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Well, we have a midseason coaching change. These aren't especially healthy -- although they can be good for the interim coach, who may find a head coaching job somewhere as a result -- but it's a bold move (don't buy that the "resignation" didn't come with pressure) by the Crimson Tide.

Question is, will the Tide step up and attempt to achieve the same level of two-sport dominance as Florida? Alabama football is rolling, and one name kicked about as a potential BB replacement is Minnesota coach Tubby Smith.

The advantage of a midseason change is that the school can make contacts without any appearance of unethical behavior. The SEC as a whole is hurting right now, so it isn't surprising that someone would attempt to get a jump on any other schools in the conference that may want to make a change.

Here's a story about Gottfried's departure: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gsK3TIRhBrE2b1wlROMbwZ_RcEOQD95V5DPG0

do you see many advantages of firing a coach before the end of season? It seems to be growing trend. UGA now has followed. LSU did it last year.

Also, any word on how much money Bama and Georgia might be willing to spend?

There are different schools of thought on mid-season firings. Coaches tend to frown upon them, but some ADs believe that is unleashes them to be more aggressive instead of having to go behind the outgoing coach's back or wait until the end of the year.

My instinct is that we are going to see a lot of coaching changes this year. It's just time for it. One problem is that you have a series of haves and have-nots in the power conferences, and if the common perception among fans is "We can't compete with conference leaders," action sometimes follows.

It's one thing for one school to dominate, perhaps, but when some programs seem unable to even compete for fourth place, that's problematic.

Too early to say on specific openings, but there have been whispers that Alabama desires to compete against Florida as the dominant two-sport power in the SEC. We'll see!