As college football coaches look and act less like teachers and more like CEOs, the conclusion of football season is seeing a lot more hiring and firing than in years past. For ambitious coaches, revitalizing a losing program is sometimes less an investment than a stepping stone. After one year with Rice, first year Owls Coach and Conference USA Coach of the Year, Todd Graham has parlayed his success into the head job at Tulsa, where he coached prior to taking the job at Rice. It’s a bitter loss for Rice, who just signed Graham to a contract through 2012, and also lost offensive coordinator Major Applewhite to Alabama.

A little to the East, University of Houston head coach Art Briles, who lead a rejuvenated Cougar team to their first Conference USA Championship reportedly turned down an offer from the Minnesota Gophers in the wake of their unseemly firing of Glen Mason after his team gave up the biggest comeback in bowl history to Tech.