Reports are circulating that LSU boosters are ready to foot a $15 million bill to send Les Miles packing as coach of the Tigers.
Sure, Miles has a national title, a couple of conference championships and averages 10 wins a year. But as coaching salaries go up, the demand for elite performances rises with it.
College football has become more cutthroat than ever. If Miles indeed is shown the door, that makes 14 openings already in FBS before the end of the regular season. No doubt, this year's silly season might be pure insanity as schools scramble to fill vacancies.
You really can't feel too bad for the coaches. Sure, the pressure on them to succeed immediately is unbelievable. But, for failing to meet fan expectations, coaching are getting a fortune in buyout cash. They're not exactly starving in the unemployment line.
You can chide fans for being fickle in that they demand greatness each and every year. But, coaching salaries are high and ticket costs continue to climb. As college football grows into a battle of financial power, it's only fitting that those who pay for the steep costs of winning demand the product meet the costs.
There is a price to pay in today's college football for being complacent. Being in a bowl game each year matters less and less. Getting into the playoff means more and more.
The good news for this is that coaches, not the media or fans, will be the driving force into expanding the College Football Playoff into an eight-team format. The reasoning is simple: it takes a huge load of pressure off of a lot of coaches. Schools put banners up for basketball with a Final Four appearance or baseball with a College World Series berth. It only seems natural that they'd do the same with an appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Expand the format to eight and maybe some coaches wouldn't face the fire too soon. It wouldn't have helped Miles this season, though. Nor would it help Mark Richt at Georgia. Richt has posted some great seasons in Athens but has been in a slump in terms of winning a conference title. The fans in Athens are restless as the fertile recruiting grounds in state, coupled with the money they are paying Richt, demands instant results.
But for now, complacency, with the exception of the consistent winning being done in Tuscaloosa, is only grounds for hot seats and dismissals.
Les Miles won't be unemployed for long, should LSU pull the trigger. He might stay out of the game long enough to enjoy the fruits of his massive buyout, but a 10-win coach rarely ever is out of the game too long, especially in a year with so many vacancies. No doubt, though, he'll look for a less demanding position with far less expectations.
After all, creating the monster is far easier than feeding it.
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