Coaching Carousel is fun to watch

The Crimson Tide won the national championship. I was on record numerous times last semester saying that Alabama was the best looking team in the country at times. I never actually counted them out at times, but I will concede that I was praying Florida would have made it.
I know the thoughts on all of your minds, why am I writing about college football when the Super Bowl, Vancouver Olympics, and March Madness are right around the corner?
Well everybody, there has been one incredible start to the offseason. One of the decade’s three best coaches Pete Carroll has left powerhouse USC to once again go to the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks didn’t give Jim Mora enough time to establish a program there, but Carroll is a west coast name that has much prestige. He should be able to breathe some life into a team that has seen better days. Seattle will not do much at the beginning, but they could challenge Arizona, if Kurt Warner does retire, for the NFC West title next season.
That leaves USC wide open at the head coaching position. Rookie Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin bolted for USC, where he might be given a little more leeway to annoy the rest of the league than he was in the SEC. However, the major question is that Kiffin brought some questionable recruits into Tennessee and then left, potentially creating a problematic situation there. USC is in trouble, as the Beavers, Ducks, and the Cardinal seem to be the new class of the Pac-10. On the other hand, Tennessee continues to slide, falling far behind their SEC East rivals.
Texas Tech had one interesting bowl season, seeing a coaching scandal under Mike Leach that enveloped the sport for a few days before the New Year. Accused of mistreating a student suffering under a concussion, Leach was fired with cause and now Texas Tech has hired Auburn flame-out Tommy Tuberville. One thing’s for certain, Tech will still put up tons of points every game. However, can a former SEC coach succeed in a much different Big 12? Too bad for them, but Texas and Nebraska will rule that conference next year.
Notre Dame will still be horrible, even though Charlie Weis has left. Brian Kelly is picking up a seemingly cursed program, leaving Cincinnati out to dry. The Bearcats then stole Central Michigan’s coach, fresh off recent Chippewa success due to Dan LeFevour. All three teams will not see the success they had this year – or in Notre Dame’s case, the lack of a winning record AGAIN.
Urban Meyer is incredibly sick, or so we thought. He announced his resignation, then said it was just an indefinite leave of absence, and now he’s silently back to work almost every day of the week. It seems like Steve Addazio won’t get his head coaching audition after all.
However, with Dan Mullen leaving last year, Charlie Strong this year, and the loss of the most talented class of seniors to ever play college football (plus the juniors going to the draft), will Florida even matter next year? Their recruiting class actually gets better by the day despite the tiny bit of insecurity from Meyer’s undefined status. With Tebow’s graduation, Florida should still win the SEC East and could challenge nationally.
At any rate, the SEC will win a fifth national championship in a row. Alabama is the nod to win it, but an underrated Florida team and the rest of the SEC West could throw some serious monkey wrenches into a repeat national championship.
Boise State is going to be scary next year. I wouldn’t put it past the Broncos to run the table and wind up opposite the Crimson Tide in the National Championship game next year.