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Would somebody like Jimbo be scared away by the NCAA checking out Trooper's recruiting methods? Could be blown out of proportions, but the little bit I've heard sounds really bad for Auburn.

People are too busy seeing Grudens in Knoxville to watch flight plans from Norman.

I don't think I'm being that unreasonable. Or is it just that I'm posting about Tennessee a lot?

I hadn't even started the argument that Belichick would come here. I figured that was just assumed as fact. I think I'd prefer getting Cowher out of retirement, though. Word is he's pay UT to coach there.

Thanks. From those, it appears I'm underrating OU. I had UT pegged around the bottom of the top 10, but OU further down the list than #1.

For those who have paid closer attention to him, what do you think of Art Briles as an option at UT? I'm intrigued by him enough that he may be 3rd on my list after the longshots that are Gruden and Jimbo.

I do agree the current situation is much, much better at OU - hence why I give little credence to the Stoops to UT rumors - but when I use the term "prestige" I'm referring to more historical success and long-term prospects than where a program is right now. Maybe I'm using the wrong word or we're just debating semantics, but I see prestige as being more about the program as a whole than simply its recent success. Recent success means a lot in terms of a job's current attractiveness, but because of its prestige, UT is a more attractive spot than other teams with the stats you listed.

I'd be interested to see opinions on it. I'm not sure what the reasoning would be, though - both programs have won at similar levels, UT has as good or better facilities and a bigger stadium, OU has a better recruiting base but not a stellar one, Tennessee has put a similar number of players into the NFL (I think). I'd like to hear why OU is considered a more prestigious program.

That I disagree with. Because you are a tenn fan I don't think it's that. There are programs with much greater prestige than UT (Bama/USC/Ohio St/Mich/Texas off the top of my head) but I don't think OU is one of them.

That I disagree with.

Maybe it's a wording issue then, because when I hear step down I think of a decline in prestige. I've never considered that a school's current talent level affects its prestige, since prestige is more of a long term thing.

I haven't disagreed with this anywhere. In fact, I've gone out of my way to agree with that point.

Not in the areas I mentioned. The talent level is considerably better at OU (which is why I don't think Stoops would make the jump), but if Stoops were to take the UT job he's not going to some middling program that's never done anything.

not to mention having a much, much easier path into the BCS every year. Also a tougher path to a BCS title game, though. You can lose once in the SEC and still make it (right or wrong). You most likely can't in any other conference.

With the resources and current talent at Tennessee, a coach like Stoops could have us up to 8-10 wins in a year or two tops. Better than that if he could convince more than one of Bray/Hunter/CP/James to stay. I guess when I compare coaching jobs, I look at the overall program, not just the current talent level. Resources, history, fanbase, etc., are pretty important in college football and UT and OU are pretty even in those regards.

If you look only or primarily at current talent on each team, I agree. If you're talking about prestige/history/etc, I think they're fairly even. Both are top 10 in history in wins, Tennessee has a stadium seating 100K+ (denoting a rather large fanbase), both have relatively recent BCS titles. I'm not real sure what makes UT a clear step down unless you're looking only at the current talent level of the team. As I've been saying, though, I agree with the bolded.

I agree with that. I guess my thinking is, if Stoops wants to leave (change of scenery idea), then Tennessee wouldn't be a dropoff from a historical/tradition/prestige standpoint. Clearly the talent isn't comparable between the two, but that's a temporary thing. Those who argue that there's something to the Stoops to Tennessee rumors explain it with the change of scenery argument. There's a belief around many in college football that about 10-12 years is the lifespan of a coach at one university these days. Spurrier vocalised that a couple years ago and he and Stoops are good friends. If Stoops shares this view and feels underappreciated at OU, he could see UT as a comparable job that allows for a fresh start without dropping off in caliber. As I've said, I doubt strongly that's enough for Stoops to leave OU, but it at least puts a shred of crediblity in the rumors. And who knows, if UT can pony up in the area of $6-7 mil per year and OU doesn't want to match that, maybe Stoops makes the jump. Again, I very seriously doubt it, but I also don't 100% dismiss it either (I just 99% dismiss it).

I agree with that. I guess my thinking is, if Stoops wants to leave (change of scenery idea), then Tennessee wouldn't be a dropoff from a historical/tradition/prestige standpoint. Clearly the talent isn't comparable between the two, but that's a temporary thing. Those who argue that there's something to the Stoops to Tennessee rumors explain it with the change of scenery argument. There's a belief around many in college football that about 10-12 years is the lifespan of a coach at one university these days. Spurrier vocalised that a couple years ago and he and Stoops are good friends. If Stoops shares this view and feels underappreciated at OU, he could see UT as a comparable job that allows for a fresh start without dropping off in caliber. As I've said, I doubt strongly that's enough for Stoops to leave OU, but it at least puts a shred of crediblity in the rumors. And who knows, if UT can pony up in the area of $6-7 mil per year and OU doesn't want to match that, maybe Stoops makes the jump. Again, I very seriously doubt it, but I also don't 100% dismiss it either (I just 99% dismiss it). This probably should've gone into the other thread, so I'll shift my post over there.

I'm not sure there was ever a more predictable collapse than the one Arkansas has made since naming John L the interim head coach. I can't figure out how they thought that was a good move.

Yeah, I just can't find any sound logic in cancelling out the review because the flag is thrown. I can see the 15-yarder for a number of (iffy) reasons (showing up the ref, delaying the game, etc), but literally can't think of one bit of sound logic for not reviewing the play.

There's basically 0 chance Stoops leaves OU, but if he did I don't see why Tennessee is that far-fetched a place for him.

I haven't followed the Auburn situation at all since Dooley was fired and the UT hot stove heated up considerably, but prior to Dooley's firing, I heard an Auburn beat reporter (can't remember who) say that there was a pretty strong contingent of Auburn boosters and board of trustee members who really wanted Petrino. It's not up to date by any means, but the fit makes perfect sense to me. The Stoops thing I put maybe a 1-2% chance of anything happening on that, but there's a couple of media figures who ensure there's something brewing there so who knows. The Fisher thing I think has a lot more legs to it, but still seems to be a bit of a longshot. The Gruden circus is going completely off the hinges. There's a contingent of people saying the deal is done and has been for a week or so and there's another contingent of people (interestingly, the same ones who insist there's something to the Stoops thing) saying the talks fell through and there will be no deal. Apparently the holdup, according to basically everybody around here, with Gruden is how much control he'll have. He apparently wants a Saban-esque deal where he controls everything in the football operations department and UT brass is unwilling to go that far. Honestly, I'm a little uncomfortable giving Gruden Saban level power. I'm still not convinced Gruden is a better choice than Jimbo Fisher.

I could see Auburn for Jimbo if he leaves (still doubt he does), though I think Petrino is a perfect fit there. They're desperate to win right now against Saban and probably are willing to sell their souls to do it. It's sounding like the anti-Petrino voices are winning at UT, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him wind up at Auburn.

What I've been hearing from different media types is that Jimbo isn't happy at FSU because of a power struggle between he and the AD (I believe) and apparently he's also not happy that he's apparently not getting the monetary backing that was promised for facilities and the like. Also heard that he's unhappy his team is 10-1 and stuck at 10th in the BCS behind half the SEC. He also apparently has a good relationship with current UT AD (and former FSU assistant AD) Dave Hart. I really doubted it at first and ultimately I'm not saying he'll be the hire, but there's a lot of people who have connections who say he's interested. Despite the record, I don't think Tennessee's that far from being good again and he'd likely get a raise. Could be just him angling for a raise/more funding, but there's a lot of smoke around him.

From Brent Hubbs, owner of Volquest.com and a guy pretty tied into UT athletics, especially recruiting. Also, Jimmy Hyams - a reporter who's got some connections - says there's little chance for Gruden, but insists Stoops is very much in the mix and has a good chance of coming to UT. I really hate the Al Golden rumors. Would like Jimbo, ok with Strong (best of the "second tier hires), would be intrigued by a guy like Art Briles who I've heard sporadically rumored. Really torn on Gruden - great in-game coach, but has a strong (earned) reputation of having no patience with developing young players. Could be a Weiss-like hire who brings in great talent but can't develop it.