Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Once again

I should be writing a paper. But this semester has done a pretty darn adequate job of sapping me of any creative juices. Note to self and others, don't ever enroll in a program that prides itself on being practically-oriented. That just means lots of group projects with little objective benchmarks for comparing students.

I was thinking about the coaching change over at MSU and the long causal tail that one firing fosters. Coaching must be one of the most incestuous professions there is. Dantonio coached under Tressel at Youngstown State and at Ohio State when both teams made their championship runs. Between the two he spent some time under Nick Saban at Michigan State. He now returns to State as head coach, leaving his head coaching job at Cincinnati. Now, at least once each season, he'll be standing across the field from his old mentor. And Dantonio's linebackers coach? Tressel's nephew.

Meanwhile, Brian Kelly, supposedly President Simon's first choice for State, is leaving Central Michigan - a team he took from the gutter to the MAC championship in three years - for Dantonio's old job. His first task as the Bearcats' leader? Helping prepare them for their bowl game against Western Michigan - the Chippewas' most hated rival.