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The coaching carousel before the 2001 season transformed college football. Some programs set themselves up for national championship (or even dynastic) runs. Some screwed themselves. Some set the stage for the next several decades of the top tiers of the SEC and Big Ten. In this episode, Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson, and Steven Godfrey take a fine-toothed comb through the consequential coaching cycle at the end of 2000:

* The hires that worked really well (Gary Patterson to TCU, Pete Carroll to USC, Jim Tressel to Ohio State, Rich Rodriguez to WVU, and many more)

* The hires that fell flat (hello, UNC and Arizona)

* The hires that shaped college football to this day

* The what-if scenarios that nearly made it all different

* Ohio State and Georgia shopping for upgrades

* A reevaluation of Larry Coker?

* Class superlatives, including the Ellis Johnson Southern Miss Award for missed opportunities, the Coaching Carousel Global Impact Award for the most profound ripple effects, and Hire of the Year

And more. We enjoyed making this episode for our paying subscribers at www.splitzoneduo.com, but everyone can hear a free preview. Join us on a weeklong free trial if you aren’t a subscriber and would like to try us out.

Producer: Anthony Vito