LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
OUT: Rickey Bustle. Fired Nov. 27 after going 41-65 in eight seasons IN: Mark Hudspeth, Mississippi State wide receiver coach/passing game coordinator. Hired Dec. 12.
THE BUZZ: Sun Belt jobs aren't easy, and Bustle never could get Louisiana-Lafayette over the hump. The Ragin' Cajuns haven't had more than six wins since 1993. Bustle went 6-6 twice and 6-5 once. With Florida International winning the Sun Belt this season, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe and Western Kentucky are the only programs in the conference that haven't played in a bowl and Western is in just its second season in FBS. Louisiana is good recruiting territory, but ULL is down the list for in-state recruits. LSU cleans up in-state, followed by other SEC programs and some schools in the Big 12. Louisiana Tech, Tulane and other Conference USA teams also have picked up a handful of the state's top prospects. Even so, some players of some renown have played at ULL, including Jake Delhomme, Brian Mitchell, Brandon Stokley and Charles Tillman. Hudspeth spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Mississippi State, but before that, he had a successful tenure at Division II North Alabama. Under Hudspeth from 2002-08, North Alabama went 66-12, winning at least 10 games and reaching the Division II quarterfinals in each of his last four seasons.
OUT: Ralph Friedgen. Fired Dec. 20 after going 74-50 in 10 seasons POTENTIAL CANDIDATES: Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach
THE BUZZ: Maryland fired one of its own in dismissing former offensive lineman Ralph Friedgen. His tenure began with plenty of optimism. The Terrapins won the ACC and went to the Orange Bowl in his first year in 2001. He led the Terps to a 31-8 record in his first three seasons, but the program leveled off in the next few years. His worst season with in 2009 at 2-10, but Maryland rebounded in 2010 by going 8-4 behind freshman quarterback Danny O'Brien. Maryland has not been an elite program since the 1950s, but it can be a consistent bowl team.
OUT: Randy Shannon. Fired Nov. 27 after going 28-22 in four seasons IN: Al Golden, Temple coach. Hired Dec. 12.
THE BUZZ: Miami began the season with high hopes, ranked 13th in the preseason polls, and with expectations of contending for its first ACC championship. Instead, Miami finished 7-5, finishing up the regular season with an overtime loss to USF in front of fewer than 27,000 people. Shannon, who won national titles at Miami as a player and as an assistant, did a good job of cleaning up the program's off-field image, but wins did not follow. The Hurricanes have not won 10 games or reached a BCS game since 2003 and have not won a national title since 2001. Miami still turned in top-20 signing classes under Shannon, including the fifth-ranked class in 2008. Shannon and predecessor Larry Coker were internal hires, but Miami almost certainly will look outside the program for a coach for the first time since hiring Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Butch Davis in 1995. The Hurricanes haven't hired a college head coach sinceDennis Erickson in 1989. In Golden, Miami hires a coach who excelled in a rebuilding job in a major metropolitan market. He resuscitated the Owls into a competitive FBS team, leading Temple last season to its first bowl game since 1979. Although Temple did not play in the postseason this year, the Owls went 8-4. Golden is the first coach since 1973-74 to lead Temple to back-to-back seasons of eight wins or more.
MIAMI (OHIO)
OUT: Mike Haywood, hired at Pittsburgh on Dec. 16 after going 10-15 in two seasons. POTENTIAL CANDIDATES: Cincinnati associate head coach Kerry Coombs, Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell, Florida State linebackers coach Greg Hudson, New Orleans Saints running backs coach Aaron Kromer, Oklahoma offensive line coach James Patton, Michigan State tight ends Mark Staten, Michigan State offensive coordinator Don Treadwell, Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson
THE BUZZ: Another MAC coach turns around a program and leaves for a more established program. Haywood led the RedHawks to its first MAC championship since 2003 before taking off for Pittsburgh. Miami can be one of the top programs in the MAC, especially with its "Cradle of Coaches" reputation. Its previous head coaches include Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, John Pont, Randy Walker and Terry Hoeppner. Ohio is one of the best states in the MAC for recruiting, and Miami should be able to recruit in the nearby Cincinnati and Dayton area.
OUT: Tim Brewster. Fired Oct. 17 after going 15-30 in four seasons IN: Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois coach. Hired Dec. 5.
THE BUZZ: The gamble on Brewster didn't pay off. Brewster never had been a head coach or a coordinator, but he was known as a big-time recruiter. Minnesota was a national power in the 1930s and '40s and won the national championship in 1960. But the Gophers haven't been a consistent factor in the Big Ten since, with their last Rose Bowl appearance in 1962. While Brewster had no coaching experience, Kill has been a college head coach since 1994. Only the last three, at Northern Illinois, have been at the FBS level, but in that span, the Huskies went to three bowl games after going 2-10 the season before his arrival. Before moving to Northern Illinois, Kill led Southern Illinois to five consecutive FCS playoff appearances. From 1994-2000, he coached in Division II at Saginaw (Mich.) Valley State and Emporia (Kan.) State.
OUT: Todd Dodge. Fired Oct. 20 after going 6-37 in four seasons IN: Dan McCarney, Florida defensive line coach and assistant head coach. Hired Nov. 30.
THE BUZZ: Dodge was one of the nation's most successful high school coaches when North Texas hired him out of Carroll High in the Dallas suburb of Southlake. But that success didn't translate to college ball, as Dodge never won more than two games in a season. North Texas once was one of the most successful teams in the Sun Belt, winning four consecutive league championships and going 25-1 in conference play from 2001-04. But the Mean Green have fallen off the map since. McCarney has proved he can win in a difficult situation. He went 56-85 from 1995-2006 at Iowa State, and the Cyclones went to bowl games in five of his final seven seasons. He signed QB Seneca Wallace at Iowa State, coached DE George Selvie at USF and won a national title as an assistant at Florida.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
OUT: Jerry Kill. Hired at Minnesota on Dec. 5 after going 23-16 in three seasons. IN: Dave Doeren, Wisconsin defensive coordinator. Hired Dec. 13.
THE BUZZ: Northern Illinois has proven it can be a consistent contender in the MAC and occasionally the top team in the MAC. NIU is readying for its third consecutive bowl appearance. The Huskies have been able to find quality running backs from the region, including Michael Turner (Waukegan, Ill.), Garrett Wolfe (Chicago) and Chad Spann (Indianapolis). NIU is one of just three FBS schools in the state of Illinois, which means there is talent available. It also is the only Illinois school in the MAC. The right coach can keep NIU in the MAC title mix, as this is one of the better jobs in the league. NIU turned to the FCS ranks to hire Kill but went for a longtime major-conference assistant to replace their former coach. Doeren has been the defensive coordinator for Wisconsin since 2006 as the Badgers have played in the Rose, Capital One and Outback bowls during his tenure.
OUT: Dave Wannstedt. Resigned Dec. 7 after going 42-31 in six seasons IN: Mike Haywood, Miami (Ohio) coach. Hired Dec. 16.
THE BUZZ: Wannstedt, a Pitt alum, resigned under pressure after six seasons. Wannstedt was a strong recruiter both in landing top-100 recruits (Jonathan Baldwin) and unearthing some hidden gems (Dion Lewis and Greg Romeus). Along the way, Wannstedt proved recruits will come to Pitt, even prospects from South Florida. The influx of talent, however, never translated to a BCS appearance or an outright Big East title. After going 10-3 in 2009, Pittsburgh was picked to win the Big East in the preseason and captured a share of the Big East title in 2010. Losses to Utah, Miami and Notre Dame, though, gave the Panthers a 7-5 record. Along with Syracuse and West Virginia, Pitt remains one of the few Big East programs that can lean on a rich tradition. At the same time, Pittsburgh is a pro city and the Panthers play in an NFL stadium, which had thousands of empty seats near the end of Wannstedt's tenure. Haywood will inherit a more stable program than Miami when he took over in Oxford in 2009. Haywood went 1-11 in his first season but won nine games and the MAC championship in his second season. Despite only two seasons as a head coach, he has a long resume as an assistant at major programs at LSU (1995-2002), Texas (2003-04) and Notre Dame (2005-08).
OUT: Al Golden, hired at Miami after going 27-34 in five seasons. IN: Steve Addazio, Florida offensive coordinator. Hired Dec. 23.
THE BUZZ: Golden breathed life into one college football's most moribund programs as the Owls won 17 games the last two years, the best two-year stretch for Temple since 1978-79. With Golden gone, Temple will learn if he turned the culture around for good. At the very least, the Owls found a home in the MAC after 13 seasons of futility in the Big East. In four seasons in the MAC, Temple hasn't had a losing record in conference. Addazio took more than his fair share of blame from fans for Florida's offensive struggles in 2010, but that may not be warranted. Indeed, he was the offensive coordinator, but he was also a noted offensive line coach and recruiter for the Gators' national titles in 2006 and 2008. He is a first-time head coach, but he has experience in the Northeast and Midwest as an assistant at Syracuse and Indiana.
OUT: Robbie Caldwell. Resigned Nov. 27 after going 2-10 in one season IN: James Franklin, Maryland offensive coordinator. Hired Dec. 17.
THE BUZZ: Caldwell got the job when former coach Bobby Johnson unexpectedly retired in July. Caldwell and much of the staff were present for the 2008 Music City Bowl trip, but the Commodores are 4-20 in the past two seasons. Vanderbilt remains the toughest job in the SEC, but Johnson's teams - for the most part - were at least competitive. Vanderbilt's academic requirements and private-school status (the only one in the SEC) always will be major hurdles, but other programs with similar challenges have been able to field solid programs. Stanford is in the BCS this season, and Northwestern has become a perennial bowl team. Franklin was named Maryland's coach-in-waiting, but the administration parted ways with head coach Ralph Friedgen days after Franklin landed at Vanderbilt. Franklin has been an offensive coordinator at Kansas State (2006-07) and an assistant with the Green Bay Packers (2005), but his best days were at Maryland. He was the Terrapins wide receivers coach when they went 31-8 from 2001-03 and won the ACC in 2002. This season, he tutored freshman quarterback Danny O'Brien as the Terps improved from 2-10 to 8-4 this season.
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