Jerry Green Syndrome has coaches on the move.(Brief Article)

This wasn't the first time somebody phoned Skip Prosser about a job. "It happened more than anyone ever knew," says his (former) boss, Mike Bobinski, the Xavier athletic director.

When Wake Forest called during its search to replace Dave Odom, however, it was the right school. And, more to the point, it was the right moment.

There are those in the business who ascribe Odom's move to South Carolina and Prosser's decision to replace him at Wake Forest to a recent phenomenon with a freshly minted name: The Jerry Green Syndrome. The idea is that media and fan criticism, fueled by the growth of the Internet and sports talk radio, destabilizes coaches to the point they keep moving to keep from being fired.

Coaches at the Final Four expressed outrage that a coach with Green's won-lost record--he was 89-36 in four seasons at Tennessee--could be pushed out, which demonstrated how remotely some of them follow their own game. Green's inability to bring about improvement and assert discipline with the deeply talented Volunteers put him at risk, although the UT administration's handling of the situation would have been much more palatable had Green been warned earlier that he was in jeopardy.

There was a smidgen of unrest among Xavier fans, and they had some ammunition: three consecutive losses to close last season, one NCAA Tournament victory in four trips and a 6-6 mark in conference tournaments during Prosser's seven seasons at the helm. The past two point guards, Maurice McAfee and Gary Lumpkin, regressed as their careers advanced. Prosser struggled to control wing Lloyd Price, once the program's most significant recruit, and Price left after three seasons.

Fans loved Prosser, 50, for his 4-3 record against Cincinnati in the Crosstown Shootout; they anguished over a 16-14 record in March.

However, the Tennessee situation bore little resemblance to Prosser's. Xavier made it clear Prosser's position was secure with a contract that ran until 2009 and assurances stronger than the contract's bond.