The week following Signing Day is generally pretty slow and most coaches literally go on vacation. But not these guys. As a result here's some assorted news from around the country.
The Dread Pirate himself is in search of more treasure and appears to be pissing off his bosses in the process. Not that Mike Leach has ever seemed to care too much what the hell anyone thinks about him. If he doesn't sign he remains on his current contract which has two years left. In the mean time I'm sure he'll continue to mumble bizarre half sentences, wax intellectual about pirates, kick it with Donald Trump and hang 50-60 points on any and all Tier 2 opponents his team comes in contact with. When he's not doing that he'll continue to take random interviews at other schools where he won't get hired because he's just too damn bizarre. Instead of holding out for more cash for himself he should be demanding additional cash be made available to hire a top flight Defensive Coordinator. Can you imagine the Raiders with a Real D? That's actually a little scary. I could go on about this one for a while but I'll leave it at that for now. As an aside if you've never visited the cornucopia of beer and liquor that is "The Strip" outside of Lubbock you haven't lived yet. In the old days, and by that I mean the early 90's, you could hit the drive through and when they put the case of Lone Star Light in the back of your truck they'd pull one out, pop it and hand you a cold roadie. It doesn't get better than that.
Too bad the Dread Pirate doesn't coach at Iowa they seem to be all about shelling out cash and long term deals to a guy with a career record of 70-53. Whatever. I know the bandwagon is large but I've never jumped on it. Have fun being 7-5 for another 7 years! Then again it is Iowa. Maybe going 70-53 there does make one a genius.
Bevo flexed the deep pockets this week and threw down some cash to finalize locking up Current DC, Head Coach in Waiting and YouTube sensation Will Muschamp. Texas Tech stop arguing with each other and pay attention!
Somewhere in there I read that Boy Kiffin was still taking some heat from some Florida High School Coaches for his recruiting escapades and subsequent signing day comments. I'm sensing Boy Kiffin and his crew will have a short stay in Knoxville.
Often criticized and beat down ND front man Charles Weis had a presser today to talk details on the pull it out of the fire version of the ND Coaching Staff. In summary the Big Man himself will both in reality and on paper re-claim his role as the Offensive Coordinator and play caller. With Corwin Brown and John Tenuta entering year two of their now even more confusing relationship as Defensive Co-Coordinators and Associate/ Assistant Head Coaches the Big Man says he's comfortable not being involved in the D. He also introduced new Offensive Line Coach and Runing Game Coordinator Frank Verducci as well as new Running Backs coach Tony Alford. If those two can help Charlie get some semblance of a running game going the Irish could quickly become quite dangerous. The deal with Romeo Crennel to coach the D Line fell through but with Bryant Young as a graduate assistant Weis is really just looking for someone to mentor him for a year or two anyway. Announcement on that forthcoming in the next week or so from the ND camp.
I'll get back to Part V of the 2009 Talent Analysis in the next day or two.