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PrintJan. 31, 2008
By Brian Curtis
Senior Writer, CSTV.com
BRIAN CURTIS
Curtis is CSTV.com's Senior Writer and CSTV's football and basketball insider.
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As the business of college football has grown, so too have the pressures of finding and hiring football coaches. CSTV.com examines this trend by looking at the new "kingmakers" in college football, in an exclusive seven part series, from agents to donors to administrators to search consultants to the media; they all play a role in determining who the next man ruling the sidelines on Saturday will be.
Bobby Petrino. Just the mention of his name stirs the ire of fans in Louisville, Auburn and now
`He is what is wrong with sports today!'
`No wonder recruits don't trust coaches!'
A year ago, Nick Saban bore the brunt of the keypad strokers and television talking heads, and now it's Petrino's turn. But wait - isn't this the same Bobby Petrino who was built up by the media as an offensive genius while coordinating at
Flash forward 10 years, and he's known for something entirely different.
Kingmakers: A CSTV.com Exclusive
Petrino is just one example of the media helping to create buzz about one coach while starting a "conversation" about the failed expectations of another. From reporting on secret airport meetings to the latest candidates to interview, the media is never far from a good story.
When we talk about the press and kingmaking, we're usually talking politics. Tim Russert, Larry King, Chris Matthews, Wolf Blitzer, Bill O'Reilly, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and a host of other media entities are routinely chastised for promoting one politician or one party over another or, at the very least, talking up one candidate over another.
But does that same type of perception take place in sports media? Maybe.
First, understand that there is a difference between reporting on searches and opining on them. Reporting on searches means securing sources, identifying candidates, reporting on when and where interviews took place and, in many cases, reporting on when planes took off and landed at local airports. Any little nugget feeds the beast. But with the rush to be first, and the ever-increasing competition in news, not everything that is reported turns out to be true.
"The media, even mainstream media, are wrong," says LSU's Skip Bertman about media reports during coaching searches. "Media people give out incorrect information."
Of course, Bertman was on the wrong end of a report in December that Les Miles was indeed taking the Michigan job, only to have Miles hold a pre-SEC Championship Game press conference the same day to declare that he wasn't going anywhere.
Will we ever know the full truth? Probably not. In today's day and age, when information and sources abound and those involved in the search processes are numerous, it's inevitable that information, both right and wrong, finds its way to the media. And in the rush to be first, reporters (including this one) are sometimes wrong, though we believe we are right at the time.
"All of the reporting and listing of potential candidates develops a base of knowledge," says espn.com
senior writer Ivan Maisel. "The chatter, the drumbeat, can help shape a list, depending on the personality of the AD."
During the 11-day search at Georgia Tech, names reported by media outlets to be in the mix included: Jimbo Fisher, Skip Holtz, Terry Bowden, Will Muschamp, Rick Neuheisel, Jon Tenuta, Charlie Strong, Chris Hatcher, Randy Edsall, Joker Phillips, Glen Mason and on and on and on.
"During our process, I didn't have time to follow media reports day-to-day," says Georgia Tech Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich. "I was so focused on getting the best candidate. I understand the media has a job to do to report how the search is moving, but I think we did a good job of keeping it close to the vest."
From agents trying to float their clients' names to associate ADs feeling important by leaking information to a beat reporter, sources are there for the taking: Assistant coaches who are worried about their own jobs or want to get in good with members of the media to spread their own name. Major donors who reporters know have the ear of the school president and athletic director. Or even the neighbor of a coach who spots the coach talking to an AD on his front lawn. But things change, information flows in the Internet world, so what may be right at 1:00 pm is no longer right at 3:30 pm.
Occasionally, media reports on a coaching search can even influence the search itself. A deal could be in the works but, if word gets out, a coach may hesitate and back out.
