With the firing resignation of Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, that means one-fourth of all SEC schools will be replacing their head coaches after this season. Tennessee already thinks they've found their man in Lane Kiffin, but the position at Mississippi State is still open.

Meanwhile, Mike Leach has interviewed at Washington, and Texas Tech is desperately trying to come up with the money to keep him in Lubbock. I may be in the minority here, but I want Leach to stay in Lubbock. While I believe him leaving would cause the complete and total collapse of Texas Tech's football program, I want him to stick around for the slefish reason that I want the Aggies to kick his ass a few times. He has benefitted tremendously from being in Lubbock during the Franchione tenure here in College Station, and I'd like for him to stick around a little longer. I want to see the Aggie defense return to their Wrecking Crew status, and then see them face off with Leach's Air Raid offense.

The one coach I am watching closely to see where he goes is Cincinatti's Brian Kelly. After leading the Bearcats to a Big East Conference championship and a BCS bowl berth, Kelly is the hot name I think a lot of other BCS programs will pursue. Other coaches to watch are Todd Graham at Tulsa, Tulsa's offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, and Rice's David Bailiff. I think anyone who pursues Bailiff may be making a mistake, though, because Bailiff is a Franchione acolyte. Gary Patterson at TCU was in the mix for the Kansas State job, but they jumped the gun in announcing his hiring, so he spurned them. I've heard they are prepared for Patterson to leave in Fort Worth, so he is one more coach to keep an eye on. Patterson to Auburn? I wouldn't be surprised.

Update: Hal Mumme has been fired at New Mexico State. I was fairly confident his practice of not recruiting defensive players would eventually cost him.