The Scoop - Monday December 14, 2020
Monday December 14, 2020
Mario Cristobal: Mario addressed the situation with Auburn...and Oregon tonight.
Virginia Tech: Justin Fuente will remain the head coach of the Hokies moving forward, Andy Bitter tweets, calling speculation of his job status earlier today after an announcement on Whit Babcock's media availability tomorrow to talk about the football program "an overreaction" on his weekly radio show.
Vanderbilt: The deal is in place. Clark Lea is the new head coach at Vanderbilt.
Southern Miss: Will Hall has announced four members of his staff. Reed Stringer will stay on as assistant head coach / GM, Desmond Lindsey returns from Arkansas State and will have the role of receivers coach / pass game coordinator, Cayden Cochran will handle tight ends, and Tad Blaylock will be director of ops.
Georgia Tech: The program has announced that they will not consider a bowl bid. GT ends the season 3-7.
Canceled Games Tracker: Keep track of the week's postponed / canceled games on this page.
Mike Leach: In a career full of some pretty epic rants, Mike Leach's rant today about the trials of the 2020 season due to COVID ranks up there among the best of them - "We've created one of the most joyless seasons on earth. Hopefully we never repeat it."
Springfield College (D-III - MA):Springfield College has a graduate assistant position opening starting January 2021. The position covers a full time academic course load (the academic programs typically take two years to complete) and a small stipend. There is no housing or meals associated with the position. Graduate assistants at Springfield will have their own position group to work with where they will be expected to run their own meetings, plan practice, run individual time, contribute to game planning, work with special teams, and other duties assigned by the head coach. The candidate will also be responsible for the recruitment of student athletes, and will be expected to recruit on the road year round. Preference will be given to candidates with experience coaching at the high school or collegiate level, living in the northeast, as well as skills with Microsoft Office (word, excel, power point, Visio), DVSport, Hudl and Photoshop. The position is contingent upon being accepted to graduate school at Springfield College. Candidates must have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher, and may have to take the GREs, depending on their academic program of study. All interested applicants should send their cover letter, resume and list of three professional references to gwebster@springfieldcollege.edu
Dallas Cowboys: Yes, the Cowboys will retain Mike McCarthy in 2021.
Texas Tech: Sounds as if more change is coming within the staff. Stay tuned on that front. Additionally, Kirby Hocutt seemed to serve notice to Matt Wells that there needs to be significant improvement next year adding, "Back-to-back four-win seasons are not good. We must get better. It's time."
Northwestern: Longtime defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz plans to retire at the end of the year after 51 seasons as a college coach, according to a report.
Virginia Tech: Athletic director Whit Babcokc will hold a press conference tomorrow where he will field questions about the football program. Justin Fuente's buyout drops $2.5 million at midnight, as we've previously laid out.
Detroit Lions: Lions ownership says their head coach and GM search could take another six weeks.
Coaching decisions: Best & Worst coaching decisions of the weekend - via EdjVarsity
Tulane: Duke corners coach Chris Hampton is leaving to become the defensive coordinator at Tulane, per Adam Rowe. We can confirm the move is in the works. The position opened following the departure of Jack Curtis.
ULM vs. Troy: The game, scheduled for Thursday, is being canceled due to COVID concerns with the ULM program.
Tulane: Miami (OH) co-offensive coordinator / offensive line coach George Barnett is joining the Tulane staff as offensive line coach, Adam Rittenberg tweets.
Austin Peay (FCS - TN): Pete Thamel tweets that Southern Miss graduate assistant Joe Papplardo will join the staff as co-special teams coordinator, and former East Texas Baptist (D-III) quarterback Brian Baca will be the assistant quarterbacks coach.
ACC: Northwestern AD Jim Phillips will assume the role of ACC commissioner in February of 2021, the league has announced.
Colorado: With Colorado's opponent (Oregon) getting the opportunity to play in the PAC-12 title game, Karl Dorrell shares that he has no clarity on who their new opponent may be and adds that he has a conference call at 4pm Mountain Time and expects to know more then.
Washington: With their entire offensive line unit unable to play, Washington is unable to play USC in the PAC-12 title game. Oregon will take their place.
Lane Kiffin: Asked about the Auburn opening, Lane Kiffin has some fun quoting Nick Saban.
Texas Tech: Matt Wells announces that OC David Yost has been terminated.
Art Briles: Art Briles has resigned from his job as head coach at Mount Vernon (TX).
Texas Tech: Texas Tech will retain Matt Wells for another season, according to Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Maryville (D-III - TN): The Maryville head coaching job is drawing interest from SEC coaches and former NFL players.
Pac-12: The league has put the USC staff in a really tough situation.
Detroit Lions: After interviewing three in-house candidates last week, the Lions are set to interview former Houston Texans GM Rick Smith, Dave Birkett reports.
Vanderbilt: Sources tell FootballScoop Vanderbilt plans to hire Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea as their new head coach. ESPN's Chris Low first reported the news.
Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers have officially announced the addition of Zach Kittley as their new offensive coordinator.
Game on Tonight: The Ravens will face the Browns tonight on MNF. Kickoff if set for 8:15pm EST on ESPN.
ACC: The ACC is close to securing their new commissioner.
Utah State: Texas Tech graduate assistant Chuckie Keaton, a former Utah Stat quarterback from 2011-15, is joining Blake Anderson’s staff. Prior to his role in Lubbock, Keaton has also held quality control roles at Utah State and Oregon State.
Hastings (NAIA - NE): Matt Franzen has been named the new head coach of the program. Franzen returns to Hastings after spending the last 14 years at Doane University (NAIA - NE), first as head coach before transitioning to athletic director at the school.
Las Vegas Raiders: The Raiders have fired defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli will serve as interim DC for the remainder of the season.
Tennessee-Martin (FCS): Defensive backs coach Dalton Hilliard has added the title of defensive pass game coordinator, per source.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy (D-III – MA): MMA has an intern position available. All positions will be considered. Qualified candidates must have a bachelor’s degree with preference being given to those with one year of recruiting, strength & conditioning or social media experience. Candidates will be responsible for coaching their own position, recruiting a specific area, film breakdown, etc. Compensation is $13,000.00 spread over a 12 month commitment that comes with housing and meals (while classes are in session). Interested parties please email head coach Jeremy Cameron at jcameron@maritime.edu.
Arkansas State: Butch Jones is planning to bring a colleague from Alabama to be his offensive coordinator at A-State, sources tell FootballScoop.
Utah State: Former Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keaton is joining Blake Anderson’s staff. Keaton played quarterback for the Aggies from 2011-15 and joins the program after serving as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech the past two seasons. Keaton has also held quality control roles at Utah State and Oregon State prior to being at Texas Tech.
Auburn: On The Plains, “They have to get a big name.” Here’s our look at early candidates at Auburn.
Art Briles: Another program is reportedly interested in possibly bringing Art Briles back to college football.
Illinois: Here's an early look at the expected candidates for the open job with the Illini.
New Coaching Changes Page: Keep track of all the 2020-21 NFL and College head coaching movement here. We also have the 2020-21 FBS Staff Tracker page up and running as well.
