The Weekend In Sports From The Best Seat In The House

* Mike Leach to file a lawsuit against ESPN for defemation of charachter. This sounds like career suicide to me. Leach's stock was already at a low point given the events of last season so why compound the problem with this lawsuit. Fair or not most people will percieve this lawsuit to be a frivilous one. In combination with the events of last season it makes Mike Leach's quirky personality just seem weird and I can't imagine many parents telling their kids, "Son go play for that guy who thinks he's a pirate and has a lawsuit blaming ESPN for his firing although it was him and not ESPN that put a kid in a equipement shed." Truth be told I sided with Leach in regards to the James incident I feel it was more the case of a former High School superstar who couldn't handle playing a bit role. This lawsuit however just adds more flame to the fire and will keep this burning longer than it needed to be. I thought Leach could resurface at some Mid-Major school as soon as next season however given the latest news I see Leach relegated to a FCS school and will have to earn his way back.

* Don't throw stones from a glass house. Ohio State President Gordon Gee criticized Boise State and TCU schedule and stated that they shouldn't be considered as National Champion contenders because they don't have to play the Murderers Row schedule of some of the Major Conferences. I understand the arguement for those who would choose a 1 loss major conference school over a undefeated mid-major, I personaly wouldn't always subscribe to that formula but I do understand it. However I found the statement interesting coming from Ohio State. Have you checked Ohio State's Murderer's Row schedule: vs. Marshall (5-7 Conference USA), vs. Miami (7-5), vs. Ohio (8-4, MAC school), vs. Eastern Michigan (2-10 MAC), at Illinois (6-5), vs. Indiana (5-7), at Wisconsin which they lost, vs. Purdue (4-8), at Minnesota (3-9), vs. Penn State (7-5), at Iowa (7-5), vs. Michigan (7-5). Ohio State has faced one team currently in the Top 25 and that was Wisconsin which they lost. Their out of conference schedule included only one team from another Major Conference and their best win of the season was a 3-point win at Iowa who lost to Minnesota. The arguement regarding schedule comparisions is a valid one however Ohio State should not be screaming for injustice without looking in the mirror and evaluating their challenge free schedule.

* Randy Shannon removed as Miami Head Coach. When Shannon was hired he had two goals, one was to clean up the U image and the second was to return the program to national prominence. It turns out a good clean image doesn't mean much when 7-5 is what you have to show for it. After a 9-3 record last season many considered Miami the favorite in the ACC and a under the radar National Title contender. Shannon had landed some nice recruiting classes and many thought that this would be the season it would all materialize but for Shannon it just wasn't to be. Jacory Harris was just to inconsistent and the offense seemed void of a true playmaker. And defensively they never became a shutdown unit that you could count on to consistently stop the opponent. So who will it be? Though Miami is a Top 25 destination without a doubt their history suggest they don't operate that way. Miami is a private school who has no precedent of spending Saban type money on a coach. The fanbase is the classic fair weather bunch. If your a National Title contender you will be the talk of the town if you are a middle of the pack ACC team you will sale about 23K tickets for your 70K stadium. Make no mistake the job certainly has it's perks, you are a rare college team in a big city town, you can build a national title quality team by simply recruiting from your Zip Code and you compete in a very winnable conference year after year. Early talk has centered around Jon Gruden. Initially I would dismiss this immediately however, given the pending labor lockout in the NFL next season many of the NFL job openings could be filled by cheaper alternatives thus leaving Gruden deciding between a coaching job or waiting it out. Though I think Gruden would be a homerun in the college ranks I believe he would prefer the long work days and work weeks of the NFL game. If not Gruden who? Randy Eadsel is a great coach and Miami would certainly be a upgrade over UConn however the job may be to flashy for his liking, Pat Fitzgerald is young and charasmatic however he feels to Midwestern to me, Bernie Kozar and Greg Schiano were canidates last time but Kozar still has no head coaching experience and Schiano's stock couldn't be any lower. Of course Chris Peterson, Gary Patterson names will be batted around but a couple of other Mid-Major names to consider would be Kevin Sumlin of Houston and Todd Graham of Tulsa. Coordinatiors Gus Malzhan and Will Muschamp will also be hot commodities for every coaching job that comes open until their time has come.


* Save me a seat Randy. Though the Michigan AD has not made any decision regarding Rich Rod I'll go ahead and make it for him. Rich Rod will not return for another season in the big house. In all fairness to Rich Rod it would be difficult for anyone to take over a Michigan roster built for North/South running game and install a Spread Option offense and expect it to click immediately. It would be like putting a Corvette engine in 87 Chevette and expecting the same results. However by year 3 you would expect improvement. Supporters of Rich Rod, if there are any, could look at this years 7-5 mark in comparison to last year 5-7 mark and say "Here's the improvement.". But the problem is Rich Rod's teams simply haven't improved over the course of a season. My theory is that in Week 12 you should be better than in Week 2, barring injury of course. And over the course of three seasons you should see some improvement against like opponents. With Michigan no game is more important than Ohio State and in three years you have yet to put up any resistance. Given Rich Rod's contract status I could see Michigan feeling out possible suitors before making a decision on Rodriguez but when the calender turns 2011 the Maize and Blue will be at the feet of Jim Harbaugh begging for his services.