REPORT: K-STATE HIRES PATTERSON

PowerCat.com now reports that the Kansas State Wildcats have hired TCU Coach Gary Patterson to replace the fired Ron Prince…

Texas Christian University coach Gary Patterson has been hired as Kansas State’s 34th football coach, multiple sources have confirmed to GoPowercat.com. Patterson replaces Ron Prince, who was fired Wednesday. GoPowercat.com has confirmed that K-State has offered Patterson a five-year contract in the range of $2 million per season. Talks between K-State athletic director Bob Krause and Patterson’s representatives began in the past two weeks. Initial discussions centered on the K-State graduate’s interest in the job and demands to be lured to K-State. Those issues were apparently the coach’s ability to have complete control over the hiring of his coaching and support staffs, and when he would leave TCU to take over at K-State. A sticking point of coaching his team through a bowl may have been lifted with Thursday’s 13-10 loss to Utah. That defeat certainly dropped the Horned Frogs out of contention for a BCS bid, and possibly as low as playing in the Armed Forces Bowl on TCU’s home field in Fort Worth, Texas, on New Year’s Eve. – PowerCat.com

Rapid Fire: Focus on Willingham, Bowden, Ferentz, Prince & Fulmer

“Rapid Fire” at Football Rumor Mill focuses on multiple coaches around the country who are in serious jeopardy. The latest edition centers on no less than five jobs which could soon be open…

Tyrone Willingham

Tyrone Willingham is still situated in the big office up on the third floor of the Graves Annex, but that doesn’t mean minds aren’t wandering. One name that keeps coming up to be on the nameplate of that office next season is that of Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. A couple national experts on Muschamp, who was the defensive coordinator at LSU when current UW president Mark Emmert was chancellor and current UW athletic director Scott Woodward were in Baton Rouge: * Tom Dienhart, Rivals.com’s senior college football writer: “At this point, if I’m the president… I’ve got to have to open the door to guys like Muschamp, a hard-nosed, tough as nails, defensive kind of guy. He was a hot commodity a year ago. ” * Matt Hayes, The Sporting News’ national college football writer: “It’s certainly possible for a coordinator to come and do well (at Washington) but it has to be a guy like Will Muschamp. He’d definitely be a guy that could do a good job. He’s the kind of guy you sit down and talk with and you think, ‘Wow, this guy has it going on.’ He’s a tough guy, knows football, knows people skills, has social skills… and that is so important when you’re talking about a coach and developing relationships with the community.” * Joe Schad, ESPN college football reporter: “Muschamp is the coordinator most deserving of a head coaching job.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Tommy Bowden

Clemson’s much-hyped season arrives at a major crossroads tonight in the Piedmont Triad. A campaign that started with so much promise — a preseason No. 9 ranking, predictions of the first ACC title since 1991 — is teetering on the brink heading into tonight’s 7:45 p.m. kickoff at Wake Forest’s BB&T Field, nationally televised by ESPN. Following a head-scratching 20-17 defeat to Maryland, Clemson is 3-2, 1-1 in ACC play. Beat the No. 21 Demon Deacons (3-1, 1-0) tonight, and the Tigers control their path to the ACC title game. Lose, and making a title-game appearance becomes unlikely at best, if not impossible. Can tonight’s importance be overstated? That, too, is pretty tough to do… Clemson coach Tommy Bowden — whose own job security was called into question following the Maryland loss — refuses to buy into the must-win hype. “Every game’s important, and this game, there’s some importance to this one, no doubt, anytime you have a conference loss,” Bowden said. “But they play a 12-game schedule, not a 6-game schedule. – Independent Mail

Kirk Ferentz

I love Kirk Ferentz. He is one of my dearest friends. I’d take a bullet for the guy. But at the same time, he is dangerously unbalanced. He’s bad at his job and mentally unstable. Actually, the best explanation I’ve seen for Iowa’s recent struggles comes from Marc Morehouse of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. As you may recall, the Hawkeyes went 31-7 from 2002-04, and they did it with largely unheralded, blue-collar recruits. In early 2005, Ferentz landed his first truly decorated recruiting class. I was at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl that year — the annual ego-inflating event where high-school kids get treated like heads of state — in which seven participants became future Hawkeyes. As Morehouse detailed, that class, for various reasons (injuries, disciplinary problems, flat-out busts) has produced only two of Iowa’s current starters. Considering those are the team’s fourth-year players, that’s a pretty gaping hole in the roster. Just ask Bobby Bowden or Larry Coker what can happen when even a couple of highly rated recruiting classes fails to pan out. The good news for Ferentz’s team is that they aren’t that far off. As John noted, every loss has been close. RB Shonn Greene is having a fantastic season (six-straight 100-yard games) and Iowa’s defense has been stout. If the Hawkeyes had even a semi-decent passing game they’d probably be at least 5-1 right now. There seems to be young talent coming up the ranks; the question is whether Ferentz will still be around to coach it. A $3 million salary is a lot to pay for 6-6 seasons. – SI.com

Ron Prince

The Kansas State football program is in a state of disrepair just five years removed from winning the Big 12 Conference championship, and the man responsible for such a drastic downfall needs to be shown the door. Ron Prince, now in his third season as the successor to the legendary Bill Snyder, has taken a program that had risen from the depths of the college football world to become one of its most successful programs in the 1990s and early 2000s and smashed any resemblance of its once rock-solid foundation. To put it bluntly, Prince doesn’t belong as a Division I head coach, and this season is exposing that very fact. Prince came from a program in Virginia that had experienced marginal success under Al Groh, whom Prince constantly credits as his mentor. Prince was an assistant coach at a weak BCS school for less than five years before he smooth-talked his way into the job as K-State’s coach, and as K-State fans are now painfully finding out, Prince talks a good game, but he has shown little ability to coach one. Prince might have succeeded had he been humble enough to hire assistants that had the experience he lacked and the knowledge necessary to field a competitive Big 12 program. But Prince, being arrogant, hired friends and cohorts from college football afterthoughts like Cornell, South Dakota State and Hofstra, thinking his master plan was good enough to overcome his staff’s shortcomings… The harshest comparison I could make would be one all fans in this area could remember. Ron Prince is K-State’s version of Terry Allen, the completely inept Kansas football coach who preceded Mark Mangino. Kansas State football is in need of a change, because if Ron Prince is allowed to further his destruction of the Wildcat program, it might take nothing short of the second coming of Bill Snyder himself to lift the program back up again. – Emporia Gazette

Phillip Fulmer

It’s hard to figure out just who is under the most pressure this week-Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville or Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer. It would be a close race, although Fulmer would probably get the nod since his Vols made the mistake of playing before several thousand empty seats last Saturday. At least Auburn fans haven’t started showing their displeasure by staying away from games… yet. But make no mistake about it, both coaches are feeling the heat this week. Auburn’s case is a puzzling one. Auburn fans spent the summer working themselves into a frenzy over the new “spread” offense that new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was bringing to the Plains. They envisioned 500-yard, 50-points-plus games with Kodi Burns running all over the field or throwing it to any number of receivers who would be running free all over the field. It hasn’t happened. Not even close. If you want numbers, try this one-16. That’s the total number of points that Auburn scored in games against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, two of the SEC’s perennial doormats. – Randolph Leader

The Firing Line: Focus on Prince and Glenn

“The Firing Line” at Football Rumor Mill focuses on coaches around the country who are in serious jeopardy. The latest edition centers on Kansas State Coach Ron Prince and Wyoming Coach Joe Glenn…

Kansas State

It’s starting to look that way. After Texas Tech thrashed the Wildcats 58-28, a purple-clad rooter saw K-State President Jon Wefald going up the ramp to see coach Ron Prince in the locker room and bellowed: “Whoever hired him should have to fire him.” Wefald, who saved football at the school 20 years ago by borrowing millions of dollars and hiring Bill Snyder, was instrumental in choosing the thinly experienced Prince to succeed Snyder. The leather-lunged fan might have been speaking for many regarding Prince, whose hubris has worn thin in his third season. Prince has upset Texas twice, but is 0-6 against Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. And since last November, the Wildcats are 3-6 and in that stretch have allowed point totals of 73, 49, 45, 38, 37 and 58. The signing of 19 junior college players last February has proven to be no fix at all… So what’s next? The future looks murky. Wefald, who has moved football into such a prominent place at the school, has announced his retirement. K-State also has no separate athletic director. Bob Krause, the school’s vice president for institutional advancement, curiously was named to oversee athletics when Tim Weiser left for the Big 12 office. After K-State worked so hard to produce “the Miracle in Manhattan” turnaround, the school cannot afford to backslide very far. Repairing this program after the Herculean efforts to build it the first time may take a long, long time. – Omaha World-Herald

Wyoming

It was another lost weekend for the football team at the University of Wyoming… The Cowboys dropped to 2-4 for the season with a 24-0 loss at New Mexico on Saturday…
In the first six games this season, Wyoming has been outscored 153-72, including 91-3 in three Mountain West Conference contests… It hasn’t been a lot of fun for UW head coach Joe Glenn, his staff and his players as well as the Cowboy Nation. – Laramie Boomerang

Rapid Fire: Focus on Shannon, Prince, Bellotti, Fulmer, Paterno

“Rapid Fire” at Football Rumor Mill focuses on multiple coaches around the country who are in serious jeopardy. The latest edition centers on no less than five jobs which could soon be open…

Randy Shannon

Randy Shannon is 7-10 overall and 2-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference since he became UM’s coach. But Shannon said Sunday he’s not feeling any pressure from UM President Donna Shalala or Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt. In fact, Shannon said it’s the opposite. Asked if he felt supported by UM’s administration, he said, “Yeah. As a matter of fact, they’re the ones that are always telling me to calm down. I get frustrated, upset, disappointed and they’re the ones that tell me that you can’t get disappointed about everything.” Shannon, who is in the second year of a four-year contract, said the Hurricanes are “a lot better” than they were last season after five games, despite two straight disappointing conference losses at home. The latest came Saturday when UM bounced back from a 24-point, first-half deficit only to fall to FSU 41-39. UM (2-3) was 4-1 after five games last season. “We’re not far from where we need to be,” said Shannon, whose ‘Canes play Central Florida at 3:45 p.m. Saturday at Dolphin Stadium. “Do I think it’s going to happen this year compared to next year? I’m only worried about this year.” – Palm Beach Post

Ron Prince

After his first 30 games as Kansas State coach, Ron Prince has a 15-15 record. But after watching Prince’s defense yield more than 1,700 yards during the past three games, many Wildcat fans are worried the program is reverting to the pre-Bill Snyder bad ol’ days and questioning whether Prince is the right man for the job. – Topeka Capital-Journal

Mike Bellotti

I hate to say it—I do realize there’s loyalty to the Oregon coach who’s been at U of O since 1995—but Mike Bellotti’s reign as coach should be ending soon. One thing can be said about his teams: They are all hype. When it comes to a big game, Oregon rarely shows up: 5-6 in bowl games, including a three-bowl losing streak, although they did win their bowl game last year. 131 wins and 77 losses is a pretty good record, including one conference championship and one tie for the conference championship. But look at the past few years, when he’s had a really good team that was supposed to be up there in the conference standings and was a supposed favorite for winning the Pac-10. This year it’s shown already, losing 44-10 to USC. It must be frustrating for Duck fans to watch a team with so much talent give up 41 points in a row. That’s inexcusable for a coach of Bellotti’s caliber… It’s time for a change in Eugene, and it starts with Bellotti. – Bleacher Report

Phillip Fulmer

Tennessee plays at No. 10 Georgia on Saturday, and a magical week of practice will be needed for UT to dig itself out of a cavernous hole. When asked if this was more of a must-win or a game of pride, UT Coach Phillip Fulmer didn’t hesitate. “It’s all of the above,” Fulmer said. “It’s not business as usual. This is a very important time for us as we fight like heck to stay in the championship mix and hope somebody else gets beat.” — Tennessean

Joe Paterno

The sad question to ponder today is whether there will be a day when a certain slice on the pie chart of fandom remembers Joe Paterno as the football coach who couldn’t look like a football coach, a guy whose legs were so riddled with pain, walking the sidelines became a weekly impossibility. This isn’t a Joe-should-retire column. This isn’t the time for that. Penn State is 6-0, has legitimate Big Ten title hopes and is coming off a game in which it made a slew of offensive mistakes and still managed to win at Purdue by two touchdowns, 20-6. It would be flat unfair to have criticized Paterno during Penn State’s down times, and then diminish the role he has played during the resurgence. Based on his qualifications and historic status and the kind of success his team is having this season, Paterno has a pretty good case for a contract extension come season’s end. The thing is, the fans and reporters around the program have been looking at the finish line of Paterno’s legendary career for years now. Listening to him Saturday, as he leaned on a metal podium in the bowels of Ross-Ade Stadium as if it were a crutch, you get the feeling that maybe Paterno is starting to see that line for the first time, too. “I’ve got a little arthritis,” he said, casting a frustrated gaze downward toward his left leg. “I take some stuff, and some days, I feel great. Sometimes, I don’t.” Saturday was one of the days he didn’t. As there always seem to be with this program and this man, there are some alternate theories floating around as to why there’s so much pain, so consistently. The main one is that he didn’t just tweak his right knee at all during that now-infamous onside kick drill in summer practice. It’s that he tore his anterior cruciate ligament that day, and now, it won’t get better until he has surgery. In fact, several reporters asked Paterno directly about surgery after Saturday’s game. Never mind the fact that it’s an unfounded theory. The leg Paterno says is causing the problems now is the left leg, the one that he needed surgery to repair after that sideline collision with Andrew Quarless in Wisconsin during the 2006 season. – Scranton Times