The movie world was saddened this holiday season by the news of the passing of Ann Savage, perhaps the original Femme Fatale. Roughly interpreted, ‘Femme Fatale’ means ‘Femme fatale’. Get too close and you’ll lose your better judgment, be beaten, or at least seriously embarrassed. Using the universal laws of attraction, the standard methodology includes enticing unsuspecting people into listening to seductive language and ultimately causing some really bad decisions. As college football heads into the annual slump known as winter, it will be tough to rebuild some programs, or at least get the dog programs respectable. Coaching candidates offer seductive language, grand visions and, in some cases, lead hiring institutions to make really bad decisions.
In the end, schools have to try something radical to turn losers into winners. Witness the University at Buffalo. For years a doormat program, the Bulls achieved an incredible level of success in 2008 with a bowl appearance. Even though the Bulls lost to UConn in the International Bowl, this is a remarkable turnaround for a program that, in the not-too-distant past, was simply the laughing stock of college football in the East. Congratulations then to the Bulls and coach Turner Gill. This is what one would refer to as a “good hire.”
Which training decisions will turn out to be the bad ones? You never know for sure, but there are already some strange stories forming on the surface of the 2009 season. Iowa State was very lucky to have their 2-10 coach hired by, of all people, Auburn. This saved the school from itself when Cyclone bosses offered the former coach a contract extension. After racking up wins in the 2008 season over South Dakota State and Kent State at the start of the season, the Cyclones proceeded to lose everything else. Iowa State then replaced their lost head coach with Iowa native Paul Rhoads. Rhoads brings impressive credentials, a commitment to winning at Iowa State and comes to the Cyclones from, of all places, Auburn. 2009 will see which school got the better end of this deal. Stay tuned for this one!
The wise man of college football (your humble author) wishes Coach Steve Sarkisian in Washington the best of luck in 2009. Coach Sark probably read the tea leaves in his previous role at USC and determined that his upward mobility was it would benefit better looking for another institution to make it a winner. Washington goal? The Huskies finished last season winless, the first perfectly terrible season for a Pac-10 school. If the Huskies do have some wins in 2009, Coach Sark really will have accomplished something significant. Then look for the purple dogs in 2012.
The opportunity to turn a loser into a winner will often override a coaching candidate’s better judgment. The Sage hopes New New Mexico State coach DeWayne Walker made a good choice. Walker is the Aggies’ 33rd head coach and has a lot of work ahead of him. The Aggies posted just one conference win last season and likely have the Cornhuskers, Michigan and a variety of other schools trying to fit them into their local schedules. If Walker gets a couple of wins, New Mexico State’s biggest challenge will be keeping him.
North of Las Cruces, the University of New Mexico was also in need of a new head football coach following the resignation of coach and alumnus Rocky Long. Never a powerhouse in the Mountain West Conference, New Mexico needed a recruiting ace to lure decent players to Albuquerque. Interestingly, the Wolves were able to convince Mike Locksley to resign from his position as Offensive Coordinator at Illinois to try to push UNM in the right direction. This will require some pressure. Amongst Locksley’s ratings, however, is one of Sports Illustrated’s top 25 recruiting ratings. If Locksley attracts better players than have ever taken the field for the Wolves and picks up some wins at the old UNM stadium, other programs will want to know exactly how he did it. They will also want to hire you. Both soccer programs in the state of New Mexico need to make generous contract extension offers in case any of their new coaches appear to be changing their respective programs.
Brady Hoke, a former head coach at Ball State, is now in the same position at San Diego State. It’s true that SDSU could offer things that Ball State couldn’t, like a beach and decent weather. Hoke traded his #12 Ball State Cardinals for one of the worst programs going. If he can turn things around in Southern California, he’ll be one of the best coaching products. The Aztecs also better have a retention plan in case Hoke starts winning. There’s no more daunting task than taking on a perennial loser and turning him around, except maybe to take over a show that’s used to winning and keep it that way. Witness Lane Kiffen, the new head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers and former head coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. Here’s a boy who won’t be missing church for the rest of the year. Getting fired by Al Davis in Oakland isn’t so much a disgrace as it is a blessing. But then landing in Knoxville? A bowl appearance in 2009 would be the hat trick. However, there is real pressure in Knoxville, and 104,000 fans will be at Neyland Stadium for every home game to apply it.
The annual shake-up of the head coaching ranks is almost over now for 2009. Motivational speeches are gearing up for the Spring Games heralding a “new way of thinking,” “a winning attitude,” “leaving the past behind ” and “make something special happen”. These are all great speeches, and they’re given to essentially every college-level player with the courage to take the field for a losing show. Next September, we will finally see which shows have been lured in with sweet words of victory and which shows really deliver. The unfortunate part of hiring coaches is that a good decision is rewarded with a large contract extension. A bad decision puts your show back in the dumpster.
