Coaches should follow heat -- before the fall starts

South Alabama's John Pelphrey is a finalist for the South Florida job. If it's offered and the money is right and the contract is long and his family likes Tampa, then he should accept the position and immediately hire movers.

Tubby Smith? He was once hot, but is now ice cold in Kentucky. (Getty Images)

A jump from the Sun Belt to the Big East is a big jump, in both prestige and tax bracket. Plus, it would be fun to compete in a league on national television multiple times a week, and matching wits with mentor Rick Pitino could be special on some level.

Want more reasons Pelphrey should go?

I could list 10, easy.

But there is only one reason that matters, and it's more about Pelphrey's profession than Pelphrey himself. Even if he's unsure whether it would be the right career move -- that's the word, by the way -- Pelphrey should go because he's a college basketball coach, and it's hard to imagine a more fragile business. One day you are lauded, the next day you are loathed. So the smartest thing to do is move while you're hot because you won't stay hot long.

Few stay hot long.

As proof, I submit Rod Barnes.

You might remember Barnes as the tactician coach at Mississippi, a remarkably pleasant man who led his alma mater to a 27-win season and trip to the Sweet 16 in 2001. For his work, Barnes was named the Naismith National Coach of the Year. Five years later he was run out of Oxford and reduced to assisting Jeff Capel at Oklahoma. This week, he became a head coach again ... at Georgia State.

Kentucky's Tubby Smith won the Naismith in 2003.

Now his fans hate him.

Illinois' Bruce Weber won the Naismith in 2005.

Now his fans hate him.

Then there's the story of Larry Eustachy, the Associated Press National Coach of the Year in 2000 at Iowa State. Three years later he was fired for partying with college students. Two years after that he resurfaced at Southern Mississippi.