Columnist Steve Guiremand: Garrett, USC missed out on landing Stoops

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Jan. 5, 2001 | 9:06 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. His Around Campus column appears on Friday during football season.

Cleaning out the notebook one last time while counting down the days to spring practice:

Here's something from the "What Might Have Been" Department.

Three years ago a hot young college defensive coordinator sent his resume to USC for its vacant head football coaching position.

He seemed to have all the credentials needed to become a successful head coach in a big media market like Los Angeles. Boyish good looks. A national championship ring on his finger. And a knack for developing NFL-caliber players like Jevon Kearse.

But the young defensive coordinator never even got an interview from Trojan athletic director Mike Garrett, who seemed intent on either hiring former Notre Dame nemesis Lou Holtz or someone with a USC predigree.

In fact, as the story goes around Heritage Hall, Garrett didn't even know who the bright young defensive coordinator was when he got the application. So he eventually hired someone who could go down as the worst college head coach of the '90s, Paul Hackett.

Meanwhile, that bright young defensive coordinator finally got his chance to become a Division I head coach a year later when Oklahoma came calling.

And Wednesday night, just two years after taking over the Sooners, Bob Stoops, arguably the hottest coach in college football, won another national championship to go along with the one he earned as Steve Spurrier's defensive coordinator at Florida.

I'm guessing even Mike Garrett knows who he is these days.

The former Woody Hayes assistant has made no secret in the past that the two college head coaching jobs he always dreamed of were Notre Dame and Ohio State.

The timing of Cooper's firing was somewhat ironic in that it came less than 24 hours after the Holtz-coached South Carolina Gamecocks pulled a stunningly one-sided 24-7 upset of the Buckeyes in the Outback Bowl.

It would seem to be the perfect last coaching stop for Holtz, who probably could make the Buckeyes a legitimate national championship contender within two years.

It's doubtful that Holtz could do a whole lot better at South Carolina than he did this year when the Gamecocks went a surprising 8-4, especially playing the likes of Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Clemson each year.

Ohio State is a different story. If Holtz could get the top players in Ohio to stay home each year and mix in a few other blue chippers from across the nation, the Buckeyes would be a perennial Top 10 power again. And the Big Ten is not nearly as competitive as the SEC.

Would Holtz leave South Carolina after just two years?

Why not?

He left Minnesota -- arguably the Big Ten equivalent of South Carolina -- to takes his other dream job in South Bend. And by returning to Columbus he would get a chance to recruit against his old backstabbing buddy in South Bend, Bob Davie, for the top prospects in the Midwest again.

The unusually late timing of Cooper's firing just a month before the national letter of intent signing period makes you believe that Ohio State must already have a pretty big name waiting in the wings.

Who bigger than Lou Holtz?

Depending on whom Ohio State hires, the Wolverines might actually have to break a sweat to beat their Big Ten rivals again next year.

Dennis Erickson's Beavers (11-1) just might have been playing the best college football in the nation at the end of the year. Ask Notre Dame, which was simply manhandled by OSU, 41-9, in the Fiesta Bowl. And that game, which had to bring back awful memories of Miami's 51-3 win over Gerry Faust for Irish fans, wasn't even that close.

Good thing Bob Davie got his contract extension before that ugly thrashing. If Notre Dame was in Florida, they'd probably be demanding a recount.

It's too bad the Beavers couldn't have played a legitimate BCS caliber team, like Oklahoma, Florida State, Miami or even Virginia Tech or Kansas State, instead of the overachieving and vastly overrated Fighting Irish.

Say what you want about Erickson and the type of players he recruits -- it's safe to say Oregon State will never win any trophies for good sportsmanship or academics -- but the man knows how to get his team to play hard and improve each week.

And any guy who can continue to convince the top prospects in Las Vegas to leave to spend five years of their life in damp and dull Corvallis is obviously a brilliant recruiter.

1. South Carolina: If Holtz stays, Gamecocks could be the Oklahoma of the SEC.

2. USC: Paul Hackett had lots of talent, he just didn't know how to use it. I'm guessing Pete Carroll at least will have a clue.

3. UCLA: Despite an incredible amount of key injuries, the Bruins played big, bad and overrated Wisconsin dead-even in the Sun Bowl before losing, 21-20. If Freddie Mitchell pulls a surprise and returns for his senior year, look out.

4. New Mexico: If Rocky Long can get an efficient offense to go with his aggressive top-notch defense, the Lobos, who play UNLV in Albuquerque, could make a run at the Mountain West title. Is there any doubt that the Lobo defense was much better than the Arkansas one UNLV faced in the Las Vegas Bowl?

5. UNLV: John Robinson's club is just one more big-time recruiting haul away from a Top 25 finish. A healthy Jason Thomas with a year of college experience under his belt has got to be a frightening thought for MWC coaches.

Six coaches who are on the hot seat:

1. Cam Cameron, Indiana.

2. Paul Pasqualoni, Syracuse.

3. Vic Koenning, Wyoming.

4. R. C. Slocum, Texas A&M.

5. Ted Tollner, San Diego State.

6. Tom Holmoe, Cal.