Everybody Off: Coaching Carousel 2011 had a few wild rides, and a few breakdowns along the way

Some teams made out like bandits. Others simply settled. A few more nearly fell off the platform.

But like it or not, all 21 vacant FBS/D-1A head coaching positions are now filled for 2011. Here is the rundown for all the changes made this hiring season.

VH1/MTV Reality Shows -- The real nasty, dirty coaching moves you couldn't take your eyes off of...

Ooooh, Pitt...
how you amuse us so.

Pitt¹ -- Out: Dave Wannstedt, In/Out: Mike Haywood, In: Todd Graham. The Panthers managed to have three different head coaches since Dave Wannstedt was forced to resign: Phil Bennett, Michael Haywood, and Todd Graham. Bennett was the interim for the bowl game, basically the stop-gap coach every coaching change features. Haywood was initially hired from Miami of Ohio, until he was arrested within days of being announced as the new head coach. After the in-n-out haywood situation, Graham got the nod from Tulsa, despite a ho-hum record in C-USA, above other high-profile candidates like Penn State's Tom Bradley.

Michigan -- Out: Rich Rodriguez, In: Brady Hoke. I feel MGoBlog's string of apocolyptic banners really encapsulated the entirety of Michigan football in full blown hysteria once it was announced that Rich Rodriguez would get the ax.

And that was just the initial banner design. Yes, the Wolverine nation was dragged back out into the street, beaten to a bloody pulp, then told it was for its own good... for the second time in four years. And for the second time in four years, Les Miles was involved, as was Jim Harbaugh. Aaaand for the second time in four years, the Michigan fanbase was not presented with its ideal choice. Hoke was a good hire, but was it on the level of Harbaugh? No. That's why I just said Hoke wasn't the ideal choice.

Friedgen was able to get fans actually
thinking "Fear the Turtle" was a cool thing to say,
but UMD fired him anyway.

Maryland -- Out: Ralph Friedgen, In: Randy Edsall. One of Penn State's old "rivals" had quite the drama playing out this season. The school's winningest coach, Ralph Friedgen, was being bullied out by the administration. "Fridge" said f*** off, and the rest was some very fun history. The supposed coach-in-waiting, James Franklin, took the Vanderbilt job not much warning, leaving Maryland in a bind. They decided to just cut loose everything that had to do with Friedgen's tenure in College Park, including, I guess, all the good will he brought to the fans while winning all those games at a perennial loser of a program. So what did Maryland end up doing? Did it go with the sexy, scorched-earth move and hire everyone's favorite swashbuckling head coach, Mike Leach? Noooooot exactly. The Terps went with what possible could have been the most "Really???" hire of the season, UConn's Randy Edsall.

I'm sure they'll be fine...

Florida -- Out: Urban Meyer, In: Will Muschamp. Urban Meyer is half the age of Joe Paterno, yet has now officially retired twice more than JoePa. This year's episode is really just Part 2, with last year's initial retirement before the Sugar Bowl the precursor we all kind of accepted as Meyer simply looking out for his health and family. But after going 7-5 with the Gators in 2010, it was tough for the fans and college football community as a whole to accept that Meyer wasn't caught off guard by just how bad his "return" would get. Regardless, he's gone, now replaced by one of the biggest poaching jobs in college coaching history. Texas was all set for when Mack Brown decided to hang it up, with Will Muschamp the designated coach-in-waiting. It was one of the most distinguished coaching jobs in college football. But for some reason, Muschamp bolted like a bat out of hell, swinging his allegiance to Florida in a heartbeat.

TLC Primetime -- Parental guidance suggested, but overall pretty tame...

UConn¹ -- Out: Randy Edsal, In: Paul Pasqualoni. The Penn State alum and former Syracuse head coach is back in the Big East.

Miami -- Out: Randy Shannon, In: Al Golden. Shannon's ship was sinking after a really underachieving year in Coral Gables. In comes the Golden boy from Temple.

Temple¹ -- Out: Al Golden, In: Steve Addazio. After the grief Addazio took as Florida's offensive coordinator, this was viewed by some as a curious hire. But Addazio is a well-respected guy in the northeast, and now has some good ties with the Sunshine State, which should help in recruiting.

The 11 p.m. Local News -- Worth a mention at the end of the day, but didn't warrant a daytime newsbreak... i.e., all the rest.

Arkansas State -- Out: Steve Roberts, In: Hugh Freeze
Ball State -- Out: Stan Parrish, In: Pete Lembo
Colorado -- Out: Dan Hawkins, In: Jon Embree
Indiana -- Out: Bill Lynch, In: Kevin Wilson
Kent State -- Out: Doug Martin, In: Darrell Hazell
Louisiana -- Out: Rickey Bustle, In: Mark Hudspeth
Miami (O.) -- Out: Michael Haywood (i) Lance Guidry (1-0), In: Don Treadwell
Minnesota -- Out: Tim Brewster, In: Jerry Kill
North Texas -- Out: Todd Dodge, In: Dan McCarney
Northern Illinois -- Out: Jerry Kill (i) Tom Matukewicz (1-0), In:
Dave Doeren
San Diego St. -- Out: Brady Hoke, In: Rocky Long
Stanford -- Out: Jim Harbaugh, In: David Shaw
Tulsa -- Out: Todd Graham, In: Bill Blankenship
Vanderbilt -- Out: Robbie Caldwell, In: James Franklin
%-West Virginia -- Out: Bill Stewart, In: Dana Holgorsen (2012)

i-Interim head coach and (record) in bowl game.
%-Dana Holgorsen will be West Virginia's offensive coordinator in 2011 and replace Bill Stewart as head coach in 2012.

1 Tom Bradley was reportedly "hired" for every job in the Northeast this year, but none of those reports by the media turned out to be true. There were a few hours of hysteria, followed by muted caution, followed by the almost expected retraction a few hours later. It was quite the cycle we had going on. But in the end, Tom Bradley is still at Penn State, and we're no where farther from it than we began.

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