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,…

The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) vs. Bobby Petrino (Atlanta Falcons) How they got here: Ferentz received a bye in the first round as the top seed in the region, Bob Petrino crushed Kansas State coach Ron Prince in the first round. We’ll start with Ferentz [bio, Iowa official site]. Born in Royal Oak Michigan, Ferentz’s career took him from places like Connecticut, Maine, and even the Cleveland Browns under NFL coaching god Bill Belichick before settling in at Iowa. As one of legendary coach Heyden Fry’s star pupils in the 1980s, Ferentz returned to the Hawkeyes in 1999. His status as a candidate is elevated by the fact that current Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman was the Iowa president at the time of the hiring. He’s had a tough season and there are a few in Iowa City that feel the bloom is off the Rose. A season ending loss to Western Michigan didn’t help things. In the past couple days we’ve heard the Ferentz name come up more and more, to the point that there’s a rumor that the Iowa coach has been offered the Wolverine job. Of course we don’t know if that’s true, and if true, whether Ferentz would leave…

The first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version. Jimmy Harbaugh (Stanford) v Urban Meyer (Florida) As 3 and 4 seeded players, realistically neither of these guys is a candidate for the position for different reasons. Harbaugh burned the bridge this summer, and Meyer both burned the bridge last year during the BCS title game debate and given the fact that the Florida gig isn’t exactly a stepping stone to Michigan. We’ll start with Harbaugh [bio from Stanford official site]. The question really isn’t whether he’ll be a candidate. The answer is a big fat ‘No’. Vegas thinks he’s got a shot for some reason as he’s coming off at 10 to 1 to get the position. I’d work a strategy to short that. I have an MBA but struggled in derivatives…anyhoo, there’s a profit in shorting Jimmy somewhere. Harbaugh has sufficiently burned the bridge with the current administration whether it be AD Bill Martin or search committee members such as former RB Jamie Morris. No, not going to happen. BUT..obviously a Michigan man, long ties to the program and did pull off the 2nd biggest upset in football this year when he downed the Trojans… The question really comes down to whether Harbaugh could ever be a candidate. Meyer…

The first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version. Bobby Petrino (Atlanta Falcons v Ron Prince (Kansas State) As 5 and 6 seeded players, each is considered a longshot for the position. How they got on the list: Bobby Petrino elevated the Louisville football program to new heights last season and took his craft to the NFL, where his short tenor has been stunted by the off field activities of Michael Vick. He’s a longshot for the candidancy but he’s got ties to the Midwest via Lousiville, and they way that team collapsed this year you have to wonder if Petrino is worthy of the hype. Ron Prince is a name you probably haven’t heard of but his name has come up by a few pundits as someone that just might be a good candidate. One of a handful of African American head coaches, Prince got some major props last year for taking over for Bill Snyder and getting the Wildcats to a bowl. The highlight of the 2006 campaign was taking down mighty Texas. His pedigree ties him to Virginia, and a little school of which I’m not familiar named Appalachian State. His stock has dropped a bit in the wake of giving up 71 points to the Cornhuskers…