The SEC in flux: Four teams could be seeking new coaches
Could the SEC soon see the return of the uneasy rider Bobby Petrino? (AP photo)
The mighty SEC could see a 29 percent change in coaches before November is done. Joker Phillips has already been told he’s out at Kentucky, and Arkansas is conducting a search even as interim John L. Smith lobbies to stay. (Good luck there. Smith inherited a Top 10 team and has gone 4-6. He has also declared bankruptcy, which may be why he needs the job.) And two of the league’s flagships — Auburn and Tennessee — figure to be holding we’ve-decided-to-go-in-different-direction press conferences soon.
Gene Chizik won a BCS title in 2010. In 2012 his Auburn Tigers have gone 0-7 in league play and have lost 63-21 to Texas A&M and 38-0 to Georgia at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Matt Scalici of Al.com reports that Chizik is telling recruits he will be back next season, but what’s a coach supposed to say?
After Tennessee lost to Missouri 51-48 in overtime Saturday to fall to 0-6 in SEC play, rumors swirled that Derek Dooley had been fired. Those weren’t accurate, but he did meet with athletic director Dave Hart Jr. on Sunday, which can’t be a good sign. As much as Tennessee might like to keep Dooley, there’s no getting past his career SEC record: It’s 4-18, the victories coming against Ole Miss, Kentucky and Vanderbilt (twice).
It would be a major upset if either Chizik or Dooley returns, and that would leave the biggest of all football conferences in serious flux. Going alphabetically, here’s a look at what at what could transpire.
ARKANSAS: This is only one of the four jobs for which Bobby Petrino isn’t apt to campaign, given that he just got fired after wrecking both his motorcycle and his career. Gary Patterson of TCU was identified as the frontrunner — he called such rumors “unfounded” — by CoachingSearch.com. It’s believed that Tommy Tuberville, who has already coached two of the seven programs in the SEC West (Ole Miss and Auburn), would have interest. But Tuberville’s candidacy for this or any other job might have been compromised: He was caught yanking the headset off a graduate assistant and has since been reprimanded by the Big 12.
X-factor: Charlie Strong, whose Louisville Cardinals are 9-1, has a sterling SEC history (defensive coordinator at South Carolina and Florida) and Arkansas ties (born in Batesville, played at Central Arkansas), but his name hasn’t been circulating the way Patterson’s has. Maybe it’s because Tom Jurich, the Louisville AD, told Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports he’ll make Strong the highest-paid coach in the land if that’s what it takes to keep him.
AUBURN: Writing for Mr. SEC.com, John Pennington has tabbed Petrino and Jimbo Fisher of Florida State as the leaders in the clubhouse for a job that hasn’t officially come open. (Not that such a thing has ever bothered Petrino.) Fisher made noise this week by complaining that the BCS system, which ranks his once-beaten Seminoles behind three two-loss SEC teams, “stinks.” He also asked: “How retarded is that?” He later apologized for what he called “a poor choice of words.”
X-factor: There has been speculation that Jay Jacobs, the AD who hired Chizik and who handed him a massive raise after Auburn won it all, would be sacked along with his coach. (Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News has advocated as much.) But 247Sports reported that school president Jay Gogue has told board members he plans to keep Jacobs.
KENTUCKY: The least of the four jobs, and the hardest to handicap. Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports reported the Wildcats aren’t considering Petrino, which seems surprising. For all his foibles, the man can coach, and his father told Adam Himmeslbach of the Louisville Courier-Journal that his son “is interested” in Kentucky. Sonny Dykes, who was a grad assistant in Lexington under Hal Mumme and whose Louisiana Tech Bulldogs are 9-1 and ranked 20th in the BCS standings, is seen as a possibility, but it’s not clear if the Wildcats will pay the going rate to hire a Hot Name. (They pay big in basketball, as we know.)
X-factor: Forde also mentioned Dirk Koetter, who’s the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, as a possibility. Koetter hasn’t worked in college since being fired at Arizona State after the 2006 season, but he was the coach who put Boise State on the football map. And Mitch Barnhart, the Kentucky AD, had a history of tapping a man with Northwest roots who last worked for the Falcons: In 2002 Barnhart hired Rich Brooks, once Oregon’s coach and later Dan Reeves’ defensive coordinator here, and Brooks led Kentucky to four consecutive bowls before retiring.
TENNESSEE: There has been a goofy cyber push for Jon Gruden, but it’s easier to see the ESPN analyst coaching the Philadelphia Eagles next season. Tuberville figures to be in play, and maybe Petrino. Both Pennington of Mr. SEC and Knoxville blogger Tony Basilio mention Miami coach Al Golden, whose Hurricanes are trying to hold off Georgia Tech in the ACC Coastal, and former Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio.
X-factor: He’s bright, he’s brash and he has won more SEC games in two seasons than Dooley has in three. Trouble is, James Franklin has done his winning at Vanderbilt, which Tennessee barely deigns to acknowledge. Franklin is clearly bound for big things at a bigger program — VandySports.com reported he spurned an overture from North Carolina State — but for the Big Orange? That’d be like Georgia hiring Paul Johnson.
By Mark Bradley
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269 comments Add your comment
Beast from the East
November 15th, 2012
8:51 pm
Foley doesn’t make too many mistakes. Zook was his only glaring one. I trust his judgment over anyone’s. Best AD in the biz…hands down.
Ole Big Dawg
November 15th, 2012
8:53 pm
Yep when discussion switches from coaches to best AD in the biz…….sounds pretty good!
The SEC in flux - Blogs - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Sports at News 47
November 15th, 2012
9:02 pm
[...] The SEC in flux – Blogs – Atlanta Journal-Constitution [...]
Mobile Dawg
November 15th, 2012
9:10 pm
Tennessee’s athletic department is broke; Dooley gets another year to the disdain of the Vol nation. Cheeseniks buyout is to big, AU has to suffer one more year. Tuberville to Arkansas, and Petrino has to take his medicine and suck up to UK.
wastedyears
November 15th, 2012
9:11 pm
IS IT TO LATE ….OR CAN WE ADD MARK RICHT TO THE LIST..
Skeptic
November 15th, 2012
9:13 pm
The depicted hat is one of the truckeriest styles that you can get these days. The only way to get a more trucky hat is to have the local Massey-Ferguson dealer throw one in on a tractor purchase.
Ole Big Dawg
November 15th, 2012
9:14 pm
Things are looking good from where the Dawgs stand…
GTT
November 15th, 2012
9:34 pm
Tennessee is not broke. They can buy out Dooley and outpay anybody for their next HC choice. They have the billionaire Haslams to write any checks they need to. It ain’t nothing but a thang to them.
DawgNole
November 15th, 2012
9:39 pm
Goldenrod
November 15th, 2012
3:57 pm
This year is different, Vad Lee is THE answer and the Jackets are contention for a BCS birth – all we have to do is beat little old Duke this weekend and then wait for Miami to forego bowl play. We are then locked into the ACC Championship where we will destroy Clemson.
_____________________
It’s “berth,” fool. And you wouldn’t be playing Clemson if you did make the ACCCG. What a fine image of Tech you project.
GTBob
November 15th, 2012
9:55 pm
Things are looking good from where the Dawgs stand…
Yeah, you guys are lucky. Stuck with a coach that is always good enough to not get fired.
Under The Bleachers
November 15th, 2012
10:04 pm
Destin Dawg
November 15th, 2012
3:48 pm
Kirby Smart.. not ready for Prime Time… he’s just been Saban’s cheer leader !!
—————————————————————————
This coming from a guy who knows nothing about Alabama Football, and just a little more about Georgia Football. Weak comment!
Now some real knowledge about College Football.
Kentuck is a program tht places football second, and Petrino( with all his baggage) knows Kentucky from his days as a successful coach at arch rival Louisville. He has proven he can take 2 and 3 star players, and win with them through his offense and game planning. He does not put much emphasis on defense which has always been his shortcomings. Kentucky does not and will not be able to land very few big name recruits so they will need an offense that will keep them in games and Petrino can do that. If Kentucky can tolerate what Ricky P did as the Basketball coach they can take a chance on Petrino.
Auburn players have quit on Chizik, and they lost respect for him after he hired a private firm to check curfew of private housing players. Anyone and everyone in an around campus at Auburn will tell you that many many of the current Tiger Football players are very poor behaved and the trend of trouble seems to be the norm not the exception. Either if Chizik is fired or not, the team of Trooper and others will not be part of the program. The NCAA has been building a case an when coaches are pulled off the recruiting road for the season it means more trouble.
Tennessee, they are going to attempt to go big and from all looks it may mean they may not get the guy they really want. The list of candidates is a pretty outstanding list. Word around is they may take a chance and throw some very big money around to land one of them.
Missouri, after Pinkel got caught with another woman, got divorced, got a DUI, he has looked like a beaten man, especially after the woman he got caught with dumped him after his divorce. One needs to look close at that situation, he will probably step down and take a role in the Athletic Department and allow them to hire a new coach.
Just a tidbit that really no one knows about;
FSU AD has been caught having an affair with a staffer in Tallahassee and expect him to be let go once it makes the big press.
Under The Bleachers
November 15th, 2012
10:10 pm
Mobile Dawg
November 15th, 2012
9:10 pm
Tennessee’s athletic department is broke; Dooley gets another year to the disdain of the Vol nation. Cheeseniks buyout is to big, AU has to suffer one more year. Tuberville to Arkansas, and Petrino has to take his medicine and suck up to UK.
Correction; Tennessee is cash rich, and the boosters are going to pony up big money to land a quality proven winner head coach. They may not get the guy they really want but the money they have to spend it will make people stop and stare. I am not a Tennessee guy at all, but they have placed some big time pressure on some boosters to pay a little more to get the train moving. It will still take a few years to rebuild that program back to competitive levels needed to win a division title.
Paul in NH
November 15th, 2012
10:11 pm
Since when is Richt 3-2 vs LSU? Did they stop playing LSU after 2008 or have the UGA fans wiped the last minute loss in 2009 and the blowout in the last SECCG out of their minds?
Rambo Dog
November 15th, 2012
10:15 pm
Goldenrod
November 15th, 2012
3:45 pm
Goldenrod…GT won going away? Haha…I expect this will be ANOTHER WIN in what has now become a game that is just “boring” to us. I’ll make a couple of grand of fools like you that think they can score enough to win. Y’all are bringing the same defensive players, right? Yeah…that will be your biggest problem, and the fact that your are a fool…Idiot.
psycock
November 15th, 2012
10:22 pm
What about Chad Morris of Clemson?
Ole Big Dawg
November 15th, 2012
10:33 pm
Gt bob…why would you fire a guy that has you in the top 5…frequently….just an asinine remark by you bob. Your yearly beatdown is getting close…..
drbasic1
November 15th, 2012
10:35 pm
@beast
You laughed about just going back six years
then you spoke of the Zook years
Then you said why not just go back 2 years…
Funny thing this series goes years back before that….so instead of just 6 or 10 or 20 years…
Who owns the series record???
I hope you get my point.
drbasic1
November 15th, 2012
10:38 pm
@gold rod
Are you by chance living in Colorado at the moment and taking advantage of the new laws?
Because you are definately smoking something if you think the bugs will even come close to beating the Dawgs this year….or any future year in which PJ is still waddling on the sidelines!
THE Dixie Redcoat Band
November 15th, 2012
10:46 pm
So the judge gives the prisoner a choice;
1….20 to life
2….watching the nba around the clock for 5 years
He takes 20 to life….pretty funny.
Ole Big Dawg
November 15th, 2012
10:48 pm
Whaddya know this fellar in NH…knows all about the Dawgs games from years ago as a hater fan…..lol enjoy a healthy dose of bulldawg envy my friend???…lol…like I said before…all is good in dawgland…11of last 12 against rivals…19 of last 20 verses conference opponents in regular season
Bill Clinton
November 15th, 2012
11:53 pm
Jack…I feel your pain, but you did say “respectable” right. Thats all according to what your definition of respectable is? Like he told her in Destin…..It’s rolling baby, its rolling! I heard that long before ol Mike Price, Mike Shula, or Mike Dubose….Hell Mal, you finaaly got one right!
Destin Julie
November 15th, 2012
11:57 pm
Yep…Under The Bleachers:
ITS ROLLING BABY ITS ROLLING!
Destin Julie
November 15th, 2012
11:58 pm
Under the Bleachers….please look above. Too bad Mikey wasnt on a motorscooter!
TNObserver
November 16th, 2012
12:40 am
I’ll back up the fact that Tennessee has plenty of money to spend. The Haslam family alone could buy and sell just about any coach. Pilot Oil, one son the Governor of Tennessee, and another son who just bought the Cleveland Browns. Tennessee must land a big name that will make heads turn. The guy must be proven but must be young enough to stay awhile. Thus Tubberville & Cutcliffe appear to be out. Dooley is a nice guy, took over a horrible situation caused by Lame Kitten but Dooley is in over his head. If only Peyton Manning would retire and take over as coach, all would be solved.
BigDave
November 16th, 2012
12:56 am
Most of the Tennessee fans don’t want Cutcliffe
Strange Murphy
November 16th, 2012
2:16 am
As a lifelong Georgia fan I hate to say, and I have said it before, but Georgia has some of the dumbest fans in all of sports.
Strange Murphy
November 16th, 2012
2:18 am
MTSU 49 North Ave Trade School 28
RunninWithTheDawgs
November 16th, 2012
3:40 am
James Franklin won’t be at Vandy much longer. Any coach who brings a winner to Vandy ends up being bought away by a higher ranking better paying team. Franklin has done a great job at Vandy and will probably move up in the ranks soon with another school. I just hope he stays in the SEC. GO DAWGS !
Columbus
November 16th, 2012
4:05 am
I get a good laugh from all the ignorant comments I see from young and dumb UGA fans wanting Richt fired. There iare very good reasons that the older and wiser of our species are in positions of authority and get paid the big bucks instead of the young and dumb and the Richt haters are a fine example. Enjoy your youth kids and have a good time and leave the decision making to the wise old vets OK?
UGA is NOT and NEVER has been a college football powerhouse save for 3 years when they had a running back named Herschel so STOP acting like they are and that Richt is failing UGA fans. the FACT IS that Richt is the BEST coach in UGA history AND has UGA on the VERGE of BECOMING THAT POWERHOUSE….
FACT 2 IS….UGA HAS NEVER HAD A TEAM SINCE RICHT HAS BEEN THERE THAT WAS EXPECTED TO WIN A NC SO WHY YOU HATIN FOR SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE? EVEN THEN HE HAD A TEAM THAT WOULD HAVE WON IT ALL HAD THEY GOT THE SHOT INSTEAD OF LSU….AND NO, WHATEVER TEAM YOU ARE THINKING SHOULD HAVE WON IT ALL, IT SHOULDNT HAVE I PROMISE YOU. DUE TO LACK OF PERSONNEL AT POSITIONS, PRIMARILY LINEMEN.
UGA IS NOT AND HAS NEVER BEEN A USC, OKLAHOMA, NEBRASKA, TEXAS, LSU, NOTRE DAME, ALABAMA, OHIO STATE, ETC. NEVER. RICHT HAS TAKEN UGA UP A LEVEL ON A CONSISTENT BASIS. SURE AUBURB WON A NC BUT LOOK AT THEM NOW. THEY DID IT WITHOUT A FOUNDATION. RICHT HAS LAID A STRONG FOUNDATION THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME AND WILL TAKE UGA UP TO THE STATUS OF POWERHOUSE. DO YOU REALIZE THAT IT TOOK THE MIGHTY SABAN 11 YEARS OF BEING A HEAD COACH BEFORE EVEN HE WON THE NC? AND HE DID THAT AT A POWERHOUSE……UGA IS NOT A POWERHOUSE.
BUT UGA IS ABOUT TO BE THANKS TO RICHT.
ONE LAST THING…ALL YOU SABAN LOVERS AND RICHT HATERS ON HERE I GOT SOME NEWS FOR YOU. BAMA IS GOING DOWN IN THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. THEY AINT ALL THAT. UGA DEFENSE WILL COME TO PLAY LIKE NEVER BEFORE THIS SEASON AND THE UGA OFFENSE WILL SCORE MORE THAN ENOUGH ON BAMAS DEFENSE. SO TALK ALL YOUR SMACK NOW BUT ITS GOING TO BE SWEET BEING 2012 SEC CHAMPIONS. RICHT WILL GET ANOTHER CONTRACT EXTENSION OUT OF THAT …..BY THE WISE AMONG US AND THE YOUNG AND DUMB WILL HATE IT.
I THINK ALL THESE YOUNGUNS NEED TO HAVE BEEN FANS BETWEEN SAY 1983-2001. IN “ALL” THOSE YEARS, WINNING 10 GAMES WAS AN INCREDIBLE SEASON……IN ALL OF THEM AND THAT TOOK WINNING A BOWL GAME AND THERE WERENT MANY OF THOSE I ASSURE YOU. YOU NEED TO BOW DOWN AND SUPPORT YOUR COACH BECAUSE THAT IS THE EXTRA THAT IS NEEDED AND HE DESERVES PRAISE AND SUPPORT AND YOUR CONFIDENCE TO FEED OFF OF.
YOU ARE WHATS MISSING FROM THE BULLDOG NATION. YOU DIVIDE US. YOU KNOW NOTHING. GET YOUR BUTTS IN LINE AND SHUT YOUR MOUTHS AND DO AS TOLD AND WATCH AND LEARN AND GET EDUCATED….BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE OPENING IT, YOU ARE HURTING UGA AND YOU SHOW YOUR YOUTH , IGNORANCE AND YOUR STUPIDITY.
JUST LIKE STRANGE MURPHY SAID AT 2:16 AM
heeldawg
November 16th, 2012
4:35 am
@Lanier Sports: I would hardly call Franklin’s little hissy fit last year “putting Richt and Grantham in their places.” He lost that game, remember, despite the plethora of cheap shots his players were taking at Georgia’s? And Grantham would have torn his head of if the cops had not intervened. By contrast, I think 48-3 this season (and a UGA all-time total offense record) put Franklin in his place.
@Mark May: Kentucky will not spend the sort of money necessary to hire Charlie Strong away from Louisville. For basketball, maybe–but not for that woeful football program in Lexington. It just ain’t gonna happen. And there is NO WAY Tennessee is going to hire slimeball Petrino after the Lane Kiffin fiasco. That debacle set their program back five years. I think Charlie Strong would be a better candidate there than at UK.
@Goldenrod: You and your fellow Techsters must have been lighting up again. Still living off that lone Tech win in the last 12 years? You won’t get any redemption this season–that terrible Tech defense will give up about a million yards to Georgia–and after two solid weeks of defending the triple ooption (that spelling was intentional), Jarvis Jones the Dawgs’ defense will be ready to send Vad Lee back to Durham–in a coffin.
Columbus
November 16th, 2012
4:56 am
IF…….Kansas St loses to Texas, Notre Dame loses to USC and UGA beats UA.
Guess who is playing in the NC game against Oregon?! Yeah baby! Suck on that Richt haters!
Prior to Richt, there was NEVER this scenario and certainly not frequently and he has had UGA in this scenario several times and you know what igmos?
UGA is going to break through any year now….OL is being built FINALLY and good recruits waiting to step up next year with some being great and maybe Murray coming back. It is a GOOD time to be a Dawg fan but you are so busy hatin’….you are missing it!
Stop hatin and lets focus on Notre Dame, Kansas St and Oregon losing. You see how Notre Dame SHOULD have lost to Pitt?! MAN!
And 2 weeks ago USC almost beat Oregon…..Notre Dame got USC coming up.
Oregon got Stanford this weekend. Stanford BEAT USC and took Notre Dame to OT AND is highly motivated because they can go to the PAC-12 Championship game IF they beat Oregon(same division)…..then Ore gets Ore ST…..
Kansas ST got Baylor and then Texas….
IF 2 of these 3 teams lose and UGA wins the SEC……not out the realm of possibilities by no means
RunninWithTheDawgs
November 16th, 2012
5:39 am
Columbus — It’s about time that somebody yelled at the Richt haters. He has done more for the Dawgs than any body else since Vince Dooley. I don’t agree with you however about UGA never being a powerhouse team. There have been several times in past years that UGA finished the season ranked in the top 20 teams in the country and I call that pretty powerhouse. I guess you have trimmed it down to the top 5 in which case l can see your point.
Floyd
November 16th, 2012
6:15 am
Bobby Petrino… why not all you stone throwers out there… how many chances in life have you had to get it right???
Jim
November 16th, 2012
6:36 am
Petrion sucks. Nice photo though.
danny
November 16th, 2012
6:39 am
If my team were looking for a head coach, I would want Kevin Sumlin
sending out an SOS
November 16th, 2012
7:49 am
Mark Fox is a clown!
Piney Woods Pete
November 16th, 2012
7:51 am
Petrino is a perfect fit at UGA. He’s even slimier than Richt, and unlike Richt, he can win the big ones. The smartest move that McGarity could make is to dump Richt and offer about $4 million a year to Petrino.
Then Kentucky could hire Richt, and everyone would be happy.
Real DAWG FAN
November 16th, 2012
7:53 am
I agree with JOE
Kirby is worthless – He is Saban’s bitch
Mike
November 16th, 2012
7:55 am
This is pure comedy when Bradley writes a piece on potential coaching vacancies and uses Mr SEC as a source! I’ve seen it all.
Hollis G.
November 16th, 2012
7:57 am
Petrino is a perfect fit at UGA. He’s even slimier than Richt, and unlike Richt, he can win the big ones. The smartest move that McGarity could make is to dump Richt and offer about $4 million a year to Petrino.
Then Kentucky could hire Richt, and everyone would be happy.
UGA can do so much better than Richt.
Al
November 16th, 2012
8:20 am
MArk, I think you’re giving Paul Johnson way too much credit comparing him to James Franklin.
legionaire
November 16th, 2012
8:22 am
Petrino would fit right in at the Knoxville cesspool. He, the athletic dept., and the fan base there would be made for each other.
Whiskey Breath
November 16th, 2012
8:22 am
Nice picture Mark. Petrino will be hired by an SEC team. Why, because we will get in bed with the devil if it will produce wins.
Whiskey Breath
November 16th, 2012
8:25 am
Hey Runnin, people just don’t like cowards. They want a coach that they can have confidence in.
Kool Aid Drinkers and Sunshine Pumpers
November 16th, 2012
8:36 am
35- 7 stinks and UGA basketball stinks.
TallaDawg
November 16th, 2012
8:43 am
Keep it up Anchor Down, keep it up. I love Vandy being able to talk smack to AU.
MFranklin
November 16th, 2012
8:55 am
I hope Auburn has enough common sense and decency NOT to reach to the bottom for Petrino. We need to keep him OUT of the SEC.
GeoffDawg
November 16th, 2012
8:58 am
Real DAWG FAN, what does that say then about the AD at Bama if they’ve made someone the highest paid assistant coach in the country if he can’t even set an alignment without Saban’s help? If that’s the case, they might as well pay Willie Martinez 10 bucks an hour to do the same thing. What does it also say about Greg McGarity that they tried to hire Smart into the same position at Georgia?
Regardless of the rants of blog posters, seasoned professionals in the industry apparently value his services very highly. When he’s ready, he’ll have his pick of top jobs.
DawginLex
November 16th, 2012
9:04 am
If Auburn hires Petrino, it confirms that place is a snakepit
Kentucky will hire Sonny Dykes
Tennessee will hire Kirby Smart
Arkansas will hire Charlie Strong regardless of Tom Jurich. No Louisville in Big 12, no Charlie Strong at Louisville
ARdawg
November 16th, 2012
9:10 am
Geoffdawg
The guy is ready now as far as being a HC goes. He’s got a pretty good gig and making some nice coin. He’s in no hurry, he’s the DC of one of the best teams in the country, and still a relatively young man. The world is his oyster. It’ll be there when he’s ready and he’ll likely get his pick. Smart move for him to lay low. Saban will be bolting at some point