This is interesting to note in light of the Lane Kiffin saga, and particular with all the negativity surrounding Fred Hill and the Rutgers basketball program now. I'd figure that by now we all know the basic story of Rutgers football a decade ago. As hard is this may be to believe, now the program is a model of stability. Players go to class and graduate, and stay out of trouble off the field. Here's a list of the currently longest continuously-tenured FBS head coaches, presented under the assumption that this should track program stability to some extent.
1. Joe Paterno (44 years)
2. Frank Beamer (23 years)
3. Larry Blakeney (19 years) - He's the Troy coach.
4. Pat Hill (13 years)
5. Mack Brown (12 years)
6. Kirk Ferentz (11 years)
6. Bob Stoops (11 years)
6. Randy Edsall (11 years)
With Mike Leach's firing, not a single coach who started during the year 2000 is still presently in that same job. However, tied for ninth place are eight coaches who started their first full seasons in 2001. Their names are Mark Richt, Jim Tressel, Greg Schiano, Ralph Friedgen, Jim Grobe, Gary Pinkel, Gary Patterson, and Howard Schnellenberger.
I buy Brian's argument to a degree; not every coach who jobhunts is a complete whore and/or sociopath, but let's face it: most of them probably are (putting aside the various obvious qualifiers here). Doesn't mean that there aren't a handful of people in the profession with some semblance of loyalty though. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if other Big East coaches like Wannstedt or Marrone eventually ranked high on this list.
This revelation also belies a further point: wow, was Rutgers football a complete and utter basket case ten years ago. If it can turn around, basketball isn't facing nearly as daunting a task.