re: What is Crowton's contract situation?

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It's true. I remember reading about it. He got Crowton a raise and extension during the 2008 season. Now, if that was wrong, then we held on to Crowton over a $469,000 buyout according to some? Do people realize how claiming his buyout was too much makes absolutely no sense?

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You've got to take off your fan hat, and put on your thinking cap, when you think about this. Keep in mind that Alleva didn't hire Miles. And like baseball GM's with managers, you usually want to sink or swim with your own guy. So why give a coach you didn't hire, and who's just capped a 9 win season by losing a sloppy bowl game, $1 million to fix a mistake?

Now, I do not think Alleva wanted Les to fail, as he was making this call this past January. But by hiding behind the false excuse of not being able to afford the Crowton buyout, Alleva wins either way. If Les has a good year, as he did this year, great. Alleva has a winning coach on his hands to keep the Ath. Dept. train rolling. If not, though, it's easier to fire Les, and Alleva brings in his own guy.

Now, the dynamic has changed. With no worse than a 10-win season, Miles will deserve and get at least a 1 year extension. So Alleva essentially has to make Les "his guy," and is as invested in Miles' success as anyone else. More important, Crowton has no more than about a $500k buyout, and maybe none at all. Much easier for Alleva to OK paying $500k to help a coach he's now attached to at the hip, than $1 million to help a coach from whom, in January 2010, Alleva could have plausibly distanced himself.

Long/short, if Miles wants a new OC this year, as was rumored last year, it should be far more likely that he gets one.