Category: College Football (Page 56 of 296)

      Les Miles to interview for Michigan opening?

      January 10, 2011 /

      According to ESPN.com, LSU’s Les Miles “anticipates” meeting with Michigan representatives to discuss the Wolverines’ head coaching vacancy.

      Miles says no one from Michigan has contacted him directly yet and that he does not know when such a meeting with his alma mater might take place. According to the Detroit News, Miles and Michigan are expected to meet on Tuesday.

      Miles says he cannot speculate about the substance of such a meeting and also says he is “extremely happy” at LSU and that his family is comfortable living in Baton Rouge.

      Boy, Michigan fans have to be torn on this one. On one hand, Miles isn’t Brady Hoke, who could be one of the favorites to replace Rich Rodriguez. Hoke has done a nice job at San Diego State, but he doesn’t exactly rock UM fans’ boat.

      On the other hand, Miles is freaking nuts. I swear he uses one of those origami fortunetellers that girls used to make in grade school to make decisions during games (especially in the fourth quarter). He may win, but it’s only by the stroke of God that he’s able to get away with some of the things he does during games.

      It’ll also cost a small fortunate to convince him to leave Baton Rouge. He makes roughly $3.7 million a year at LSU and if Michigan AD David Brandon isn’t prepared to fork over that kind of money with what happened with Rodriguez, then he’ll have to “settle” for someone like Hoke instead.

      That said, Miles is a true “Michigan Man” in every sense of the word. He knows that he can’t go winless against Ohio State or lose to Michigan State (ever). He gets what Michigan is about and in the end, that might be worth it to someone like Brandon, who obviously needs to hit a home run with his next hire.

      College Football, External Sports

      49er-Harbaugh marriage a perfect match on the surface

      January 7, 2011 /
      Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh (above) celebrates with players including quarterback Andrew Luck (R) after they defeated Virginia Tech in the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl NCAA football game in Miami, January 3, 2011. REUTERS/Hans Deryk (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      After Mike Singletary laid the blueprint on how not to manage quarterbacks during his short stint in San Francisco, the 49ers’ next head coach had to be someone who knew how to develop that position.

      As soon as they jettisoned Singletary in Week 16, they targeted Jim Harbaugh as their top choice. The work he did with Josh Johnson at the University of San Diego and likely future No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck at Stanford was proof that he could effectively develop quarterbacks. The fact that Harbaugh didn’t have any experience as a NFL assistant didn’t matter because that wasn’t the Niners’ top priority. It would have helped, but it obviously wasn’t a deal breaker because the team agreed to terms with the former Stanford coach on a five-year, $25 million contract on Friday.

      Harbaugh takes over a team that is certainly not short on talent. The Niners already have a top-13 defense and with players like Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, the offense is in good shape, too.

      But the one position that has held the 49ers back over the years has been quarterback. Whether it’s Alex Smith, Troy Smith or Shaun Hill, the quarterback position in San Francisco has been a black hole. Part of the blame falls on Singletary because he was overmatched as a head coach from the start. The fact that the team could never settle on an offensive coordinator didn’t help either. But Alex Smith has been the model of inconsistency. At times he’s shown that he has what it takes to succeed but he’s never taken that next step to become a reliable starter.

      Now it’s up to Harbaugh to determine if he can work with Smith or if the team should go in another direction. At this point, it might be wise to clean house and start over, which I’m sure Harbaugh will consider. After all, why not try to win with your guy as opposed to someone elses?

      Either way, Harbaugh was the right choice for this team all along and San Francisco was the right fit for him. There’s no guarantee that he’ll succeed and if history is any indication, he won’t because he was a highly sought after college coach. And maybe in a couple of years we’ll look back and say that he should have stayed in the college ranks and coached at his alma mater Michigan.

      But at least right now, the deal works for all parties involved.

      College Football, External Sports, NFL

      Are NFL teams starting to cool on Jim Harbaugh?

      January 7, 2011 /
      Stanford Cardinal head coach Jim Harbaugh celebrates winning the 77th Annual Discover Orange Bowl at Sun Life stadium in Miami on January 3, 2011. Stanford defeated Virginia Tech 40-12. UPI/Martin Fried

      In the past 24 hours it seems like Jim Harbaugh went from being the hottest name in sports, to being as attractive as one of Kristen Wiig’s deformed characters on “Saturday Night Live.”

      It’s hard to know where the Harbaugh rumors start and where they end, but all of a sudden two teams (the Dolphins and Broncos) that were pursuing him as their next head coach suddenly have no interest at all. On Thursday night, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports tweeted that the Dolphins were sticking with Tony Sparano (the man that owner Stephen Ross was so willing to kick to the curb just days ago) and on Friday morning, the Denver Post reported that the Broncos are bowing out of the Harbaugh race, too.

      Whose baby did Harbaugh punch in the last 24 hours to make these teams turn and run for the hills?

      The fact that the Broncos have backed out isn’t a surprise. As Rotoworld.com points out, they’ve just been a “backburner” team for Harbaugh all along. But the Dolphins’ about-face is strange to say the least.

      Ross, GM Jeff Ireland and new football czar Carl Peterson flew cross-country to talk to Harbaugh earlier this week. There were also reports that Ross offered Harbaugh $7-8 million to coach in Miami, which would have made him the highest paid head coach in the NFL. During this time, Miami’s brass left Sparano hanging (which was a bush league move by the way) while courting Harbaugh.

      And now they’re out? Hey Tony, we realized that you were the one for us all along? No, it’s over with Jim…we swear?

      It doesn’t make sense.

      So now we’re back to square one with Harbaugh: It’s between Michigan (his alma mater) and the 49ers (assuming they haven’t backed out since I started writing this post). And I guess we might as well entertain the idea that he’s going to stay at Stanford with Andrew Luck and I don’t know, win another Orange Bowl or something.

      My money would be on him winding up at Michigan but at this point, who knows.

      College Football, External Sports, NFL

      Did the uncertainty of the NFL’s labor situation scare Andrew Luck into staying at Stanford?

      January 6, 2011 /
      Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck (12) passes for 287 yards against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the 77th Annual Discover Orange Bowl at Sun Life stadium in Miami on January 3, 2011. Stanford defeated Virginia Tech 40-12. UPI/Martin Fried

      There will be plenty of people in the next couple of days that will say Andrew Luck is crazy for staying at Stanford. He’s basically just handed over a treasure chest filled with $50 million so he could play in the Pac-10 again next year.

      What are you thinking, kid? Your stock will never be higher! The iron has never been hotter! Carpe poon!

      But maybe the young man is worried about there not being a season next year. And considering Roger Goodell has been all talk and no action when it comes to getting the owners and the NFLPA to come together on a new labor deal, I don’t blame Luck if he is concerned about entering the draft.

      Will a deal probably get done eventually? Yes. Could Luck get hurt next season and wind up losing out on millions? Yes. Would I have left school if I were him and covered my self in chocolate sauce at the thought of receiving $50 million? Yes…what?

      But again, if Luck was concerned about the NFL’s labor situation, I can’t blame him. Why not take the guarantee rather than the possibility of there not being a season next year? (Of course, to that I ask: Why not just wait and take the guaranteed $50 million when they do reach an agreement, numb nuts?)

      On a related note: how screwed are the Carolina Panthers now? They were all set to take Luck with the No. 1 pick next April and now will have to go in another direction unless they think Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett (assuming he comes out) is worth that much guaranteed money. Some believe he’s a top 5 pick and while he certainly has the size and tools, it would be a stretch to say he’s worth the top overall selection.

      It’s not good to be a Panther fan these days.

      College Football, External Sports, NFL

      Rick Reilly’s lame jokes undercut his argument

      January 6, 2011 /

      Rick Reilly wrote a piece about how TCU’s win over Wisconsin proves, yet again, that college football needs a playoff. I agree with just about everything he says, but then he writes this:

      What a lie this BCS era is. They say a playoff would take too much time away from school, yet Oregon’s players will have had 37 days off when they play again.

      They say with this system, “every game counts.” Except of course, TCU’s epic win over Wisconsin to stay undefeated Saturday. Counts exactly as much as a rainbow to Stevie Wonder.

      Here’s what was going through my mind as I read that section…

      What a lie this BCS era is. Yep. They say a playoff would take too much time away from school, yet Oregon’s players will have had 37 days off when they play again. Yep. They say with this system, “every game counts.” Except of course, TCU’s epic win over Wisconsin to stay undefeated Saturday. Not epic, but yep. Counts exactly as much as a rainbow to Stevie Wonder. Wait, whaa? Leave Stevie out of it!

      Seriously, dude is blind. He’s had enough to deal with in his life without a sportswriter (who has won National Sportswriter of the Year 11 times — sigh) invoking his handicap to make a lame joke so that his column will seem like it’s funny.

      This is why I don’t generally read Rick Reilly. I read this piece because I’m in favor of a college football playoff and I wanted to see if he had anything new and/or interesting to add.

      Nope.

      College Football, External Sports

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