Greener pastures

Yes, even in a pandemic, the time of the season when football coaches are fired is upon us. You remember just three, four, five or six years ago when the athletic director walked into the press conference to announce the hiring of the next coach who will bring a new energy and sometimes dignity to the football program?

At this point in time, the newly hired and very humble coach walks up to the podium telling the press corps about how he plans on recruiting and showcasing a championship team in just a few seasons. The scribes will have all of the bio information about the new coach and how he worked so diligently to get to this day as the university’s newest coach.

As fans, we eat that stuff up and can’t wait to see just how quick this new guy will be able to get the excitement back in the stadium. Players are interviewed and talk about the team meeting that was held, and how much this guy cares about establishing a winning program and relying on the returning lettermen and upper classmen to show unity and leadership now more than ever.

In the following day’s paper there is a color picture of the new coach showing off a uniform with the number 1 on it and of course a baseball cap with the school’s logo on the front. These items were handed over to the coach by either the athletic director or the school president, depending on how much positivity is needed in this hire.

If all goes well, the very next time that a new coach is needed is after this guy announces his retirement after a highly successful career, or if this guy leaves after a highly successful career at the school while building up a winning tradition. Of course, he leaves for a place that he has also dreamt of coaching because of the traditions, or his alma mater or a massive payday which is never mentioned because all of these coaches would do it for free because they love coaching so much. Okay, so those are the positives.

On Friday night I watched the Arizona-Arizona State game played in Tempe in front of no fans just cardboard cutouts. Both teams were winless, but to be honest the ASU Sun Devils played well and should have won their two games, while Arizona looked dismal in their four losses. They may have scraped together one half of good football.

The final score after 60 minutes of play was ASU 70 Arizona 7. Arizona turned the ball over so much you would have thought they were playing with a Corona virus-infected football and didn’t want anything to do with it.

When the two coaches met after the game, ASU coach Herm Edwards spent a fair amount of time consoling Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin. I’m sure Edwards had an inkling that Sumlin would not be the Wildcat coach by the end of the weekend, and if he did he would have been right.

Sumlin was fired on Saturday but was paid handsomely for his time as the Arizona coach. We can feel sorry for Sumlin, but if you look back on his career you can see that he made choices that were influenced by bigger venues.

Sumlin was the head coach for the Houston Cougars and built that team into a winner, and may have been considered for a spot in the national championship hunt, but his team lost their conference championship game and those dreams as well. Sumlin was hired by Texas A&M before the Cougars’ bowl game.

He had success at A&M with Johnny Manziel winning the Heisman trophy, but after a few years and an 8-5 and 7-5 record he was let go. Those records would have been good at some schools, but not at a place that wants to compete for championships in the SEC.

Then it was off to Arizona after Rich Rodriguez either resigned or was fired. You can look that one up if you wish. There are too many sordid details to explain here. In three seasons, Sumlin’s teams went 9-20 and are currently on a 9 or 10 game losing streak, and during that time the Wildcats were consistently out-classed and humbled.

So I tell you this story because Sumlin could have had a solid career at Houston, as other coaches that followed him there can attest to. But Houston doesn’t play in a Power 5 conference, so I’m sure that ego can often play a role in these decisions. You see, just because those may be greener pastures doesn’t mean it is real grass.