Stoops as secure as ever. Mack Brown? Not so much
Published: 6/26/2011 11:22 PM
Last Modified: 6/27/2011 12:59 PM
The only time Bob Stoops' seat is hot is when one of his cornerbacks busts a coverage. Otherwise, I can think of only two college football coaches with as much job security: Nick Saban and Joe Paterno.
CBSSports.com blogger Tom Fornelli took it a step farther recently, writing: "The only way I see Bob Stoops getting fired is if he goes on some cross-country killing spree, and even then he might survive."
OK… Maybe Fornelli took it a bit too far.
Point is, Stoops can coach the Oklahoma Sooners until he gets tired of doing so.
But how about Stoops' old rival down in Austin? Before Texas' 2010 season, I would have included Mack Brown in the same can-do-no-wrong club as Stoops, Saban and Paterno.
Funny what nosedives do to job security. Eh, Mr. Fornelli?
"In a sensible world, Brown should be safe," he blogged. "But this isn't a sensible world, this is Texas Longhorns football where a 5-7 season just isn't acceptable anytime under anybody. Brown may have a national title to his name, but if Texas goes through another season like the one it went through in 2010, I don't care who Mack Brown is. He'll likely find himself out of a job."
How uncomfortable has Brown's situation become? There's this website, CoachesHotSeat.com, that actually puts out rankings. Back in April, Brown came in at No. 7. The guy at No. 6 at the time was Jim Tressel. So now Brown is No. 6.
The only coaches with hotter seats: Paul Wulff of Washington State, Mike Locksley of New Mexico (I've never heard of him either), Houston Nutt of Ole Miss, Rick Neuheisel of UCLA and Mark Richt of Georgia.
Never throught I'd see Brown's picture with the rest of those mugs. But there he is, doing that clappy thing of his.
Guess he'd better hope that works a little better this season.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
