Coaching at ND is hard especially with a mostly delusional fanbase that always hates the current coach (See Dan Devine)
Ten candidates to replace Steve Sarkisian at USC
Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports 6:42 p.m. EDT October 12, 2015
3 TWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
We say it so often it’s become a cliche, but in this case it’s absolutely true.
Southern California must nail this hire.
Whether it’s Pat Haden making the call (it shouldn’t be, given his mishandling of the football program) or the school president or one of the Trojans’ big boosters, there is no room for error.
If USC gets this one wrong, it risks slipping into a decade of irrelevance. Much like Tennessee, even a traditional power can’t just keep cycling through coaches and expect instability to bring championships.
USA TODAY
USC fires football coach Steve Sarkisian
Unless the Trojans can resurrect their season under interim coach Clay Helton, this will be seven years without a Pac-12 Conference title at USC. Though it may be difficult to recreate the era of dominance Pete Carroll brought to Troy, a stretch like that should never happen.
Twice in a row, USC has gone for flashy young coaches with strong recruiting ability but very little heft to their on-field coaching résumé. This time, the Trojans need to go the opposite direction and hire a grown-up with an established track record of building a disciplined on-field product and off-field culture.
The next coach will inherit a very talented team, and it should not take long to build a championship contender given all the built-in advantages at USC. Here is a list of who the Trojans could and should pursue, culled from opinions of numerous people in the industry.
This one is fairly obvious. The combination of USC’s resources plus Kelly’s offense would be a slam-dunk winner, similar to when Nick Saban left the Miami Dolphins for Alabama. It’s unclear whether Kelly is interested in leaving the NFL, but this would one of the very few opportunities that would force him to take a look. The NCAA penalties on his watch at Oregon could work against him with some in the USC brass, given the situation the Trojans went through with Reggie Bush.
2. Brian Kelly
It seems unlikely on the surface that Kelly would leave Notre Dame for a rival that plays the Fighting Irish every year, but Kelly would be an excellent fit and bring a much-needed vibe of maturity and class to the USC operation. He has also made comments this year referencing the difficulties of the Notre Dame job, particularly academically, and how the external pressures chew up coaches and spit them out. “There’s no question, you can’t do this job for 15 years,” he said. He’s been at Notre Dame for six. If he’s looking for a change, this would be as good as it gets.
Ten candidates to replace Steve Sarkisian at USC
Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports 6:42 p.m. EDT October 12, 20153 TWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
We say it so often it’s become a cliche, but in this case it’s absolutely true.
Southern California must nail this hire.
Whether it’s Pat Haden making the call (it shouldn’t be, given his mishandling of the football program) or the school president or one of the Trojans’ big boosters, there is no room for error.
If USC gets this one wrong, it risks slipping into a decade of irrelevance. Much like Tennessee, even a traditional power can’t just keep cycling through coaches and expect instability to bring championships.
USA TODAY
USC fires football coach Steve Sarkisian
Unless the Trojans can resurrect their season under interim coach Clay Helton, this will be seven years without a Pac-12 Conference title at USC. Though it may be difficult to recreate the era of dominance Pete Carroll brought to Troy, a stretch like that should never happen.
Twice in a row, USC has gone for flashy young coaches with strong recruiting ability but very little heft to their on-field coaching résumé. This time, the Trojans need to go the opposite direction and hire a grown-up with an established track record of building a disciplined on-field product and off-field culture.
The next coach will inherit a very talented team, and it should not take long to build a championship contender given all the built-in advantages at USC. Here is a list of who the Trojans could and should pursue, culled from opinions of numerous people in the industry.
This one is fairly obvious. The combination of USC’s resources plus Kelly’s offense would be a slam-dunk winner, similar to when Nick Saban left the Miami Dolphins for Alabama. It’s unclear whether Kelly is interested in leaving the NFL, but this would one of the very few opportunities that would force him to take a look. The NCAA penalties on his watch at Oregon could work against him with some in the USC brass, given the situation the Trojans went through with Reggie Bush.
2. Brian Kelly
It seems unlikely on the surface that Kelly would leave Notre Dame for a rival that plays the Fighting Irish every year, but Kelly would be an excellent fit and bring a much-needed vibe of maturity and class to the USC operation. He has also made comments this year referencing the difficulties of the Notre Dame job, particularly academically, and how the external pressures chew up coaches and spit them out. “There’s no question, you can’t do this job for 15 years,” he said. He’s been at Notre Dame for six. If he’s looking for a change, this would be as good as it gets.
