Bucking for promotions: six who can fix

His kicker is struggling. His offensive coordinator recently was on the shelf with, of all things, an eye injury. His stout defense has shown a few flaws of late, and he has to hope the team his California Bears should've beaten this year wins out--so his team can go to the Rose Bowl.

Think Cal coach Jeff Tedford is worried about another job?

"I have a job," says the hottest coaching candidate this side of Steve Spurrier. And you know what? Believe him. Tedford isn't going anywhere; he's not leaving the burgeoning monster he's building in Berkeley. Why would he? The Bears will pay him what he wants, and the school will begin renovations of aging facilities soon enough.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's look at the Super Six coaching prospects most likely to be on the move:

1 Dan Hawkins, Boise State coach. Other schools have tried to hire Hawkins and failed, but this might be the year. Forget about the criticism that his 42-6 record is a product of a weak conference; he knows how to game-plan to find mismatches, and he's one of the game's best motivators. He's more Houston Nutt than Dirk Koetter when it comes to former Boise coaches, and Hawkins eventually will be the best of the three. Gut feeling: Florida will hire Hawkins.

2 Joe Glenn, Wyoming coach. One of the best lower-division coaches in years (three national championships), Glenn has the Cowboys bowl-eligible in his second season in Laramie with a fun and productive one-back offense. Considering where Wyoming was when he arrived, that feat is remarkable. Gut feeling: Colorado will hire Glenn if Gary Barnett is fired.

3 Norm Chow, USC offensive coordinator. There's this theory that Chow doesn't "show" as a head coach--he doesn't like to schmooze with boosters and despises bureaucracy. Yeah, so what? Few can coach offense like Chow--check out the last three quarterbacks he has coached: Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart--and it's time someone took a chance. Gut feeling: UNLV will hire Chow.

4 Chuck Long, Oklahoma offensive coordinator. He has a fantastic offensive mind and is a young coach with the charisma and character of Bob Stoops. Long has gained a tremendous amount of respect in the coaching community and likely will put together an impressive staff. Gut feeling: Illinois will hire Long.

5 Chris Petersen, Boise State offensive coordinator. He's one of the game's best offensive minds, and he has grown under quality head coaches at Oregon (Mike Bellotti) and Boise State. His offenses were No. 1 in the nation in 2002 and '03, and the Broncos' is among the top five this season. Like Tedford, Petersen is a West Coast guy and likely won't stray. Gut feeling: Petersen will take the Boise State job if Hawkins leaves.

6 Bret Bielema, Wisconsin defensive coordinator. No assistant is rising faster than Bielema, whose defenses at Kansas State and Wisconsin have been among the best in the nation. He also has been one of the game's best recruiters, responsible for the talent-rich area of South Florida while coaching at Iowa, K-State and Wisconsin. Gut feeling: Bielema will stay at Wisconsin unless Joe Paterno retires and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz leaves for Happy Valley. In that case, Bielema would return to Iowa, his alma mater.

speed reads

Let me get this straight: Any school in the nation would do back flips to hire Steve Spurrier if it had an opening--except the school Spurrier wants to coach: Florida. Heavy-handed Gators president Bernie Machen had better make a splash with his hire, or he'll be next to go.

I have a suggestion for Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville: Get the Tigers to the SEC championship game--one win away from playing for it all in the Orange Bowl--then i walk into the boss' office and say buh-bye, I'm taking a job in Seattle. Ah, sweet redemption.

For the second consecutive season, Michigan stumbled in a game it shouldn't have--this time against Notre Dame; last season it was Oregon. The Wolverines are again chasing a Big Ten title when they could be headed toward a national championship. Michigan is the poster team for a playoff. In the age of the BCS, that means zip.

INSIDE DISH

It's time to play Where's Stevie? Ever since his alma mater, Florida, snubbed him, Steve Spurrier--you might know him as college football's most available coach--has been linked to numerous jobs. The fact is this: Spurrier wants to coach in a warm-weather climate. The rumored front-runner: South Carolina. Even though Gamecocks coach Lou Holtz is campaigning for Spurrier should Holtz retire, it's not a lock. Spurrier likely will wait to see how things shake out before making a decision. The NFL will be a factor, but only because coaches such as LSU's Nick Saban and Georgia Tech's Chart Galley could be moving back into the league-and both of those jobs are more attractive than South Carolina's. So is the Clemson job, which now looks like a possibility with the Tigers' unthinkable loss to Duke. One more intriguing possibility: Alabama. Don't think the Tide wouldn't jettison Mike Shula for Spurrier. * The beauty of college football: It took a small group of Duke football fans--not hundreds or thousands of blue-clad crazies--about 20 minutes to bring down a set of goal posts after the Clemson win. Those crazy, fun-lovin', little Dukies. Run along, fellas. Basketball season is here. * It's time to take away the Big East's automatic bid to the BCS. Boston College, which is putting together an impressive season in its last year in the Big East, rolled league favorite West Virginia last week and all but locked up its first BCS bid. One problem: B.C. would be middle of the pack-at best-in its new league, the ACC. Adding Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida to the Big East isn't going to make it better. Giving the league's automatic BCS bid to the highest-ranked team among the Big East and non-BCS schools is the next logical step. * If it hadn't been for some truly pathetic and unimaginative play calling on a series that started with a first-and-goal at the 1, Indiana would've beaten Penn State, and legendary coach Joe Paterno would've been figuring a way to bail out gracefully in Happy Valley. That one victory-because of ineptitude on the part of Indiana's staff-likely gave Paterno another year to straighten out the mess. * Kansas coach Mark Mangino likely will receive a hefty fine from the Big 12 for his critical comments about officiating in a 27-23 loss to Texas. Two thoughts for KU and Mangino: 1) Of course it was a horrible call, but good teams play through it, and 2) How about stopping fourth-and-18 on Texas' last drive so there's no reason to complain about something you have no control over? * Trust us, Oklahoma-Nebraska will be good again soon. At the end of OU's 30-3 victory, the Sooners were using a no-huddle offense to try to tack on another score with less than a minute to play. Once Nebraska stopped that drive, a long run set up the Huskers' 39-yard field goal to avoid the shutout. As OU fans pelted the field--and the Huskers--with oranges, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan reportedly screamed, "Hillbillies!" Ah, the sweet smell of a rivalry.