Pre-Snap Read

Fake News

Good, Bad, Otherwise: You’re Fired

By Paul Myerberg   //   Sep 8, 2011

Lane Kiffin has one. Of course. So does Dabo Swinney. And Paul Rhoads, strangely enough. Mike Riley has one! And you know Ron Zook is represented. Kirk Ferentz might have one, had Iowa not jumped in ahead of the curve. I’m talking about www.fire_____.com, the ubiquitous coach-unfriendly Web site typically purchased by an intrepid, capitalistic fan in the days following a coach’s hiring and either maintained or left to languish depending on the ensuing results. Careful research — spanning several minutes surfing the Internet — has yielded the following conclusion: bad coaches get them, good coaches get them, nice coaches get them and mean coaches get them. So there’s little rhyme or reason to the whole thing.

Just along the B.C.S. conference level, the following coaches have been blessed with a relatively recently-maintained Web site dedicated to their dismissal:

Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
Turner Gill, Kansas
Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Butch Jones, Cincinnati
Ron Zook, Illinois
Danny Hope, Purdue
Chip Kelly, Oregon
Mike Riley, Oregon State
Lane Kiffin, U.S.C.
Mark Richt, Georgia
Joker Phillips, Kentucky

Some are better than others; some have a bit of validity, to be honest, while others seem vindictive. The rationale behind demanding Johnson’s ouster? To stop the “efforts of Paul Johnson to transform Georgia Tech football into Annapolis South.” The Kelly-related site cites 10 reasons why Oregon should move forward without the man responsible for successive B.C.S. bowl berths, with a few updated to reflect this past Saturday’s result. The site dedicated to Zook’s dismissal seems to be the longest-running, which makes sense.

Richt’s site gives a clock listing the days, hours, minutes and seconds since Georgia’s last championship. Richt hasn’t been around for that entire time, but still: 11,206 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, 2 seconds… 3 seconds… 4 seconds…

But FireMikeRiley.com? I know the Beavers just lost to Sacramento State, but really — fire Mike Riley, the lone reason Oregon State is taken seriously in the least on a national level? And fire Kelly? Please.

Other “fire my coach” devotees may not have a true site, but detractors have found other avenues to voice their displeasure. There are Twitter accounts devoted to getting Dennis Erickson and Greg Schiano fired. There’s a “fire Brian Kelly” message board, with most of the action, not surprisingly, coming since last Saturday. Mississippi fans haven’t built a site calling for Houston Nutt to be fired, but an Arkansas fan — I think — flew a plane above a 2007 home game in Fayetteville calling for the university to act. That’s dedication.

There are dozens of petitions to draw Washington State’s attention to Paul Wulff’s dismal mark in Pullman. Two thoughts: one, the university is aware that Wulff has won five games over three years; and two, what year is it, 1911? The Internet is powerful. Use it.

A few coaches were proactive. Iowa bought the domain name associated with firing Ferentz, so any browser who attempts to reach that link will instead be sent to Iowa’s athletic Web site. Looking for FireFrankBeamer.com? That’ll take you to Beamer’s official site. Or a site devoted to first-year Colorado coach Jon Embree’s weaknesses? Try again. All you’ll get is a site with the above picture: You must be insane.

The strangest forwarding comes via Gene Chizik. Try to reach his site and you’ll get redirected to the U.C.F. athletic site, of all places. Why? I can think of a good reason: Chizik was a finalist for the job that went to George O’Leary, and perhaps U.C.F. wanted to get ahead of what they believed would be an outcry over his hiring. I guess Chizik really was close to getting that job.

I’m just thankful Nick Saban doesn’t have one, as that would be ridiculous, though I wonder why Rick Neuheisel isn’t represented. There’s no FireLesMiles.com? You would’ve thought at least one L.S.U. fan would have bought the rights after another palpitation-inducing loss — or win, for that matter.

You can also follow Paul Myerberg and Pre-Snap Read on Twitter.

Tags: Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Butch Jones, Chip Kelly, Dabo Swinney, Danny Hope, Frank Beamer, Gene Chizik, Houston Nutt, Joker Phillips, Kirk Ferentz, Lane Kiffin, Les Miles, Mark Richt, Mike Riley, Paul Johnson, Paul Rhoads, Ron Zook, Turner Gill

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