Bowl Season Odds and Ends

*Denver Post columnist John Henderson says Bob Stoops would be a bad fit for the Broncos. Like Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, etc., Stoops is a "college coach," according to Henderson, and college coaches don't make good NFL coaches.

The NFL and college games definitely have their differences, but just because coaches share something in common--coaching in college--that doesn't mean they're destined to share the same fate. Plenty of NFL coordinators have washed out as head coaches, but that hasn't stopped teams from hiring them.

*Check out the success of first-year coaches in bowl games this year. Bo Pelini (Nebraska), Steve Fairchild (Colorado State), Larry Fedora (Southern Miss) and Kevin Sumlin (Houston) all won in their first bowl appearances as head coaches. (Pelini previously led Nebraska to a win in the 2003 Alama Bowl as interim coach.) All covered the spread as well. 

*Did USC "take its foot off the gas" in the second half against Penn State, or did the Trojans get outplayed? I'm going with the former.

*Not much better than a holiday Law & Order marathon.

*Odd comment from Pete Carroll following USC's big Rose Bowl win regarding the Trojans' place in the national pecking order relative to Oklahoma and Florida: "With all due respect, those are two great programs, I don't think anybody can beat the Trojans. I just think we can beat anyone we played."

Surely Carroll hasn't forgotten that his team lost to Oregon State earlier this year. Homerism will take the quote to mean Carroll thinks his team could beat anyone in the country right now.

Either way, Sporting News columnist Matt Hayes has finally decided to stop fawning over USC and take Carroll to task for his after-the-fact politicking.

*If Stoops does bolt for Denver after the championship game, Homerism suspects coordinators Brent Venables and Kevin Wilson will be the leading candidates to take over at OU. Both would be fine choices, but I'd prefer to see the Sooners pursue an experienced head coach. My personal favorite would be Buffalo head coach Turner Gill, who has to be a top-notch coach and recruiter to win in college football's version of Siberia. Others Homerism would like to see considered include Brian Kelly, head coach of Cincinnati, and Leslie Frazier, defensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings.