Uh, what? This is so ridiculous. As predicted, the death march drags on. UPDATE: The 2pm presser where Miles was supposed to confirm he resigned and he DIDN’T. He simply said “I’m the head coach at LSU. I will be the head coach at LSU. I have no interest in talking to anybody else. I have a championship game to play.” He wouldn’t take any questions because you know what he would have had to answer. He hasn’t signed with LSU yet and this is ridiculous. UPDATE II: I slapped together a mini timeline to keep all this straight. A work in progress, click to enlarge:
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Herbstreit: It’s done, It’s Miles
Just announced on ESPN: Sources have told ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit that barring any unforeseen circumstances, Michigan will announce early next week it has reached an agreement with LSU coach Les Miles to be its next head football coach. Herbstreit is also reporting that Miles will make Georgia Tech defensive coordinator and interim head coach Jon Tenuta part of his staff at Michigan. Herbstreit’s source? Well you have to look right at Desmond Howard, who is on the search committee and is a part of the GameDay team. Duh. Here’s the bio on Tenuta. Herby added he’s “in my mind the best [defensive coordinator] in the country”. Here’s some specifics on his background, yes, he’s a former Buckeye coach: Tenuta began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Virginia (1981-82) and Maryland (1983), and then served as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt (1984-85), Marshall (1986-87), Kansas State (1988), SMU (1989-94) and Oklahoma (1995). At SMU, Tenuta was the defensive backs coach in 1989 before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 1990. At Ohio State, he was the defensive backs coach from 1996-1999 before being elevated to the defensive coordinator post in 2000. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Tenuta is a graduate of Virginia. He lettered three years as a defensive back for the Cavaliers and earned the team’s John Acree…
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Crisler Region Finals: Stoops v Kelly
The Regional Finals of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) vs. Brian Kelly (Cincinnati) {democracy} Kelly defeated Missouri coach Gary Pinkel in the second round by taking 64% of the vote; Bob Stoops slipped by Rich Rodriguez with a late surge in the second round, taking in 57%, and Stoops smoked Carolina Panthers assistant Mike Trgovac in the first round by a wide margin.
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Bo Region Finals: Tedford v Cowher
The Regional Finals of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Jeff Tedford (California) vs. Bill Cowher (NFL retired) Tedford defeated Boise State coach Chris Petersen in the second round by taking 60% of the vote; Bill Cowher crushed Cam Cameron hauling in 80%. {democracy}
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Miles Told Players he’s Gone?
See mgoblog. I sure hope this is bogus. If it’s true this confirms the concerns about Miles’s intelligence. Maybe he told them to promise not to tell! Maybe he thought it was fourth down. I’m very skeptical. I can’t see him not letting Martin announce a deal. Pretty sure this is pure nonsense. (Posted via Crackberry)
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Kipke Round II: Meyer v Schiano
The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Urban Meyer (Florida) vs. Greg Schiano (Rutgers) How they got here: Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano received a bye in the first round as the #2 seed in the region while Urban Meyer crushed former M quarterback Jimmy Harbaugh in the first round. Greg Schiano [bio, Rutgers official site] is another coach that took a program going nowhere into one that is in the national conversation. He swept the coach of the year awards in 2006 and was rumored for quite of few gigs last summer. He’s likely top of the list when JoePa retires/dies. His pedigree goes from Rutgers (where he was a grad assistant), to a DB coach at Penn State, to the NFL with the Chicago Bears, over to the Miami Hurricanes and finally to the head job at Rutgers. He’s done well – you’d have to assume he’d leave Rutgers if Martin offered. Meyer is not exactly a likely candidate [bio from Florida official site]. As coach of the reigning champion Gators who of course destroyed the evil Sweatervested one, he’s definitely the rage of the college coaching profession. While at Utah he had a Miles-esque out clause for the unholy Trinity of Midwestern powers (Mich, ND,…
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Yost Region Round II: Les Miles v Paul Johnson
The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Les Miles (LSU) vs. Paul Johnson (Navy) How they got here: Michigan Man and LSU head coach Les Miles received a bye in the first round as the #1 seed in the region while Paul Johnson slipped by Mount Union college legend Larry Kehres in the first round. What can I tell you about Les Miles [bio] that you don’t already know? Michigan player, Michigan coach, he’s had success at Oklahoma State and he’s done pretty well at LSU. The pros? Passionate about this school and its history. He loves this place and that’s got to worth something. He seems like a great leader and has done a nice job at LSU. Every indication is that he’ll take the job and Martin may not have to shell out NFL money to get him here. It’s exciting to think about this guy coming here. The downside? Maybe not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Those fourth down plays are borderline crazy. It’s fun to watch when it is LSU playing- not sure it’d be such a ball if all that stuff happened in the Big House. Also it looks like he and Coach Carr aren’t BFF, stemming perhaps from attitude differences when…
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Crisler Region Round II: Stoops v Rodriguez
The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) vs. Rich Rodriguez (West Virginia) How they got here: West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez received a bye in the first round as the #2 seed in the region while Bob Stoops absolutely crushed Mike DeBord in the first round. Stoops [bio from the Sooners official site] Also from Youngstown OH, Stoops coaching pedigree traces from Iowa (where he holds a degree), Kent State Kansas State, to Florida to the OU gig. Like Trgovac, he also has some cred as a player: Accomplishments as a Player # Four-year starter for the Hawkeyes (1979-82). # Honorable mention All-America honors at defensive back, Iowa’s MVP (1982) # Two-time All-Big Ten selection (1979 & 1982) # Finished with 205 tackles and 10 interceptions and was called “the hardest hitter among Iowa defensive backs.” Like Florida’s Urban Meyer, Stoops is a proven winner and still a hot name in the coaching ranks. Also like Meyer he’s had some player issues but no serious recruiting violations (yet). And again just like Meyer, Oklahoma isn’t exactly a stepping stone to bigger college football opportunities. Would he leave OU for a chance at the Michigan gig? Doubtful, but who knows. Here’s Stoops on this topic…