Gruden to Miami would be manna for starving ACC
If Miami hires Jon Gruden, he would instantly become the biggest personality in the ACC.
Let me start by saying I’m just not convinced Jon Gruden will take the University of Miami coaching job. He probably can have any vacant NFL job he wants and the thought of him hitting the recruiting trail and begging some 18-year-old kid to come to his school just doesn’t register.
But you know what? Every ACC school should help pay Gruden’s salary to get him to Coral Gables.
John Swofford, the conference commissioner, should throw in a log cabin.
Butch Davis should loan him his personal tutor.
The SEC championship is this week. Everybody cares. The ACC championship is this week. Nobody cares.
Do you know why? Coaches.
Yes, the SEC is the annual college football behemoth and the conference title game has been the gateway for the BCS champion in the last four years (Auburn could make it five). But one of the major reasons the conference garners so much attention during the season — and commands astronomical television dollars — are the coaches.
What other conference can throw out Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Les Miles, Bobby Petrino, Mark Richt and Steve Spurrier? Whether you like these guys or not, they are names everybody knows. They are personalities. They are storylines.
Look at even the second tier of “names”: Gene Chizik (who is 12-0), Derek Dooley (likable son of legendary Vince Dooley), Dan Mullen (suddenly one of the hottest coaches on the market), Houston Nutt (sure he orchestrated the spectacular disaster of signing Jeremiah Masoli, but we talk about him).
Quick. Name three ACC coaches other than Paul Johnson. I’ll wait.
Still waiting.
Let’s look at the ACC title matchup: Frank Beamer, a legend, vs. Jimbo Fisher, who replaced a legend (Bobby Bowden). Does either have the personality of Spurrier — or, for that matter, Chizik, who’s been entertaining to watch and listen to during the Cam Newton saga?
Here are your other ACC coaches: Ralph Friedgen, Jim Grobe, Tom O’Brien, Frank Spaziani, David Cutcliffe, Butch Davis, Dabo Swinney and Mike London.
Don’t worry. They wear name tags at the convention every year.
There’s a saying: a rising tide lifts all boats. Look at Miami as the tide. It’s one of the ACC’s centerpiece programs for football. If Miami is good, it draws attention and forces every other team to get better. If Miami hires Gruden, it helps the conference’s visibility and that filters down to other schools, particularly when it comes to media coverage and revenue.
Gruden to Miami? I still doubt it. But it would be the talk of college football — and when’s the last time that happened in the ACC?
♦
Recent episodes . . .
♦ Falcons are winning because they’re following Mike Smith
♦ Surprise! Spurrier proves South Carolina can be a player in SEC
♦ Alabama staffer fired for mocking Cam Newton with songs
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC and Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
130 comments Add your comment
gdawginkalamazoo
December 1st, 2010
4:36 pm
Sooooo, why did Gruden leave the NFL in the first place? Was it because he got canned for losing too many games?
SECMAN
December 1st, 2010
4:54 pm
He should stay in broadcasting. Alot less headakes.
wxwax
December 1st, 2010
5:26 pm
I earnestly hope Gruden gets a coaching job somewhere.
I’ve come to intensely dislike his on-air persona, a mixture of bravado, macho and bulls*it.
Terrible Truth
December 1st, 2010
5:48 pm
The SEC’s gang of coaches will lose their star power a bit when Nicky “The Bear” Saban returns to Michigan and goes by “NickBo”.
For $6,000,000 a year, by the way.
Jack G
December 1st, 2010
6:00 pm
Jeff
Spot on. the only reason you could name Johnson is because he is local.
juice sourcer
December 1st, 2010
6:18 pm
would be wonderful for the ACC but terrible for Monday night football….he is by far the best color guy they have ever had including Howard.
Mr. Average
December 1st, 2010
6:32 pm
You’re utterly disingenuous; most of the SEC coaches you named fall in the category of Kiffen and Sherrill. ACC coaches are highly respected. Try to hire Grobe, O’brien, Johnson or Davis. I imagine that they are very happy where they are, just like Beamer.
Delbert D.
December 1st, 2010
7:09 pm
Back in 2007, Gruden said he wanted to go to Oregon for 1 year to learn their offense. His wife said he was crazy if he thought they were moving to Oregon for one year as an assistant coach.
acc hokie
December 1st, 2010
7:12 pm
beamer does not need a name tag, the only active coach with 7 years in a row of 10 win seasons
Delbert D.
December 1st, 2010
7:13 pm
“Saban returns to Michigan and goes by “NickBo”.”
Saban coached 2 tours at Mich. St., so that might be an issue. Big Ten (11, 12) fanbases are rabid, too.
BobbyDodd21/20
December 1st, 2010
7:23 pm
This is not a racist statement..U has a racial component that has been a long time in the making and is not going to welcome a white coach, ..Shannon was hired to bring primarily the black talent to the U..but leadership is more than x’s & o’s and I doubt many will be interested in the position..so now the U recruitment program has flopped, (sorta like Hewett sp who’ll be gone likely this year) and I doubt any quality coaches will jump at this opening…coaches are tired of the hip hop in-fighting that many of these rap players bring to the venue…black players and all coaches must have mutual respect…most everybody is tired of the disrespect…
Delbert D.
December 1st, 2010
7:25 pm
Let’s not forget that the Vanderbilt, Indiana and Minnesota jobs are open. Any real man would pick one of those over Miami and Donna Shalalalala.
Delbert D.
December 1st, 2010
7:28 pm
Donna’s career would have really taken off if she had changed her last name to Sha Na Na.
Todd
December 1st, 2010
7:32 pm
The sec is well known because they have won national champs. The sec was talked of the same as the big 10,12 , even the acc with fsu because each conference had multiple winners.
If another conference wins a couple, the sec will take a step back. And obv it will happen eventually.
Yellow Britches
December 1st, 2010
7:34 pm
Jeff, Gosh how time flies. It wasn’t too awfully long ago that FSU and Miami won back to back to back national championships. The ACC may not have been deep but it did have marquee programs. I think the league does have more depth just not much top side glamour. Gruden would help no doubt and he would up the pay ante for every other coach or school in the league. Look, if Stanford can be this good, Georgia Tech can’t use academics as an excuse to be crummy.
Nurse Rachet
December 1st, 2010
7:39 pm
I don’t see Gruden going to Miami.
Mr. Average
December 1st, 2010
7:48 pm
You are in left field my friend. I like and respect Gruden, but the ACC will do fine without him.
CrackDaddy
December 1st, 2010
7:50 pm
If I am not mistaken, Clemson, UNC, FLaState, are all doing well in recruiting for next season. And VaTech will continue to do well. Miami will also get better, as will Boston College and NCState. Maybe UGa would do well to try to hire Gruden.
Fan reaction: Jon Gruden to Miami bad for Monday Night Football, NFL fans – Yahoo! Sports | Bet 31
December 1st, 2010
7:54 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Dostoveyskiy
December 1st, 2010
7:58 pm
I really like Johnson and Spurrier. They each march to their own drummer, much as how Nutt does. Tom O’Brien falls into this category as well. Butch Davis gets way too much criticism. He seems to be a good CEO and recruiter. He doesn’t seem to to seek the spotlight. He keeps his mouth shut and goes quietly about his business. I love Jim Grobe. I also have high respect for Beamer. The ACC frankly does not need the Sabans, Petrinos, or Meyers of the world. We’d be proud to have CMR among our ranks, just as we are of Cutliffe.
Stop whining: NCAA got it right on Cam Newton, Auburn | Jeff Schultz
December 1st, 2010
8:06 pm
[...] ♦ Gruden to Miami would be manna for starving ACC [...]
Canes U
December 1st, 2010
8:39 pm
When will gruden make the announcement about coming to the U????
Jimmy Johnson
December 1st, 2010
9:17 pm
Snarky you are a dumbass, FSU is behind in the Florida series 33-20-2. Now tell me dumbass how that is domination. Once FSU started playing in a conference, they went back to their losing ways. Snarky you must be a loser to even watch the ACC.
Don
December 1st, 2010
10:00 pm
Why does everyone love Gruden?
He took over a talent rich team in Oakland, and did pretty well with them.
He then took over an even more talented Tampa Bay team put together by Tony Dungy, won a Super Bowl depsite his “genius” offense almost mucking it up, and then proceeded to let the team crumble into the abyss around him.
He’s the Houston Nutt of the NFL.
killerj
December 1st, 2010
10:28 pm
ACC starving? Lets see,how many other conferences have AAU accreditation for most of their members?Tell you what,SEC please take Clemson and will take Vandy on an even trade,Money is definitely not an object for concern in the ACC>.I,m still curious on the Cam Newton verdict,sounds awful fishy to me,more like a skunk,typical of the SEC>
Matt Winkeljohn
December 2nd, 2010
1:09 am
I’m thinking that Jeff has a good point here, but if the powers that be at Miami want to go big-time again in football, they will have to shed their more recent goal of making the school in Coral Gables respectable on other levels.
Shannon was fabulous at improving graduation rates, and APR and all similar metrics while also reducing dramatically the rate of ‘Cane’s appearing on police blotters, but there was an oddly unique dynamic during UM’s glory years between great players and bad people wearing the same uniforms.
That school cannot recruit well consistently without bending rules, or at a minimum relaxing standards.
Too small, not enough money in the athletic department or fan base, not enough enthusiasm, lack of tradition beyond football etc.
Notre Dame has a similarly small class size and therefore alumni base, but there’s a whole lot more money pouring in for many reasons.
Private schools, which I believe UM is, cannot compete on a consistent basis in this day and age — in football, not talking hoops — without compromising standards relative to the rest of their student body admission policies.
Spike
December 2nd, 2010
8:03 am
Da U forget it. Gruden ain’t comin’.. Who is your next choice?
droopydawg
December 2nd, 2010
2:12 pm
London and Spaz were the only two I did not get immediately.
There is a 0% chance of Gruden taking a college coaching gig. SEC coaches arguably put in more time throughout the year than NFL coaches (at least if they do recruiting right) and get paid less. Gruden will coach an NFL team or stay in the booth, there is no other option and this is just more garbage to fill up the non-stop airwaves and articles in this horrible 24-hour news cycle world (Breaking news!!! LeBron is DEFINITELY signing with the Bulls!!).
Still waiting
December 2nd, 2010
4:33 pm
Jeff,
I am still waiting for you – a college and professional sports expert – to name ALL the coaches in the ACC.
Still waiting…. come Jeff, open up that knowledge base and let’s think.
There is a school that is closer than all the other ACC schools except GaTech.. They have beaten the mighty USC cocks more times than they have lost. The mighty mighty SOS finally got to above .500 against this school. Wahoo. That makes him a hero.
SOS won the SECleast in a down year – UT – bad way bad, Vandy – still bad, UK – bad, UGA – average to bad, Florida so overrated and still bad but don’t say it too loud because the SEC might get mad..
But no one, not one sole, dares to claim that the SEC is down. No. It is the massive Spurrier and mighty Gamecocks who are so good.
The name you forgot is William Swinney aka Dabo. He coaches for Clemson and is a helluva guy. Lost to Spurrier this year. Said the Gamecocks were the better team. Looked that way on the field. Congrats to the Coots for beating Clemson twice in a row for first time in 40 years.
Good Lord, the AJC cannot hide its bias.
Big Dawg Cobb
December 7th, 2010
11:11 am
I can barely name 3 ACC teams let alone coaches. smirk