OK folks, for arguments sake let’s say Mario has to go — I completely disagree, by the way, but what the heck…
Let’s check the market and look at some of the head coaches who are suddenly available right now, and their 2021 records:
Dan Mullen — someone mentioned him earlier: 5-6 at time of firing. Awesome. Especially that come-from-behind shootout against Samford.
Ed Orgeron — hey, he was on TV with The Rock so that counts for something — 5-6 after winning a championship two years ago. Guess he needs to recruit better.
Gary Patterson — remember him from the Helfrich Alamo Bowl Collapse? 5-6 this year. I’m a fan of the Horny Frogs, but the 2011 Rose Bowl was as good as it got for them.
I hear Jimmy Lake and Rolo are looking for work, too. Both had problems with shots, though — Rolo would take shots downfield, but not in his arm; Lake wouldn’t take shots at opposing defenses, but did take them at his own players.
Chris Patterson is available — he’s not coaching — but he really left Washington in great shape, didn’t he? And he lost to Mario twice.
Lane Kiffin is technically still employed by Mississippi — but seriously, who would want to hire him? Anybody from Tennessee in the room? And boy, what a job he did with USC, hey? Good enough to get kicked off the team plane on the way home. He was left standing on the tarmac like the end of Casablanca.
Someone mentioned Mike Leach — also not available. The Pirate captained WSU to mediocrity over 8 seasons — punctuated by a loss in the Cheez-It bowl on his way out the door. Then he went to Mississippi State, and so far he has his Bulldogs on an 11-11 rampage. Shiver me timbers.
So, who are you going to call first, once you’ve fired your 9-2 coach?
Your 9-2 coach, who has lifted the program from the stagnation of the Helfrich era, extinguished the Taggart dumpster-fire, and has made solid assistant coach hires. Anyone care to recall how many assistants Taggart lost before his 7-5 season even began? And how about that strength coach he took with him to Florida?
And because the ghost of Chip hangs over this board, let’s go there and talk about Chip. Let’s talk about 17-25 over 4 years at UCLA. Then let’s talk about Mario and 34-12 over those same four years — and that’s counting the Las Vegas Bowl loss, which should really count against Taggart. Really, people?
Be careful what you ask for folks — you just might get it!