Turning down the U

In 1997 The University of New Mexico after five seasons of mediocrity, compiling a record of 24-32, went to their first bowl appearance in 36 years and won the WAC for the first time ever. Before that season, I'm sure the Athletic Director began to wonder if then coach Dennis Franchione was the man for the job. Lets say instead of finishing 9-4, they finished 4-9. I bet Franchione would have lost his job, and his career would have fizzled from there. But thats not the case. Franchione led his team to a unbelieveable 9-4 record, a trip to the Insight.com bowl, and then went out on top, by leaving New Mexico to coach Texas Christian. The only good things he did in Albuquerque, was finish 9-4 in 1997, and recruit Brian Urlacher. Thats it. But that was good enough to move to a bigger program, with bigger promise. At TCU he got to coach a young tailback named LaDainian Tomlinson, who...the likes have never been seen, or may never be seen again. After Tomlinson's senior season and a 10-1 finish, Franchione bounced. Taking over the program at Alabama, for a couple years, killing time until R.C. Slocum was canned at Texas A&M. He hasn't been amazing since arriving in College Station, and earned his own website (www.firedennisfranchione.com). But this season took the Texas A&M Aggies to a 9-3 record and a trip to the Holiday Bowl, and finally earned respect from Aggies fans. Going back to the beginning of the story, the year after Coach Fran left UNM they finished 3-9. The year after he left the Horned Frogs, they finished 6-6. After a 10-3 finish with Alabama in his final season there, the Tide finished at 4-9. Franchione got out at the perfect time at every school he coached at, and continued to move on to coach bigger and better teams.


This weekend, Greg Schiano turned down the opportunity to take over one of the most successful teams in the history of College Football, by telling Miami AD Paul Dee "Rutgers is where I'm going to be, and Rutgers is where i want to be. I am not a candidate for that job, and I won't be a candidate for that job." I don't believe this is over. I don't think that Miami is going to stop pursuing Schiano, and I don't believe that Schiano is finished considering the opportunity to coach the Hurricanes. I don't personally know Mr. Schiano, but I do know he is a incredible motivator. What better way to motivate your team for their bowl appearance against Kansas State, than to tell them that you are here to stay. Lets face it, Schiano has done great things at Rutgers, and the University would be lucky to keep him here for a few more years. But you have to be naive to think that his ultimate goal when deciding to become a football coach, was to turn the Scarlet Knights into a winner. Yeah that is an amazing task, and it is hard to believe he has done it so soon. But the odds are very much against seeing Rutgers win the National Championship any time soon. Building a program into a National Champion takes a long time. It takes consistency in winning seasons to bring in top prospects, and it takes a dominance in your conference year after year in order to earn respect from voters who, in the end, will put you in the National Championship game. The Scarlet Knights took a giant step in that direction this season, but it takes a lot more steps to actually get to the top. Im willing to predict that Miami will play in a championship game sooner than Rutgers. Miami has built the reputation as a winner. They will get better prosepects than Rutgers even after a 6-6 finish that led to the firing of Larry Coker. Schiano wants to win a National Championship, and I think he knows that his odds at this point, are better at Miami. Thats why after an undefeated season and a win over Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, Urban Meyer left Utah for Florida. Believe it or not, January 8th, Meyer will take his Florida Gators into the Championship game against Ohio State. Utah finished 7-5 this season, and will be playing in the Armed Forces Bowl. Its not bad, but I'm sure Meyer would prefer to be in the National Championship game. So with that said, I'm not buying that Schiano is staying at Rutgers until Miami names their head coach. I won't be surprised if Schiano's story changes after Dec. 28's Texas Bowl.