It’s always tough to know what’s legit and what’s a fabricated story during a high-profile coaching search. Not even two weeks after Lane Kiffin was fired from USC, rumors are starting to swirl over who will be the next head coach in Southern California.
College football news: USC denies reaching out to Tony Dungy; New bowl games announced
Recapping all of Monday’s college football news, including a couple of interesting rumors out of USC.
Scott Halleran
On Monday, a couple of big name coaches shot down USC publicly. Did the Trojans actually contact them? Let’s dig in to yesterday’s news roundup:
USC says phone calls placed to Tony Dungy, Broncos were hoaxes
In one of the weirder stories to come out recently, Tony Dungy went on the radio today and said someone posing as a USC representative called him to see if he had any interest in the job. They reportedly reached Dungy by calling his pastor. It was also reported a similar hoaxer called the Broncos asking about defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.
Shortly after Dungy denied interest on the Dan Patrick Show, USC athletic director Pat Haden shut the whole thing down in a press release.
“I can assure you no authorized representative of USC or our athletic department made these calls.”
Dungy’s name hadn’t surfaced on any coaching lists, though Del Rio has been labeled as one of the frontrunners for a couple days now. Haden said USC has not offered the job to anyone and has not set a timetable for their final decision.
Three new bowl games announced
Beginning in 2014, there will be there more bowl games for non-power conference teams. Bowl games will be played in the Bahamas, Boca Raton (Fla.) and Miami, according to ESPN. It seems like schools from the Mountain West, MAC, C-USA, Sun Belt and American Athletic Conference will rotate going to the Bahamas, which will be a pretty cool postseason experience for the players, coaches and staff members.
Syracuse loses top cornerback
It was a rough weekend for Syracuse, which got blown out at home by No. 3 Clemson. On Monday, some salt was poured into its wounds, as senior cornerback Keon Lyn was lost for the season due to a lower body injury that’ll require surgery. Lyn has three career interceptions and had made 16 tackles this season. Given how poorly Syracuse’s secondary has played this season, the injury will be a big blow to their bowl game chances.
Former Auburn coach not happy with Condoleezza Rice
A few days after David Pollack said on College GameDay that women should not be allowed on the college football playoff selection committee, former Auburn coach Pat Dye weighed in with similar feelings.
“All she knows about football is what somebody told her,” Dye said. “Or what she read in a book, or what she saw on television. To understand football, you’ve got to play with your hand in the dirt.”
Rice is the only woman on the 10-person selection committee that primarily features athletic directors from around the country.
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