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Reply to "Charlie Weis Paid Almost $19M from Notre Dame Buyout After Being Fired in 2009"

As with Auburn's Tuberville and Chizik being fired doesn't mean a financial loss or end up being a negative thing.  Many schools end up firing their coaches before their last awarded contracts are up or met and at great cost to the sports programs.  Still keeping the alumni satisfied is of prime importance to these schools and when a program doesn't meet expectations then someone is going to get the blame and it's usually not the schools administration.

As for Notre Dame Brian Kelly, after his meteoric rise to fame pre-Alabama meeting, had many of the Notre Dame alumni and faithful happy but the recent round of mediocre performances had shaken many and started many wondering if Kelly is actually right for the position.   Football Coaching is often a very short term position but then given the outrageous salaries, thanks in part to Saban and Alabama, even mediocre success or performance can be rewarding.  Many great coaches are also just a job away from losing their shine as in the case of Charlie Strong who was going to bring back Texas Longhorns to College Football prominence only to have folks sour on him a few years later. 

Not many can have the success that Nick Saban has had at Alabama but Saban is a special coach also.  The next year(s) will also be bellwether for many coaches such as Tennessee's Butch Jones or even Georgia's Kirby Smart who followed a quite successful, though never reaching the top, Mark Richt who I always thought was a good coach and seemed well liked by the players.  Success has many friends and brings much forgiveness along with great riches but sadly one person's success means the failure of far more and given the particular school or alumni determines just how much grace is available to a coach and how much a buffer he has until folks start looking for a replacement.

There are still several Auburn alumni and supporters/fans who feel that it was a huge mistake to get rid of Tuberville given his record against Alabama or some Tennessee fans who still believe that Phil Fulmer was the best pick for Tennessee having taken them to their last National Championship with very little to brag about since.  There are still some very optimistic programs such as Georgia, LSU, and Florida who believe they now have the right Coaches in place and are waiting for the talent to show up and win games.  Some programs though seem to remain in turmoil and indecision such as Tennessee whose fan base can't seem to be satisfied no matter who is there and are clambering now to consider replacing Jones with Gruden or Chip Kelly or anyone whom they believe with beat Florida, Georgia and Alabama in the same season.  Some would argue, successfully, that many schools programs aren't satisfied unless their school reaches and potentially wins the SEC Championship or National Championship year after year.  Although Alabama has been the only one to consistently be in play for a National Championship other schools Coaches are seemingly held to that standard and judged accordingly.  

Isn't college football grand?  Almost as perilous as Politics.

 


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