Football Coaching Carousel

College Football40

What year is it? I just tagged this entry with “Chuck Amato” and “Norm Chow”!

Don’t know if you’ve been able to follow some of the news over the holiday week that also included the bowl game, but there have been some interesting developments in the world of college football recently.

 

=====> Over at UNC, it appears Larry Fedora will announce his entire staff at a press conference on January 3rd. The speculation appears that he will bring about half his staff from Southern Miss to be complemented with some other hires, including Vic Koenning

 

=====> We couldn’t be happier for former NC State offensive coordinator, Norm Chow. Chow finally got his shot as a head coach at one of the best possible fits for him – Hawaii. This link discusses Chow’s emotional introduction at Hawaii.

After five schools, four decades and three national championships, Norm Chow’s career has come full circle.

A tearful Chow was introduced Thursday as the new coach of Hawaii in an emotional news conference surrounded by old friends, including a high school teammate.

“I’m honored, I’m humbled and I’m awfully excited to be here to stand before you as the next football coach of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors,” Chow said, using the mascot name that was shed more than a decade ago under former coach June Jones.

The 65-year-old Chow was born and raised in Honolulu and got his coaching start in the islands. Today, Chow is being looked upon to revive the struggling Warriors football program that failed to make the postseason this year.

“How many people are fortunate enough to go full circle? I’m blessed. I’m honored. I know that,” he said. “I say my prayers every morning and I’m grateful for that. I started at Waialua High School in 1970 and to have this chance to come back home all these years later is just a treat. It’s a privilege and I’m never going to ever forget that.”

Chow has become an instant island icon in this football crazed state with no professional team sports. He was scheduled to attend a reception hosted by Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Thursday night before returning to Utah, where he is in his first season as offensive coordinator. The Utes are preparing to face Georgia Tech in the Hyundai Sun Bowl.

 

=====> Over at FootballScoop.com we find that

Akron: We hear Terry Bowden has offered the defensive coordinator job to Chuck Amato. John Pont (Miami Ohio defensive intern / linebackers) will have a spot on the staff and we hear Ben Murphy, director of football operations at North Alabama, will serve as his director of football operations.

WOW!! A Bowden & Amato coming together again? At…AKRON?!?! Of all places? Surely the Zips can’t be too thrilled to have a guy on staff who publicly criticized their academics 6 or 7 years ago?

 

=====> Ken Browning is no longer a Tar heel. It truly is a new era.  Expect there to be a lot of debate from different factions of Wolfpacknation that will have very diverse opinions on Browning and his potential value to NC State.  I am staying out of the conversation for a while.

North Carolina: Longtime UNC assistant Kenny Browning was officially released today after 18 seasons in Chapel Hill. Browning has spent the last 40 years coaching at two high schools in North Carolina and at UNC.

 

=====> Related coaching news is not just limited to college programs. There is the buzz about Bill Cowher potentially coaching Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers. (Link) If that happens, my Texans better go get me a few more Wolfpackers to help the balance of my allegiance!

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40 Responses to Football Coaching Carousel

  1. vtpackfan 12/30/2011 at 11:27 AM #

    Bowden and Amato at Akron! That duo together partially qualifies as respectable.

  2. Prowling Woofie 12/30/2011 at 11:35 AM #

    If I’m TOB, I’m at least calling Ken Browning and having a discussion with him…

  3. hoop 12/30/2011 at 12:02 PM #

    Re Browning. We already have a surprisingly good RB coach in Sands who did a great job developing Washington and Creecy this year after Mustafa went down. So if Browning has some value to the Wolfpack it would presumably be in some position other than RB coach.

    I see from his bio he’s coached both sides of the ball including DC. Unless Tenuta leaves we’re fine on defense. Anybody have an idea if he could help, and if so, where?

  4. Greywolf 12/30/2011 at 12:11 PM #

    Would not his recruiting contacts in NC will be worth the trouble to find a spot for him?

  5. ZZ 12/30/2011 at 12:16 PM #

    Off topic BUT….
    I dont know if anyone else knows this because it wasn’t stated after Amerson got his 13th interception in our bowl win…..
    That 13th interception put David Amerson (according to what ive found online) tied for second all time in NCAA History with George Shaw, Oregon (1951) and second only to Al Worley, Washington (1968) with 14 interceptions.

  6. vtpackfan 12/30/2011 at 12:57 PM #

    Brownings connections to HS recruiting instate probably entail drop ins to find which blue chip recruit is a UNC basketball homer (usually around three quarter of them).

  7. wolfbuff 12/30/2011 at 1:00 PM #

    Can he devise offensive schemes and call plays that everyone in the stadium doesn’t know is coming? I wouldn’t mind a new OC.

  8. 1990alum 12/30/2011 at 1:13 PM #

    A little off topic and probably covered on here before, but what does Lou Holtz have against NC State? Did anybody catch the bit during the Belk Bowl where John Saunders showed a picture he found in Raleigh of Holtz’s family? Holtz totally brushed off his NC State experience, saying “Raleigh was a great place to live”.

    Nothing good to say about his experience coaching the Wolfpack? He never gives any semblance of an affiliation with NC State.

  9. old13 12/30/2011 at 1:35 PM #

    ^ May had already IDed the photo as being in a place heavily frequented by Wolfpackers (Amedeo’s I assume) and included with much Wolfpack paraphanalia. What would you expect Lou to say? He left the Pack for the Jets! NCSU was a career move for him; not a sentimental journey.

  10. DC_wolf 12/30/2011 at 1:59 PM #

    StateFans, it might be about time to update tbe old margin poll. A suggestion: “If you had your wish, what National Championship would you have NCSU win:

    1) Football
    2) Basketball
    3) Baseball
    4) Soccer
    5) other”

    Or, just keep it b-ball related: “At this point in the season, who would you vote as MVP?” Jus’ sayin’…

  11. Pack78 12/30/2011 at 2:19 PM #

    Can Browning coach special teams?

  12. BJD95 12/30/2011 at 2:34 PM #

    Hiring one of my cats (perhaps they could job share?) Would qualify as a special teams coaching upgrade.

    It still amazes me the handful of people who think Amato got a raw deal, or was very close to making it as a head coach. The cold, hard reality is that NOBODY will hire him at ANY level (assistant, mid-major, whatever) other than a Bowden.

    F-ing hilarious that he ended up at Akron.

  13. rtpack24 12/30/2011 at 3:12 PM #

    Holtz and Willis Casey did not get along. Holtz felt like Casey favored basketball which he did. Holtz had a professor arrested that refused to quit running around the track by the practice field where Holtz was conducting a closed practice. Casey backed the professor, end of year Holtz bolted, it was not a career move just his only option at the time.

  14. bill.onthebeach 12/30/2011 at 3:40 PM #

    ^among other things….

  15. primacyone 12/30/2011 at 4:44 PM #

    Was Browning allowed to hold the “wallet” at UNC?

  16. 61Packer 12/30/2011 at 4:49 PM #

    If you look at Lou’s “track” record at NCSU, it’s easy to see why he’s still bitter about that incident (on Derr Track) when the administration wouldn’t back him up.

    I talked to a guy who hid in the bushes and witnessed that altercation between Holtz and the professor who was jogging, and he said it wasn’t pretty. I used that track a lot back then, and am thankful I wasn’t there that morning.

    Things changed for the better when Bo Rein came aboard. Unlike Holtz, he allowed us joggers to use the track when the team was practicing. Rein told us that as long as we kept moving, we were welcomed there.

    Another great loss for this university.

  17. 1990alum 12/30/2011 at 4:55 PM #

    Thanks for the holtz story. I am not one to look for slights or expect him to rave about his experience. He just had a sour look on his face when state was mentioned and moved past as fast as he could. Now understood.

  18. Hungwolf 12/30/2011 at 5:22 PM #

    I’ve noticed for years Holtz frowns on any reference to his coaching other than Notre Dame and his national championship. Plus bringing up coaching at NCSU leads to him leaving for the Jets and he wants no mention of that embarrassment. I have heard him publicly state his was very grateful to NCSU for taking a chance on him as a head coach and will always be grateful. Lets face it, no one would be thrilled if we hired our next head coach from William and Mary.

  19. wolfpackdawg 12/30/2011 at 6:12 PM #

    Poor Lou…the old driveling talking head.

  20. pack76 12/30/2011 at 6:32 PM #

    I really enjoyed the games when Lou was coaching at State. Wish we could have kept him longer. I’m happy for Amato, even if it is Akron! He needs an opportunity to coach.

    I would prefer a Football Championship!

  21. Wulfpack 12/30/2011 at 7:59 PM #

    Why wouldn’t we be happy if we hired our next coach from William & Mary? Mike London, for instance, won a national title at Richmond. Virginia plucked him up in a hurry, and it currently stands as a terrific hire. If a coach can coach, I don’t care where he’s coming from. Tressle came from Youngstown State. Urban Meyer from Bowling Green. Plenty of other examples.

  22. hoop 12/30/2011 at 8:14 PM #

    And Sheridan came from Furman.

    Anyway, if Holtz didn’t want that picture of him coaching at NC State, then that picture would NOT have been shown. The fact that that they showed it and talked about it is an endorsement.

    I’ve felt negative vibes from him about State before as well but this was not one of them. I mean, his compliments were slightly underwhelming but all things considered it’s a big improvement. And I’ve been one of the ones wondering why all the bitterness from him. Now I know! Finally!!

  23. bill.onthebeach 12/30/2011 at 8:19 PM #

    ^RE: Holtz… this, among other things….

  24. Lunatic Fringe 12/30/2011 at 9:04 PM #

    Holtz was singing our fight song after one of our wins earlier this year (he mixed up some of words, but close enough to recognize).

    I did not think it was a slight.

  25. ancsu87 12/30/2011 at 9:23 PM #

    Sheridan did come from Furman. I always thought that was because we got tired of Furman’s undersized lineman blowing holes through us and them kicking our ass during the Tom Reed experiment (which we hired from Miami of Ohio because it worked with Dick Crum so why not with good old Tom).

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