Coaching Carousel Spins Round And Round

Written by John Hoben

Monday, 27 November 2006

The coaching carousel kicked into high gear on Friday with the firing of Larry Coker at Miami U and went into overdrive today (Nov 27) when Alabama fired head coach Mike Shula.

The coaching carousel started spinning back on October 22 when John Bunting at North Carolina was fired after his Tar Heels stumbled to a 1-6 record. A week later Michigan State’s John L. Smith joined Bunting in the unemployment line. Bunting and Smith were both allowed to finish out the football season.

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At Carolina, Buntings replacement, Butch Davis a former Miami U and Cleveland Browns head coach, had already moved into his office before the Heels finished beating Duke in Buntings final game as coach.

It had been widely speculated that Davis (a former Razorback) would be the man to replace Houston Nutt at Arkansas after Nutt had suffered through two losing seasons with his Razorbacks in 2004 and 2005. Now that the 2006 season has played itself out, Nutt’s hot seat has become cold and the only thing that’s hot is Nutts name with schools looking for a coach.

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After Bunting, the next big name in the firing line was John L. Smith at Michigan State who was let go by University administrators November 2. But like Bunting, Smith was allowed to finish the season. Today (Nov 27) it was announced that Cincinnati head man Mark Dantonio has been hired to fill the MSU head coach’s slot. Dantonio is known as a defensive expert, a philosophy that’s been vacant at East Lansing in recent years. Dantonio is also a former Ohio State defensive coordinator.

The next to go was Miami’s Larry Coker, fired on Friday after the Hurricane’s win over Boston College finishing a 6-6 season and becoming bowl eligible. No replacement has been named but rumor has it that Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano is at the top of the short list of names. Schiano however has publicly stated he is happy at Rutgers. Nutt’s name has also popped up as a possible replacement for Coker.

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There had been speculation that Alabama head coach Mike Shula was in trouble after guiding the Tide to a 6-6 season. Shula was awarded a new contract with a significant pay raise after the 2005 campaign where Alabama finished with a 10-3 record including a season ending Cotton Bowl victory over Texas Tech. Alabama boosters have a short memory and little patients as Shula was fired this morning. Look for the Tide to go after South Florida’s Jim Leavitt who has nurtured USF since its inaugural season as an NCAA Div 1AA member11 seasons ago to a member of the Big East today. And guess who else is mentioned as a possible replacement? Arkansas’ Houston Nutt.