The Monday after the end of the NFL season is usually referred to as “Black Monday,” because it’s a dark day for a lot of coaching staffs.
The Monday after Thanksgiving 2021 could also be called “Black Monday,” but in this case, the adjective doesn’t refer to gloom and sadness, but financial prosperity for college football coaches.
Two seismic departures/hires graced the headlines yesterday and today. As I so astutely noted in my Sunday Musings, Lincoln Riley shot down any notion that he would leave Norman for Baton Rouge. What he DIDN’T say is that he wouldn’t leave Norman for Los Angeles. Which he did.
USC spared no expense in their successful wooing of Riley.
I mean, how could he NOT leave? Unlimited use of the private jet? Clearing a cool mil off of a couple real estate deals? A new pad in LA? You could almost see the “roadrunner” dust cloud as he got out of Dodge.
And, as expected, Riley is already reaping recruiting rewards for the Garnett and Gold. 5-star QB Malachi Nelson decommitted from the Sooners and is following Riley to the new land of Lincoln. Undoubtedly, more will follow. Even the insertion of Bob Stoops into the fray to stabilize things in Norman won’t be able to stop the bleeding.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a rambling piece on how a coach knows it’s time to leave. Riley presents yet another case study which we can analyze. Riley, a former Stoops assistant, absolutely rocked it at Oklahoma. Three CFP appearances, four Big 12 championships, and an 55-10 overall record (avg 11-2 each year). He had Heisman winners in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, and was the final landing spot for Jalen Hurts.
So what was left to accomplish? A national championship is really the only thing missing from his CV. With Oklahoma’s pending move to the uber-challenging SEC, I would guess that Riley saw his path to the CFP much clearer in the PAC 12 than the SEC. The PAC 12 really has one perennial “powerhouse” in Oregon (and this year, even they won't be considered for the CFP ), and a couple of middling programs in UCLA, ASU, Utah and Washington. Compare that to Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Florida, Texas (in time). Easy choice in my book.
That’s on the field. Off the field, I mean just look at the resources that USC is able to call on just to get him in the door. This program has probably the deepest pockets outside of Austin, and Riley is just the man to get the money out. If I were a betting man (and judging by my 42% clip in picking football games, I’m glad I’m not), I would think that Riley has USC in the CFP inside of 3 years. He will dominate that conference in recruiting from Day 1. And the on field product will get exponentially better almost immediately. A sound investment by the USC donor base, right? I mean, it's just money.
The other hire is one that I’m not nearly as sold on. Brian Kelly left the shadow of Touchdown Jesus, and decided to geaux to Baton Rouge and LSU. He takes over a program
that has had an interim coach since the firing of Ed “Subtitle Hell” Orgeron—go on YouTube and search Ed Orgeron press conference subtitles (trust me)—and won a national championship in 2019. Kelly has a proven track record, having won at Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and South Bend. In fact, he’s the winningest coach in Notre Dame history. His being a complete asshat aside, he’s a proven coach.
But what does he have to prove at LSU?
Maybe Kelly is tired of dealing with the handcuffs he’s wearing when it comes to recruiting at Notre Dame. We all know that “it just means more” in the SEC, academics be damned (don’t @me). Kelly will get the recruits to come to Death Valley. He will rule the talent-rich state of Louisiana, and will raid the cupboards of Texas with regularity. So his on-field product will be good. Whether it will be good enough in the SEC West to topple Alabama, Auburn, and Oklahoma on a regular basis is yet to be seen. I just don't see him as a fit in the south. I think he probably drinks unsweet tea, and doesn't know what to put in grits.
Did I mention Kelly was an asshat? Read the accounts of Robert Saleh when he was a GA under Kelly at Central Michigan. Go look at the death of a cameraman at an Irish practice. And finally, go look at how he informed his Notre Dame team of his departure.
BLUF: “Sorry you had to hear about this on social media. Let’s get together at 7 am so I can spend 2 minutes wrapping up my time here.” Oh, and there is a really good chance that Notre Dame makes the CFP this season (as of this writing, they’re #5). See ya, coach.
Kelly’s deal isn’t quite as lucrative as Riley’s; he’s getting $9.5 million per year, plus incentives (10 year deal). Let’s put both those deals into context. In 1999, coaches like Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno made just north of $1 million. And they were the among the highest paid in the country.
Riley and Kelly (and Mel Tucker at Michigan State) just signed deals that give them base salaries higher than all but 4 NFL coaches (Belichick, Carroll, Gruden, and Sean Payton). Insane. This where we are. This is the farce that is college football and amateur athletics. Universities will fork over briefcases full of cash on a whim. The players that allow universities to fill those briefcases are still an afterthought. But that's for another article.
There were some other notable hirings over the last few days:
Billy Napier leaves Louisiana for the Florida Gators—I really thought Lane Kiffin might end up here, but I think this is a solid hire. It’s reflective of the state of the program they didn’t make a splash hire.
Sonny Cumbie heads to Louisiana Tech, replacing fired Skip Holtz
Brent Pry (former PSU D-Coordinator) takes over the Virginia Tech program after the Hokies let Justin Fuente go—I like Pry. I hope he does well. He’s turned down a number of smaller HC jobs, but this was too good to pass up.
Sonny Dykes leaves SMU for TCU, replacing longtime coach Gary Patterson
Rhett Lashlee replaces Sonny Dykes—Lashlee had been the playcaller at Miami
Kalen DeBoer travels up the coast from Fresno State to lead the Washington Huskies after Jimmy Lake was fired
Jack Dickert sheds the “interim” label and becomes the HC of Washington State. Former coach, Nick Rolovich was fired for not getting vaccinated
Joey McGuire leaves the Baylor staff and takes the reins at Texas Tech
Jim Mora (yes, that one) takes over the moribund UCONN program
Don Brown (former Michigan DC) heads to UMASS
These are some of the current openings:
Oklahoma
Notre Dame
Temple
Duke
Troy
Akron
FIU
I’m sure more will follow, so get your resumes in order. Just make sure they have a private jet.
Thanks again for reading.
Comments