The rumor du jour–and the only food group this time of year is rumor, so double servings all around–is that Terry Bowden is pleading himself into contention for the West Virginia head coaching job. Or he’s making enough noise to be considered. Or he’s from West Virginia, doesn’t currently have a coaching job, once did in fact have a coaching job, and wants to get back into coaching, so using some vocational trigonometry BLAMMO!!! He must be in the running for the West Virginia job.

Anyone wanting to hire him should remember the curious case of Bowden’s departure at Auburn: Bowden fled the Opelika/Auburn metro area six games into the 1998 season after a 1-5 start and a near uprising by Auburn fans and boosters. It was not one of those quick little departures with a tasteful press conference and lots of jovial back-slapping, either: Bowden pulled the original midnight run move, leaving town literally overnight and leaving Bill Oliver to grit out the rest of the season. Bowden was there one minute….and then he wasn’t.


Go down, sun! Dammit, go down! I gotta pack!

We know Auburn’s boosters have roving packs of robotic dogs ready to kill at the drop of their master’s cap, but that’s pushing the logical fear envelope for a coach in trouble. The real shame in Bowden getting another job is that Yahoo would lose one of their more entertaining writers–Bowden’s column is shockingly good, and we’re not just grading on the former coaches’ scale, either; it’s legitimately good and often so.