Random thoughts while hoping Bowling Green State University hires Jim Tressel as its head
football coach:’TIS THE SEASON: Dave Clawson was in a no-win situation once he accepted the head coaching
position at Wake Forest.BG’s former head coach wasn’t going to be able to coach the Falcons in the Little
Caesars Bowl.It’s a shame Clawson, his assistant coaches and their players won’t have one last game to
celebrate their success and hard work, and perhaps even beat Pittsburgh in the bowl game.Unfortunately,
that’s the nature of college football and one of its necessary evils.There aren’t enough hours in a day for
Clawson or any other head coach to prepare his old team for a game and transition to his new school at the
same time, no matter how much energy they might have.Clawson needs time to hire assistant coaches, start
recruiting and prepare for spring practice at Wake. And that doesn’t include finding a place to live and all
of the details a move entails aside from the actual coaching.The end of college football’s regular season
and the start of the bowl season later this month create an awkward situation for all football
coaches.Clawson quickly emerged last week as a candidate at Wake and Connecticut while BG was preparing for
last Friday’s Mid-American Conference championship game against then 16th-ranked Northern Illinois. UConn
filled its opening last night.Unfortunately, schools searching for a head coach are pursuing coaches on
successful staffs that are still playing.It’s unlikely a solution to delay the hiring of new coaches until
after the bowl season could be found.Schools and coaches could still reach secret agreements and not
announce them until after the bowls.Coaches don’t like the distractions created by job searches. But in
today’s social media world and 24-hour news cycle, it’s hard for coaching searches to remain secret.Schools
don’t want it known they didn’t get their first choice, even though the first choice isn’t always the best
choice, and the second, third and fourth choices still can be successful. Some coaches don’t want it known
they’re job hunting.There’s nothing wrong with Clawson leaving. BG is a stepping-stone job and there’s
nothing wrong with that.BG is a great school, and the community is a great place to live and work, and raise
a family.Most coaches and administrators are going to be here for a short time. Hopefully, they’ll do a
great job and then move on to a bigger and better job.Clawson did a great job of rebuilding the Falcons into
a championship program, but coaches have a short window to be successful and success doesn’t always last
long.Jim Grobe made approximately $2.2 million at Wake this season, so one can’t blame Clawson for going to
Wake or any other higher profile job.A five-year contract at Wake or anywhere else worth anywhere nearly $2
million per year should allow Clawson and his family to be financially set for life, even if he fails
there.Wake probably isn’t even one of the best jobs in the Atlantic Coast Conference which already has the
likes of Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Miami (Fla.) and adds Louisville for next season.But in
an era of win today or else, Clawson did what almost every other person would have done.PET PEEVE:
"Bowl eligible" is a worthless phrase.With a couple of exceptions, bowl eligible only means a
college football team has become eligible to play in a bowl game with a 6-6 record.Great, mediocrity has
become a goal for some programs.With 70 of the 125 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivison schools earning bowl bids,
being bowl eligible is nothing of which to be proud.BOWLS: Bowl games, outside of the BCS, aren’t simply a
reward for a good season.Instead, they’re about butts in seats and eyeballs.The 30 non-BCS bowl games are
individual entities trying to turn a profit.They need to sell tickets and produce television ratings to do
that.Teams with fan bases that travel well, and from bigger markets are going to be more desired than
schools from smaller/mid-major markets.