Thur., Dec. 13: All Aboard the Coaching Carousel
Who needs a playoff? College football coaches' annual game of musical chairs is much more exciting. And just like the BCS, there are no clear winners when all is said and done.
Bobby Petrino became the latest flip-flop, and landed in Arkansas. Less than 24 hours after his Atlanta Falcons lost to the New Orleans Saints on "Monday Night Football" and Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he stood by his struggling coach, Petrino was introduced as the new Razorbacks head coach. He replaces Houston Nutt, who took the head job at Mississippi after spending 10 years walking the Arkansas sideline.
While 10 schools have named new coaches for next year, there are still a few jobs to be had out there, and teams who need to name a skipper or lose out on more valuable recruiting time … right, Michigan?
There are plenty of interesting storylines for the schools still in search mode -- Michigan, UCLA, SMU, Northern Illinois, Houston and Duke. Many still think that Les "it isn't official until it's signed" Miles will lead his LSU Tigers to a national title, then back peddle on earlier comments and head north to Ann Arbor.
And while Bill Callahan and Dennis Franchione will probably take a year or two off to work on spending their giant buyouts from Nebraska and Texas A&M, this season could see the return of Rick Neuheisel to college football five years after leaving Washington in an NCAA-pool scandal.
WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT
School Out In
Arkansas Houston Nutt Bobby Petrino
Baylor Guy Morriss Art Briles
Colorado State Sonny Lubick Steve Fairchild
Duke Ted Roof TBA
Georgia Tech Chan Gailey Paul Johnson
Houston Art Briles TBA
Michigan Lloyd Carr TBA
Mississippi Ed Orgeron Houston Nutt
Navy Paul Johnson Ken Niumatalolo
Nebraska Bill Callahan Bo Pelini
Northern Illinois Joe Novak Jerry Kill
SMU Phil Bennett TBA
Southern Mississippi Jeff Bower Larry Fedora
Texas A&M Dennis Franchione Mike Sherman
UCLA Karl Dorrell TBA
Washington State &nb