When Does Winning = Losing for College Programs?

The answer: when your coach is a hot commodity and looking for a place where he can get paid and win a National Championship.

There are some coaches that don't seem to care if they are "wanted" by other programs. That seems to be the case with Boise State's head man, Chris Petersen. Many big name schools have come calling, and he has turned them all down. He must love that Smurf Turf!

The programs with the most to fear as their programs start to get national attention include Cincinnati, Ball State, and Utah.

All three of these programs could be heading to a big Bowl Game (Cincy and Utah could be BCS bowl bound, while the MAC champ plays in the Motor City Bowl), and all of these programs could possibly not have their head coach with them.

There is a bunch of "buzz" around Cincinnati's head coach Brian Kelly. He has been a "hot" candidate for two years now, and the rumor mill is saying that the Tennessee opening might have his name on it.

Cincinnati has been doing all they can to keep Brian happy. They are even paying him more then Mark Dantonio at Michigan State (the coach he replaced at Cincy). The problem is, Brian can't win a National Championship at Cincinnati, and he is a coach that wants the pressure of leading a top-tier program.

We will have to wait and see where he ends up, but there is a good chance that Brian won't be eating "Cincinnati Chili" after this season.

Brady Hoke is a steal out there for a BCS School on a budget. As far as coaches' salaries go, Brady's doesn't hit the top 100. He has his team off to a 10-0 start and is basically playing Central Michigan tonight for the MAC Championship. This is a good coach that you could hire at around $1m or less a year.

I posted an article earlier this week expressing what a good fit he would be for the Syracuse opening. He would also be a good choice to replace Brian Kelly.

Remember when Notre Dame and Florida went head to head over Utah's former coach Urban Meyer? I wonder how Urban is doing these days? Well, his replacement Kyle Whittingham should be making a few teams' short lists this year.

His current Utah team is 11-0 and ranked eighth in the country by the BCS. If Utah wins out, they will be playing in a BCS game. Will Kyle be with them?

Other guys deserving a new job and a raise:

Turner Gill is 6-4 this year at Buffalo and has a 4-2 record in conference. He is 13-21 in his three years at Buffalo but has built this program basically from the ground up. His teams have gotten better every year. Turner will get a number of interviews because he is a minority candidate, but let's hope he gets an offer. He is a solid coach with a huge upside.

Bronco Mendenhall sounds like a football coach, doesn't he? Bronco is actually the head man at BYU and has his team currently 10-1 and ranked 14th by the BCS. His overall record at BYU is 37-11 the past four years. His team has lost a total of five games the last three years.

BYU has a history of coaches staying on board and coaching for a long time, but if Bronco wants a high pressure ACC/SEC job, he might have an opportunity to get one.

Every opening will also include Lane Kiffin as well. He is a solid coach and was a good recruiter at USC.

What I don't understand is all the assistants I hear being interviewed or considered for these big jobs. If you're a Clemson, Syracuse, Washington, or Tennessee, why would you want a head coach that doesn't have any experience being a leader? I would think all the gentlemen listed above would be a much better choice in taking your program to the next level.