Thanks for the link.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Petrino and Tuberville. They are two of the guys who's movement could have a big impact. Not b/c they are uber geniuses. But b/c their movement would immediately change the picture of the SEC West and Big East.

Here’s a look from my perspective at one of the most intriguing “recruiting classes” in recent College football: The Head Coaching hires of 2001.

There are 4 HC who were hired in 2001 who have done extremely well in their first 5 years.

Coker at Miami -- 53-9
Richt @ UGA -- 52-13
Tressel @OSU --- 50-13
Carroll at USC -- 54-10

If you throw in Stoops from Oklahoma, (started 1999) with a 75-16 record and Saban @LSU (2000-04, record 48-16) you basically have 6 of the top 7 or 8 programs since the turn of the century. It's pretty interesting how dominant these programs have been with HC's which were all hired within two years of each other. I can't think of another time on college football history where you could say the same thing.

What I find really amazing is that while all 6 HC's have similar winning percentages, Coach Carroll's success clearly eclipses the achievements of any of the rest. If you're a Trojan fan, or a USC Alumna, man you gotta believe you got it good. Carroll has 2 National Championships, 3 Heisman winners, 4 conference championships, a 34 game winning streak which was just ended and a string of unofficial recruiting titles.

Richt is only 2-1/2 games behind Carroll and UGA has four straight Top 10 finishes, two conference championships and one BCS Bowl victory (although it was against the worst team to ever appear in a BCS Bowl). Yet UGA hasn't sniffed national championship consideration under his watch. Can Richt take the next step and bring this program to a national championship game? Better yet, can Richt keep the 2006 edition in the Top 10 once again? Now that may take a superior type Coaching effort.

Coker has a BETTER record percentage wise than Pete Carroll, he won one National Championship, played for another with a 34 game winning streak that ended in overtime, at least two Heisman finalists -- and Larry needs to win the ACC this year and a BCS Bowl or his job is clearly on the line. Coker had to finish the 3-loss 2005 campaign with an almost total housecleaning of his staff. Crazy. He's 53-9!! Now that has got to show the incredible pressure that these guys are under.

Tressel's record is only 3-1/2 games back of Carroll, he has a National Championship and a perfect season and is 3-0 in BCS Bowls; yet the program had been in crisis off-the-field for two and a half years directly following the Championship. Last season it wasn’t until Troy Smith had served his suspension and Clarrett bombed as a pro player and as a human being that the pressure on Tressel and the program started to subside. Going into the 2006 season, expectations for a National Championship are as high as they have ever been.

Stoops -- Jeez, 3 appearances in the BCS Championship game, 4 BCS Bowl games and a National Championship in only 7 years. And Stoops has earned the reputation as the guy who can't win the big one.

Saban --- he parlayed a 5-year record of 48-16 and a National Championship into huge, huge NFL dollars. This guy is a hellava lot smarter than I supposed.

And here are others that were hired in 2001:

Urban Meyer (1st HC gig in 2001) @ 3schools 48-11
Hawkins at Boise State (now HC at Colorado) -- 53-11
Ralph Friedgen, Maryland -- 41-20
Al Groh @ Virginia -- 37-26
Rich Rodriquez, West Virginia - 39-22
Dirk Koetter at Arizona State 33-28

I can't see Paterno or Bowden ever retiring before their health gives out. Both of these guys want the record because they know in this day and age nobody is ever going to coach enough games to break it.

Paterno says he's having too much fun coaching right now. After an 11-1 season and back to back stellar recruiting classes, he's gearing up for a title run in 2007. Maybe if he wins it he'll go out on top.