Hype Boulevard: Coaching carousel begins

Why Cheryl Burnett left SW Missouri State (now Missouri State) for the Michigan job is beyond my comprehension. She was much more successful at her former haunt (two final four appearances and 10 NCAA's). Now, with her "retirement" (a nice way of Michigan allowing her to leave with her dignity) from the Wolverine Program, she leaves to her legacy four straight losing seasons and completely destroying any progress Sue Guevera (now Nell Fortner's assistant at Auburn) made while in Ann Arbor. Michigan, in my mind, has the capabilities of being a great place to build a women's program. Certainly they can't cheer about football or men's basketball much any longer. What a perfect opportunity for someone to come in and take advantage of the athletic apathy residing in the quaint and historic Ann Arbor college town.

This is just one major BCS job opening up in women's college basketball so far as the season winds down. Earlier this week it was announced that Arkansas, a program that Gary Blair had built into a contender before leaving for Texas A & M, was moving in a new direction. The Arkansas program had become so obsolete in the powerful SEC that I can't even remember the name of the woman who was the coach and why even waste the time looking it up. It wouldn't surprise me if her profile is all ready gone from the athletic website anyhow! Of course, life isn't easy in the SEC (even in a considerable down year overall for the usual top league in women's hoops). If you need proof of that just ask Carolyn Peck, the now-former head coach at Florida and former head coach at Purdue. Yes, she is the one who won the national championship for the Boilermakers. These three jobs are the first, I am sure, among many that will lead to coaching dominos.

Florida's A.D. has all ready made a promise to hire a coach who can bring Final Four appearances and the ability to win national titles to Gainesville to compliment powerful football and men's basketball programs. Needless to say, rumors are swirling about who it might be. Names have ranged from the never-have-a-chance-in-hell variety (Geno, Brenda Frese) to the obscure (Lin Dunn). Some realistic mentions (including who I think they should chase) would be Kim Mulkey at Baylor. This, of course, would lead to someone else at another high profile job leaving for Baylor, which can't pay as much as Florida, but with a national title banner would attract mid-tier candidates to keep the momentum going in desolate Waco, Texas.

What about Arkansas and Michigan? These programs will be coveted jobs as well. Some possibilities might include Curt Miller at BGSU heading just a half and hour up the road to Ann Arbor to build there what he has built in little 'ol Bowling Green, OH. To me, that one is a no-brainer. Another candidate, even though she couldn't get it done at Florida, is Carolyn Peck. Peck, seemed to be unable to find her place in the SEC, but it is my belief that she could in the Big Ten, which needs to attract big name coaches to rebuild their image (Hello? Three teams in the NCAA's this season for a BCS conference?! Yikes!). As for Arkansas, I believe you will probably see a mid-major head coach step in or perhaps a well-known assistant. What about Ashley McElhaney, former Vandy star and current assistant at Alabama? Or, coming back full circle, why not bring Sue Guevera out of exile as an assistant at Auburn and give her the reins at Arkansas? Looking back on her 123 wins (the most in Wolverine history) at Michigan, I guess she didn't do so bad after all.

It will be interesting to see what happens with these jobs and who might want to make a change from there current situation, which would lead to even more openings. As the season winds down for each team, more and more jobs will come open. Here is a list of jobs I think will eventually come open and which coaches will be coveted to rebuild:

Programs That Might Make a Change:

UCLA

Arizona

Illinois

Wake Forest

Washington State

Cincinnati

Iowa

South Carolina

Hot Coaches to Grab:

Curt Miller, BGSU

Sharon Baldwin-Tenor, East Carolina

Marsha Frese, Illinois Assistant

Chris Daly, UConn Assistant

Carolyn Peck, Former Florida Coach

Gail Valley, Duke Assistant

Charly Turner-Thorne, Arizona State

Joanne Boyle, California

Kevin McHuff, Xavier

Dawn Staley, Temple

Jen Rizzotti, Hartford

MaChelle Joseph, GaTech

Sue Semrau, Florida State

Marsha Sharp, Former Texas Tech Coach