For some reason, all I can hear in my head right now is Max Bretos yelling "Unleash the kraken!" Tell us how you really feel, John.
Randy Edsall should be fired - today. [snip]
Here's why: If Edsall stays, attendance at football games next season will be even worse. Contributions to the athletic department, already down in recent years, will plummet. Any recruiting successes in February will not offset the anticipated exodus of players on the current roster.
Beyond that, the athletic department will face more cuts if the football bleeding isn't stopped quickly. To quote Barry Gossett, a member of the committee that recommended the cutbacks: "Without success in football and basketball, we're not going to have a great deal of income to work with."
I don't think Feinstein is saying anything too new to people who have been on this bandwagon. But if something like that happens, this would be a huge part of it. Feinstein has his detractors, but he's more or less well-respected in the area - he isn't exactly Mike Wise - and is legendary nationally. The issue is now on the forefront with casual fans, and piles more pressure on the athletic department.
Basically, if Edsall was ever going to be fired in his first year - and I still significantly doubt that anything like that would happen - a public request from guys like Feinstein, Kornheiser, and Wilbon was probably a necessity.
But it's still a fairly convincing argument. He adds in that Edsall "doesn't get it," which I hardly consider a valid point, but I do appreciate the Bob Knight quote about rules, and I feel Edsall would benefit from that kind of approach. And, of course, there are the requisite complaints about his awful, awful handling of the media, his inability to admit fault, his insistence that "Hey, I'm just like Robert Kraft guys!" None of them far off.
My stance on it is the same as its ever been: I don't think it'll happen, even though it might make sense, and it's tough to be particularly upset that it isn't happening, given the circumstances. But the more stuff like this that happens, the less I'll be surprised if something along those lines does actually happen.
Hope that makes sense.
[BTW: if anyone says "Feinstein went to Duke, I don't care about his opinion", I'm deleting your comment. I'm tired of ad hominems here.]