Fairness gets lost when coaches find new schools

Sporting News, The, Dec 26, 1994 by Ivan Maisel

Rarely is there any aspect of a coaching change that elicits gentlemanly behavior. Contracts are broken by schools doing the firing. Contracts are broken by coaches moving to better jobs. The need for victory overrides the need for civil discourse. That is understood by everyone in the business.

The events of this offseason are a prime example of everything wrong with the coaching racket. Gerry DiNardo left Vanderbilt for Louisiana State only hours after telling his players he would not be leaving.

Coaches have been doing it since the invention of the whistle. It's part of the game that the adult can leave at the drop of a hat endorsement while the student athletes, committed to the university, must surrender an appendage to join him. Maybe it's a good lesson in how the real world works. That doesn't make it right, or pretty.

DiNardo had pulled out of the LSU running when it appeared he had come in second to Pat Sullivan. However, Sullivan and LSU disagreed over how to pay for the $400,000 buyout of his contract with Texas Christian. Gee, you mean those things are binding?

LSU Athletic Director Joe Dean, having called a news conference December 9, presumably to introduce Sullivan, suddenly had to explain why he wouldn't be introducing Sullivan. The next day, Dean flew to Nashville to see if he and DiNardo could pick up where they had left off.

For what it's worth, history has proved that Southeastern Conference coaches who move from one member school to another don't do well.

Doug Dickey won two SEC titles at Tennessee in the late 1960s, then left for Florida, where in nine seasons he came in second once. Bill Curry won an SEC title at Alabama and left for Kentucky, where he has struggled. The only jumper who has improved his lot is Red Drew, who left Mississippi after the 1946 season to go to Alabama, where he won one league title and earned three bowl bids in eight seasons.

Good moves

Just because Oklahoma and Oklahoma State acted a few days after the other major schools in the market for a coach doesn't mean they did a poor job of it.

Oklahoma announced last week that Louisville Coach Howard Schnellenberger will replace Gary Gibbs. Schnellenberger has been a winner wherever he has gone. He won a national championship at Miami in 1983, then turned the Cardinals into a regular contender for the postseason.

The Cowboys hired Bob Simmons, the Colorado assistant passed over in favor of wunderkind Rick Neuheisel. This is a case of the best thing happening for everyone involved. Outgoing Colorado Coach Bill McCartney endorsed Simmons at Colorado. That obviously carried weight in Stillwater, where the administration couldn't have been happier.

"We're ecstatic to be bringing in our first choice at OSU," university President James Halligan says. "He is the only man to whom the job was offered, and he took it."

Simmons will become the sixth African American head coach in Division I-A. After some early lack of movement, African Americans will lead Oklahoma State and Stanford, while Matt Simon and North Texas will move to the big time next season.

Vanderbilt will be the only major I-A school without a coach. Navy is still open, too.

Raw deal

Miami junior defensive tackle Warren Sapp, the third defensive finalist for the Heisman Trophy in the last four seasons, laughed before the ceremony when someone wished him luck. "Luck?" Sapp replied. "More like a miracle." He finished sixth among the six finalists.

"No way am I going to get 920 people to say I deserve the Heisman," Sapp said afterward. "It's just not like that. The trophy has a ball in his hand. Whoever has the ball the most usually wins it. That's the way it should be."

Sapp's ebullient personality tightens when the subject becomes the NFL. He won't address it until after the Orange Bowl. If he's a high first-round pick, which would seem almost a certainty if anyone has watched him play more than one series, then he would be smart to leave.

You may pick the greatest upset of the season as Southern Methodist tying Texas A&M, 21-21, ruining an otherwise spectacular season for the Aggies. But the greatest upset may have been Sapp's loss of the Outland Trophy to Nebraska tackle Zach Wiegert. Not that Wiegert isn't deserving -- but Sapp had a season unlike any in recent years at Miami, where the honor roll preceding him includes the late Jerome Brown, Daniel Stubbs, Cortez Kennedy and Russell Maryland.

As for the rumors of his coach leaving for the NFL, Dennis Erickson has told University of Miami officials the only head coaching job he would be interested in is with the Seattle Seahawks. Erickson grew up in Everett, a bedroom community north of Seattle. He may have a great gig where he is, but going home is going home.

Around the nation

Three of the six Heisman finalists will play quarterback at the Senior Bowl next month. Penn State's Kerry Collins, Alabama's Jay Barker and Alcorn State's Steve McNair will be able to battle each other on the same field. ... For Army senior linebacker Eric Oliver, December has been very good: Army defeated Navy, he became one of 15 National Scholar-Athletes and was recently named a Rhodes Scholar.... The gossip about the NCAA Convention next month is that the restructuring discussions may yield as many fireworks as the initial-eligibility debates. Restructuring is shorthand for the major conferences wresting power away from their fellow NCAA members. If the big boys don't get what they want, they may bolt.