NCAA WEEK 12 IN REVIEW; THE COACHING GUILLOTINE

Les Miles makes US$4 million a year but he cannot manage the clock with 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter and down by two point with the ball and only 19 yards needed to kick a game winning field goal. I'm still shaking my head and even Veronica asked, "Why didn't he stop the clock instead of letting all that time just waste away?" My spouse is new to the game of American football and already she is disheartened by the actions of a man who last year had a job that she could only describe in terms of soccer.
But that's SEC football for you. Today the SEC is as close as you can get to the pros without actually being there. Notre Dame might have a US$ 15 billion endowment but the SEC has better overall team speed, athletes and coaches than any other conference in the NCAA. That is except for Les Miles.
Coaches blunder all the time but it seems that this one incident was a result more of knowing their season was over in BCS terms than just poor game management which, of course, it was. Imagine if this had happened in the game against Florida which was poorly coached by Miles as well? Imaging if it had happened in the SEC Championship game against an opponent other than Florida? You starting to see the point now?
There are a lot of good up and coming coaches in the NCAA and right now this is just hot air being spouted by sports writers. Nick Saban owns the SEC West right now and likely will for the next two seasons as he recruits the hell out of the second tier of talent in places like Texas and Missouri and gains blue chip talent in his own and adjacent states. Unlike many programs where a kid out of high school might decide against an Alabama because they might have to wait as many as three years to play Saban has been able to convince these guys to come to Tuscaloosa because every now and then you see a freshman standout carrying the ball or in the game on the offensive or defensive line because they blow so many teams out. Some guy name Meyer in Gainesville uses the same sort of reasoning.
Yes, I know Les Miles won a national championship in 2007. How could I possibly forget that? I still don't see what he's done for the Bayou Bengal faithful in Baton Rouge since. You know that's the bottom line. The reason why Charlie Weis is going to get asked to leave at the end of this season isn't because he sucks as a coach but because he sucks at getting to the apex of competition within the BCS. He got a year more than Willingham and that's enough. I would not be surprised if his buyout package isn't already typed with a check attached and sitting on some priests desk in an envelope with a Post-It Note on it saying, "Do not open until 10 January 2010."
Speaking of coaches that are going to get fired Ralph Friedgen of Maryland, according to source in College Park would be gone right after the final whistle of this week's season finale against Boston College if the search for a replacement hadn't been delayed by alumni and boosters who are rabidly loyal to the coach who is a Maryland grad and former Terp player. Loyalty in a fiercely competitive ACC doesn't count for as much as it did when Maryland was having multiple ten win seasons back six years ago. The Terrapins since going to three straight bowl games are now 2-9 and looking down the barrel of their first 10 loss season ever.
If you live in Ann Arbor don't laugh at the plight of the Terrapins. Jim Harbaugh was a great player in the Big House and now he's lead Stanford one of the lowliest programs in the nation recently back to prominence in the PAC 10 with a freshman at the helm of his offense. Rich Rod being sent packing would not be a shock at all. Back to back years losing to Ohio State and not going to a bowl game might make Rodriguez a one trick pony.
Diane Valencen, D.S.V.J., O.Q.H [Journ.], ArF J., M.F.
Contributing Editor—Sports
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