Bailing on the BCS

West Virginia has lost its football coach for a BCS bowl, and Oklahoma has been down this road before. Mike Price resigned as Washington State’s football coach before the 2003 Rose Bowl to take the Alabama job. Price agreed to stay on for the Rose Bowl as co-head coach, with his defensive coordinator Bill Doba, who was named to replace Price.

The whole thing was a mess, and OU dominated Washington State 34-14.

Coaches who bail before BCS bowls are rare. Urban Meyer resigned at Utah in 2004 but stayed on to coach the Utes to victory over Pitt in the Fiesta Bowl. Bobby Petrino didn’t leave Louisville for the Atlanta Falcons until after the Orange Bowl against Wake Forest.

It’s scandalous that any coach walks away from his team. But it happens every bowl season. Just not very often with teams that reach the BCS.