Two Freds and an Ed are out, Bob Stoops is in at Oklahoma and Tommy Bowden might be leaving Tulane after a perfect season.
The coaching carousel was in full swing on Monday, with three coaches fired, Florida's defensive coordinator headed to the Sooners and Bowden in serious talks with Clemson.Fired were Fred Goldsmith at Duke, Fred vonAppen at Hawaii and Ed Zaunbrecher at Northeast Louisiana. The season isn't over yet, and already 11 Division I-A coaches have either resigned, retired or been fired.
Oklahoma, which fired John Blake on Nov. 22 after his teams went 12-22 in three seasons, was to introduce the 38-year-old Stoops Tuesday at a news conference in Norman, Okla.
Stoops, who turned the Gators' defense into one of the best in the nation during his three-year stay in Gainesville, was also a top candidate to replace Hayden Fry at Iowa.
Stoops was nowhere to be seen at Florida's practice Monday.
"Stoopsie's out interviewing somewhere," Florida head coach Steve Spurrier said. "I've got an idea where he is, but I can't guarantee it. He hasn't checked in in a while."
Stoops will take over an Oklahoma program that boasts six national titles, but has not had a winning season since 1993. The Sooners are 23-33-1 in the past five years under Gary Gibbs, Howard Schnellenberger and Blake.
Bowden, meanwhile, visited Clemson on Monday and met with school president Constantine "Deno" Curris for two hours. No immediate announcement was expected, a school spokesman said.
Clemson is looking to replace Tommy West, who was fired after the Tigers went 3-8.
Bowden, who has guided Tulane to an 11-0 record and a berth in the Liberty Bowl, said "you know I can't answer that" when asked if he would be the Tigers' next coach.
Tulane assistant AD Scott Stricklin said Bowden told him a decision could come by midweek.
Tulane is making a strong pitch to keep Bowden, reportedly offering to match Clemson's salary package and build a new practice facility for the Green Wave.
Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer also is a candidate for the Clemson job.
At Duke, Goldsmith was let go with four years left on his contract.
The Blue Devils started 2-0 this year and were 4-4 after eight games but lost three in a row to close at 4-7 -- a fourth straight losing season. In 1994, Goldsmith guided Duke to its only winning season in a decade.
After the 8-4 season in '94, Goldsmith's teams went 10-39, including 0-11 in '96 and a record 21-game ACC losing streak.
"This is a tough pill to swallow," kicker Sims Lenhardt said. "We were really fighting for coach and believe what's going on here. But we've got to move on. We're mature guys."
Goldsmith met with some players and coaches in a hastily called meeting.
"I am down today, but if the right people call I'll be fired up and ready to go tomorrow," Goldsmith said.
VonAppen was dismissed two days after Hawaii lost to Michigan 48-17 to finish the season 0-12 and extend the nation's longest losing streak to 18 games.
"The 0-12 season which we experienced this year was very unexpected," Hawaii AD Hugh Yoshida said. "He understood why the decision was made as such.
"He understood that the decisions that were forthcoming dealt in the areas of finances and the impact of the program and such."
The Rainbows matched college football's worst single-season mark, set by Colorado State in 1981. Many of those losses were blowouts, with Hawaii allowing 191 points in its final four games.
Hawaii was 5-31 in vonAppen's three seasons.
At Northeast Louisiana, Zaunbrecher was let go after five seasons and a 20-36 record.
Athletic director Richard Giannini cited a lack of satisfactory progress since Northeast returned to Division I-A in 1994 as the reason for Zaunbrecher's dismissal.
The Indians did not have a winning season in Zaunbrecher's five seasons, although his teams upset Kentucky in 1994 and Mississippi State in 1995.
Also Monday, SMU coach Mike Cavan says he's staying with the Mustangs after interviewing for the vacant coaching spot at Mississippi.
Cavan was considered among the frontrunners to replace Tommy Tuberville, who went to Auburn, because he's known new Ole Miss athletic director John Shafer for 16 years. The pair worked together for three years at Georgia.
"We had a good meeting," Cavan said. "Then I went home, talked with my wife, went back to (SMU president Gerald Turner) and told him I was staying."
Middle Tennessee, set to move from I-AA to I-A next season, narrowed its search to replace the retired James "Boots" Donnelly to three -- Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe, Baylor linebackers coach Andy McCollum and Tulane offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez.
The 11 schools who will have new coaches next season are: Auburn (Tuberville replaced Terry Bowden), Clemson, Duke, Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, Northeast Louisiana, Oklahoma, UNLV, South Carolina and Southwestern Louisiana.