to wait and see.

Three of the following five coaches will enter their fourth season next year at their respective schools, and they better post a remarkable season or else they will be looking for another job in 2014. Remarkable means more than just a winning season to some of the programs, especially at USC and Iowa, which have a history of success:

1. Lane Kiffin, Southern California. Kiffin’s father, longtime NFL and college assistant Monte Kiffin, resigned as USC’s defensive coordinator after the regular season. That move alone shows how much the younger Kiffin is fighting for his job in 2013. USC was the preseason No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll. The Trojans are 7-5 and their defense is ranked No. 62 in the FBS, allowing 396.1 yards a game. The elder Kiffin’s departure makes it look as if his son is doing all he can to improve the program. Lane Kiffin apologists can argue that he took over a program mired in NCAA sanctions that included a reduction of scholarships. But there is no excuse for a 7-5 record this season with USC’s talent.

2.Kirk Ferentz, Iowa. The embattled Hawkeye coach will reportedly return for his 15th season, much to the surprise of some in Big Ten circles. After finishing 4-8 this season in a down year for the Big Ten, Ferentz is 19-19 in his last three seasons after taking Iowa to the Orange Bowl in 2009 with an 11-2 record. Ferentz has produced only six winning conference records in his tenure at Iowa. “What I’m married to is what’s going to work, to give us the best chance to win,” Ferentz said in his season-ending press conference. That marriage needs help of Dr. Phil proportions if Ferentz wants to survive past next season.

3. Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech. Tuberville was rumored by some to be a candidate for the Arkansas job because of his SEC background at Auburn. The people who generated those rumors are living back in the day when Tuberville coached the Tigers to a 13-0 record in 2004. Auburn also went 11-2 under Tuberville in 2006, but that was six long years ago. In his last two seasons with Auburn and first three with Texas Tech, Tuberville is averaging only 6.8 wins a season (34-28). His obvious swipe at an assistant coach — and then meager explanation that he was waving him off the field to the sideline — signals a questionable character. If the Red Raiders have another six- or seven-win season with Tuberville next year, he will get swiped out of Lubbock.

4. Randy Edsall, Maryland. Just how good is Edsall as a head coach? Maryland fans and media are still trying to figure that out. He took Connecticut to the Fiesta Bowl in 2010, but the Huskies were 8-5 and hardly a challenge for Oklahoma, losing 48-20. Since Edsall coached UConn into a Big East program in 2004, his teams have not lost less than four games in a season. He is 80-88 from 2004-2012, including 6-18 in two years at Maryland. What probably saved his job this season were injuries at the quarterback position. The Terps’ four scholarship quarterbacks each suffered season-ending injuries (three ACL tears and a foot injury) and Maryland finished the year with a freshman linebacker taking snaps. With healthy quarterbacks next year, the heat will be on.

5. Bobby Hauck, UNLV. The Rebels have been inconsequential in Las Vegas. UNLV averaged only 15,208 fans in seven home games at Sam Boyd Stadium, which has a capacity of 36,800. The Rebels have not won more than two games in a season in Hauck’s first three years, but he has the support of athletic director Jim Livengood and UNLV president Neal Smatresk . Livengood hired Hauck, and he knows a new coach in 2013 would not turn the program around immediately. Livengood might as well see if Hauck can improve within his contract, which goes through 2014. Hauck understands, however, that next season will actually be his last if the Rebels do not post a winning season. “We probably need to be bowl eligible next year,” Hauck told the Las Vegas Sun. “I think that’s fair.”

 

 

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