The coaching carousel is spinning up, with Rich Rodriguez replacing the fired Mike Stoops at Arizona and Urban Meyer reportedly set to take the Ohio State job. The SEC has one job already open, with Houston Nutt coaching his last game at Ole Miss this weekend.
As this process continues, you'll hear a lot of things. You'll be tempted to call coaches liars afterwards, but much of what they say is not technically false. You have to read these things carefully. Let's dive in.
"Right now I'm only focused on my current job."
At the exact moment the coach was asked about another opening, he might have been only focused on his current job. Plus in terms of hours spent, he probably was far more focused on preparing for his next game than exploring other options. This doesn't guarantee he didn't spend some unfocused time thinking about another job.
"I plan on being the coach here next year."
At that point in time, he might be planning that. Plans can change in the future when a fat offer from elsewhere shows up.
"I have not spoken to anyone about any other jobs."
Maybe he hasn't spoken to anyone, but that doesn't mean his agent hasn't also been putting out feelers.
"I'm happy where I'm at."
He is happy where he's at, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be more happy some place else.
A coach reportedly has taken his name out of consideration for a job and got a raise from his current school.
Jimmy Sexton strikes again!
"I’ve not been offered any job and I certainly haven’t accepted any job."
He hasn't received a contract or any other legally binding document for that job yet. Perhaps he has even agreed to accept the job, but the actual acceptance hasn't yet occurred.
"I'm not going to be the Alabama coach."
He is going to be the next Alabama coach.
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What are your favorite bits of coachspeak during the annual coaching carousel?
Note: The New York Times' Pete Thamel, who is close with Meyer, is reporting based on sources that nothing is a done deal yet. He reports that Meyer must first talk to his entire family at Thanksgiving and look more into what NCAA penalties OSU is possibly facing from its failure to monitor charge. Meyer issued a statement to ESPN denying that the job was even offered to him yet, and sources inside the OSU athletic department also stated that Meyer had not been offered the job.