Three-Point Stance: Nebraska, Cowart, underappreciated coaches

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with some thoughts The big news out of Lincoln, Byron Cowart’s departure from Auburn and five coaches who don’t get the credit they deserve.

MORE THREE-POINT STANCE: Coaches under scrutiny | Week 3 shine & shame

Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst is out effective immediately and that’s big enough news in Lincoln, Neb. However, when Chancellor Ronnie Green said, “Shawn has led Nebraska Athletics in many positive ways, but those efforts have not translated into on-field performance,” then Huskers football coach Mike Riley might want to get a “go bag” ready as well.

When an AD is fired during the football season at a massive football school like Nebraska after a 1-2 start and an embarrassing loss to Northern Illinois, the head coach can’t be far behind. I’m not talking about next week or the week after, although if Riley were to somehow lose to Rutgers and Illinois in Nebraska's next two games, it could happen then. But, very possibly, it will happen following the season.

Eichorst was the man who hired Riley after the 2015 season and is now paying for Riley’s 16-13 record. Eichorst's replacement will want their own guy. That’s how it works for a struggling football program. And with a $1 million buyout? That’s chump change in major college football.

And so you may ask, what’s the impact on recruiting for Nebraska in the meantime? I can tell you this, it’s not great. Recruits are smart these days and can put two and two together, but those that can’t will have plenty of help from EVERY college coach recruiting against the Huskers. It will be pointed out at every turn that Riley has lost the most important support he has at the school and, barring a huge turnaround to the season, he will be gone. That leads to doubt, more visits from committed prospects and uncommitted targets and lots of negative momentum.

I’ve been reluctant to put Riley on the dreaded Hot Seat because I reserve that for coaches in eminent danger of being fired following this season. As a result I put him on my Scrutiny Watch list in Wednesday’s column and had him No. 4 behind Kevin Sumlin, Butch Jones and Brian Kelly.

He can now be put squarely on that Hot Seat behind perhaps only Sumlin. Things are never boring in Lincoln, are they?

Class of 2015 No. 1 prospect Byron Cowart is finally done at Auburn and hopefully he finds a new home where he can feel less pressure and start to show some of that immense talent he flashed out of high school.

As I wrote earlier this week, Cowart tops our list of the biggest busts at the No. 1 overall spot, but the question is why? My best guess is it’s all mental.

Cowart was physically impressive, even dominant at times and was a hard worker with an excellent motor. Against the best of the best at Under Armour week, he destroyed people in practice and had a very strong game. He entered that week as the No. 2 player after being surpassed by quarterback Josh Rosen following Rosen’s great senior year. Cowart, publicly, was mature about losing that No. 1 spot, even congratulating Rosen on social media if I remember correctly. Privately? He was destroyed. I know because he shared that with me. However, like kids do, he showed quick resilience and immediate re-dedication to earn that No. 1 spot back. And when he showed that at Under Armour week while Rosen blew off the entire invitation in the most Josh Rosen way, we flipped them back. That was a mistake and I’ll own it.

Cowart looked the part. He played the part aside from what I consider a very average senior year. And he talked the part. But from constantly asking about what he needed to do to improve his game (insecurity) to his focus on being nudged in certain directions in the recruiting process (naivety) to carrying around a Chucky doll and pretending it was his best friend during UA Week (what do you call that?), there were a few red flags.

So when he arrived at Auburn and the within a year the coach he raved about the most, Will Muschamp, was gone, he couldn't push through and live up to the immense expectations after a slow start. Every No. 1 player in Rivals.com history has been drafted by the NFL so far with Da’Shawn Hand (2014) a lock to be drafted as well. Cowart could be the first who completely whiffs and that would be a shame.

Dan Mullen beat LSU and raised his record at Mississippi State to 64-42 and has his team on track for an eighth straight bowl game. But he’s not No. 1 on my list of unappreciated coaches. No. 1 has an awesome mullet.

Here are my top five:

1. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State – Now I had Gundy at No. 8 on my top 10 coaching list August so how is he underappreciated? He just is. He’s 107-50 with a 63-39 conference record as the little brother to Oklahoma in state and overshadowed greatly by Texas and the Sooners in the Big 12. He’s had five 10-win seasons and two others with nine wins, and this year he could lead his team to the playoff. The guy is a great coach and needs more appreciation from others aside from me.

2. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State – It’s hard to win at Mississippi State no matter what the fan base might say and Mullen has done that. Now he’s one of the hottest commodities out there and everyone expects him to jump to an easier place to win after this season. But what if Starkville is perfect for him and that underdog role what he loves? How about he stays and continues to shock everyone? Nah. Tennessee or somewhere else won’t let him.

3. Gary Patterson, TCU – I had Patterson on my second 10 in August and a lot of people flipped out on me. Well, guess what? They were right. After an off-year last season, Patterson has his team back and could give Gundy and his Cowboys a game this weekend. The reason I downgraded Patterson was because a lot of his wins came in lesser conference play, but his 152-54 record overall can’t be sneezed at.

4. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech – Fuente has the shortest resume on this list but this guy is a great coach. His last two years at Memphis were excellent and he left plenty to work with for Mike Norvell. He’s replaced a legend in Frank Beamer with a 13-4 record into his second season. This guy can coach and he will get his props sooner than later.

5. Rocky Long, San Diego State – He had a losing record overall at New Mexico but still went to five bowl games in no man’s land. Now, look what he’s done at San Diego State. He’s led the team to a bowl every season, he’s won 11 games each of the last two years and this year he could be in a New Year’s Six Bowl. The man can coach.