Posts Tagged ‘charlie strong’

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South Florida: Skip Holtz, speaking at his post-game presser tonight said he plans to meet with his adminstration tomorrow. Said he understands that anything could happen and that changes will have to be made. 

Tennessee: Charlie Strong met with athletic director Dave Hart yesterday. 

NC State: Sources tell us Dave Doeren will look to hire both his offensive and defensive coordinator from "BCS" programs. We are told the pool for assistants is sized accordingly. Will keep you posted. 

Northern Illinois: Multiple sources tell us offensive line coach Rod Carey likely to be promoted to head coach. 

NC State: We have confirmed that Debbie Yow interviewed Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doeren earlier today. Update> Sources tell us Doeren has accepted the job. Further Update> The University has confirmed. CBS Sports is now reporting that Doeren's annual compensation will be approximately $1.8 million (was making $420,000 at NIU)! Here's The Scoop on Doeren to N.C. State.

The "update" to the FootballScoop iPhone App is now available. Update is free for those that have previously purchased the app. On iPads we recommend using Safari to view the site.

Tennessee Tech (FCS): Offensive line coach Thomas Cox has left the staff to accept a position with Life Church. 

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After the stunning departure of Bret Bielema for Arkansas, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez quickly inserted himself as the Badgers' figurehead head coach for the Rose Bowl. 

"I don't want this to be about me," Alvarez said at the time. "I want this to be about the players. I want to give them as good an opportunity to win the Rose Bowl as we possibly can."

The university announced today that the College Football Hall of Fame coach, three Rose Bowls while patrolling the sidelines for Wisconsin, will be paid $118,500 for his month-long return to coaching. In sum, Alvarez will make $203,500 this month: $195,000 for his coaching duties (90 percent of Bielema's monthly salary) and $8,500 for his athletic director duties. The $203,500 figure represents a $118,500 increase from Alvarez's regular athletic director salary. He can earn an additional $50,000 if the Badgers defeat Stanford on Jan. 1. The money for Alvarez's bump in pay is generated from Bielema's $1 million buyout. 

"We weighed the factors involved, including the unique circumstances that developed less than a month before the game, the challenges of the job, the marketplace and his strength as a coach and concluded that this is a reasonable arrangement," said Wisconsin Board President Brent Smith.

In other coaching bonus news, Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com reported today that recently departed Northern Illinois coach will miss out on a $100,000 bonus for leading Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl. Don't shed a tear for Doeren, though, as he received a raise from $400,000 to $1.8 million in leaving for N.C. State.

Nick Saban is in line for the biggest bonus of all BCS-bound coaches. The Crimson Tide head coach could make $400,000 with a win over Notre Dame. Louisville's Charlie Strong will receive a total of $291,667 for leading the Cardinals to the Sugar Bowl. Will Muschamp is due a bonus of $100,000, while Chip Kelly will get $50,000, Bill Snyder will receive $40,000 and Jimbo Fisher will earn $20,000. Fisher will root for major rankings chaos to benefit is 12th-ranked Seminoles, as he could earn an extra $100,000 if Florida State finishes in the top 5. 

The contracts for Notre Dame's Brian Kelly and Stanford's David Shaw are not public. 

At his Thursday morning press conference, Charlie Strong formally announced that he would be staying at Louisiville. But what he also did, whether he realized it or not, was show the importance of the relationship between a head coach and an athletic director in a successful football program. 

After nine moves in 26 years as an assistant (including four different stays at Florida), it was Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich that gave Charlie Strong 

"(Louisville AD) Tom Jurich gave me my first chance to be a head coach," Strong explained. "I had been on short lists, but Tom made it clear I was the only one on his list."

Strong led Louisville to a 7-6 record in his first two seasons at Louisville. After boosting the Cardinals to a 10-2 record and Orange Bowl berth this fall, other suitors came calling. Tennessee, in particular, put a strong effort to lure Strong away. 

"When I thought about leaving, I kept going back to 'we haven't finished the job yet.'," Strong explained. "So much has happened in the program and so much has been built in this athletic program because of Tom Jurich."

In case you aren't familiar with the history of Louisville athletics, Yahoo!'s Pat Forde last week detailed just how far Jurich has taken the Cardinals' program. This was a school that needed an intervention from then-Conference USA commissioner Mike Slive from being kicked out of the league. Now, they're preparing for an all-sports move to the ACC. 

"He's provided us with everything we need to succeed and he's done that for all of our sports," said Strong.

Jurich is scheduled for his own press conference later Thursday morning to detail Strong's extension. As has become the norm in today's college football, compensation for assistant coaches will be a key factor in keeping Strong in red and black.

"Tom and I haven't even sat down to talk about the details of the contract," said Strong. "I do want to make sure my assistants are taken care of."

Louisville AD Tom Jurich sat down with reporters earlier today to talk about his initial interview with Charlie Strong back before officially bringing him on in board in December of 2009.

Jurich said that he did all of the homework that he could possibly do on Charlie Strong, including calling Urban Meyer and Tony Dungy to get their thoughts, so when it came time to ask questions Jurich had just one question and three rules.

Jurich drove up to Strong's house to meet the day after Florida had played Alabama in the SEC title game to sit and talk and told Strong that he had three rules before they got started. Number one was that he didn't want to see any books, because "all coaches carry around the same recycled book". Number two was that he had to interview in sweats, or at least be comfortable in "Levi's and a golf shirt". The third rule was that he wanted Strong to have his entire family there.

Once Jurich sat down in front of Strong, he opened up with his one and only question.

"Before we get started, do you want to be the head coach at Louisville?"

Taken aback a bit, Strong finally answered "Yes". They then spent the next five hours hashing out how they were going to build the program back up.

Listen to more of the story from Jurich below. Really fascinating stuff in here, and that story is just the tip of the iceberg.

Numerous reports throughout the day state that Charlie Strong is close to signing an extension to keep him at Louisville, and after hearing this behind the scenes story, it's easy to see why Strong feels so strong about Louisville and the people there. Strong weighs in on what makes Jurich a special person to work for at the 6 minute mark.

Cincinnati at Louisville (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Though these teams have played only three league games between them, Cincinnati and Louisville will battle for a share of first place in the Big East tonight. Cincinnati (5-1, 1-0 Big East) comes in smarting after a 29-23 loss at Toledo while Louisville (7-0, 2-0 Big East) is one of 10 undefeated teams left in FBS and ranked No. 16 in the BCS Standings.

Charlie Strong's team has masterfully executed a season-long tightrope walk to remain unscathed with four of their last five wins still in doubt until the final horn sounded. The Cardinals have struggled to play above their competition all season, allowing North Carolina to fight back from a 39-14 fourth quarter deficit before a 39-34 decision, holding off 1-7 Florida International in a 28-21 win, needing a 15 unanswered points to defeat winless Southern Miss 21-17 and requiring late touchdown pass and a red zone interception to last-place South Florida, 27-25. Louisville should give its best effort tonight but it's only a matter of time before a coinflip game doesn't bounce their way. 

Cincinnati has won with defense this season, ranking in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense at 16.8 points allowed per game. Butch Jones' team has played its best defense in the red zone, where they rank 12th in the country and have allowed only six touchdowns in 17 trips. On the year the Bearcats, led by co-coordinators Steve Stripling and John Jancek, have played effective bend-but-don't-break defense by holding opponents to as many field goals (10) as touchdowns. Compare that to Louisville, which has given up 21 touchdowns and two field goals this season. 

The success, or lack thereof, of Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and Cincinnati signal caller Munchie Legaux will likely decide the game. Bridgewater leads the Big East in passing efficiency (165.21) while averaging 9.01 yards per attempt to go with 11 touchdowns against three picks. Legaux matched his season high with two interceptions in last week's loss. The first was returned 75 yards for a touchdown, and the second ended any hopes Cincinnati had of a last-gasp comeback. 

Nevada at Air Force (8 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network)

With the way these teams run the ball, this game may be over in time for those in attendance to catch a late dinner and movie. Going strictly by each team's season averages, the Falcons and Wolf Pack will combine for 112 rushes for just under 625 total yards. Neither team is particularly adept at stopping the run; Nevada (4.37 yards per rush allowed) is slightly better at stopping the run than Air Force's 5.36 yards per rush allowed. 

Nevada's biggest advantage comes from its offensive balance. Chris Ault's team throws the ball for nearly 270 yards per game with 16 touchdowns against just four picks while picking up 8.25 yards per attempt. Troy Calhoun's team makes almost no effort to throw the ball, but often find success when they do. With just 74 passes this season (only two more than Army for the fewest in FBS), the Falcons are one of three teams averaging a first down with every pass, trailing just NCAA-leading Baylor and fellow triple option devotee Georgia Tech at 10.49 yards per pass. Air Force has also thrown for six scores, five of which have come from 35 yards or further. 

One key mistake could decide this game as both teams will struggle to get the opposing offense off the field. Air Force leads the country by converting nearly 57 percent of its third downs, while Nevada ranks ninth at nearly 53 percent. Conversely, both squads rank in the bottom 20 nationally in third down defense. 

Like its counterpart, this game also has implications on the conference title chase. Each squad stands at 3-1 in Mountain West in a group of four teams chasing first-place Boise State.