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Although I don't consider the offseason really to get started until spring ball is complete, it's time to begin perusal of those perennial back-burner issues that we make time for only when real football isn't an option. Today's beat: head coach longevity.
Not lifespan, mind you (although that would make an interesting study). No, job lifespan. Is there a worse American industry for job security?
Here's the list, assuming the current head coaches can stay on the job until the start of the season. (Those ten schools that haven't fired their top man in over ten whole years are listed here. The 113 others are listed below the jump.)
| Virginia Tech | Beamer, Frank | 26 years |
| Troy | Blakeney, Larry | 22 |
| Texas | Brown, Mack | 15 |
| Iowa | Ferentz, Kirk | 14 |
| Oklahoma | Stoops, Bob | 14 |
| Wake Forest | Grobe, Jim | 12 |
| TCU | Patterson, Gary | 12 |
| Missouri | Pinkel, Gary | 12 |
| Georgia | Richt, Mark | 12 |
| California | Tedford, Jeff |
11 |
Your coach, on average, has held the corner office between four and five years. Of course, that number took a little hit when JoePa retired; but the head men tumbling out of Fresno State, Arizona State, Southern Miss, and Rutgers brought the number down, too.
I don't have these figures for other years, so I can't do a statistically meaningful comparison. But I cannot imagine that 4-5 year average has ever been lower.
| UCF | O'Leary, George | 9 |
| UTEP | Price, Mike | 9 |
| Nevada | Ault, Chris | 9 |
| Oklahoma St. | Gundy, Mike | 8 |
| BYU | Mendenhall, Bronco | 8 |
| Ohio | Solich, Frank | 8 |
| Western Mich. | Cubit, Bill | 8 |
| Oregon St. | Riley, Mike | 8 |
| Utah | Whittingham, Kyle | 8 |
| LSU | Miles, Les | 8 |
| South Carolina | Spurrier, Steve | 8 |
| Northwestern | Fitzgerald, Pat | 7 |
| Wisconsin | Bielema, Bret | 7 |
| Boise State | Petersen, Chris | 7 |
| Mid. Tenn. St. | Stockstill, Rick | 7 |
| NC State | O'Brien, Tom | 6 |
| Michigan St. | Dantonio, Mark | 6 |
| Rice | Bailiff, David | 6 |
| Air Force | Calhoun, Troy | 6 |
| Alabama | Saban, Nick | 6 |
| FIU | Cristobal, Mario | 6 |
| Idaho | Akey, Robb | 6 |
| Clemson | Swinney, Dabo | 5 |
| Duke | Cutcliffe, David | 5 |
| Georgia Tech | Johnson, Paul | 5 |
| Nebraska | Pelini, Bo | 5 |
| Baylor | Briles, Art | 5 |
| SMU | Jones, June | 5 |
| Navy | Niumatalolo, Ken | 5 |
| Arkansas | Petrino, Bobby | 5 |
| Boston College | Spaziani, Frank | 4 |
| Purdue | Hope, Danny | 4 |
| Iowa St. | Rhoads, Paul | 4 |
| Kansas St. | Snyder, Bill | 4 |
| Syracuse | Marrone, Doug | 4 |
| Army | Ellerson, Rich | 4 |
| Bowling Green | Clawson, Dave | 4 |
| Eastern Mich. | English, Ron | 4 |
| Wyoming | Christensen, Dave | 4 |
| Oregon | Kelly, Chip | 4 |
| Washington | Sarkisian, Steve | 4 |
| Auburn | Chizik, Gene | 4 |
| Miss St. | Mullen, Dan | 4 |
| New Mexico St. | Walker, DeWayne | 4 |
| Utah State | Andersen, Gary | 4 |
| Florida St. | Fisher, Jimbo | 3 |
| Virginia | London, Mike | 3 |
| Texas Tech | Tuberville, Tommy | 3 |
| Cincinnati | Jones, Butch | 3 |
| Louisville | Strong, Charlie | 3 |
| South Florida | Holtz, Skip | 3 |
| East Carolina | McNeill, Ruffin | 3 |
| Marshall | Holliday, Doc | 3 |
| Notre Dame | Kelly, Brian | 3 |
| Buffalo | Quinn, Jeff | 3 |
| Central Mich. | Enos, Dan | 3 |
| UNLV | Hauck, Bobby | 3 |
| Southern Cal | Kiffin, Lane | 3 |
| Kentucky | Phillips, Joker | 3 |
| Tennessee | Dooley, Derek | 3 |
| Louisiana Monroe | Berry, Todd | 3 |
| Western Ky. | Taggart, Willie | 3 |
| Louisiana Tech | Dykes, Sonny | 3 |
| San Jose State | MacIntyre, Mike | 3 |
| Maryland | Edsall, Randy | 2 |
| Miami | Golden, Al | 2 |
| Indiana | Wilson, Kevin | 2 |
| Michigan | Hoke, Brady | 2 |
| Minnesota | Kill, Jerry | 2 |
| West Virginia | Dana Holgerson | 2 |
| Connecticut | Pasqualoni, Paul | 2 |
| Tulsa | Blankenship, Bill | 2 |
| Ball State | Pembo, Pete | 2 |
| Kent State | Hazell, Darrell | 2 |
| Miami, OH | Treadwell, Don | 2 |
| Northern Ill. | Doeren, Dave | 2 |
| Temple | Addazio, Steve | 2 |
| San Diego State | Long, Rocky | 2 |
| Colorado | Embree, Jon | 2 |
| Stanford | Shaw, David | 2 |
| Florida | Muschamp, Will | 2 |
| Vanderbilt | Franklin, James | 2 |
| Lousiana | Hudspeth, Mark | 2 |
| North Texas | McCarney, Dan | 2 |
| Texas St. | Dennis Franchione | 2 |
| UTSA | Larry Coker | 2 |
| North Carolina | Larry Fedora | 1 |
| Illinois | Tim Beckman | 1 |
| Ohio State | Urban Meyer | 1 |
| Penn State | Bill O'Brien | 1 |
| Kansas | Charlie Weis | 1 |
| Pittsburgh | Paul Cryst | 1 |
| Rutgers | Kyle Flood | 1 |
| Houston | Tony Levine | 1 |
| Memphis | Justin Fuente | 1 |
| Southern Miss | Ellis Johnson | 1 |
| Tulane | Curtis Johnson | 1 |
| UAB | Garrick McGee | 1 |
| Akron | Terry Bowden | 1 |
| Toledo | Matt Campbell | 1 |
| Massachusetts | Charlie Molnar | 1 |
| Colorado State | Jim McElwain | 1 |
| New Mexico | Bob Davie | 1 |
| Fresno State | Tim DeRuyter | 1 |
| Hawaii | Norm Chow | 1 |
| Arizona | Rich Rodriguez | 1 |
| Arizona State | Todd Graham | 1 |
| UCLA | Jim Mora | 1 |
| Washington St. | Mike Leach | 1 |
| Texas A&M | Kevin Sumlin | 1 |
| Ole Miss | Hugh Freeze | 1 |
| Arkansas St. | Gus Malzahn | 1 |
| Florida Atl. | Carl Pelini | 1 |