BYU and Utah struck gold with coaching hires

BYU and Utah definitely got the best bargains five years ago.

Kyle Whittingham and Bronco Mendenhall are 8-2 this season. Both have ranked programs. They have three conference titles and a BCS bowl victory between them in their combined 91 wins. No duo in that class of 2005 coaches has been as productive.

Mendenhall ranks No. 1 in wins (46-15) and Whittingham is a close second (45-16) in that time.

When UNLV fired Mike Sanford over the weekend, it marked the fifth departure of the 13 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches hired following the 2004 season.

All 13 were first-year coaches in 2005, a year in which 23 college football programs across the country made coaching changes.

The 13 rookie coaches include Notre Dame's Charlie Weis, who is under scrutiny and could be fired at the end of the season. To do so, Notre Dame will have to buy out his contract at an estimated $18 million.

Ironically, Weis is 35-25 at Notre Dame, third behind Mendenhall and Whittingham, with identical records of Skip Holtz of Eastern Carolina, Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State and Dave Wannstedt of Pitt.

Sanford joins three other coaches from that 2005 hiring spree that have been fired. They include Ed Oregon of Mississippi, Utah State's Brent Guy and Greg Robinson of Syracuse. Shane Montgomery of Miami (Ohio) resigned on Nov. 29, 2008.

UNLV will owe Sanford $225,000 under terms agreed to last year when he signed a three-year contract extension.

These coaching changes bug those in the profession, including Mendenhall.

Risky longevity, transient family situations and impatient boosters with deep pockets make work as a football coach extremely risky.

"I'm saddened by it," said Mendenhall of Sanford's dismissal. He said the former Utah offensive coordinator was making progress.

"I would say he was doing it honorably, doing it the right way," said Mendenhall, who indicated that most places give coaches five years to show what he can do but having just three years is more realistic when expectations are weighed in.

"I was hopeful that UNLV would have a breakout year, most of us expected that. Coach Sanford is a very good person and a very good coach and a guy I believe has done a very good job. He' set a foundation, a standard or re-established a standard there. The next guy will find it in better shape than before he took over."

Mendenhall said besides he and Whittingham, the Weis situation is very similar where expectations are very high, where going to bowl games and winning a certain number of games isn't enough.

BYU and Utah expect to vie for titles every year. Utah has set a very high bar with two BCS bowl games.

When that doesn't happen, there is plenty of disappointment to spread around.