Is college football imploding?

Alright, I've managed to keep my cool and not get too worried about what the future of college football is once all the hullabaloo of this off-season shakes out. That is, up until Lane Kiffin lost his damn mind and may very well have ruined college football.

Let's look at the facts so far:

1. Mark Mangino allegedly abused his players and has been run out of Kansas after bringing them to some prominence. My guess is he tried to eat one of his players because, let's be honest here, when you weigh just shy of a metric ton, it's not a difficult leap to imagine one of his players spilling some barbecue sauce on himself in the cafeteria and Marky Mark just couldn't control himself.
2. Jim Leavitt went all Bobby Knight on one of his players and tried to choke him out. That should help with recruiting.
3. Mike Leach is probably the only one who got a raw deal amongst the three coaches vying for the Jigsaw Coach of the Year award. By all accounts Craig James' son is a crybaby and his father thinks having a microphone means people care what his $200 haircut has to say. I've had a migraine before (and not one caused by a damn concussion) and, to be honest, sitting in a dark room by myself was the only thing I wanted to do. Props to the Pirate Lord Leach for realizing he was getting shafted and taking a chance to loud everyone else out on national television when he had the shot.
4. Pete Carroll gave up one of the sweetest coaching gigs in the country to coach the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS!! He traded in Southern California sunshine and bleach blond coeds for 400 days a year of rain and chicks in flannel who don't shave. To quote Beanie from Old School, "Way to think that one through." Add to that, I believe Pete has severely overestimated his capabilities. Recruiting for the University of Southern California is a very different thing than wading through the garbage that sits in the middle of the NFL draft. You're telling me Pete Carroll can navigate a draft intelligently when all he's had to do for the past 8 years is draft 5 running backs who ran 4.3 40s and were built like mack trucks? And as much as I actually like Pete (I think he's a helluva COLLEGE coach) this is going to be fun to watch as he flames out quickly.
5. Charlie Weis was pushed out at Notre Dame. The whole Charlie Weis/Notre Dame relationship was a lot like my college girlfriend. We were really great together for that 3 months after we graduated from high school and then, when we went to separate colleges we proceeded to embark on a 6 month relationship that lasted for 3 and 1/2 years. This should have happened a loooooong time ago.
   
6. Speaking of Notre Dame, they traded in the only guy I know with a FUPA for the head coach at Cincinnati. I actually feel sorry for this guy. I don't know why nobody bothered to tell Brian Kelly that Notre Dame is irrelevant now. Seriously, does anyone remember the last time they actually tuned in to NBC on a Saturday afternoon in the fall over the last 10 years? Me either. And you bring in a guy who was successful in the Big Least to turn things around? Did anybody at Notre Dame even watch the Cincy/Florida bowl game?
7. Urban Meyer got weird. I'm not sure I really have anything else to say about it actually. That whole two day span was just weird.
8. And that brings us to the coup de grace with the Loudmouth, Lane Kiffin. WHAT. THE. F@!K?!?!?! This guys comes barreling into the SEC and in a short 14 month period proceeds: 1) to call half of his fellow coaches cheaters; 2) immediately become the focus of a NCAA recruiting violation investigation himself (what color does that make the pot then Lane?); 3) go 7-6 yet somehow bring in a monster 2010 recruiting class (see point 2 above); and then 4) bolt from the school as soon as something better comes along. The only problem is, I don't know that the USC job is better! The Trojans are under investigation themselves and they're bringing in a guy who can't wipe his ass without breaking a rule? He's assembling the "Dream Team" of assistant coaches but hasn't the thought crossed his mind that he's setting himself up to get cannibalized as soon as a second tier head coaching job opens up? And what happens when old Pete gets tired of losing in the NFL? You don't think he'll be back in Los Angeles pointing out how available he is? And finally, let's not overlook how much of a dick move this is to the kids he coached and/or recruited. These guys, unlike NFL players who are grown men who get paid a lot of money to perform no matter who their boss is, are KIDS! They're 18 year old boys who, even though they may be big tough boys, are still leaving their homes for probably the first time and the one person who was supposed to be their father figure, just dipped out right when they're starting classes. What a colossal, unmitigated asshole.

So, the landscape is littered with mercenary coaches, kids who are afraid of a little rough treatment (c'mon - you play football, act like it), and fan/booster bases who force out coaches because of their mind-bogglingly unrealistic expectations. All of this spells trouble ahead, but I guess we'll have a spectacle to watch until then. I'll get the popcorn...