It has been an eventful week on the coaching front. The 3-9 Denver Broncos canned head coach, Josh McDaniels, earlier this week. The infamous videographer was fired, ending a scandal that has plagued the team and slapped them with fines for not reporting the violations. McDaniels’ blunders included letting Brandon Marshall and Jay Cutler go and firing defensive coordinator, Mike Nolan. The rebuilding project is underway now that 34 year old McDaniels is out. Eric Studesville was given the interim tag, and will finish out the season as head coach. Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher’s names have already popped up as replacements. Reports from Denver indicate the Broncos haven’t set a timetable on hiring a new coach. The Broncos are still paying part of Mike Shanahan’s contract in addition to the remaining two years of McDaniels’ due. Former Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow’s future is in question, but he could see more playing time down the stretch of the season.
And speaking of Florida, Urban Meyer dropped a bomb on the college football world (especially those in Gator Nation) when he announced his retirement after ten seasons. This is Meyer’s second retirement in two seasons. Last year, the two time national championship head coach cited health as his reason for stepping down. Yesterday, Meyer resigned due to family reasons. The 7-5 Gators endured a disappointing 2010 under Meyer, and the once renowned and prominent program is now an average team. Meyer attributed Florida’s slide to the stream of assistant coaches who left the program. The loss of one of the best college ballplayers this decade surely did not help Florida. Tebow’s departure left plenty of rebuilding for the spread option offense. Meyer’s ability to recruit will be missed, and his trio of 13-win seasons will be hard to top. Boise State’s Chris Peterson, Oregon’s Chip Kelly and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops are respectable candidates to fill the polarizing Meyer’s shoes. Personally, I’d like to see Skip Holtz or Greg Schiano take over in Gainesville. Neither coachhas a 95-18 record, but both have the ability to transform and lead. Both also have experience working for a major college programs (Holtz at Florida State and Schiano at Miami) in Florida. Schiano was the 2006 Big East Coach of the year at Rutgers. Holtz led the East Carolina Pirates to two C-USA titles before taking a position at USF. It’s likely Florida will go after a big name, but they should afford a lower-ranking coach an opportunity. The problem with all the above-named coaches is they have no experience with SEC football. There will probably never be another Tebow-Meyer tandem at Florida, but it shouldn’t stop the Gators from pursuing excellence.
Dave Wannstedt stepped down after six seasons with the Pittsburgh Panthers. Wannstedt’s resignation was a long time coming, with the final blow occurring after the Panthers were crushed by West Virginia on November 26th. The loss impacted the Big East-leading Panthers’ shot at the conference title. Talented and heavily favored Pittsburgh underperformed under Wannstedt, and many in the organization felt the head coach lost the team. Pitt won just one bowl game in Wannstedt’s tenure. Wannstedt never truly wanted to leave, but was forced out under pressure on Tuesday. The former Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears head coach will remain with Pittsburgh as a special assistant to the AD. The next Pitt coach will step into a decent position, with a solid team already in place. Standout running back, Dion Lewis, will return next season for the 7-5 Panthers. Pitt is an easy sell, with products such as Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, and Mike Ditka coming out of the organization. Gruden and Cowher are the big names being mentioned, but in my opinion, Pitt needs to promote from within. Offensive coordinator, Frank Cignetti, is a good place to start. Cignetti will coach the BBVA Compass Bowl game against Kentucky if Wannstedt chooses not to finish out the year. Cignetti began at Pitt just a year ago, but the Panthers’ offense got off to a 9-1 start in 2009 after his introduction. He is an offensive minded coach who has spent time with the NFL’s Saints, Chiefs and 49ers, as well as premiere college teams at California and upstart North Carolina. Miami of Ohio’s Michael Hayward is another solid candidate should the university look outside the program. Schiano and Holtz are also my picks to be considered for this job simply because they know Big East football. Schiano revamped Rutgers when there was very little there. I can only imagine what he would do with the Panthers’ squad.
Parting Points: Crosby scores two, Pens win again.
Song of the day- Madonna’s “Borderline”
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