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Come Saturday, the football season will start to come to a close California and Western Michigan will end disappointing seasons, and the coaching carousel will almost surely begin. While we can't speak for Jeff Tedford, we can look at the entire MAC and see who may be going and who should be staying.
For this, we will use two ratings: Safety and Success. Why? Because this isn't just the who will be fired, but who might bolt for a better job. For "Safety", we'll use a 1-10 rating where 1 is Nick Saban after last season (and probably before last weekend) and 10 is Rob Ianello at the same point. For "Success" we'll go 1-5, with a point being earned ONCE only for each of the following: BCS win, division title, conference title, bowl berth, bowl win. So if a coach has 3 BCS wins, 1 MACC appearance (a loss), and two bowl berths (two losses), he'd earn 3 points. OK? Alright, let's go right down the line.......
Terry Bowden (Akron, 1st year) - SAFETY: 8.5, SUCCESS: 0. Bowden is 1-9 in his first year at Akron, and just lost to UMass. The same UMass team that was expected to lose every game this season. Nevertheless, he has a difficult task of turning around a dreadful Akron squad. He will get a minimum of 3 years to turn around that program, and will undoubtedly return next season with a slightly warm seat. Blame it on the pizza. Verdict: Returns.
Pete Lembo (Ball State, 2nd year) - SAFETY: 8 (and rising), SUCCESS: 1 (with another 2 points possible). Lembo has this Cardinal team on the up and up. By turning around the program Lembo has bought himself about 2-3 years to compete. I mean, he beat TWO BCS teams this year. Should he win a bowl, he might get some looks from upper level programs. Still, I don't see him getting anything too serious. Verdict: Returns.
Dave Clawson (BGSU, 4th year) - SAFETY: 6.5 (and rising), SUCCESS: 1 (with another 3 points possible). Clawson is 4 games over .500 this season and can win a MAC East title with wins over Kent St and Buffalo in the next two weeks. That said, he had to suffer through a 2-10 and 5-7 season in the past two. Still, he has a bowl berth and this decently successful season should buy him another 2 years minimum. Verdict: Returns.
Jeff Quinn (Buffalo, 3rd year) - SAFETY: 3.45, SUCCESS: 0. Quinn may have bought himself some time, and another season, with this late season surge. How? Decent performance against Georgia, injure some players against Morgan State, have said players come back, beat two middle of the pack teams. Convincing wins? No, but wins nonetheless. Should he beat UMass, he will have improved the record of the Bulls by a game in each year of his tenure. Verdict: Returns.
Dan Enos (CMU, 3rd year) - SAFETY: 1.5, SUCCESS: 1. Should Enos finish this season .500, I HIGHLY doubt the Chips get a bowl. Why? 6 wins is fairly expected when you face an FCS team, EMU, Akron, and UMass before the other usual suspects. The win over Iowa helped bolster his resume, and get them over the 3-9 mark, but the CMU fans are getting restless after the LeFevor Era. Maybe it's the Bronco in me that wants to see him back and go 1-3 against WMU, but I don't see him getting fired with a 5-7 year, let alone a 6-6 year. Verdict: Returns.
Ron English (EMU, 4th year) - SAFETY: 1.25 (and plummeting), SUCCESS: 0 (although if you call a .500 year at EMU a success there's that). English has a mere 9-37 record, but 6 of those wins came last year. The defense has been horrid, and for a defensive coach, that's never good. Another double-digit loss season is in the cards, the 3rd of his tenure. However, if he can pull out the win against WMU and retain the Michigan MAC Trophy, that may just be enough to buy one more year. Verdict: Fired.
Darrell Hazell (Kent St, 2nd year) - SAFETY: 9 (and sky-rocketing), SUCCESS: 1 (with a possibility of 4 more). Hazell has completely turned the Kent State program around. They are in the AP for the first time in almost 40 years. They are probably going to a bowl as well. For a program that has little to no history of success, boatloads of it puts you on the radar. Should he win the MACC and/or a bowl game, I undoubtedly see Hazell getting an offer somewhere else. Whether he accepts or not will be on him. Verdict: Accepts higher position.
Charlie Molnar (UMass, 1st year) - SAFETY: 8, SUCCESS: 0. Another first year coach that will not get the slip after a bad year. Just won't happen. I mean, hey! They beat Akron! They have an FBS win this year! SUCCESS!!!!!! Verdict: Returns.Don Treadwell (Miami, 2nd year) - SAFETY: 5, SUCCESS: 0. The win against Ohio this year helps, but not a lot. However, getting to .500 this year would help ease the load heading into next season. A bowl berth is unlikely, but with wins over Ohio and Ball State, they would have a fighting chance against some of the other mid-majors that might be teetering. Still, he hasn't been bad enough to get fired. Verdict: Returns
Dave Doeren (NIU, 2nd year) - SAFETY: 10, SUCCESS: 5. That's right, in just 1 season, Doreen completed 4 of the success goals, and with his win over Kansas got the 5th point. There is no way Doreen gets fired, as he switched OCs, switched QBs, and lost a great center and still is just 2 points away from having a perfect season with 2 games to play until the MACC. If there is any doubt that he might be poached, please erase that right now. It's going to happen, it just is a matter of who and when? Next year? Doubtful, I'll go after this season. Verdict: Accepts higher position.
Frank Solich (Ohio, 8th year) - SAFETY: 9, SUCCESS: 4. In 8 years, Solich has taken his teams to 3 MACC games and 4 bowls, but has only 1 win in those 7 games. However, that is success that you cannot deny. Injuries probably killed his perfect season this year, but they are still probably making a bowl game, and they carried the MAC torch for most of the year. I don't see Solich ever leaving Ohio, as his dream job fired him once. He is Ohio until he retires. Verdict: Returns.
Matt Campbell (Toledo, 1st year) - SAFETY: 8.75, SUCCESS: 2 (with the possibility of the full 3 to go). I give Campbell the bowl win from last season as he was the coach when Beckman left. He will almost undoubtedly get the 3rd success point as a bowl berth. However, the MAC West and MAC title may elude him this year. Still, a ton of success early on, and he is just a year or two away from possibly being poached like Beckman. Verdict: Returns.
Bill Cubit (WMU, 8th year) - SAFETY: 0.75, SUCCESS: 2. In my mind (which may be a bit biased), this is the biggest question mark. In 8 seasons, Cubit has never won a MAC West title, never won a bowl game, has the equivalent of FIVE 3rd place finishes in the West, one 2nd, and soon to be two 4ths (unless he loses to EMU). He has just 1 Michigan MAC Trophy (with the possibility of 1 more) and is just 22-26 since 2008 when he went 9-4. For a team that has been so close, they have never been to the top, and Bronco fans have become restless. In all honesty, his job probably rests on Saturday's game against EMU. In 2009, his Bronco team lost to a (then) 1-10 Ball State team on ESPN2 to finish below .500 in Tim Hiller's final season. Should nearly the same thing happen to Cubit's next QB, Alex Carder, against lesser rival EMU, Bronco fans will call for his head. Verdict: Returns on a fire hot seat.
What are your opinions? How do you feel your coach sits? Should CMU or Buffalo make coaching switches? Will Hazell and/or Doreen go on? Anything else to add? Be the voice for your school! Comment below