UMass still interested in Brown for something and other links

According to Blauds Don Brown remains a candidate at UMass for both the Head job and as a DC if Whipple gets the job. I am suspicious of all the speculation. Why would he leave BC (and presumably take a paycut) to go back to UMass as a coordinator? He was already head coach there. Would he want to work with Whipple that much? I am also doubtful that UMass would hire Brown for their head job. As much as our defense struggled this year, I don't want to scrap Brown's system after just one season. As we saw under Spaz, revolving coordinators doesn't lead to on the field success.

Under Armour signed Notre Dame to an apparel deal. It will be interesting to see how welcoming the Irish are to Under Armour's unique designs. I know the players don't care for the shoes, but as a fan I've been generally happy with the Under Armour BC uniforms. The only thing I hated was the white stripe helmet and that seems to be going away.

Charlie Davies signed with the Revolution.

This article doesn't mention BC, but it does deal with the growing issue of college basketball transfers. This new trend could help our next coach balance his roster fairly quickly. If anything having one mega class that didn't have much attrition hurt Donahue's ability to backfill with transfers.

These guys won't be BC's new coach

Lots of names get floated during a search process. Some of it is speculation, some of it is a favor to an agent or coach and some of it is reporting. I've been guilty of doing all three.

Occasionally the decisionmakers float a name as a trail balloon or to distract. I don't know how Brad Bates operates yet, so I assume he won't be leaking any names as a power play this time around. But I do know enough about the process that a lot of the names being mentioned already are not real candidates. I assume their names are coming up as speculation or as a favor to the named coach. Here are four that have been floated that will not get the job:

Mark Whipple. Whipple told Gene to shove it six years ago when he realized keeping Spaz on as DC was the only way to get the head job. Hindsight shows he was right about that sort of working environment being untenable. But nothing he has done in the last six years shows that he is the right guy for the job now. He's bounced around the NFL and had a mediocre run as Miami's Offensive Coordinator. It has been ten years since he's been a head coach. His history with this particular job, his age and his record mean that Whipple will not be a factor this time around.

Sean McDonnell.  McDonnell himself is dismissing his candidacy. His record at UNH is nice but there is little to suggest he is the right guy to turn BC around. I think at this point BC is looking for a mix of experience and youthful energy. I don't think a long-time established New England FCS coach is going to come in and have that burning desire to make BC great again.

Tim Murphy. Tim Murphy has a lot of fans in the local media, local coaching community and even at BC. Chip Kelly is also a big advocate. But his record at Cincinnati is one red flag. The fact that BC is watching another Ivy League coach in a major sport struggle with his transition to the ACC/BC is another red flag. This is a recurring theme and makes me sound like an ageist, but Murphy is on the wrong side of 55. Can he go out and find every recruit BC needs? Is he going to adjust his staff and ways of operating to compete in the ACC?

Kevin Gilbride. I like Kevin Gilbride (and in full disclosure I went to high school with his daughter). He may be a favorite of some vocal Alumni, but he is not getting the job this time around. Age (he's 61), his losing record as a head coach, his long time away from the college game and his past history with this particular job all lead to him not being a real candidate this time around.

I've been wrong about these things before (see Ryan Day for OC), but I feel pretty confident these guys are not going to be coaching BC next year. If I had to hedge on any of them it would be Murphy. He is so well liked by so many that Bates may give him a shot, but that would only come after many, many other candidates fell through.

Randy Edsall finally gets out of UConn

As I mentioned, I never envied UConn's BCS appearance nor that they had Randy Edsall as their coach. Well after interviewing with BC (three times), Miami, Georgia Tech, and NC State, Edsall finally landed an ACC job with Maryland. I don't think he'll be a disaster, but I think Maryland could have been more bold with the new hire. Mike Leach at Maryland would have been scary for BC. Rich Rodriquez would have made things interesting. I am not even sure Edsall is an upgrade over Friedgen.

As for why Edsall wanted out...I think the situation is very similar to TOB's at BC. I think these coaches get tired of the limitations and start to think the grass is greener. Edsall knew getting UConn back to the BCS would be tough and that anything less would be met with fan impatience. Now he gets a fresh start and a raise.

Of course this coaching carousel will impact BC as old names like Jags and Whipple have surfaced as candidates in Storrs. If Jags lands the gig I will weigh in further. But let me say this: UConn is a tough place to build a winner. Syracuse is back. TCU is entering the conference. It looks like WVU just upgraded their staff. I think the better Big East opening is Pitt but at this point I think Jags and Whipple are both itching for a chance to be the head guy again and both are filled with confidence that they can win anywhere.