With final exams going on right now, there aren't very many Aggie athletic events to comment on until the men's and women's basketball teams play on Saturday. I've been looking around to see what else is happening in college football, and came upon some tidbits covering the various head coaching searches going on right now. According to Tom Dienhart, Fran is a leading candidate for the San Diego State head coaching job. I don't know if it is possible for a school to make a bigger mistake than hiring him.

San Diego State is in the Mountain West Conference, and as far as I know, no one runs the pure spread option we ran under Fran from 2005-07, so he might have a schematic advantage there. He might be able to get enough of an offense going that they'll be able to win 7-8 games every year in the MWC, and go to bowl games. With the exception of Utah and TCU, no one really plays defense in the Mountain West Conference, and with the focus on wide-open offenses, Fran's emphasis on a power option running game would be a paradigm shift that could yield positive results. I never liked Fran's CEO mentality as a head coach, because I don't think you can have a successful football program when trying to run it like a business with a corporate culture, but in California, they may think it is wacky enough to make it work. Lacking that, the MWC defenses may be so mediocre that Fran will be successful in spite of himself. Regardless, if Fran does end up at SDSU, I will be watching with great interest to see if Gary Darnell follows him there.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that former Minnesota coach Glen Mason or former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green would be a better fit in San Deigo.  

I really think former Franchione assistant and current TCU head coach Gary Patterson is the perfect fit for Auburn. He is a defensive-minded coach who has done a brilliant job in keeping TCU nationally relevant despite their position in a non-BCS conference. Patterson's teams feature an aggressive defense that will shut you down, and a multiple offense that features the run and some option in order to control the clock and shorten games. Watching TCU when they are playing well is like watching a boa devour its next meal. The defense squeezes and squeezes and squeezes until all of a sudden, you're out of time (air), and can't score (breathe) enough to escape a loss (death). I think the War Eagles would love the attitude and defense Patterson would bring to the  Plains.

If Dennis Green doesn't end up at San Diego, I'd like to see him at Mississippi State or at New Mexico State. NMSU is looking to hire a minority coach to rival New Mexico's hiring of Mike Locksley, and Green is a perfect candidate for that job. I also think Green would be able to build on the solid foundation Sylvester Croom has established at Mississippi State. Whichever school doesn't take Green should take a long, hard look at Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong. He is ready for a head coaching position, and he has the experience and resume to back him up.