We have arrived at that time of year in which the first major wave of head coaching changes have fallen into place. There is a lot to cover and Shane and I spend the majority of this episode recapping the major moves around college football.
Before we get to the usual linkage, don’t forget that there are still a couple of charitable things happening around the Notre Dame family this holiday season. You have the Rakes-led effort for the South Bend Center for the Homeless as well as @taxbastard’s second annual fundraiser for Dr. Silva’s class. Both are worthy causes so please donate if you are able!
Also, this year the HLS Bowl Pick ‘Em has gone full #HAILGAMBLOR. You can sign up and start making picks now if you wish or wait for Eddie and I to reveal our first chunk of bowl picks in next week’s episode. A reminder that this year there will be no confidence points and you will be picking against the spread just like Eddie and I.
With all that said, let’s get to the Roundup!
The Roundup
The Lamar Jackson award ceremony is this Saturday. There are four other finalists that will be around, but there is little doubt that the Heisman was sealed up quite a while ago.
The Observer has some Notre Dame football information worth taking a look at. In the form of a farewell letter from Malik Zaire. What did you think I was referring to?
Art Briles is determined to burn his own career to the crowd. Instead of just laying low for a year or two, he decided to sue Baylor for libel and slander. The claim is that Baylor has “ruined his career”, but I have a feeling he might want to look in the mirror for that.
Here comes the head coaching moves. Western Kentucky’s Jeff Brohm signed at Purdue for 6 years, $20 million. Willie Taggart heads from USF to Oregon for 5 years and $3.2 million per year–yes, that’s less than Purdue is paying. And, in the biggest shocker, Matt Rhule heads down to Baylor from Temple for a seven year deal.
There’s an interesting trend right now in the Power Five. To this point, no Power Five head coach has made another move to a Power Five school.
Hiring the right head coach is difficult. You also need a bit of luck to really knock it out of the park. For Alabama, they needed both Nick Saban and Rich Rod to say no ten years ago before Saban would eventually say yes.
The coaching arms race is no longer limited to head coaches’ salaries. Assistant coaches are getting in that game too with Dave Aranda making that previous link old news with a new contract that will see a $1.9 million payday in year three.
Notre Dame’s #1 fan gets some love. You absolutely need to check out the story of Keith Penrod and his special relationship with Te’von Coney.
He was given 48 hours to live, but Keith Penrod never quit. Now @NDFootball's biggest fan has a unique friendship with @tevonconey pic.twitter.com/7abtRseX7o
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 8, 2016
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021