Wisconsin was 68-24 under Bielema's watch, finishing in the top 10 of the AP rankings. "We all know that, and you've got to change with the times. Bielema shares a past with Leonhard at Wisconsin, where Bielema served as the Badgers' coach from 2006-2012. Whatever ends up happening at Wisconsin, this week's developments had Ferentz thinking philosophically about the sport. Nebraska also figures to be in the mix for Leipold, who has the Jayhawks off to a 5-0 start and No. Should McIntosh decide Leonhard isn't right for the job, a strong candidate could be Kansas coach Lance Leipold, a Jefferson, Wis., native who went 109-6 with six NCAA Division III championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater. He'll get the rest of the season as an audition for the permanent job. Leonhard's defenses ranked in the top five nationally in total defense four times from 2017 to 2021. The 39-year-old former Wisconsin defensive back has succeeded in every role he's had with the Badgers, and his stock was rising as a potential head coach. The Badgers had a ready-made interim replacement for Chryst on staff in defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. That's not up to the standard that Barry Alvarez set, and Chryst took the fall. Wisconsin's bowl trips the past two seasons were to the Duke's Mayo Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl. A 10-4 season with a Rose Bowl loss followed in 2019, before a 4-3 COVID-shortened season in 2020 and last year's 9-4 finish. Instead, the Badgers slumped to 8-5, including their first loss to the Gophers since 2003. 4 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 and looked to be a contender for the College Football Playoff. After going 13-1 in 2017, Wisconsin entered the 2018 season ranked No. Recently, though, the Badgers had tailed off. In his eighth season as Wisconsin's coach, Chryst had a won 72% of his games (67-26) and had guided the Badgers to a Cotton Bowl in 2016, an Orange Bowl in 2017 and a Rose Bowl in 2019. In Madison, Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh reacted after the Badgers' second home defeat of the season, and one by 24 points against former Badgers coach Bret Bielema. "We're living in different times now, operating in a different world, and we live in a very reactionary world, too, right now. "Broad-based, though, it's kind of like us picking up two schools from the West Coast into the Big Ten,'' he said. To Ferentz, though, the trend is troubling. Those five coaches will receive a combined $53.5 million in buyouts, so money won't be a concern. "The one big one I remember was USC the second week of the year, and my question would be: If it's that bad, why didn't you do it a year ago or a half-year ago? But that's the world we're living in right now.'' "Ball kind of got rolling last year,'' Ferentz said. The quintet was a combined 6-15 at the time of their firings, and only the move on Chryst can be considered a surprise. "I think it's the fifth one this season, right? The toll has mounted.''Ĭhryst joined, in order, Nebraska's Scott Frost, Arizona State's Herm Edwards, Georgia Tech's Geoff Collins and Colorado's Karl Dorrell as coaches being shown the door with the season barely a month old. "Disappointed but not surprised,'' Ferentz told reporters, reacting to Wisconsin firing coach Paul Chryst after the Badgers dropped to 2-3 with a 34-10 home loss to Illinois. On Monday in Iowa City, Ferentz filled that role again, giving his thoughts on what happened a day earlier and 175 miles to the northeast. Let’s look at the landscape, focusing on one situation which just took a significant turn.As the most-tenured active coach in major college football, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz carries the role of dean in his profession, occasionally offering thoughtful comments on newsmaking developments involving the sport. If USC wants to upgrade from Alex Grinch at defensive coordinator, there are certainly some opportunities which currently exist but might not remain available for very long. The wheels continue to spin as one job unexpectedly opens and replacements get filled, leaving a vacuum elsewhere. We all saw last year how crazy the coaching carousel can be. Much as the staff encouraged players to transfer out of the program one year ago so that new portal additions (such as Caleb Williams and others) could come into the program, Riley could encourage Alex Grinch to look for a head coaching job or another coordinator opening. However, with coaching jobs opening up, it’s certainly a situation in which the Trojans and Lincoln Riley could encourage certain members of their staff to “pursue new opportunities,” in the parlance of the industry. USC isn’t looking for a head coach, and of course, its defensive coordinator spot is currently occupied.
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