Our look at the most accomplished under-40 college football and basketball coaches
What would recent Final Fours be without Butler and VCU? And how boring would college football be without coaches like Lane Kiffin and Pat Fitzgerald.
There’s an intriguing youth movement afoot in college sports where Butler’s Brad Stevens and VCU’s Shaka Smart, both under the age of 40, have reached the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament and subsequently turn down big-time jobs to continue building their mid-major programs.
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Steel rubble was strewn everywhere. Wooden seats were shredded into kindling. The artificial playing surface was ripped out of the ground in chunks. This was Husky Stadium just weeks after the 2011 season ended, gutted and subjected to massive renovation. Once stately and sacred, the place was a mess.
QB Matt Barkley, USC
The obstacles were well-documented. USC would be crippled for multiple seasons by NCAA penalties — after all, it had happened before. De’Anthony Thomas’ recruiting defection to Oregon was a program crusher. Lane Kiffin was an overrated coach. For all of the above reasons, impending doom was predicted for the Trojans for seasons to come.