Top 10 toughest jobs in college football

[WAR-MATT 2]

Guess what is #2?

Link

College football's toughest jobs posted: Wednesday, August 8, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry

This week's list topic is the toughest jobs in college football, or at least toughest jobs connected to college football. I spent a fair amount of time interviewing folks in pretty much every facet of the game for this one and the responses were pretty interesting.

1. Recruiting Coordinator at Buffalo: This is one of a handful of the toughest sells in I-A football, but what separates it from the likes of Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette is that Buffalo isn't in a very fertile area for football talent. Worse still, there is little football history to sell and whatever talent there is in the area will either be scooped up by the Big Ten or Syracuse. Worst of all: the average temperature in Buffalo during the month of January is 23 degrees, and yes, January is when 90 percent of recruits take their official visits to colleges. This alone might be reason enough to lobby for an early signing period.

2. Sports Information Director, Alabama: Doug Walker has worked with more than his share of high-profile coaches. He was with Dennis Franchione at TCU; Butch Davis and Larry Coker at Miami; Ty Willingham and Charlie Weis at Notre Dame; Don Shula's son Mike at Alabama, but none probably are as much of a challenge as Nick Saban, who is notorious for his harsh rep in dealing with staffers. Just a few months into Saban's arrival at Alabama, Walker had a few sticky situations to deal with. This job was actually further down the list until I started looking at the reactions to a little survey I did of people in the SID world. I'd asked which coach would be the toughest to work for in terms of gruffness towards staff and overall 'throw you under the bus' quotient. Of the 28 SIDs who responded, only two coaches drew more than one vote: Charlie Weis, who was nominated twice and Nick Saban, who was named 17 times.

[quietfan 233]

This job was actually further down the list until I started looking at the reactions to a little survey I did of people in the SID world. I'd asked which coach would be the toughest to work for in terms of gruffness towards staff and overall 'throw you under the bus' quotient. Of the 28 SIDs who responded, only two coaches drew more than one vote: Charlie Weis, who was nominated twice and Nick Saban, who was named 17 times.

So St. Nick wins another poll...

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but more and more I get the feeling that Saban's career may have "jumped the shark". He wasn't successful at Miami, his attitude toward others and the press is not going to fly for long in Tuscaloosa, and rumors of a lax attitude toward NCAA regs continue to swirl. I expect Bama's defence (CNS's speciality) to struggle this year and Saban isn't building up very much "good will equity" with the media or the PTB at UAT to carry him through the rough spots.

[WAR-MATT 2]

Here's another little jab from the ESPN guys. You would think Ivan's bro could take care of this for good ole St. Nick.

Espn

The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.

[TigerOne 1,152]

that's how you build loyality, or is it mutiny, you reap what you sow nicky.

[AUBandDad 0]

Of the 28 SIDs who responded, only two coaches drew more than one vote: Charlie Weis, who was nominated twice and Nick Saban, who was named 17 times.

Does UAT get to count that as another national championship?