Fire-The-Coach Web Sites a Big Business

Duke's head coach Ted Roof watches punter Kevin Jones (49) during football practice, in this Aug. 14, 2006 file photo, in Durham, N.C. Here's a bargain for a frustrated Duke football fan. For $50, you can own the Web site where the name says it all _ FireTedRoof.com. That's a steal, because similar sites calling for the dismissals of Bill Callahan at Nebraska or Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State are five times as expensive. The Blue Devils have been under .500 for 11 consecutive seasons, and are 3-45 in ACC games since 2000. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) (Gerry Broome - AP)

He calls the project an experiment in sports sociology and psychology, and says he was surprised that schools or even the coaches themselves didn't think first to secure those dot-coms and prevent what he called "a future PR nightmare."

"I'm not suggesting that (Nebraska officials) buying 'FireBillCallahan.com' would prevent disgruntled Nebraska fans from finding an outlet on the Internet to voice their opinions," he wrote. "It would, however, be an easy way to create an obstacle for a large segment of the public."

His Web site says factors which affect the price are a team's record, the size and veracity of its fan base, the expectations for success and any other team controversy.

The first site he sold was a fitting one _ FireUrbanMeyer.com.

Meyer was hired at Florida to replace Ron Zook, the coach whose contentious hiring gave momentum to this whole dot-com phenomenon.

Some Gator fans became so angry with Zook's 2002 hiring to replace Steve Spurrier that they created a Web site dedicated to the coach's dismissal. Fireronzook.com was born, and so was a new way for fans to vent their frustrations.

Two years later, those fans got what they wanted. Zook was fired soon after an embarrassing loss at Mississippi State, but well after the coach was forever linked with the infamous Web site.

"It's kind of ridiculous in a way that people get their kicks out of doing something like that," Zook said. "But I think coaches understand it's kind of the nature of the business. They don't give it a lot of credence. If you're going to let that bother you, you're not going to be long in this profession."

Some fans go on the counteroffensive, snatching up fire-the-coach sites to protect them from others who want him gone.

William Nielson was a sophomore at Georgia four years ago when he bought FireMarkRicht.com for $20 to keep some other angry fan from copying the Zook site.

The only text on the site calls Richt the best thing to happen to Georgia football since Herschel Walker, and Nielson, a second-year law student at Loyola University in New Orleans, has no plans to develop it further.

"I didn't even think anyone would read it. ... The amazing thing was how many e-mails I would get," Nielson said. "I used to get death threats from people, and it's a pro-Georgia site."