Posts Tagged ‘jimbo fisher’

After the stunning departure of Bret Bielema for Arkansas, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez quickly inserted himself as the Badgers' figurehead head coach for the Rose Bowl. 

"I don't want this to be about me," Alvarez said at the time. "I want this to be about the players. I want to give them as good an opportunity to win the Rose Bowl as we possibly can."

The university announced today that the College Football Hall of Fame coach, three Rose Bowls while patrolling the sidelines for Wisconsin, will be paid $118,500 for his month-long return to coaching. In sum, Alvarez will make $203,500 this month: $195,000 for his coaching duties (90 percent of Bielema's monthly salary) and $8,500 for his athletic director duties. The $203,500 figure represents a $118,500 increase from Alvarez's regular athletic director salary. He can earn an additional $50,000 if the Badgers defeat Stanford on Jan. 1. The money for Alvarez's bump in pay is generated from Bielema's $1 million buyout. 

"We weighed the factors involved, including the unique circumstances that developed less than a month before the game, the challenges of the job, the marketplace and his strength as a coach and concluded that this is a reasonable arrangement," said Wisconsin Board President Brent Smith.

In other coaching bonus news, Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com reported today that recently departed Northern Illinois coach will miss out on a $100,000 bonus for leading Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl. Don't shed a tear for Doeren, though, as he received a raise from $400,000 to $1.8 million in leaving for N.C. State.

Nick Saban is in line for the biggest bonus of all BCS-bound coaches. The Crimson Tide head coach could make $400,000 with a win over Notre Dame. Louisville's Charlie Strong will receive a total of $291,667 for leading the Cardinals to the Sugar Bowl. Will Muschamp is due a bonus of $100,000, while Chip Kelly will get $50,000, Bill Snyder will receive $40,000 and Jimbo Fisher will earn $20,000. Fisher will root for major rankings chaos to benefit is 12th-ranked Seminoles, as he could earn an extra $100,000 if Florida State finishes in the top 5. 

The contracts for Notre Dame's Brian Kelly and Stanford's David Shaw are not public. 

At the conclusion of the Orange Bowl press conference, Jimbo Fisher (who has obviously brought his team to Miami before) offered some advice to Northern Illinois' Rod Carey, who is coaching in his first bowl game as a head coach.

Keeping a bunch of college kids focused while in Miami is a handful by itself, so on the topic of curfews, Jimbo's advice to Carey was "Just know where they're at."

Carey laughed and thanked him for the advice before Fisher added, "Hey, I'm going to have the same problem. My problem is they know where to go."

Kentucky officially announced Mark Stoops, presently the defensive coordinator at Florida State, as its head coach on Tuesday afternoon. Stoops, in his third season at Florida State, took over a unit that ranked 108th nationally in total defense the year before his arrival.

Stoops instantly upgraded the Seminoles' defense, quickly transforming Florida State into one of the elite defenses in the nation, boosting their total defense ranking to 42nd in 2010, fourth in 2011 and second in 2012. Stoops is a nominee for this year's FootballScoop Defensive Coordinator of the Year award.  

Stoops oversaw dramatic defensive improvements at both FSU and Arizona and is a finalist for national Defensive Coordinator of the Year.

— Kentucky Athletics(@UKAthleticsNews) November 27, 2012

Since word broke, we have reached out to a number of coaches and every one of them thinks this is a tremendous hire. Stoops is regarded not only as a great defensive mind, but as a successful, energetic recruiter.

A Big 12 head coach just called me & said, "Kentucky can't imagine how much energy and enthusiasm Mark Stoops will bring up there!"

— FootballScoop Staff (@footballscoop) November 27, 2012

Like his older brothers Bob and Mike, Mark Stoops' career began as a graduate assistant at Iowa in 1990-91. Stoops worked on Jim Leavitt's staff in South Florida's inaugural football season before moving to coach defensive backs under Dana Dimel at Wyoming. After a one-year stay as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Houston, Stoops helped Miami to a 35-3 overall record and a national championship as the defensive backs coach from 2001-03. 

Stoops then worked as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for his brother Mike at Arizona, helping the Wildcats improve from consecutive three-win seasons to consecutive eight-win seasons while boosting Arizona's defensive ranking by more than 80 spots. Stoops assumed the defensive coordinator role under head coach Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2010. 

"Mark's passion has been evident in the way he coaches and in his love for the game of football," said Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart in the school's official statement. "That passion carried over into our process and his desire to wear the Blue and White.  Our desire to get better defensively and continue to expand our recruiting base helped guide us to Mark.  He comes from a coaching family and has been in big games and big atmospheres throughout his career.  That has prepared him for this opportunity to become head coach at Kentucky.  We welcome Mark, Chantel, Will and Zack to the Big Blue Nation."

"I am thrilled to be named the head football coach at the University of Kentucky," Stoops said.  "My family and I are excited and looking forward to becoming a part of the Big Blue Nation."

For anyone curious for more information on Stoops, Kentucky has created an official Mark Stoops landing page. 

Here's The Scoop on everything you need to know about tonight's tripleheader. 

Florida State at Virginia Tech (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

On paper this should be a certain win for Florida State. Jimbo Fisher's team is the clear statistical leader in the ACC, ranking first or second within the league in 11 of the 17 official categories tracked by the NCAA. The Seminoles pace the ACC in total offense and total defense, scoring offense and scoring defense as well as passing efficiency and passing efficiency defense. 

The problem, however, is that certain wins have so often turned out not to be the case over the past decade for Florida State. According to Matt Hinton at SundayMorningQB.com, Florida State is 0-8 in ACC play while playing on the road as a ranked team against an unranked underdog since 2005. That number includes the Seminoles' only setback in 2012, a 17-16 setback at N.C. State on Oct. 6. (FSU is a two touchdown favorite tonight.) Since that loss, Fisher's squad has rebounded to win three straight; at 8-1 overall and 5-1 in conference play the Seminoles stand in first place of the ACC's Atlantic Division. 

That brings us to tonight as Florida State travels to Blacksburg to face a Virginia Tech team in the midst of a very un-Frank Beamer-like season. At 4-5 overall and 2-3 in league play, the five-time ACC Coastal champions are one game above the basement in the division. They come into tonight off a 30-12 loss to Miami last Thursday night, a game in which the Hokies were the team that endured a blocked punt, an 81-yard kickoff return, a missed field goal and a missed extra point. 

Tonight marks Florida State's first visit to Lane Stadium since 2007, a place where Virginia Tech has won its last seven games. Frank Beamer's team is 19-6 on Thursday nights and 25-3 in November since joining the ACC. Those sterling marks will be put to test against Florida State, the only squad that ranks among FBS's top eight in total offense and total defense. 

Louisiana - Monroe at Arkansas State (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU)

The Sun Belt title could be decided tonight when two of the league's top offenses square off in Jonesboro, Ark. ULM leads the league at nearly 38 points per game, while Arkansas State checks in at No. 3 with 34 points per game. Gus Malzahn's team enters tonight with a four-game winning streak in which they've posted nearly 40 points per game. 

Red Wolves quarterback Ryan Aplin has heated up over the last month, connecting on 78-of-108 (72.2 percent) of passes for 1,023 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Arkansas State's stretch of good football hasn't just been limited to Aplin; the Red Wolves have rushed 157 times for 714 yards (4.5 ypc) for 13 touchdowns over their past four games while limiting opponents to 580 yards on 151 attempts (3.8 ypc) and three scores. Arkansas State has also secured a 10-to-3 turnover margin over that span.

Todd Berry's team had its five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday, but still claims the Sun Belt's top scoring offense and turnover margin. Offensive coordinator Steve Farmer calls a balanced offense as ULM averages 40 passes per game to go with 36 rushes per game. That balance was thrown off in the 40-24 loss to Louisiana - Lafayette as the Warhawks only managed 74 rushing yards on 20 attempts. The Warhawks will need to run the ball better tonight without starting quarterback Kolton Browning, who suffered an injury early against ULL, in the lineup. Browning was working on a Sun Belt Player of the Year campaign, leading the league in total offense and accounting for 27 touchdowns. Senior Cody Wells steps in for Browning, bringing in a resume that includes 226 attempts for 1,499 yards and an 11-to-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio over his career.

Both teams share a 4-1 conference record coming into tonight, sitting atop the league along with Middle Tennessee (also 4-1 in Sun Belt play). ULM already owns a victory over the Blue Raiders, while Arkansas State hosts MTSU in the season finale on Dec. 1. A win tonight will go a long way toward a first conference championship for Berry's program, while Malzahn's squad hopes to defend its 2011 league title. 

Noth Alabama at West Alabama (7:30 p.m. ET, GSC-TV)

Bobby Wallace returns to Livingston, Ala., to face his old team and former offensive coordinator Will Hall, who is now at the helm of West Alabama. North Alabama (5-4) enters tonight ranked tenth in D2Football.com's Super Region 2 rankings, while West Alabama (7-3) checks in at No. 7. Hall's offense puts opposing defenses under a tremendous amount of pressure when things are clicking. The Tigers score nearly 44 points per game in their seven wins but just 16 points per game in their losses. 

Tonight marks Wallace's first trip back to West Alabama, where he led the program for five years. He is in his second stint at North Alabama, returning to the school where he coached from 1988-97 and won three NCAA Division II national titles. After winning four straight games in which they allowed a total of 28 points, the Lions have dropped three straight games and surrendered 100 points in the process.  

Jimbo Fisher knows there will be many head-coaching jobs will come open this off-season, and potential employers could target members of his staff to fill vacancies.

In fact, Fisher hopes it happens.

"I hope [ defensive coordinator Mark Stoops gets an offer.] When I was that guy, that's what I wanted to do," Fisher told ESPN.com on Monday. "Change is inevitable. You've got to have a plan for it and where you want to go and what you want to do. I hope he stays here forever. As long as I'm here, I want him as defensive coordinator. But I also want him to reach his dreams and goals to become a head football coach."

Stoops, who is in his third season as the Seminoles' defensive coordinator, may not be the only target on Fisher's staff this off-season. Florida State is 8-1 this season, leads the ACC Atlantic Division and statistically dominates the ACC on both sides of the ball. The Seminoles lead the ACC in nine statistical categories including total offense, total defense, scoring offense and scoring defense. 

It's great to see Fisher encourage his assistants to find bigger and better jobs for a few reasons. First, he wants to reward his assistants' hard work. Like every other head coach, Fisher rose through the ranks as an assistant and wants to pay the help he got along the way forward to his assistant coaches. 

Next, Fisher's philosophy benefits his program because it will only make working on his staff more attractive to any future assistant coaches. Any potential hire that wants to one day become a head coach will be eager to work for someone that wants him to realize his goals. Finally, Fisher's philosophy demonstrates a great level of confidence in himself and his system to win no matter what assistants he may lose.

If change does indeed come to Fisher's staff, he'll be prepared. 

"You hope your system helps develop head coaches. I love that," Fisher said. "I want to be known as that. It makes the other top assistants want to come and makes other people want to be here. You have good players, you have a good system, you're organized well, you understand the big picture and what you want. I think that's another thing -- just like players want to come somewhere to get developed, hopefully coaches can do the same thing."

Fisher is far from the only head coach across the country that thinks this way, credit him for putting his thoughts out there.