Two Coaches Out Already; More on the Way?

It's not often that college football coaches get fired during the season, but last week two did right before their bye weeks.

Lane Kiffin got a highly-publicized dismissal at USC, and Paul Pasqualoni's axing at Connecticut seemed to draw more regional than national notice.

Kiffin didn't even make it off the tarmac after the Trojans were blown out at Arizona State, 62-41. Athletic Director Pat Haden fired Kiffin soon after the plane landed in Los Angeles early Sunday morning. At least Connecticut Athletic Director Warde Manuel waited until Monday to let Pasqualoni go, but that was after a long ride home from Buffalo after an embarrassing 41-12 loss to the lowly Bulls. This was just one week after the Huskies should have beaten undefeated Michigan.

So, Ed Orgeron takes over at USC and TJ Weist is the interim coach at UConn.

Who is better off? USC is the plum job, but they're a few years away from taking over Los Angeles -- never mind the Pac-12 and the BCS -- and UCLA is going to have a lot to say about it. UConn, on the other hand, seemed to be moving up and becoming a national contender under Randy Edsall, but he moved on to Maryland and the Huskies have floundered under Pasqualoni.

Both interim coaches have little chance of remaining at the school next season, especially Orgeron, because Haden will most likely bring in a big name with big game experience. Weist, on the other hand, could keep the job, as no big name is going to go to Storrs and try and rebuild in a poor football league. He has already announced a big move, changing quarterbacks from Chandler Whitmer to true freshman Tim Boyle.

You can feel for the USC staff as Orgeron and his coaches will most likely be elsewhere next season. That means families moving and coaches losing jobs. But for now, after the bye week, USC can concentrate on Arizona, their next game a week from Thursday. Weist has every reason to be confident, as Pasqualoni is gone along with long time line coach George DeLone. He has an extra week to get ready for another winless team South Florida, their first AAC game. 

Who else will be fired this season?

Mack Brown is on the hot seat at Texas but he won't get fired during the season. Terry Bowden is in trouble at Akron, even though the Zips should have also beaten Michigan. Is Charlie Weis ever not on any hot seat? A 13-10 victory over Louisiana Tech may have saved his job for the immediate future. Ron Turner at FIU may be the one. The Golden Panthers didn't stop at just being bad, they shot straight through to horrible.

Turner couldn't awaken the sleeping giant that is Illinois, but nobody's been able to do that since Dick Butkus roamed the field. He didn't exactly leave a legacy as an assisitant at Tampa Bay, and now, he may not make it through this season. One can only hope he's made enough from those contracts to enjoy an early retirement from coaching.