Hiring Season
WILL MUSCHAMP (Florida) and Bo Pelini (Nebraska) are out. Chad Morris, Clemson's offensive coordinator, is taking over at SMU. College football's hiring and firing season is upon us, which prompts the question, Where do good coaches come from? In 2013, Myles Solomon, a coaches agent and consultant in Atlanta, studied all FBS head-coaching hires from '02 through '10 (153 total). The coaches were broken into four groups depending on where they held their previous jobs or had the majority of their experience and rated as successful or unsuccessful hires based on record, tenure and how they left the job. The categories were FBS coordinator/position coach, FBS head coach, NFL and FCS or D-II head coach. The results are charted below, and although it's a small sample size, those FCS guys are looking pretty good right now.
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
Total Hires
74 [Successful]
79 [Unsuccessful]
# of New Hires
FBS Coordinator / Position Coach
51%
38 [Successful]
37 [Unsuccessful]
FBS Head Coach
45%
24 [Successful]
29 [Unsuccessful]
NFL
25%
3 [Successful]
9 [Unsuccessful]
FCS Head Coach / Division II Head Coach
69%
9 [Successful]
4 [Unsuccessful]
Fatal Match
Are helmets enough?
The death last week of 25-year-old Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes from injuries suffered while batting in a match in Sydney on Nov. 25 shook the sport. Flags flew at half-staff in his nation, and prime minister Tony Abbott said the tragedy "touched millions of Australians."
Hughes's death could lead to changes to the sport's rules and equipment. He was struck by a bouncer, a fast, short delivery that rises near a batsman's head, which may now be outlawed, and he was hit behind his left ear, an area left unprotected by his helmet. In response, there is pressure on manufacturers to increase safety standards and possibly design a helmet that would provide more comprehensive coverage without sacrificing a batsman's ability to react to the ball. (Last Saturday, 55-year-old Israeli umpire Hillel Oscar was killed after being struck near the face by a ball; umpires don't wear helmets.)
An Associated Press report says Hughes is the fourth batsman since 1870 to die on the field. The mission is to ensure that there is never a fifth.
THEY SAID IT
"It is what it is. What hasn't happened hasn't happened."
Bill Belichick Patriots coach speaking in Zen koans about never having faced Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers before Sunday's 26-21 loss in Green Bay.
PHOTO
JARED WICKERHAM FOR SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (BELICHICK)
PHOTO
MORNE DE KLERK/GETTY IMAGES (HUGHES)