College Coaches: Hired to be Fired with a Golden Parachute

Is Philip and his wife waving goodbye or waving down a group of bankers for his buyout? If they are waving down his buyout, his wife may need a bigger purse to carry all of it.

Being a coach at a major University is not not a bad gig once you get the job. It is also not a bad gig if you get fired.

Many people say head football coaches whether in college or the NFL are "hired to be fired." There was never a statement more true than that one. These head football coaches spend hundreds of hours a week breaking down film, dealing with student athletes, recruiting, and keeping the high profile alumni happy.

They sacrifice time with family, friends, and even a chance to play a round of golf. They devote their life to coaching football, yet they are blind to see what the system is doing to them.

So why would you want one of these high profile coaching gigs? Because you like football? You like to help players become better? Or maybe you want one of these gigs because someday you will be fired!

Dude, I was with you until you made being fired a good thing.

In a time where the automotive industry is bankrupt, the financial industry is almost gone, retail is way down, and many Americans have either lost their jobs or will be losing their jobs with zero severance pay. Being a head football coach who has just been fired from a top university is a pretty good deal.

Take a look at these numbers: Tommy Bowden is due $3.5M from Clemson and he reportedly resigned (do you get a package when you quit? mmm maybe he didn't quit?), Bill Callahan received $3.1M from Nebraska last year, and Phil Fulmer gets $6 million to ease his pain of no longer being the head man at Tennessee. Even San Diego State spent $1.2 million to buy out Chuck Long who went 9-27 as head coach. Are you kidding me? $1.2 large at San Diego State?

So now we come to Notre Dame who signed "Good Time" Charlie Weis to a 10 year contract after they were afraid the NFL would come calling for the one time "mail reading" football genius.

Reports out of Chicago, ESPN, and everywhere now says Charlie's buyout as one prominent alumni put it as "pocket change" (I'm pretty sure Bill Gates went to Harvard and not Notre Dame, either way those are some big pockets!) is reportedly between $4 -5 million.

Wow? How many of us would take that kind of firing? That doesn't even include their 401K! No more long days, you can get introduced to your family again, gone are the crazy recruiting trips to find the next super star, and no more "everyone and their brother" looking your every move. Seems pretty good to get fired from one of these high profile gigs these days. I wonder how much a history teacher gets if they have to be let go?

Hired to be Fired. College Football is becoming the NFL without the convenient playoff system of course.

Update on the Tennessee Coaching Search: Many outlets are reporting that Tennessee and Lane Kiffin are in negotiations for Lane to become the next head football coach. Of course, Tennessee is saying they haven't hired or offered the job to anyone and the search continues. In my opinion, they are just stalling so that Phil Fulmer can coach his last game at Tennessee on Saturday against Kentucky which they have coined "Fulmer appreciation day". Look for the rumors about Lane to become official on Sunday.

They don't want to lose any recruits during this coaching change.