College football kickoff: Don’t expect many coaching changes in the middle of a pandemic

The cost of paying someone not to coach has probably never required a greater percentage of available resources than now. And the perception of doing so while asking the gainfully employed in a department to take pay cuts or while slashing jobs is not a pleasant one.

Besides money, there’s also this matter: How can anyone fairly assess coaching performance in the middle of a pandemic?

The variables are far greater than mere injury luck and player development. The former is a fact of life, and coaches are on the hook for the latter all the time. Most coaches — especially most football coaches — are creatures of routine, which has been virtually nonexistent since March.

A truncated or eliminated spring practice. Substantially altered summer workouts. Players opting out over virus concerns. A late start to the season for nearly everyone. A spate of postponements and cancellations. Players opting out in the middle of the season. The need to be conscious of mental health concerns in the midst of a full-blown public health emergency now in its ninth month.

Then there’s the problem of keeping teams in the middle of disappointing seasons fully engaged over the next month amid a virus caseload spike. Some of the sport’s best motivators could very well struggle with that one.

Chances are, it will be a relatively quiet year for coaching changes. It won’t be completely silent; already, Southern Mississippi is on its second interim coach, and Utah State fired Gary Andersen last week after an 0-3 start. Any school with a head coach on either an expiring contract or one year left on his deal probably had a decision to make, pandemic or no pandemic.

Finances will be the largest factor in the lack of movement, which is no surprise since money is the primary reason there is a season in the first place. But it’s hard to make too big of a deal of results produced under nearly year-long conditions no coach could have been fully prepared to contend with.

Without belaboring the point, 15 games spanning eight FBS conferences were postponed or canceled this week because of the pandemic. Which brings up this gem.

In a normal year, which this most clearly is not, most teams would be playing their 10th game this week. Only one FBS team is set to get there this weekend, and that’s Texas State. But whether the Bobcats are lucky or not depends on the perspective. They head into Saturday’s game at Georgia Southern with a 1-8 record.

1. Wisconsin. The No. 13 Badgers (1-0) had their last two games canceled because of a heavy virus caseload within the program, and they’ll head to Michigan as they resume play. Is it good or bad to be facing the Wolverines (1-2) as they come off consecutive losses to Michigan State and Indiana? That depends on how deeply Michigan’s roster is still invested in this season.

2. Oregon. The No. 11 Ducks (1-0) will probably find themselves on this list every week until they lose — assuming they do before the postseason. Oregon handled Stanford in its opener and heads to Washington State, which quickly discovered a running game in its first post-Mike Leach game and turned in an impressive showing in a victory at Oregon State to open its season.

3. Miami. The No. 9 Hurricanes (6-1, 5-1 ACC) aren’t completely done for as a playoff contender, but they do need to win out and catch a break to make the ACC title game. They haven’t played great in their last two games (the offense sputtered in a 19-14 defeat of Virginia, and the defense didn’t impress in a 44-41 victory at N.C. State), and they visit a wounded Virginia Tech team coming off a wrenching loss to Liberty. As unpredictable as Miami is, this one could go in any direction.

4. Notre Dame. The No. 2 Irish (7-0, 6-0 ACC) banked arguably the best victory on the board when they tripped up then-No. 1 Clemson in double overtime, so they have some wiggle room. (The alternate candidates are either Texas A&M’s triumph over Florida or Alabama’s defeat of Texas A&M). So now it’s time to reload the musket and head to Boston College (5-3, 4-3), which was a nuisance and then some for both North Carolina and Clemson already this season.

5. Indiana. The No. 10 Hoosiers can move a half-game ahead of No. 3 Ohio State (which had its game at Maryland canceled) in the Big Ten East with a victory at Michigan State. Indiana (3-0), which is coming off its first victory over Michigan since 1987, has a potential top-10 showdown at Ohio State looming next week.

With the top four candidates all getting the week off, don’t expect much movement on this front in the next seven days.

1. QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson; 1,833 yards, 17 TDs, 2 INTs passing; 71 yards, 4 TDs rushing. The lesson from the last two weeks is the Tigers will be in good hands if D.J. Uiagalelei takes over next season should Lawrence turn pro. After missing two games after a positive virus test, Lawrence should be back next week against Florida State. (Last week: 1)

2. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State; 908 yards, 11 TDs, 0 INTs passing; 57 yards, 2 TDs rushing. There basically isn’t a gap between Fields and Lawrence, who has played in twice as many games as the Buckeye quarterback. Fields has as many touchdown passes as incompletions through three games. (LW: 2)

3. RB Najee Harris, Alabama; 714 yards, 14 TDs rushing; 20 receptions for 183 yards. We’ll have to wait for December to find out just how much Harris would have torched LSU’s shaky defense after this week’s postponement. (LW: 3)

4. QB Mac Jones, Alabama; 2,196 yards, 16 TDs, 2 INTs passing. Jones might have feasted even more than Harris against LSU. If things go well, he’ll receive that opportunity next month. (LW: 4)

5. QB Kyle Trask, Florida; 1,815 yards, 22 TDs, 3 INTs passing. He’s thrown for at least four touchdowns in each of the Gators’ five games, setting an SEC record. He’ll try to extend that mark and go for six in a row against Arkansas in one of the few SEC games not yet wiped out this weekend. (LW: 6)

6. QB Zach Wilson, Brigham Young; 2,512 yards, 22 TDs, 2 INTs passing; 158 yards, 8 TDs rushing. Just two more games on the board for Wilson and the Cougars, who have this week off before facing North Alabama on Nov. 21. (LW: 5)