(USA Today Sports Images)

This offseason we will count down various topics from Monday through Friday, bringing you the top five of the important and definitely some not so important issues in college football. It's the Doc Five, every week until we will thankfully have actual games to discuss.

COACHES WHO COULD PROBABLY USE A BIG SEASON

NO. 3, KIRK FERENTZ

On second thought, maybe this is wrong.

Is Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz under any real pressure in 2013? In some ways he's one of the coaches with the most job security in America.

Not because of his football team, which has gone from 11 wins to eight to seven to a terrible four-win year in 2012. A 4-8 record is enough to at least put some heat on most coaches. But, they don't all have Ferentz's contract.

Ferentz's contract is one of the all-time cautionary tales for athletic directors. And for agents it's like the "Ulysses" of coaching contracts, a work of art that will be studied and admired for generations. Ferentz has a 10-year, $40 million deal that goes through 2020, and if he's fired he still receives 75 percent of his annual salary for every remaining year. No matter how many times you see that, it's still amazing. Ferentz could go winless this year and probably still not be fired, unless some rich booster wants to pay eight figures for Ferentz to go away. Good luck with that.

[Also: New college football playoff faces a tough dilemma]

But still, making money isn't the only goal a coach has, and the competitive drive that earned Ferentz that contract should be in full effect this year.

Since the end of the 2004 season, Ferentz is 58-44. And 11 of those wins came in 2009. That was the only season of the last seven that Iowa finished higher than fourth in the Big Ten. He has done some very good things with that program, which was in miserable shape when he took over, but it's also worth mentioning he hasn't been to the Rose Bowl yet.

Last season Iowa lost to Iowa State and Central Michigan at home. It lost its last six games. There wasn't anything to get that excited about.

“I don’t think you ever get over it,” Ferentz said, according to the Globe Gazette of north Iowa. “It’s part of your resume.”

Iowa's offense was terrible, and this

(USA Today Sports Images)

Having gone to a Big Ten school that enjoyed Friday nights and also enjoy scheduling those awful early Saturday home football games for ESPN's sake, I can say that it sometimes takes a little extra motivation to get to the stadium by kickoff.

Free glazed donuts? Hmmm, tell me more ...

Michigan coach Brady Hoke is reportedly going to offer some incentive to any students that get up early and make those Wolverines games that kick off at noon Eastern time.

(Instagram/mathieu_era)

Well, having confidence is one of the necessities of a good cornerback, so maybe former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu's 2013 NFL draft party is just showing teams he has his swag back.

Or, it's a poorly thought out idea that someone should have talked him out of. Either way.

Mathieu posted an invitation to a Thursday party at SL nightclub in New York, which is "For 1st round draft pick Tyrann Mathieu." You'd have a hard time finding a reputable mock draft that has Mathieu in the first round, but maybe he knows something nobody else does. (UPDATE: Mathieu tweeted on Wednesday evening that there wouldn't be any party, see the bottom of the post.)

Even still, is it really the best idea for a player who didn't play college football last year and has been trying to convince teams that he is over the drug issues that plagued his time at LSU to be announcing a nightclub party the night of the first round of the draft? Not to mention the irony in the flyer, considering Sports Illustrated's story last year that pointed out Mathieu put his NCAA eligibility in danger by appearing on flyers promoting parties.

Getting ejected from a spring game seems almost impossible, even if you tried really hard.

But Auburn defensive back Jonathon Mincy learned the hard way. On a receiver screen, Mincy blew through the blockers, then blew up receiver Dimitri Reese with a crushing hit. Then came the penalty flag. He got 15 yards for targeting the receiver above the shoulders, and was ejected. From Auburn's spring game. For an illegal hit on his own teammate, which left his teammate writhing on the ground for several moments.

You won't see that too often.

Look at the video and disagree if it was a malicious hit if you wish, but Rule 9-1-4 is stringent and doesn't just deal with helmet-t0-helmet hits. The rule states: "No player shall target and

Cornerback D.J. Hayden might go in the first round of this week's NFL draft. The football staff at the University of Houston can't believe he's alive.

They go through the checklist of fortunate decisions and outcomes that saved Hayden's life on Nov. 6. Hayden was hit on a fairly routine play in practice. He was drifting over to break up a pass. Safety Trevon Stewart jumped for the pass. His knee hit Hayden in the chest. Collisions like it happen regularly in full-pads football practices.

"It's a hit you see all the time," Houston's athletic trainer Mike O'Shea said.

"It was a routine play," Houston coach Tony Levine said. "It was a collision I've seen happen to the naked eye probably thousands of times."

O'Shea witnessed the hit and saw Hayden go to his knees and figured Hayden probably had the wind knocked out of him, perhaps fractured a rib. Or figured at worst, he injured his spleen. Nobody knew that Hayden tore a vein near his heart and was in serious danger of dying.

Here's where the Houston personnel starts listing all the crucial moments.

(USA Today Sports Images)If the training staff didn't make the decision to have him ride the cart into the football building, and had him walk in instead, he would probably be dead.

If O'Shea had Hayden rest for a bit or take a shower, which isn't unusual, he would probably be dead.

If O'Shea hadn't seen the play because

(USA Today Sports Images)"College Football Playoff," huh? That's the best you guys could do?

The much anticipated announcement of the new college football playoff postseason system (and again, at only four teams it's not really a "playoff" as much as it is "College Football Slightly Better Than The Old Way" or "College Football Making Sure The Money Stays With A Few Conferences") was a dud. AP and ESPN reported that the new name is "College Football Playoff." Yawn.

I guess that's better than coming up with a dumb name that will be mocked until it is changed, but not much.

(USA Today Sports Images)

This offseason we will count down various topics from Monday through Friday, bringing you the top five of the important and definitely some not so important issues in college football. It's the Doc Five, every week until we will thankfully have actual games to discuss.

COACHES WHO COULD PROBABLY USE A BIG SEASON

NO. 4, GARY PINKEL

One season shouldn't change the perception of Gary Pinkel at Missouri.

Pinkel went to seven straight bowl games before last season, winning at least 10 games during three of those seasons. A 5-7 season doesn't change that Pinkel has been tremendous for Missouri.

Two bad seasons in a row might start to raise some serious concern, however.

(USA Today Sports Images)When UCF appealed its bowl ban to the NCAA, it seemed ridiculous.

So ridiculous that CBSSports.com columnist Dennis Dodd called for UCF coach George O'Leary to be fired then and there. There was reason aside from the bowl ban and appeal.

O'Leary somehow kept his job at UCF despite his role surrounding the death of player Ereck Plancher in an offseason conditioning workout. That was the worst of it, of course, but NCAA penalties over recruiting violations that included the bowl ban, along with a 60-55 record at the school, certainly didn't seem to warrant the school president's full support.

But UCF president John Hitt did back O'Leary and the football program despite what seemed to be long odds. And the bowl ban was surprisingly overturned by the NCAA.

The school's argument was that the NCAA treated the recruiting violations as one case, instead of men's basketball and football being judged separately. UCF was able to go to a bowl last year and it will go again if eligible this season, because there will be no ban, as the NCAA considered it "excessive."

"In its decision, the Infractions Appeals Committee stated that the rationale for the football postseason ban penalty is so intricately woven with factors only supportive of the basketball postseason ban that it is impossible to determine whether the additional factors formed a significant basis for the Committee on