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Find out more about Tony: Tony has worked for newspapers and covered college football since 1985 and is a contributor to ESPN.com. He says there is no better way to spend an afternoon (or evening) than taking in the color of college football. Send comments or ideas to him at tonyguad@yahoo.com. |
Catching up quickly on some recent news before tonight's BCS national championship game.
Jeff Jagodzinski lost his job, Joe Paterno lost his glasses and Yale made history.
• Jagodzinksi was fired by Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo after Jagodzinski interviewed with the New York Jets against his boss' wishes. The Eagles were 20-8 under Jagodzinski and ranked as high as No. 2 in 2007. Jagodzinski probably won't get the Jets job, but he might get another position in the NFL.
• JoePa just can't catch a break. Not only were the 82-year-old coach's Penn State Nittany Lions soundly beaten by USC in the Rose Bowl, vandals removed the bronze glasses from Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., during the weekend. Paterno's trademark thick glasses were apparently cut above the ears. School officials say they will be replaced. No truth to the rumors that Rich Rodriguez was seen leaving Beaver Stadium early Saturday or that Joe plans Lasik surgery any time soon.
• Pete Carroll replaced defensive coordinator Nick Holt, who joined new Washington coach Steve Sarkisian's staff, with Rocky Seto. Seto had coached defensive backs and linebackers for Carroll. Linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. also was promoted to assistant head coach, where he will have more say in the overall defense.
The Trojans also rehired Jethro Franklin as defensive line coach, a position he had under Carroll in 2005. Franklin worked for the Houston Texans but was fired after the season.
• Yale has played football since the 1870s, and made Tom Williams the first African-American coach in school history Wednesday. Williams was a defensive assistant coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yale has lost seven of the last eight games to Harvard, and Williams made it clear he wants to change that.
"We’re going to beat Harvard,” Williams said. “We’ve got to turn The Game back into a rivalry. A rivalry is only a rivalry when there’s some give-and-take. In the last few years, there’s been too much take.” Williams was a Rhodes Scholar candidate at Stanford and legendary Yale coach Carm Cozza said Williams' race could play a factor. "We’ve had problems getting black athletes,” Cozza told the Waterbury (Conn.) Republican-American. “That might help him. He’s an example.”
• Signs that college football bowl games are still somewhat popular. ESPN and ESPN2 combined to televise 23 bowl games and averaged 2,810,000 homes (based on a 2.5 U.S. rating), an increase of eight percent over last season. In 2007-08, the networks combined for an average of 2,596,000 homes for 21 bowl games (based on a 2.3 U.S. rating).
Tony Guadagnoli is the National College Football Examiner. You can e-mail him at tonyguad@yahoo.com.
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