New poll to use big-name retired coaches

[NT80]

New poll to use big-name retired coaches

By RALPH D. RUSSO, AP Sports Writer

July 25, 2005

NEW YORK (AP) -- A dozen retired coaches with impressive resumes have agreed to take part in a new college football poll that the organizer hopes to unveil in late September.

Ideally, the Master Coaches Survey will have 15 or 16 voters, who will be provided game films of the top teams, said Andy Curtin, an Atlanta-based lawyer and former sports agent who came up with the idea after watching last season's Orange Bowl.

Southern California beat Oklahoma 55-19 in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

``After that debacle last year in the championship game, I started thinking about what was wrong in the method of selecting teams,'' Curtin said Monday in a phone interview.

Curtin met with 14 coaches last week to discuss his idea. John Cooper (Ohio State), Vince Dooley (Georgia), Pat Dye (Auburn), LaVell Edwards (BYU), Hayden Fry (Iowa), Don James (Washington), Frank Kush (Arizona State), Dick MacPherson (Syracuse), Bill Mallory (Indiana), Don Nehlen (West Virginia), John Ralston (Stanford), John Robinson (USC), R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M) and Gene Stallings (Alabama) attended the meeting in Georgia on July 17.

Curtin said Bo Schembechler (Michigan), George Welsh (Virginia) and Terry Donahue (UCLA) have also expressed interest in being part of the panel. That group includes 11 coaches voted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Curtin said 12 coaches have already committed to take part in the poll, but would not identify them.

Last year the BCS formula used The Associated Press media poll, the coaches' poll and a compilation of six computer rankings to determine which teams played for the national title. Each element counted for one-third of team's BCS grade.

The AP asked the BCS to stop using its poll after last season, and the BCS recently announced the creation of a replacement poll, which will use a panel of 114 former coaches, players and administrators, plus some media members.

Curtin presented his idea to BCS officials in March, but they passed on his proposal.

Coaches participating in the Master Coaches Survey would participate in a conference call or round-table during the week to discuss their opinions then vote on a top 25, Curtin said.

Curtin's plan is to have the poll released Wednesday nights during a television show with the coaches, who will be made available for questions on how the teams were ranked.

He has hired a marketing firm, hoping to draw interest from a television network, possibly ESPN or College Sports Television, to air the show and help pay the coaches for their work.

Curtin proposed a fee of about $60,000 per year for the coaches when he went to the BCS.

``You would not believe how well informed these guys are when we met last week,'' he said. ``They know the current teams and players. One of the coaches has three TVs in his basement and watches nine games a week.''