Jim Tressel Retires

You know what, good! He needed too, there was obviously too much controversy surrounding he and Ohio State now a days. He was already being suspended for 5 games, along with star QB Terrell Pryor and 4 other players due to a memorabilia for tattoo exchange in Columbus.

There is no real defense for Jim Tressel as he was warned about what his players were up to and chose to ignore it. He knew if those e-mails got out those players would have been suspended for the post season, so it would have been tough for him to win.

The 58-year-old Tressel had a record of 106-22-0 at Ohio State. He led the Buckeyes to eight Bowl Championship Series games in his 10 years. Combined with a 135-57-2 record in 15 years at Youngstown State, where he won four Division I-AA national championships, Tressel's career mark was 241-79-2.

A theory of mine is that Ohio State is about to get in a lot more trouble soon and Tressel knew that and decided to walk away before shit hits the fan. And there are going to be paralyzing sanctions to the program.

Ohio State and the NCAA has started a separate investigation on QB Terrelle Pryor.

NCAA Coaching Extensions

Both Rick Pitino from Louisville and Jamie Dixon from Pittsburgh has accepted extensions to their current deals. Pitino's deal is a 4 year extension that will keep him put to the 2016-17 season. Dixon's deal is a two year extension that will get him to the 16-17 season also.

Both of these coaches are unbelievable and Pitino is going to go down as a legendary college coach. Louisville may not always get the top recruits but they are always extremely competitive. This year they tanked it in the tourney, but they will be back next year.

Jamie Dixon has done a better than expected job at Pittsburgh. Even though the season ended abruptly, he got the most out of his players this year. Expect him to be the next head coach of a major program.

Steve Lavin Headed To St. Johns

Steve had a 145-78 record with UCLA, leading the school to the NCAA tournament's round of 16 five times. The Bruins reached the final eight in 1997.

Steve Lavin is a good coach and he will have a tough road at St. Johns. The Red Storm are long removed from the Chris Mullen days and have all but lost the aura of being anything close to a good program. The only real recruiting tool Lavin will be able to use is Madison Square Garden, however, the New York kids normally go to Syracuse or head south for your Callipari's or Pitino's. I would like to see St. Johns succeed but I have a feeling they will be stuck in mediocrity for a real long time.

Just a history lesson, Lavin took over for Jim Harrick after Harrick was abruptly fired. Sound familiar?

So What Now For The Rams

Let me preface this post by saying I absolutely do not believe URI will fire Jim Baron once they are bounced in the 2nd round of the NIT. They simply do not have the balls or the money to blow paying off the rest of his salary. He renegotiated his contract during his first couple seasons in Kingston to a 10 year, 4.5 million dollar deal which does not expire for another three of seasons (after the 2012-2013 season). If he were to be relieved at the end of the current season, URI would be stuck paying him some 1.3 million.

Here’s the problem – the state of Rhode Island is broke. They are too broke to pay someone who’s no longer employed and they are too broke to hire anybody decent at today’s wages. Most D1 coaches are taking home at least $750k/year – far more than Baron is making in his current deal. Add in the money the school and the state would still owe Baron and we are talking about paying over $1 million per year for a basketball coach. Not going to happen in Rhody. In Indiana? Yes. North Carolina? Absolutely. Anywhere in the Northeast? Nope.

Let’s say Baron resigns or by some act of God, Rhode Island actually holds a state employee accountable for sub par performance. Who’s next?

One astute commenter pointed out Ed Cooley, current men’s coach at Fairfield. He’s done a solid job down there by most accounts and he’s got a solid resume as an assistant working for many years under Al Skinner at BC. His current salary is less than Baron at around $250k/year and he’s a Rhode Island native so the hometown discount could come in to play. The biggest drawback – he was also an assistant coach under Jim Harrick at URI and we all know how hard the school has tired to distance itself from that era.

At the end of the day, this is the type of guy Rhody will have to settle for. Somebody relatively unknown that would work for cheap. Our best hope is that they find a diamond in the rough, like Memphis did with Josh Pastner, who can come in and start recruiting right away. There are plenty out there, the trouble is identifying them.

The other option is to take a scandal tarnished coach desperate for a shot to reclaim his reputation. The first name that comes to mind there is Quin Snyder, former head coach at Missouri where he led them to their highest ranking ever and an elite 8 berth in the NCAA tournament. He was dismissed after 3 scandalous seasons with accusations of paying players and forging academic transcripts. He’s currently coaching in the NBA D League where he’s allegedly happy but I’m sure he’d like another crack at the college game.

Outside of that it is anybody’s guess. URI is in a real bind here with no money, a shitty recruiting class (especially with Billy on the way to UVA) and not much to build on. In all likelihood, Jim Baron will finish out his contract before slipping off into the night and the URI basketball program will be set back 15 years. It’s unfortunate but also the standard for state schools in professional sports markets.

Just for kicks, top 5 candidates for the URI job –

Quin Snyder
Tommy Amaker
Chris Collins
Steve Wojciechowski
Nate James

In that order.

Jack Del Rio Situation

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio has been with the team for seven years, compiling a 58-57 record, and it looks like he is going to get out of Florida before his record goes below .500 there. The rumor is that Del Rio, who is still under contract in Florida, will be moving his show along to USC now that Pete Carroll has left there to take over coaching duties for the Seattle Seahawks, according to the Chicago Sun-Times

Del Rio must be hoping the Jags fire him and tries to buy out the remaining $15 million on his contract, according to the Sun-Times, but it doesn't appear that the team is interested in doing that. more

Jack Del Rio was an amazing player for USC who lead the team to the 1985 Rose Bowl, where he was the game's MVP. While there, Del Rio also played baseball with Mark McGwire and Randy Johnson, batting .340. He would be a great fit at USC, but he needs to get fired because if he doesn't he loses out on 15 million. It will be interesting to see how this situation pans out.


****UPDATE****
Apparently none of this is true. he said he didn't get an offer from USC

Bill Cowher To Coach In 2010

After turning down chances to return to the NFL in previous offseasons, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher is primed to get back in the game this time.

Those who know Cowher firmly believe that he plans to coach in 2010, according to two league sources. He is laying the groundwork, making calls to piece together a coaching staff and acting like a man who will be patrolling the sidelines once again next season. ESPN

There are a lot of rumors on where he is going to go, and I think either Washington, Tampa Bay or Carolina. If Washington wants to be taken seriously and want to make a splash this offseason, a coach like Bill Cowher would be the right choice here. Tampa Bay seems like a fit also, but I think it's unlikely because Raheem Morris is only in his first year. The more probable destination would be Carolina, where John Fox has one foot out the door, and Cowher resides in North Carolina so it seems to be a good match. Whoever gets Cowher is getting a top of the line coach.

Anybody Hiring?

Tough time to be out on your ass but that is exactly what many local Kentucky media outlets are reporting with regards to Billy Gillespie. The rumor is the next loss will be his last (Kentucky is currently in 2nd Round of the NIT).

I think this is great news if you're fan of the Cats. Then again, KU fans ran the last coach out of town simply because he was black so maybe this is what they deserve. Gillespie rode Acie Law IV to glory, he was always an overrated coach with questionable recruiting.

You know who should join him at the back of the unemployment line? John Thompson III. At least Gillespie got his team out of the 1st Round of the NIT.

Todd Haley takes Chiefs Job

Haley, the offensive coordinator for the NFC champion Arizona Cardinals, had been seen as a favorite for the job for weeks. FOXSports.com and the Kansas City Star reported Thursday evening that the Chiefs, seeking a replacement for the fired Herm Edwards, had offered Haley the job.

Obviously this a fantastic move for a offense retarded team. Their have been hardly any play making WRs on the Chiefs for the longest time, maybe Dwayne Bowe can take that spot, but who knows. The Cardinals were a pass happy offense and depending on whether they have Thigpen, Cassel or whoever they will thrive with Haley at the helm.