Get ready to see plenty of this look from Houston's Kevin Sumlin, assembled Conference USA media. (Cal Sport Media)

• Fresh coaches, bought and sold: Newsy bits involving the staffing and de-staffing and re-staffing of various programs:

- Kevin Sumlin is this season’s hot hiring flavor, and having been in a room with him once before when he was asked a question he didn’t care for, I cannot wait for some reporter at the C-USA title game to attempt to discuss which visor Sumlin will don next year instead of breaking down the Cougars’ matchup with Southern Miss. Guy gets a flat, shark-eyed stare going that’s practically Sabanian in its chilling effect.

- Not a lot of “football minds” on Penn State’s search committee to replace Joe Paterno, which has a couple ex-Nittany Lions worried. I thought the same thing looking at PSU’s offensive statistics all year, guys.

- ”The great thing about WSU and being a Coug is that we don’t do it like everybody else. We stick together and we don’t eat our own. I believe the innocence of Wazzu has been lost today.” – Paul Wulff, who held a press conference of his own yesterday after the one announcing the onset of the hunt for his successor.

- “The only job that I am worried about, and the job that I have got all my heart and soul and attention on, is Maryland.” — Randy Edsall, whose heart and soul could really use some help putting together a coherent defense. Which organ is responsible for that? Pancreas? [Via the Post.]

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Arizona State fans got their wish when head coach Dennis Erickson was fired on Bloody Sunday. (AP)

“I’m concerned that by the end of the day there may be more coaching openings than bowl teams.”
– Stewart Mandel, November 2011

Canned Coachmas is upon us once more (presiding patron saint: Mike Leach). It’s the most wonderful time of the year – if your name’s Jimmy Sexton. There’s one very large piece of news this morning involving the vacant coaching position at Ohio State, which has been a foregone conclusion for some days now. Stewart Mandel has a fresh column up on Urban Meyer’s return to Buckeye country. Over here, however, we’ll be tracking goings rather than comings. Bookmark this page, if you’re into this sort of thing, as we catalog the firings, “retirements” and Actual Retirements throughout college football. This post will be refreshed as needed as news of more oustings breaks.

NB: For documenting purposes here, we’ll be sticking to news rather than conjecture, which means we won’t add new bodies until they’re officially defenestrated. To the already dismissed likes of Mike Stoops, Mike Locksley, Houston Nutt and Bob Toledo, and the slated-for-retirement Howard Schnellenberger, we can now add:

• [UPDATE 12/06] Greg McMackin, Hawaii: Following a rocky four-year tenure that concluded with a drop from 10 wins in 2010 to six in 2011 (to say nothing of the recent unpleasantness with points-shaving allegations), June Jones’ successor is hanging up his Warriors whistle. It’s probably time; how anybody can manage to lose to this year’s UNLV and Fresno State squads with Bryant Moniz as a quarterback, rampant injuries or no, is beyond comprehension.

• [UPDATE 12/05] Pat Hill, Fresno State: The magnificently mustachioed skipper of the Bulldogs for 15 years, Hill’s had a bad few seasons despite his overall winning record, and the party line from the AD is making it sound like ticket sales were the real culprit: “Our community was not responding any longer to the record that we had.” The 2011 team finished well out of bowl contention, with a nasty OOC schedule that included Cal, Nebraska and Boise State, but also dropped games to such FBS luminaries as Ole Miss, New Mexico State and San Jose State.

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