When then-Dolphins coach Nick Saban vowed, “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach,” shortly before becoming the Alabama coach, he ensured that for years afterward, other coaches would be accused of lying when they promised that they wouldn’t leave their current jobs for some other job.
The latest coach to be subjected to such scrutiny is the Titans’ Mike Munchak, who insisted this week that he’s not going to be the Penn State coach, after reports surfaced that he is his alma mater’s first choice to take over the program built by his old coach, Joe Paterno.
Now comes a report from Joe Schad of ESPN, who quotes a source close to Munchak as saying that Penn State hasn’t given up on hiring him, and that Munchak hasn’t shut the door as tightly as his public comments would suggest.
“He loves his school and his heart is torn,” the source told Schad today. “He really fits what they want and need to a tee.”
But Munchak didn’t say anything about being torn when asked about Penn State this week. He adamantly insisted that he is going to coach the Tennessee Titans in 2012, period. So this source close to Munchak is essentially calling Munchak a liar.
And that’s just the way it goes in coaching these days: No matter how much you insist that you’re only interested in the job you have, people are going to doubt you. Munchak can thank Saban for the fact that no one is going to take him at his word.
