Fisher Set to “Clean House” at Florida State

With the NCAA coming down on Florida State in the wake of the cheating scandal, the news has in essence prompted a referendum of sorts on the state of Seminoles football under legendary coach Bobby Bowden. We had this discussion on Monday’s “Outside the Lines” show and my feeling is while FSU hasn’t dropped off the college football map, it definitely has dropped off the mountaintop. I spoke with several people who have been on the inside of the FSU program over the past decade for their thoughts on why the program has backslid so much. So what exactly has caused this? Start with leadership and bad chemistry. A bunch of the guys I’ve talked to have their own theories and there’s actually plenty of overlap. One of the main reasons I heard was that for so long the FSU coaching staff was like a machine, where each part relied on the others. But then when some key guys started to leave (most notably Mark Richt and Chuck Amato), it broke up the chemistry and those other coaches who have slid into their roles couldn’t deliver. “The machine broke down,” one of the guys said. Then, you’ve added in some new personalities as Bowden’s gotten further removed from the day-to-day operation with Jimbo Fisher getting anointed as the new Noles head coach, and word is there’s too much friction between Fisher and some of Bowden’s old guard with Mickey Andrews and Amato now that he’s back. I’m told that as soon as Fisher gets elevated (if that does in fact happen) he cleans house there. – ESPN

Ellerson Completes First Army Coaching Staff

John Brock and Joe Ross have accepted positions at Army to complete new head coach Rich Ellerson’s coaching staff. Brock will coach the rovers and coordinate the Black Knights’ “B” squad. He has spent the past two seasons as director of player personnel and will continue in that role. Ross, a former three-year letter winner with the Black Knights, will be the assistant special-teams coach and help coach fullbacks, the position he played while at West Point. Ellerson also announced additional duties for his coaches who were already on staff. Offensive coordinator Ian Shields will work with the quarterbacks, while co-defensive coordinators Payam Saadat and Chris Smeland will coach linebackers and safeties, respectively. Gene McKeehan and Bill Tripp will split the line duties. McKeehan will tutor the offensive guards and centers, while Tripp will handle the tackles. Andy Guyader will coach the wide receivers, and Tucker Waugh will be the Black Knights’ slot backs coach and recruiting coordinator. On the defensive side, John Mumford will work with the defensive ends, while Capt. Clarence Holmes will coach the defensive tackles. Robert Lyles will work with the whips, a variation of the linebacker position. Tony Coaxum will coach the Black Knights’ cornerbacks. – ESPN.com

ULM Hires New Coaches

Louisiana-Monroe hired Everett Todd and John Wozniak to coach the defensive line and wide receivers respectively. Todd has spent the last seven seasons coaching the defensive line, special teams and cornerbacks at New Mexico. He also served as a compliance and operations specialist in 2006 and was New Mexico’s recruiting coordinator in 2004-05. Wozniak spent last season as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Montana State. Prior to that he served as a graduate assistant at LSU. Wozniak also will recruit Louisiana for the Warhawks. – ESPN.com

UFL Lands Big Name Coaches in Fassel, Green, Haslett and Cottrell

The fledgling United Football League takes a significant step in its quest for credibility with a skeptical public today when it announces who will coach its four franchises. One of the new coaches will be Jim Fassel, who will guide the Las Vegas-Los Angeles franchise. Fassel, 59, spent seven years as coach of the New York Giants, leading them to Super Bowl XXXV. He has been out of coaching since 2006, when he was fired as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator. The UFL’s first season begins in October, and games will be played on Thursdays and Fridays. The league announced Monday that its games will be televised on Versus. After today’s announcement, the UFL’s next big event will be its player draft in mid-April. Commissioner Michael Huyghue said Tuesday that the plan is to bring in players who have NFL-level talent but might not have been good enough to get on the field. – Las Vegas Journal-Review

Dennis Green is (presumably) finally over the Chicago Bears and ready to take on the United Football League. Green, formerly with the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals, has been in radio since his termination with Arizona following the 2006 NFL season. A strong personality, Green is perhaps best known for his rant concerning surrendering a lead to the Chicago Bears (see video below). If nothing else, this brings immediate name recognition to the UFL. If true, Green could be joining Jim Fassel, Jim Haslett, and Ted Cottrell as the UFL’s year one coaching posse. – UFL Access

New Rutgers Coaches in Place for Spring Practice

New Rutgers assistants Robb Smith and Randy Trivers joined the staff in time for the start of spring practice. Smith, the defensive coordinator at Maine the past three years, will coach outside linebackers and is the special teams coordinator, replacing Chris Rippon, who left after one year to pursue other opportunities. Trivers, the running backs coach at Syracuse the past two seasons, will have the same role at Rutgers. He replaces Gary Brown, who left to become the running backs coach for the Cleveland Browns. – Newark Star-Ledger

Whittingham Juggles Utah Staff

In his first four seasons as Utah’s head football coach, Kyle Whittingham didn’t make a lot of staff changes. He didn’t have to. Full-time assistant coaches Gary Andersen, Andy Ludwig, Charlie Dickey, Jay Hill, Aaron Roderick, Dave Schramm and Kalani Sitake stuck around and helped Whittingham get the Utes back to the Bowl Championship Series and national prominence. Prior to last season, Aaron Alford and Morgan Scalley were the only full-time additions to the staff in Whittingham’s tenure. They replaced Jay Boulware, who went to Iowa State in 2007, and Derrick Odum, who left for SMU in 2008. Additional changes, however, have come since Utah’s Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama. Andersen became the head coach at Utah State; Ludwig left to become the offensive coordinator at Kansas State and then California; and Dickey is now an assistant at Kansas State. Whittingham filled the vacancies by promoting Schramm and Sitake to the offensive and defensive coordinator posts, respectively, and adding John Pease, J.D. Williams and Blake Miller to the staff. Having two new coordinators on a team that went 13-0 last season has added intrigue to Utah’s spring practices, which began Tuesday at the Spence Eccles Field House. – Deseret News

Smith Returns to Purdue

Former Boilermaker safety Kyle Smith has joined Danny Hope’s coaching staff as a quality control graduate assistant. Smith will work with all phases of the game (offense, defense and special teams), aiding in film breakdown and playbook production. He also will assistant the academic support staff. Smith served as assistant defensive backs coach during the 2008 season at Hofstra. He was an assistant coach at Deer Park High School on Long Island from January 2006 through January 2007, working with the defensive backs, wide receivers and special teams. – Journal Courier

Al Groh at Crossroads in Virginia

Thus is the story of Al Groh at Virginia, some good, some bad. There are certainly economic considerations as Groh’s buyout is in the $6.5 million range. In this economy, it will be hard to defend dropping that much coin to fire a coach and then, turnaround and throw a boatload at a “winner.” Though every time one of these schools decides it is time to move on, the money is readily available. So, if the powers-that-be want Groh gone, he’ll be gone. Al Groh’s name routinely appears on the watch list for coaches about to be fired and, ultimately, that will undo any positive efforts in recruiting and program growth. Bottom line for Virginia is to decide what the football program is going to be: a training ground and stepping stone to the next level or a contender. Don’t wait too long to decide because the ACC won’t be down forever and being left behind is worse than being mired in the middle. – Blog Critics

Mizzou Promotes Steckel to DC

Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel has finalized plans to reorganize duties on the defensive side of the ball, following the recent departure of former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Dave Steckel, who has been with Pinkel all eight seasons at MU as linebackers coach, will become the new defensive coordinator, in addition to maintaining his linebacker coaching duties. He replaces Eberflus, who had filled the coordinator role from 2001-08, prior to taking an assistant coaching position with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns in February. – News-Leader

Urban Meyer Has Filthy Mouth

Urban Meyer was named after a pope. It’s a good thing The Holy Father wasn’t in Meyer’s audience last weekend, or he might have wanted his name back. Meyer spoke at coaches clinic in Pennsylvania. A local reporter described it as entertaining, enlightening and sprinkled with profanity. No big deal, right? Yes and no. Yes, because profanity has been around sports since cavemen played the first pickup game of rock-throwing. No, because there’s something tacky about the head coach at Florida freely dropping S-bombs in a public forum. “It’s about taking care of your [bleep],” Meyer told the audience. It’s also about knowing when not to bleep. … Meyer said he’ll automatically kick a player off the team for hitting a woman, even in self defense. If a player doesn’t open a door for a woman, “I’ll jump on a kid’s [bleep].”… Urban Meyer can speak in four-letter word code as long as he wins with the Gators. Meyer should be allowed a few S-bombs now and again. – Orlando Sentinel

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