Buying Time

No this isn't a post about Joe Paterno's contract situation, I'm in a bit of a transition today and probably won't be able to post my usual nonsense until this afternoon.

In the meantime, enjoy this bit on the hottest wives in baseball.

So You're Saying There's a Chance! Coaching Edition

Tony Dungy is going to stay with the Colts. Prior to this announcement, the team had announced Jim Caldwell the would be successor. Caldwell is a former Penn State assistant coach and current QB Coach to Peyton Manning. You may remember last week when a radio station in Pittsburgh heard a Pitt Grad say he heard his friend mention that Jim Caldwell will be announced the next Penn State head coach.

The rumor circulated (here too) but did not stick.

Now this doesn't mean much except that this guy, who has been interviewed for several NFL HC jobs over the past couple of years, isn't in charge of the Colts...yet. For the record I think Caldwell is the absolute best case scenario replacement for JoePa. Here is part of the reason why (from his Colts profile)

Caldwell joined Penn State as wide receivers coach. He then coached quarterbacks the following season and added passing game coordinator responsibilities in 1988. At Penn State, Caldwell tutored QB-Kerry Collins, who went on to win the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top college quarterback and the Maxwell Award as the nation’s most outstanding player. Caldwell has coached in six bowl games and won a national championship with Penn State in 1986.

It would be the Weis effect on recruiting without the arrogant nonsense that comes with it. It would finally be the relief to our passing game that my liver so desperately needs. Chances are still slim, of course, a couple more years and he can probably get an NFL job. But if it turns out he wants a shot at college ball, and the Colts continue to string him along, we just might get lucky.

JoePa To Talk With Employer

Really? This is news? Really? They are going to talk over the next couple of months. Months?! That is on the front page of ESPN and SI right now.

I don't have much to add except to comment on this specifically:

"Good planning requires we do that in all sports, in the back of your mind, you have a backup plan in place," he [Curley] said. "It wouldn't be something that I'd want to state publicly what I'd be thinking, but hopefully a good manager has that in their hip pocket."

In other words, Curley doesn't like the FSU succession plan. At least not in the long term, publicly stated sense. I'm ok with this, if for any other reason the FSU thing isn't fun anymore. This is. It can be painful too, but that's life I guess.

Do I think this is a good move? I'm not sure. Yes? On one hand it calms everyone down, which is nice. But then again it might not. This meeting is held annually and I can't remember the announcement of it being as big a deal as this one is. It's better than not saying anything, so I have to give them that.

New Coaching Wrinkle - Golden Waiting It Out Too?

Temple head football coach Al Golden, who interviewed twice for the UCLA job, has withdrawn his name from consideration.

"UCLA is a world-class institution, and athletic director Dan Guerrero is a first-class person," Golden said. "However, we are on the brink of something truly special here at Temple."

My take on this: Turning Temple around is a noble task indeed. This team perpetually made ESPN's Bottom Ten, but managed to climb out of that mock list this year. They almost beat UConn in week three, and would have given PSU a game if it wasn't for the red zone turnovers. Golden has done a good job there and I understand why he wants to finish what he started. Sort of.

This is still UCLA, a Pac 10 team in a major market. Turn them down for, a lower tier Mac school? There has to be something else to this. And I think there is.

Spaniard has said that once the Paterno era is over they have no interest in signing a multi-million dollar coach. I believe him. Schiano (and if you're a dreamer, Stoops) would have to take a huge pay cut to be the Penn State coach. I just don't know if you would give up a decent/good thing with a lot of money for a not certain thing and something like one-third the cash. There is no promise that, with what will probably be the existing staff, you are going to do well enough to keep the job for more than five years.

This is where Golden steps in. The guy would probably be getting a raise if he were hired by PSU. He has the character to appease the older alums and the performance to get the "let's win already" guys excited. Patero love him, which appears to be more and more important as we sail through this thing.

Would I want the guy as a head coach? Sure, he has class, he is a "Blue-Blood", and he might even be able to land some Philly recruits. He turned around Temple, a team that was on the brink of folding, and now he has turned down the UCLA job to finish what he started. I know internal hire is another option, but if we go outside the program this guy's name is going to be at near the top of the list. He's a perfect fit from the progam's perspective.