Forty names, video games, groups and trivialities making news in college football, the place an issue at lengthy snapper can lead to a four-safety calamity:
First Quarter
Congrats, You’re Stuck With Him
The largest administrative failure in college football has been dropping management of the coaching contract market, and the repercussions of that failure are rampant proper now within the sport. Bulldozed by brokers into huge buyouts, doling out extensions for modest achievement and inclined to nervousness over dropping recruits if the coach isn’t locked up in a long-term deal, athletic administrators have been leveraged to the hilt.
Many of these ADs are tied to underperforming coaches who’re too costly to eliminate and/or too highly effective to pressure into making modifications. One manner or one other, the payments are going to come due. The Dash listing of coaches who aren’t living up to their contracts, however most likely aren’t going anyplace:
Jimbo Fisher (1), Texas A&M. The contract: 10 years, $95 million, signed in Sept. 2021. The present buyout: roughly $86 million if fired this 12 months, with no offsets ought to Fisher take one other job. The on-field product: The Aggies are, pound-for-pound, the largest disappointment within the nation this season. After beginning the 12 months ranked fifth within the nation, they’re 3-4, winless in true highway video games and owning a home loss to Appalachian State.
The nation’s No. 1 recruiting class has had some contributions, however for probably the most half is simply too younger to make an affect. The offense—Fisher’s specialty—is a prepare wreck. Texas A&M is final within the SEC in scoring (21.9 factors per sport) and thirteenth in yards per sport (342.7). The Aggies haven’t scored greater than 24 factors in opposition to an FBS opponent since precisely a 12 months in the past, in a win over South Carolina. Losing to the Gamecocks Saturday pushes them towards a possible dropping file, one thing that final occurred at A&M in 2009. Fisher’s file in his fifth season is worse than Kevin Sumlin’s on the identical level, and Sumlin was fired in 12 months six.
If forcing Jimbo out isn’t an possibility—even at a spot with quite a lot of silly cash, this may be extreme—forcing him to give up play calling has been a prompt treatment (2). Fisher has been accused of working an out of date offense, and there actually do not appear to be many simple performs on the Aggies’ disposal. Everything is laborious. And each sport this month has been a loss.
Kirk Ferentz (3), Iowa. The contract: Eight years, $56 million, introduced in January. The present buyout: reportedly $6 million for the remaining size of the deal, which might be $42 million after this season. The on-field product: It’s not simply that the Hawkeyes are unhealthy (they’re 3-4 and probably headed for their first dropping season in a decade), it’s how extremely unhealthy they’re on the aspect of the ball coordinated by Brian Ferentz (4), Kirk’s son.
Kirk Ferentz is the nation’s longest-tenured FBS head coach to be with one program, having led Iowa since 1999.
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen/USA TODAY NETWORK
Iowa is the worst offensive football staff within the nation, 131st out of 131, averaging simply 227.3 yards per sport. To date, 22.5 p.c of its factors have been scored by an impressive protection—three touchdowns and two safeties. Through this dismal season, Team Ferentz mulishly refused to bench quarterback Spencer Petras, a three-year starter whose efficiency retains getting worse. (He’s final by a protracted shot in Big Ten go effectivity.) Finally, trailing No. 2 Ohio State on the highway Saturday, the teaching braintrust relented and inserted backup Alex Padilla. He fumbled his first snap and threw an interception on his first go (which did much less to justify Team Ferentz’s refusal to bench Petras than it did to condemn their quarterback growth).
Kirk Ferentz’s lengthy and profitable tenure at Iowa has turn out to be corrosive of late, virtually an abuse of energy as he surrounded himself with sure males, family and friends. The Brian Ferentz state of affairs is especially egregious, a transparent case of nepotism that the college has slinked round by having Brian report to athletic director Gary Barta as an alternative of his father. At different colleges the place the offense is tanking (Rutgers, Indiana, Boise State), in-season assistant teaching modifications have been made. At Iowa, the household enterprise lurches on, regardless of how unhealthy the outcomes. The fan base deserves higher.
Brent Venables (5), Oklahoma. The contract: six years, $43.5 million, agreed to in late 2021. The buyout: the deal is fully guaranteed, so Oklahoma would have to pay him $36 million if it fired him after this season — extraordinarily unlikely generally, however particularly so at that worth. The on-field product: The Sooners (4-3) have been successfully eradicated from Big 12 championship competition by mid-October after dropping their first three league video games. This is the primary time since 2014 that Oklahoma has misplaced greater than two Big 12 video games in a season.
The mind-blowing factor right here is that Venables was given a totally assured six-year contract (and a wage of greater than $7 million yearly) with out ever having been a head coach. He’s been wanted for years and constructed up a rock-star defensive coordinator repute, however this was a large leap of religion by Oklahoma that to date (and sure, it’s early) has not been rewarded. Agent Jimmy Sexton had AD Joe Castiglione the place he needed him in negotiations: blindsided by the departure of Lincoln Riley and determined to land a substitute with some cachet. Castiglione paid up.
For $7 million a 12 months and a totally assured deal, you’d like to assume your new coach may keep within 48 points of rival Texas. Didn’t happen. For now, Oklahoma followers are pleased to blame all of it on predecessor Riley, however that excuse has a brief shelf life at a blueblood program.
Steve Sarkisian (6), Texas. The contract: six years, $34.2 million, signed in February 2021. The buyout: 70 p.c of what’s remaining on the deal, which after this season could be about $15.7 million. The on-field product: After dropping to Oklahoma State Saturday, the Longhorns stay Not Back. They are 5-3 general, 3-2 within the Big 12, and stay on the surface of the convention championship race wanting in. Sark is 10-10 general, which is three video games worse than Tom Herman was on the identical stage of his Texas tenure.
Compared to what Texas spent to hearth Herman and his employees after which rent Sark and his employees, a buyout of lower than $16 million virtually sounds cheap. Of course, it might even be accompanied by paying the subsequent coach a ton, and it might maintain the Longhorns in their present spin cycle of lavish spending for middle-class outcomes. Sark will assuredly keep onboard for an additional season, if for no different cause than to be sure that Arch Manning arrives on campus in 2023, however the reality stays that UT brass spent some huge cash to rent a man who by no means gained greater than eight regular-season video games at two nice jobs (Washington and USC). That pattern stands a strong probability of constant for a second season at a 3rd nice job.
Mario Cristobal (7), Miami. The contract: A reported 10 years, $80 million, agreed to final December. The buyout: Unknown. The on-field product: The Hurricanes are fairly unhealthy in 12 months one below Cristobal, presently 3-4 with residence losses to Middle Tennessee State and Duke. Their wins are over Bethune-Cookman, Southern Mississippi and a Virginia Tech staff that’s 2-5. And quarterback Tyler Van Dyke went down with an injury in the blowout loss to the Blue Devils Saturday.
Miami overpaid to carry Cristobal residence, a basic nostalgia rent of an alum who performed throughout this system’s glory days. It’s gone badly sufficient that Cristobal hit the Buy In Or Go Away button Saturday after the loss to Duke. “If someone’s not playing hard, they have to go play somewhere else,” he stated. “What we have to do requires tough people. To turn a program, rebuild it, it requires tough-minded people willing to do the work. If that shows up on tape, they have to find somewhere else [to play].”
Cristobal was a part of two national-championship successful groups in his time as a participant at Miami, from 1988-‘92.
Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports
The first-year contrast to Cristobal was on the opposite sideline Saturday. Duke coach Mike Elko (8) is 5-3 at a program that won five games the previous two seasons combined. The Blue Devils’ three losses are by a complete of 14 factors, and so they possible might be favored in their subsequent two video games. Elko’s wage is unknown at Duke, a non-public faculty that doesn’t have to expose contract particulars, however it’s protected to assume he isn’t getting $8 million a 12 months.
Mel Tucker (9), Michigan State. The contract: 10 years, $95 million, agreed to in November 2021. The buyout: absolutely assured, which makes firing him untenable until billionaire alum Matt Ishbia needs to fund all of it himself. The on-field product: The Spartans are 3-4, with the losses coming consecutively by a mixed margin of 81 factors. Michigan State bounced again with a win over Wisconsin Oct. 15 however nonetheless figures to be an underdog in at the very least three of its last 5 video games (beginning with a go to to rival Michigan Saturday).
If Michigan State checks in a 5-7 when all is alleged and finished, it might be Tucker’s third dropping season in 4 as a head coach. The 11-2 smash success of 2021 would seem to be extra the outlier than the norm. But if he can beat Jim Harbaugh and Michigan for a 3rd straight season Saturday, it might actually reduce the client’s regret for Spartans followers.
James Franklin (10), Penn State. The contract: 10 years, $70 million (plus incentives), agreed to in November 2021. The buyout: $72 million this 12 months, decreasing by $8 million per 12 months thereafter. The on-field product: At 6-1, there could be no cause to hearth Franklin at this level—it doesn’t matter what. But if he continues to flail in opposition to Big Ten East Division massive canines Ohio State and Michigan, it’s protected to say he isn’t fairly incomes the contract safety he has been given.
Penn State’s 41-17 blowout loss to Michigan earlier this month was Franklin’s sixth loss in 9 video games in opposition to the Wolverines, and he’s 1-7 in opposition to the Buckeyes, who come to State College this week. The Nittany Lions are many of the manner out of the two-year malaise that gripped them in 2020 and ’21, when their file was 11-11, however they’re nonetheless not a critical contender to win the Big Ten (until issues change dramatically in opposition to Ohio State Saturday). Nevertheless, Penn State is tied to Franklin for the foreseeable future, though his aspect of the buyout to depart the college reduces from $8 million to $6 million to $2 million from 2022-24. For the college to make a unilateral choice to half methods from Franklin would break the bank.
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