Randy Edsall, the UConn coach, has taken the opening at Maryland. He DIDN'T fly back with the UConn team from their bowl loss, so this was obviously in the cards as he coached yesterday against the Sooners. The never ending journey into the NEXT LEVEL marches on.

What was the rush?  He doesn't fly back with the team?  He ends up on a conference call with a few Uconn players and tells them via phone?  Also reports are that he was negotiating with Maryland last week.

And, reports are that he made Uconn RB tell the team after the game that he was going pro.  Then he skipped out on the team without telling them he was leaving for Maryland.

He couldn't finish all this Sunday night in CT and Monday in Maryland.?

Good grief.  What's wrong with these people?

The NCAA cesspool continues.

How is this not an NCAA issue?  They make the rules for the most part. 

Not that they enforce them in any even-handed, moral way.

The NCAA can and should strongly influence how these coaches and universities handle these situations.

I don't need a rule.  How about some leadership?  Tell them how they should handle it.  And publicly chastise and embarass them when they act like Randy Edsell just did.

You can do a lot of good with a bully pulpit.

Labor laws and free trade would be pretty good reasons why this will not happen, and let's be honest, coaches do not want it to happen.

It seems funny to me that Edsall is taking this much heat here compared to others like Brian Kelly last season and others like Haywood who moved on very early in their tenure, and with a major game still to be played. Leaving before your school's season has finished is something I detest, and I've said that before, but Edsall was Connecticut's head coach for 13 seasons, leading the program from I-AA to a BCS conference and a BCS bowl, and at least coached the bowl. He definitely left the program in a much better place. Do I think he should've waited until the game was over to make a deal? Yes, but the problem is the institutions' desire to fill those vacancies quickly means if you aren't up for a conversation, they'll find somebody who is.

With all due deference, JCW, I'll wait to hear from one of our online lawyers to find out whether or not such a proposal would likely pass judicial muster.

You need a lawyer to tell you the NFL and college football are different animals?

I will start with the basic fact that NFL teams are franchises of the NFL, while college teams belong to a voluntary organization that is run by it's membership.

Fair enough -- and I'm not saying you shouldn't be, all I'm saying is it seems he at least stuck around for the game, which many coaches can't be bothered to do anymore.  I agree a week later would've made a world of difference in the reception of his decision, but I'm not sure he wouldn't have been passed over had he waited.

It is a tough thing -- I agree with those who think a coach should finish the season, then look for a job, but the other schools simply won't wait to search for their next coach.  The NCAA can't do anything about it, really (John is spot on when he mentions restraint of trade, etc.).

The only folks who could do something would be the institutions, on their own, writing penalty clauses into contracts if a coach leaves prior to a bowl game (the official "end" of a season).  This opens another whole can of worms, as likely higher-money schools would just add that penalty to their buyout amounts and grab them up anyhow.  Plus, if a school utilized such a clause in their contracts, then hired someone away before that school's bowl, they don't end up looking good.  It is a messy situation, for sure.

Maybe I'm just biased, cuz I really like Edsall.

Bill Stewart's biggest win as a HC came as a the result of a Bowl Game promotion. And WVU, locked Rich Rod down with a hefty bye-out, which was paid by a wealthy donor of Michigan! Who ironically is probably being asked again to pony up. This brings us back to these donor clubs, do you realize that your unrestricted gifts can be used to buy a coach out?

Really the BCS is not much different than the Bowl System of old, and in some ways better for teams.  In those days UConn would have been in the Orange Bowl and not belonged and gotten drilled by a Big12 team.  TCU would have been in the Cotton Bowl with no chance of smelling the Roses, and Boise would have been at home playing on the blue turf, while we would have sat at home.  The money is more today, however based on inflation and increased revenues not really.