Monday, June 30, 2008

ND Shouldn't Hide: 5 Programs The Irish Should Schedule Now

By Radio Man - www.cfb360.com

Rivalries are the lifeblood of College Football. Florida vs. Georgia, Ohio State vs. Michigan, Southern California vs. UCLA, and Alabama vs. Auburn are just a few of the rivalries that make College Football a great spectacle. But what transcends conference rivalries and make College Football unique are the short, intense series between traditional powers that do not normally play one another. In recent years, Ohio State played Texas, Michigan played Oregon, and Louisiana State played Virginia Tech, to name a few.

The Ohio State vs. Texas match ups were truly great because it brought two tradition-rich programs together during a time when both teams were contending for National Championships. The two games bolstered both programs on and off the field (see recruiting,) and gave their fans and alumni something to enjoy and look forward too all summer. Now the question is why does Notre Dame appear to be shying away from scheduling similar match ups?

Former Notre Dame Athletic Director Dr. Kevin White has left Notre Dame for Duke, much to the delight of many Notre Dame fans. White's ideal scheduling model of seven home games, four road games, and one neutral site game brings in more revenue, no doubt. What it lacks is the ability to attract upper echelon teams for home and home series because like Notre Dame, they desire the financial windfall of playing seven (and sometimes eight – see Ohio State) home games.

Ah, yes, greed. College Football is full of it, Notre Dame included, with or without Dr. White running the Notre Dame Athletic Department. More importantly, White's scheduling model takes away from the tradition of College Football. Fair or not, when Notre Dame makes a scheduling move, other programs are likely to follow. Notre Dame was literally the last of the tier one schools (more on that list in an article later this summer) to fall into the "lets just make money" scheduling category when it added San Diego State to the 2008 home slate. In other words, road kill is coming to South Bend on Sep. 6. The Aztecs are not a traditional rival, are not on an upswing in talent – in fact they are truly down, and do not have a tradition rich program. Yet, Notre Dame added San Diego State to the schedule. The main reason was revenue. The Aztecs do not possess the clout to require Notre Dame to play a return game, meaning the Irish will not be heading to San Diego to play the Aztecs in a future game. Therefore, Dr. White's 7-4-1 model was utilized for the 2008 season (Navy is the neutral site game in Baltimore).

There has to be middle ground, doesn't there? And there is.

With White gone, there is no better time than now for Notre Dame Football to once again become a trend setter instead of playing follow the leader with regard to peers in college football. Here is how it should work:

For years, Notre Dame and the Big 10 have not seen eye to eye. Fair enough. Both sides have their reasons, and this is no time to reinvent the debate for either side. The one point that is odd, however, involves scheduling, at least with Notre Dame. The Big 10 teams will not play Notre Dame beyond the early portion of the season. It upsets the flow of the Big 10 season, or something to that effect, is what is rumored to be the reason. Hogwash. Michigan is one thing, as they are a peer athletic institution. Honestly, Notre Dame should seriously consider playing that game later in the season, too.

Purdue and Michigan State, however, quite simply do not enjoy the proverbial power to dictate when Notre Dame plays them, if at all. That's just business. If they do not want to reschedule for later in the calendar year, bye-bye. Notre Dame can find other traditional mid-level teams to play. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Purdue and Michigan State, err, the Big 10, cannot dictate to Notre Dame. They hate Notre Dame anyway, give them a reason. Again, it's business. One must use power when power is available. And the TV contracts…they give Notre Dame that power (insert image of Big 10 Athletics Directors gritting their teeth) because mid-level programs need all the revenue they can muster to sustain financial balance within their Athletic Departments (don't get me started on the financial chaos that Title IX created long ago).

In short, Michigan State, Purdue and the like need Notre Dame whether they admit it publicly or not, and not the other way around. If they balk at such an offer from Notre Dame, there will be several other programs lining up at Notre Dame's door waiting to play the Irish during different points in the season, like October and November; hear that Michigan State and Purdue?

With more scheduling balance, i.e. September dates available, Notre Dame could conceivably use the 7-4-1 model and still play a third high level opponent (an additional top team beyond Southern California and Michigan) from the likes of the following five schools:

  • Alabama – It has been far too long since the Irish traveled down South to Tuscaloosa to play the Crimson Tide. What a game that would be, the notoriety, the pageantry, the tradition, the TV ratings (hear that ND officials? $$$...), and two tradition rich teams that aspire to be back in the top five of the national polls. This game tops the list, and should be scheduled sooner than later, for a home and home series, of course.
  • Texas – This is another team that Notre Dame has some history with, dating back to the early 1970s. Texas has a very good program; Austin is a great city to visit, and its one of the states that Notre Dame has recently tried to invade for more recruits than in recent years. This series makes sense.
  • Penn State – It's no secret that Joe Paterno does not like Notre Dame. With that said, he is soon to be out in Happy Valley. The new Nittany Lions head coach would surely be delighted at the idea of playing Notre Dame during the early portion of his tenure. The two schools have played in many great games, and that tradition should continue. In fact, a long term contract would be a good idea.
  • Nebraska – With new stewardship, the Nebraska Football Program has an invigorated fan base and sense of optimism. This game would be excellent from a national perspective and give both programs fans something to look forward to.
  • Miami – Now that Miami is no longer playing in "Little Havana," or as it was truly called, the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame fans are not nearly as likely to be harassed by the ahem…not so nice nearby residents of the Orange Bowl, which quite simply is located in a bad area of Miami. That was a big reason the series was cancelled and frowned upon by Notre Dame Administrators, alumni, and fans. It also helps that Miami is a much cleaner program now (how could it have gotten worse than the late 80s/early 90s) and the game would not include all of the taunting and thuggery of the old Miami program due to current NCAA rules. This game, over all the others, would have the most intrigue, but Miami is still not a consistent program, at least not yet.

Other programs such as Arizona State, Oklahoma, Colorado, Oregon, Florida State, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Louisiana State, and Washington should be a part of a rotation of schools that enter and leave the Notre Dame schedule on a periodic basis. It is time for Notre Dame to set the trend once again.

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posted by Radio Man @ 1:44 PM 4 Comments

Friday, June 27, 2008

College Football’s Best And Worst Recruiting Head Coaches

By Radio Man

Schmoozing isn't just a word, it's an art, especially in College Football recruiting, a nightmare, a pleasure, and an entertainment industry wrapped into one package. A handful of College Football's best programs are also led by some its best recruiting head coaches. Unfortunately for fans of a select few tradition-rich programs, there are a few slackers leading what should be at least good programs, but due to recruiting ineptitudes such as staggering to the recruiting finish line each National Signing Day instead of racing through it, aren't.

A few basic criteria to be honored as a top recruiter, or, ahem, slapped with the tag of basically being a lazy recruiter, err, golfer (more on that in a bit), are as follows: 1) preferably a head coach at the Division I level for at least 10 years, and 2) preferably coaching for at least one program that produces consistent winners, i.e. January bowl games are expected, not the exception.

Beginning with the best of the best, Southern California head coach Pete Carroll takes the cake. Even though Carroll is fairly new to the College game, from 2002-2008 the Trojans were a recruiting juggernaut. Last year was the first time in six years the Trojans could not stake claim to having the nation's top recruiting class. That's just ridiculous. How does Carroll do it? For one, location. It's LA man! Tradition comes into play with the Trojans, and of course having a coaching staff that has several good coaches and recruiters since Carroll took over at Troy makes him a powerful influence on the recruiting scene. What places Carroll no. 1, however, is his ability to land recruits from areas that Southern California just does not normally land recruits. Tallahassee, Fla., New Jersey, Toledo, Ohio, Muskegon, Mich., Texas, New York, NY, Colorado, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina are locations that the Trojans had, currently have or will have players on the roster. Carroll is the ring leader, and deserves big-time kudos for his efforts.

Next in line is Bobby Bowden down at Florida State. Ole "dad gummit" as some like to call him, has certainly won the lions' share of elite recruiting battles during the course of his time at Florida State. When Bowden arrived in Tallahassee in the mid 1970s, the Florida State program was a joke, a laughing stock. That quickly changed and by the early 1980s the Seminoles were a threat to land just about any recruit in Florida, not to mention adjacent southern states. Bowden's a man of faith, but more than anything, he's a man that knows how to talk to mothers. "Maam, you send your boy down here to Tallahassee with me and I'll make sure to take real good care of him, ya hear?" OK, that was uncalled for, but whatever Bowden says to mothers to win them over, it's become legendary. Nothing strikes fear into opposing coaches than to hear that coach Bowden has an in-home visit scheduled with a recruit. That leads to coach Bowden spending one-on-one time with a prospect, and an opportunity to win the battle with the all-important mom. Look out when coach Bowden comes to town. He talks a big game.

Bowden's protégé is Texas head coach Mack Brown, who just so happened to play at Florida State. Brown turned around a horrible North Carolina program (1988-1997) and is the current big shot down on the forty acres. Texas fans are usually bored by the end of August, at least in terms of recruiting. Why? The Longhorns have all but wrapped up recruiting for the year. The Longhorns sign about twenty of the top thirty or forty in-state recruits, and maybe cherry pick another one or two from the likes of California, Louisiana, etc. In short, Texas is the best gig in College Football. Great academics, but also the ability to hide "lesser" students if need be, great social life for student-athletes, excellent city in which to live, and a big-time tradition. Add Mack's personality and recruiting really is about just keeping the ducks in a row, err, local high school coaches. Brown established a strong relationship with numerous high school head coaches a decade ago and has kept those relationships strong to this day.

Now for the not so good news…drum roll please!

As the saying goes, "do not say anything if there is nothing nice to say." Well, to heck with that.

College Football is a business and the following coaches have stunk up the joint in recent years. No. 3 on the list, Greg Robinson, head coach of Syracuse. Now, understand that when Robinson headed to upstate New York, the Orange were floundering. That's not his fault, but the Orange crush can now just be called the crushed Orange. The recruiting horror. Ugh. For the current recruiting class, The 'cuse has one commitment, and it's from an unranked recruit, per Rivals.com. Are you serious? Come on! Syracuse has some tradition. It's in a decent conference – The Big East – that plays on national television. Robinson needs to improve dramatically. His last few classes have not been good enough either.

The next coach may surprise some people, but it is due to his inability to protect the home base more than anything else. Ralph Friedgen has already lost six possible recruits to Penn State this year, and one of the region's top cornerbacks, Dominick Clarke, to Ohio State. It's only June! What's odd is that a few of the regions top players signed with Maryland last year, but still not enough. Friedgen, much like Robinson, has a program that could be very good. He just is not getting it done on the recruiting trail. Because Maryland is in such a good area for recruiting, Friedgen goes one spot in front of Robinson.

And the winner (loser) for worst recruiting head coach is…Tyrone Willingham. This is the coach that is more concerned with figuring out if he is going to hit three wood or a one iron off the tee than whether or not to offer the state of Washington's top recruits in a timely fashion, if at all. Not to mention, Willingham was the man responsible for recruiting what turned out to be the worst class in the past fifty years at Notre Dame – last years senior class – before heading to Seattle. Nice job, Ty. And to take the cake, and it is just hard to fathom, Willingham and the Huskies have exactly zero commitments for the class of 2009 right now. None, zero, zip, nada. Mack Brown would fall over. Then again, he's probably not in as good of shape as Willingham as the Huskies head coach constantly lugs his bag of clubs around the various country clubs he frequents. Willingham is not long for Seattle, and his recruiting incompetency bares a great deal of the blame.

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posted by Radio Man @ 9:46 AM 1 Comments