From Stewart Mandels mailbag on SI.com:
Stewart, there are three BCS championship-winning coaches currently on the market. What are the odds any team would take a chance on Jim Tressel, Phillip Fulmer or Gene Chizik? Is Fulmer's age more of a factor than Tressel's involvement in a scandal? Was Chizik ever a good coach in the first place?
-- George, Montgomery, Ala.
Of the three, Fulmer seems the least likely to return. He's now 63, five years removed from coaching and hasn't garnered serious attention from a school since Louisville's search three years ago. (It's believed that Arkansas discussed its emergency opening with him following Bobby Petrino's ouster, but there was no guarantee of a long-term position.) Chizik, 51, is more plausible because he has a lot of years ahead of him and remains so close to the sport, but I have to imagine Auburn's marked turnaround as soon as he left has not helped his stock. Maybe he could get a Sun Belt-type job or return to being a high-level defensive coordinator. It would help if an AD listens to Sirius XM, because Chizik comes off as very knowledgeable on the air. (And full of personality -- who knew?)
Still, much like my 90 percent hedge earlier in this column on an undefeated team losing, I'll put similar odds on Tressel eventually returning to coaching. I just don't know if it will be next year. At this point, time has provided some distance since TattooGate, and Tressel has made some inroads restoring his reputation through his work at Akron. And he was one of the best coaches in the sport at the time he left.
The problem, however, is his NCAA show-cause order remains in effect through 2016, and that penalty requires him to sit out the first five games and any postseason games of his first year back. That's a difficult way to kick off a new tenure. A school may be willing to endure that in exchange for the long-term glory Tressel could bring to a program, but I doubt that school would be, say, Nebraska. But what about Miami (Ohio), which just so happens to have an opening? Think that might be worth it (especially since the RedHawks, currently 0-9, aren't likely to go bowling next year)?
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131106/poll-voting-behavior-college-football-mailbag/#ixzz2ju494rot