FROM THE BIG LEAD
comes this statement from ESPN PR:
“Jon Gruden has agreed to an exclusive multi-year agreement with the company. In addition to his MNF role alongside play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski, Gruden will appear on ESPN’s NFL Draft and Super Bowl week coverage, among other platforms, and he will call the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl in South Florida on January 31, 2010. Gruden will serve as an analyst for ESPN Radio’s 2010 Rose Bowl and BCS title game broadcasts.”
Honestly I'm kind of happy this happened now. I'm not convinced Gruden would be a great college coach. What this should tell Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick is he needs to make a move immediately. Everyone knows that Charlie Weis days at Notre Dame are over. Why leave it up in the air? If I were him I would fire him immediately and start looking for a new coach. Make Corwin Brown the interim head coach and burn up the phone lines while Notre Dame finishes the season beating UCONN then getting trounced by Stanford. Your first three calls go to Urban Meyer's agent. You see if there is any interest and you offer him the world. Highest paid salary. Bonuses galore for him and his assistants. Essentially you open a door and offer him this...
JUCO transfers are now allowed. An endless support for what Urban thinks is right including letting in some kids that wouldn't normally be allowed in. The support structure is so great at Notre Dame when it comes to academics with their student-athletes that it shouldn't be too big of a risk allowing players in who don't have the greatest GPA in the world.
If Urban refuses the job then you call Brian Kelly's agent. Offer him the same incentive package. Kelly is basically Urban Meyer 2.0. I have a hard time believing Kelly would refuse the job. But the point is you need to move fast Swarbrick. No waiting like ND did with Ty Willingham and letting him finish the season before looking for a new coach. You snooze you lose.
i dont agree with you on gruden matt. i think he would be a great college coach and bring the same infectious love of the game that pete carroll is loved by his players for. i thnk the best backup plan after him and urban would be gary patterson of tcu. he is a heck of a defensive coach and he will improve their texas recruiting by 95%.
ReplyDeleteIf Patterson brings Bumpas with him then I would love that hire. Gruden was too much of a wild card for me personally. Never having coached the college game I'm not sure how he would do with college athletes. He could be a knockout like the Poodle or he could be a dud like Chan Gailey.
ReplyDeleteNotre Dame should not go for the man of the hour. Instead they should go for a guy that can coach. Patterson would be perfect. yeah he is having a good year this year but he has been doing it for a while. Defense is obviously the toughest area for notre dame to shore up. that is pattersons strong point. there is so much talent in texas and patterson has shown that he can recruit there with a private school and get quality people. its not always about getting the top recruits. you have to be able to coach the players that you do get.
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteKelly is out. He didnt pass the background checks. He is not a candidate. (guy has many skeletons)