The simultaneous firings of USC’s head coach Lane Kiffin and UConn’s Paul Pasqualoni concluded a decade of each team mirroring the other. The Trojans have devolved into a cautionary tale, which is fitting considering their name. And the Huskies have fallen victim to not having a chair when the music stops.
On the bright side: fans and boosters are now free of the burden of expectations that have weighed on each team.
Kiffin was the prodigal son, returning to Troy after stints in Oakland and Tennessee. Embroiled in the Reggie Bush fall-out, SC tried to replicate the Pete Carroll magic rather than find a fresh face.
Kiffin has the distinction of being the first coach to helm a team that went from starting as the preseason #1 team to finishing the season unranked.
USC fans, on the other hand, are a perfect ten.
SC is keeping its coach search private to avoid bidding wars with fellow football power Texas, which is also looking for a new skipper.
Meanwhile, Pasqualoni joined a UConn program that was already a causality of changing times. Conference realignment rendered the Big East a husk, with its better football schools escaping to greener pastures, leaving the weaker Huskies up a poop creek without a paddle.
But at least the Huskies still had their pride.
Unable to hold up a 2010 outlier BCS game appearance, Pasqualoni finished his time in Storrs winning a paltry 10 games in two-and-some-change seasons.
The Huskies will likely pick a smaller conference head coach or a coordinator from one of the bigger schools.
Either way, fans will be smiling.