It’s Time for a Head Coach Reality Check, Big Blue Nation
Apr 28, 2011; New York, NY, USA; ESPN analyst Jon Gruden during the 2011 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE
Jon Gruden
Accomplishments- Two time AFC Champion runner up in Oakland; Winner of Super Bowl XXXVII in Tampa Bay; 95-81 record as an NFL head coach
Where is he now? He is currently the co-host of Monday Night Football on ESPN. He is being paid a whopping $4.3 million a year.
Why you won’t see him at Kentucky: Did you read how much he is getting paid to sit in a booth and talk about football for one night a week for 16 weeks a year? No way is Gruden going to come to Kentucky in order to rebuild a program in that bad of shape. He isn’t just the hottest name in college football, he is the hottest name in all of football. There will be some vacancies in the NFL after the season is over and he will consider those jobs before looking at college positions. And if he does look at college jobs, Tennessee looks as if they are going to throw every dime at their disposal at him. But I doubt we see him in that awful orange next season.
Bobby Bowden
Accomplishments- Too many to list. The guy is a living legend.
Where is he now? Retired and celebrating his new status as college football’s winningest coach. Probably the happiest he has ever been in his life.
Why you won’t see him at Kentucky: I have actually seen this name appear a few times and I had to laugh out loud. Bobby Bowden is 83 years old. There is no way on earth that he is going to coach at Kentucky. No way on earth.
Rex Ryan
Accomplishments- Two time AFC title runner up; 31-25 record as an NFL head coach
Why you won’t see him at Kentucky: Ryan does have some college football coaching experience and he even has ties to the state of Kentucky. He was a graduate assistant at EKU in 1986. He was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati and had the same position at Kansas State for an entire month in 1999. Ryan went to the NFL where he was the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens until he became the head coach for the New York Jets. And that is why you won’t see him at Kentucky. He currently has a job in the pros and while things aren’t going as planned at the moment, there really hasn’t been a ton of outcry for him to be fired. There is no way that Kentucky can offer him enough money to lure him from New York. And even if he is fired, he will probably take a job as a coordinator in the NFL, lick his wounds for a season or two, and then he will be back as the head guy for some other NFL team.
Other silly names being mentioned: Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Lloyd Carr, and John Calipari (actually, just one blog site continues to name Calipari as a running gag. News Flash: it’s not funny).
My intention here is not to be a pessimist, but to be a realist. These are some of the biggest names in the sport and a job that is viewed as a coaching dead end is not too appealing. But I do feel that Barnhart will at least reach out to some big names. I also believe that Kentucky will not settle for some obscure coordinator; I think for the first time in history we are going to have a head football coach with some division one winning experience that wants to stay and build a competitive program in the SEC. It just one be a guy from this list.