The last time my alma mater, the University of Missouri, was in a college football head coaching search, the year was 2000. That was an eternity ago in Internet years. I was not married, was about 30 pounds lighter, did not have any kids (let alone four), and was still in law school. E-mail was still this thing that was revolutionary. The Internet was proving useful in proliferating fantasy sports leagues (I remember drafting Tim Duncan as a rookie in the first NBA league I played online, to further date things). Message boards were popping up, though their reach was nowhere near where it is today. Social media was still years away.
The choice that time, Toledo head coach Gary Pinkel, proved to stand the test of time at Missouri. On Nov. 20, 2000, the day after Larry Smith was fired, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article mentioned several names. Among them were hot young coordinators Mark Richt of Florida State and Rich Rodriguez of Clemson. That article also mentioned that athletic director Mike Alden hoped to have a decision “within the next few weeks.”
This tweet sums up how things have changed.
Now, days turn into hours, and weeks turn into days within the instant information grind. Other schools have been through this coaching hire and rumor grinder stuff many times over in the last decade. Other than maybe fans at Iowa and Oklahoma, who are on the cusp of playoff appearances and will not be experiencing turnover again, I’m not sure any other fan base has been more exempted from “Jimmy Sexton” season than Missouri.
And so, even though I have written on this site, been involved in monitoring sports news, and am fully aware of the lunacy that follows in coach silly season, I still wasn’t prepared. I picture it very much like the accounts of people attempting to jump back into dating after experiencing a divorce. Yeah, the horror accounts can be amusing if you aren’t the one involved. But, actually being pulled through coaching Tinder? No thanks.
So over the last week, I’ve learned about Dino Babers. I saw Matt Rhule news come and go. And the hires started rolling in. Justin Fuente to Memphis. USC named Clay Helton as the coach. Kirby Smart to Georgia. Mark Richt landed back at the University of Miami, where he played. And with each, the anxiety increased. My gosh, it’s been three days, people!
And the real lunacy of the social media expansion really began mid-week.
On Wednesday, this guy claimed that Sonny Dykes was gone from Cal and would sign with Missouri.
Other Bay Aera individuals said that while it hadn’t happened yet, it was imminent. Dykes, apparently, was looking for that raise. Obviously that news was false.
Then, someone with the the Twitter handle @AndrewAppleton changed his Twitter bio to represent that he was a Baltimore Sun reporter, and sent out this:
I have to admit, that is my favorite, because it captures the lunacy. There is no plausible reason to think that Missouri would be interviewing Ravens offensive coordinator (and former Chicago Bears coach) Marc Trestman. It’s such a ridiculous story, yet it briefly drew spotlight attention (while the trapeze artists got their costumes changed) in the circus.
Within an hour, he changed back his profile and featured a shirtless DJ picture.
So with Dykes out fishing for a raise, and Trestman being brought into this, what else is left? Bert, of course.
An innocent pic referencing Gary Pinkel casually meeting Bret Bielema at a Columbia Starbucks blew up yesterday because … well, it’s coaching season.
I mean, it would be the most ludicrous thing ever if Bret Bielema actually showed up to an interview in an Arkansas Razorbacks jacket. I mean, who would do that?
Never mind, let’s move on.
Just a few hours after Bielema was spotted getting his Gingerbread Spice on (assuming there), Missouri AD Mack Rhoades finally announced his hire: Barry Odom. Odom is a Missouri alum who played on the Larry Smith teams that reached the first bowl games at the school in forever. He was an assistant under Gary Pinkel. He went to Memphis as defensive coordinator and had success with Justin Fuente. He returned as defensive coordinator this year. The defense was clearly the strength of the team, in a year full of controversy and an offensive implosion. He is a perfectly sensible and popular hire.
So after all the madness, Missouri made a hire that would have fit right in with Y2K. You remember? That year when no one irrationally panicked about anything.
from The Big Lead http://ift.tt/1XO49Cj
No comments:
Post a Comment