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QUESTION OF THE WEEK |
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ARCHIVES |
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JULY 6, 2008 |
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QUESTION - Presently the Tampa Bay Rays appear to have a bright
future. They have been a laughing stock of MLB the past 10 years, yet
suddently the next 10 years look incredibly bright. Therefore, in this week's
question, what non-traditional CFB power seems to suddenly have the brightest
future? |
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S in mlb, the
draft gives a team a bright future. in cfb, a good coaching hire gives a program
a bright future. and it isn't always just one good hire (good hires are
likley to go on to better jobs), instead it might mean the ability for a
school to make consecutive good hires. for example, hiring dirk koetter
changed boise st football for the next 10 years (at least) only because dan
hawkins and chris peterson followed with success. likewise, hiring john l
smith changed louisville football for the next 10 years only because bobby
petrino followed with success. in contrast, look at michigan st which was on
pace to explode when saban left only to fizzle under bobby williams and
collapse under the aforementioned john l smith. with that in
mind, here are three schools (who have recently made good hires and could
follow with another good hire, if needed) that have bright futures. illinois - you don't
hire ron zook to coach for 10 years, you hire zook to recruit for 5 years and
to be replaced by a different coach to oversee the next 5 years. zook is
already collecting talent in champaign and illinois has plenty of money to
bid on a hot up-and-comer (brian kelly?) or an established winner (lloyd
carr?) pitt - in his first
3 years, wannstedt has yet to do anything spectacular on the field: 16 wins,
19 losses, and no bowl appearances. but off the field he's starting to create
a buzz. with good recruiting classes (that have included a couple of
blue-ship signees) and an nfl stadium (pitt will never fall behind in the
facilities race), pitt is gaining momentum in the big east. over time lville,
wvu, and rutgers will return to mediocrity only sflor will consistenly stand
between pitt and the big east title. one final
point, in order for a few new programs to have bright futures a few old
programs have to have dim futures. here are a couple to watch fade. ttech - leach
will eventually take a better job. ucla and arkansas both inquired last year
and you can bet that other schools will inquire this year (arizona?
syracuse?). and there seems little hope that leach's replacement will keep
the program at the same level. a diffeent person running the same system
would be a poor fascimile of leach and a different system might mean a total
collapse of the program. vtech - beamer
is the perfect fit for vtech. he's an alumnus, he wins with unconventional
methods (special teams), and he can gets good players to be great. during the
last decade the two have been a particularly good fit while the acc has been
down and a couple of primetime recruits have come out of virginia. the
problem is that beamer won't coach forever and his replacement will be a
downgrade. meanwhile, miami and fsu will return to their dominance. |
I North
Carolina Tar Heels |
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JUNE 29, 2008 |
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QUESTION - every year, the sec recognizes the "male athlete
of the year" with an award named after former conference commish roy
kramer. a couple of local radio guys in bham complained this week that the
award should be named after an "athlete" and not an administrator.
so, this week's question is to rename the award after the former sec athlete
that best exemplifies the conference. and while we're at it, let's do the
same for the other bcs conferences too. |
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S disclaimer -
these awards are named after great athletes who were first known as college
fball players. the awards aren't always named best athlete ever in a
particular conference. but they are named fror a phenomenal athlete who
excelled in the most important collegiate sport. 1) acc = the
charlie ward award ward won the
heisman in a landslide on his way to lead florida st to their first ever
national title. ward then opted to sign an nba contract with the ny knicks
(declining offers from the chiefs in the nfl and turning down a baseball
contract with the brewers). hm - deion
sanders, michael jordan 2) big east
= the jim brown award brown is
considered by many to be the most gifted athlete in history. he was an
all-american football player, reputed to be the greatest lacorsse player to
ever live, and started on the 'cuse basketball team. he is in both the
lacrosse and football hall-of-fames. hm - donovan
mcnabb 3) big ten =
the kirk gibson award gibson was an
all-american receiver for msu and held the record for most receptions. he
played 1 year of baseball at msu and then embarked on pro baseball career
that would yield one of the most historic moments in sports history. hm - dave
winfield 4) big 12 =
the johnny rodgers award rodgers was a
heisman trophy winner at nebraska and at one time held nearly every
cornhusker rushing and scoring record. 5) pac 10 =
the jackie robinson award robinson is
best known for breaking the color barrier in mlb and going onto a
hall-of-fame career. he is less known for his dominance in other sports. at
ucla robinson earned all-american honors in track, basketball, and football
and varsity letter in those 3 sports plus baseball. hm - john elway 6) sec = the
bo jackson award jackson was
best known a heisman winning, all-american tailback at auburn. he also hit
.400 for the baseball team and tried to qualify for the us olympic team as a
sprinter. after college, jackon played for both the raiders and the royals
simultaneously. hm - herschel
walker, steve spurrier |
I 1.
the acc |
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JUNE 22, 2008 |
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QUESTION - Entering the 2008 season Ohio State is loaded
again. They return 10 starters on offense and possess arguably the best
tail back, offensive tackle, linebacker, and cornerback in CFB. The
schedule is challenging, but one can make an easy case they will be
favorites is nearly every game (exception maybe of USC). |
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S why i won't
pick osu to win the title. 1) i don't
like uos - not objective, but honest. 2) the big
10 - unless another big 10 team surprises this season, uos is in a no-win
situation. if they win games by double-digits then the conference as a whole
is criticized for being weak and uos loses credibility. if they play teams
close, then questions arise about why the buckeyes aren't dominating their
inferior opponents. the best case scenario would be for psu and wiscy (or ill or mich) to spend
most of the year in the top-25 and lose to the buckeyes. even then though,
uos would need to beat usc and go undefeated in conference (something that's
possible but unlikely). a 1-loss buckeye team may not get the votes
(especially if it would result in a rematch with usc). 3) the last
game - even if the buckeyes do get the votes to appear in the bcs title
game, they still have to win the game to finish atop the polls. the last 2
seasons have given plenty of reason to doubt the buckeyes chances in the
title game. to finish #1 you have to win your last game. |
I why
ohio state will not win the national title.... |
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JUNE 15, 2008 |
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QUESTION - last year warner borthers relased a
movie called "the bucket list". it was a story of two old men doing
the things they'd always wanted to do before kicking the bucket: drive a race
car, see the egyptian pyramids . . . even sky dive. for this
week's question, describe a couple of things on your college football
"bucket list". |
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S some of the
college football things i want to do before i die: 1) see a
game in all 12 sec stadiums - this is
unlike skydiving or driving a race car in that it's not a onetime
event and not really relatd to a big thrill. instead, this is a rather modest
goal that will be achieved gradually over the course of several years. i'm
already over halfway finished. i've been to games at arkansas, alabama,
florida, georgia, miss state, auburn, and tennessee. of those remaining, only
vandy and kentucky seem unappealling. the grove at ole miss, hearing 2001: a
space odyssey at south carolina, and a night game at lsu are going to be
unforgettable. fyi, so far
alabama has the best gameday fan experience but i scream the loudest at
arkansas. 2) see an
arkansas/texas game - this once-great rivalry has understandbly lost its
national allure over the past 2 decades. but for some fans, especially across
the state of arkansas, it still matters. when i was a kid living in northwest
arkansas there only were 2 things i really knew about college fball: 1) brian
'the boz' bosworth and 2) texas sucks. but i never gotten to see the rivalry
firsthand. i want a chance to see the game, to boo texas, and to do the "down
hook-em-horns". fayetteville would be a great place to watch the game
but i might prefer the cotton bowl. give me the first kick-off on new years
day in the middle of a half red, half burnt orange crowd and a rivalry
renewed. 3) see bama
win a national title from a bar in tuscaloosa - it'd be great to watch a
title game with local fans just about anywhere (e.g., fayetteville, ann arbor) but
especially in tuscaloosa, alabama where fball is life and fans expect titles.
there's currently a 15 year title drought, a losing streak to auburn, 5 years
probation, and a slowly growing groundswell of confidence behind nick saban.
with a national title and the town might just explode. and i want to be there
when it does. there won't be burning couches or riots in the streets, just a
bunch of drunk roll tides. i once sat in a
denver bar when the broncos were on monday night fball. i also sat in a
tuscaloosa bar in 2005 when the alabama bball team upset #1 stanford in the
sweet 16 to move to the elite 8. both atmosphere's were electric. 4) do
something special with a coach - on ebay right now are 2 spots in a
charity golf tourney. the winner gets paired for all 18 holes with arkansas
coaches bobby petrino and john pelphrey (bball). some uninterrupted face time
with a bigtime coach would be unforgettable. maybe talk life, politics, golf,
offense, defense, who knows? the auction is currently at $5000 and climbing
so probably not this year . . . but when i would consider paying upwards
$1000 for something like this. even cheaper though would be to run into saban
at an empty sandwich shop and sit with him for a 45 minute lunch. or see sly
croom relaxing at a cabin on a remote montana lake and start chatting over a
fish fry. some experience that was more than standing in an autograph line or
shaking hands at an alumni fundraiser. i was once in a
gatehouse at an entrance to the campus of notre dame when lou holtz drove up,
said hello, and drove to park his car for morning mass (1994 i believe). this
wasn't meaningful, but it was special. others: see
army/navy game, see a heisman trophy, take my family to a bowl game for a
week vacation, etc. |
I personal
disclaimer: i loved the question, but once i started to think about it
my answers were pretty boring. i really want the above four things and
likely will accomplish them all. but it is a boring list, i know. In
order... |
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JUNE 8, 2008 |
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QUESTION - what fabled program will win a national title
the soonest: b. penn state c. alabama d. notre dame e. michigan |
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S here is a rank
ordering of who will win the next national title, and then who will win after
that, and then after that . . . . 1) alabama
- 2 things make alabama a near lock to win a title soon. one is nick saban.
saban will recruit players good enough
to win a title. saban will hire assistant coaches good enough to win a
title. and saban will get a schedule good enough to win a title. the other is
obsession. bama fans, administrators, and boosters are obsessed with titles.
it may not be evident over the past 10 yrs, but no one in the sec obsesses
more than bama fans. in 2011 bama will have a full team of saban recruits,
seasoned asst coaches, and tenn, ark, and lsu will all have to visit
tuscaloosa. a trip to penn st and auburn are the major obstacles though. estimated title
year: 2011 2) notre
dame - the offense and offensive talent is falling into place and a weak
schedule should get the irish in the hunt for a title for the next 5-6 yrs.
the missing piece under weis has been the defense. that will change as weis
realizes that he can't beat mich or usc without one. and even a 1-loss nd team
will get the national nod for the title game. by 2013 nd's schedule will be
full of the academies and any school with an average freshman gpa higher than
their's is. that formula is sure to lead to a top 3 ranking. estimated title
year: 2013 3) penn st
- "10 yrs after joepa" should be the motto in happy valley. 10 yrs
allows for joepa's successor (undoubtedly a promotion from someone already on
staff) to fail, be fired, and an established, energetic coach (golden?
schiano?) to be hired. expect an immediate revival of the program. penn st
should own the northeastern states. and while no one northeastern state alone
produces enough talent to build a national champ, together they're a
formidable group. a trip to michigan is the only major obstacle in 2019. estimated title
year: 2019 4) michigan
- um is the hardest team to project because coach rod is very much an
uncertainty. for one, his offense hasn't been good enough to go undefeated
through the big east so there's no promise that it'll be good enough to go
undefeated through the b10. also, transforming an entire offense, culture,
and history takes time and if support for coach rod fades (or his offense)
then re-transforming will take time too. i'd say that the chances are small
that either rod or the offense succeeds in ann arbor and it'll be his
replacement (harbaugh?) who does thee hard work to reposition um in the
national title picture. in 2023 nd, psu, and osu visit ann arbor. estimated title
year: 2023 5) nebraska
- for nebraska, tom osbourne's retirement was like a death penalty. and i'm
not convinced nebraska will ever recover. there's no proximity to elite
talent, no draw for recruits, no national reputation, and no allure for big
time coaches. tradition only gets you so far when there aren't high prospects
of continuing that tradition. nebraska could easily go the way of smu,
minnesota, syracuse, and other teams whose time has passed. battling colorado
for the b12 north and dec 31 bowls are about to become the norm in lincoln. estimated title
year: 2099 |
I i
will answer this question based on this criteria: what are the odds
this program wins a national title in the next 15 years?
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JUNE 1, 2008 |
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QUESTION - it could be argued that the 2007 lsu tigers were the
worst national champion in history, after all they were the first champion to
ever have 2 regular season losses. in this week's question, name two other
cfb teams that could be on the list of "worst national champions
ever". |
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S gtech, 1990 - in 1990 tech
finished the season 11-0-1 and split the national title with colorado. most
cfb fans think that tech should have take the title outright. i think the
opposite. tech was a fraud. tech was the regular season acc title with only a tie to unc
preventing a perfect record. but, this was the acc before miami, bc, and
vtech. and this was even before fsu. in other words, the acc in 1990 was like
the the big east in 2008 . . . and that's being generous. at that time,
clemson was the perenial conference bell cow. it'd been 5 yrs since maryland
had won more than 6 games. same for unc. the conference was so bad that duke
(yes, that duke) was the defending conference champ. even in-state rival
georgia was down, finishing the season 4-7. the only real test the entire season for the jackets that year
came in the citrus bowl against nebraska. but, the huskers team that tech
faced in january was hardly the same team that had steamrolled through
september and october (as was usually the case). the 1990 huskers ended up losing
3 of their last 4 games, each by more than 2 tds. tech had few recognizable names, rare for a title team, except
qb joe hamilton and safety ken swilling. in fact, the most recognizable
names on the tech campus were bball players (kenny anderson and dennis
scott). byu, 1984 - it's hard to
knock an undefeated team for winning the national title, especially when no
other team went undefeated that same year. but byu is the excpetion. byu finished
the regular season 12-0 and ranked #1 in the country. the cougars then beat
an unranked michigan team in the holiday bowl (michigan finished the season
6-6) to claim the title. michigan and pitt (who byu played earlier in the
season) were the only byu opponents who had received a ranking at all during
the season and neither team finished with a winning record. none of byu's
regular wac opponents garnered any national attention. playing an
unranked michigan team was not entirely byu's fault, #4 washington declined an invitation to play
byu so as to play (and eventually beat) #2 oklahoma in the orange bowl.
washington had been ranked in the top 5 most of the year and were #1 before a
november loss to a ranked usc. a sound defeat of #2 ou in the orange bowl
should have been enough to propel washington to the top spot. however, by
declining the holiday bowl bid for a higher paycheck washington forfeited any
later gripe. essentially, washington turned down the chance to play for a
title. i won't go so
far as to say that byu didn't deserve the title - they were undefeated and
only washington had any sort of argument (which became moot when they
declined the bowl invite). however, there have been 2 dozen non-title teams
since 1984 who would have blown the cougars off the field. |
I 1983
Miami
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MAY 25, 2008 |
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QUESTION - Pick three 2008 ooc games and tell me why they are
significant. These do not need to be the "best three ooc
games", just three intriguing matchups with validation of their
importance. |
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S for me, the
best non-conference games involve teams that should play regularly (but don't)
and that have a compelling storyline (e.g., national title implications,
coaching rivalry, bordering states, recruiting war, etc.). below are 3 that
(mostly) meet this criteria. 1) arkansas
vs texas - this classic swc series from the 60's and 70's has been reborn
over the past decade. arkansas fans have always loathed texas and texas fans
have always mildly dislikeed arkansas - such is the case in an imbalanced
rivalry. the series has produced famous games and even national titles (e.g.,
1969). but what makes an arkansas/texas game special in 2008 is that it
reminds fans of another era, an era in which college fball was king. an era
in which few teams dominated the cfb gridiron and few media outlets dominated
the cfb landscape (e.g., sports illustrated). for a couple of hours fans are
reminded of "the game of the week", radio broadcasts, andy and
opie, chevrolet, and apple pie. 2) michigan
vs notre dame - of course there's the tradition of each program and the
history of the rivalry, but that's not what i'm interested in. i want to see
coach rod's debut into real college football. this is not a thurs night game
on espn. this is real network tv. this is not two cfb afterthoughts like wvu
and cinci. this is cfb royalty with the 2 winningest programs in history.
this is not a road game at papa johns stadium and a hostile 48k. this is
touchdown jesus and a 80k hard-nosed catholics who love nd, beer, and their
mothers (in that order). if coach rod is deserving of the michigan job and is
really a top-5 coach then he'll feel right at home on the sideline in this
game. if not . . . . 3) florida
vs miami - this should be a major in-state rivalry. this should be one of
the most anticipated games of the season . . . every season. can you imagine
danny wuerrfel versus warren sapp and ray lewis or brock berlin versus having
to face the gators in gainesville? you'll have to becausethose matchups never
happened. ove the past 20 yrs (when these have 2 of the most dominant
programs in cfb history) miami and florida have net only 4 times. shameful. this year's
game won't have the sizzle of the possible matchups from previous years, but
it may have the steak. the game is in gainesville (far better than being in
miami), miami still has nfl-caliber players - especially on defense - and
florida boasts a heisman winner and national title dreams. |
I 1.
bama at clemson |
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MAY 18, 2008 |
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QUESTION - name 3 potential
national title contenders that are currently under the radar. |
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S 3 bcs title
contenders you're not hearing about: 1) wisconsin
- this pick is 2 parts schedule and 1 part talent. first, the schedule. the badgers
play no one outside of conference
(a road date at fresno st is the headliner) and the conference slate is
manageable. ill, psu, and osu all come to madison. wiscy will have to prove
it can win at michigan, but this year's michigan team is not the same as
previous year's (read beatable). second, the talent. while they won't be
confused with ohio st or michigan, wiscy is good enough at enough positions
to win every game. the offense should be loaded everywhere but qb (with a
senior projected to be the starter) and the defense will only have to be
great once (vs osu). with no conference title game, the early november
matchup between uw and osu could be for a birth in the bcs title game. 2) lsu -
by now you've heard that perrilloux won't be playing qb for the defending
champs in 08. what you might not have heard is that it doesn't matter.
perrilloux coudn't beat out a more reliable, grittier matt flynn last year
and couldn't stay out of trouble to stay on the field anyway. you know the
last 2 nc qbs at lsu? not booty, but mauck. not russell, but flynn. not
perilloux, but . . . . whoever starts will be surrounded by so much talent
that only gerry dinardo could mess it up. the schedule sets up nicely for a
new qb with 3 non-bcs home games before a trip to auburn and a trip to
gainesville 2 weeks later. if the tigers can win 1 of those, then a home date
with uga is all that stands between a 1-loss lsu team and the sec title game. 3) s flor
- the 07 bulls were 6-0 and ranked #2 in the country before losing 4 of the
last 7 and falling off the map. the 08 bulls return most of the starters off
that team and should be more capable of handling success. the schedule is a
mixed bag with no great teams and no terrible ones. early season
non-conference games against kansas and ncstate and the full big east slate
mean that s flor has the talent to win every game (though, in typical bulls
style, it also means that s flor could lose some of those games).
back-to-back home games at lville and at cinci could seal the bulls fate. |
I 1.
clemson |
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MAY 11, 2008 |
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QUESTION - Pick a rival, any rival, and tell me three things that
annoy you about their fans. |
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S couple things.
first, i hate notre dame and irish fans most of all. but they're not a rival
of either, arkansas or alabama, so i'm not picking them. second, arkansas
doesn't have a great rival except maybe texas and that rivalry is 20 yrs old
and not reciprocal (texas has ou and tamu above arkansas). third, alabama has
2 main rivals, auburn and tennessee, but most auburn fans can't read so
writing this for auburn fans would be like farting on a man who can't smell.
a little funny, but mostly sad. so tennessee
fans, here's why i hate you. 1) fulmer -
most tennessee fans hate their head coach phil fulmer. they want him fired.
this annoys me. you see, i too hate phil fulmer and want him fired. at first
someone might think "that's great, you agree, but how is that
annoying?" well, you see, i hate tennessee. and i don't want to agree
with tennessee fans about anything. fulmer is an outlet for my hatred and
tennessee fans are taking that away because they also hate him. most teams i
hate (like notre dame) love their coach and so i can call their coach a fat
idiot and feel good. but not tennessee fans. tennesse fans hear me say that
their coach is a fat idiot and they agree. when someone you hate agrees with
you it makes you feel a tiny bit similar to them and that is annoying. i
don't want to be similar to tennesse fans (even a tiny bit) because then, by
definition, i would have to hate myself - and i'm not that type of person. 2) 1998 -
arkansas was undefeated, ranked #10, and leading the #1 volunteers 24-22 with
less than 2 minutes remaining in the game. the hogs needed only to run out
the clock in neyland stadium to win and become a serious player in national
title conversations. instead, hogs qb clint stoerner fumbled, the vols
recovered and scored, and the vols went on to win the national title. i was
crushed as the greatest moment in my young hog-life came crashing down.
meanwhile, tennessee fans celebrated. so, obvioulsy, tennessee fans are
annoying. in fact, a
recent gallup poll has tennessee fans as the 4th most annoying thing on earth
trailing only mosquitos, the question "why?", and celebrity impersonators. also, tennessee
fans are fat and ugly (except her). 3) this guy
pretty much sums it up the rest: |
I i
would love to discuss the bitterness of penn state fans. i would love
to discuss the incredible denial of notre dame (they don't realize that
no one has an ounce of respect for them). i would love to beat
ohio state so i could talk about their fans. but when it comes to this
topic nobody is an easier and more deserving target than michigan state... |
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MAY 4, 2008 |
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QUESTION - it seems like more and more juniors are entering the nfl
draft and forgoing their final year of eligibility. in this week's question,
list 3 players who would have dominated college football if they had returned
to play their senior year. |
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S just about
every junior who leaves early does so for 2 reasons: 1) they are very good
and 2) they can make a ton of cash. its the first reason which suggests that
every single underclassman who enters the draft could potentially dominate
cfb their senior year - in fact, some have actually gone on to dominate the nfl in what would have been their
senior year. darren mcfadden - am i biased?
yes. but, would mcfadden have owned cfb in his senior year? yes. 3
consecutive 1000 yard seasons, over 4500 yards overall (2nd only to herschel
walker). back-to-back all-americans, doak walkers , and heisman runner-ups.
mcfadden would have entered his senior year on the verge of shattering the
sec career rushing record, winning his 3rd doak walker, and making his 3rd trip to the downtown
athletic club. his name would have been in the conversation of the top 5 cfb
players ever. and it would not have mattered whether nutt or petrino was the
hogs coach or whether felix jones was in the backfield. lavarr
arrington - linebackers always make plenty of tackles, especially at penn
st, and the fast ones even manage a handful of sacks. so the truth is that
there are a dozen or so freakishly good, big, fast athletes that would have
put up the same stats as arrington if he had returned for his senior year.
what makes arrington special, and potentially dominant, is the jaw-dropping
and game-changing nature of some of the extra plays he would have sprinkled
in. most cfb fans still have the image of arrington flying over the illinois
o-line to make a tackle in the backfield or soaring through the air to block
a last-second, game-tying field goal attempt by pitt. arrington would have
been 1000% feared as a senior. tim couch - granted
couch was not even an average nfl qb, but he was a great, great college qb.
he threw for nearly 400 yards a game in coach mumme's pass-happy offense
during his junior year. in 1999, the cats were coming off a 7-5 season and a
jan 1 bowl appearance and couch was sure to be the heisman front-runner (he
had been a finalist the year before). with couch, the cats may have even been
poised to make a run at the sec title in 1999. why? because a poorly coached
bama team eventually won it and because dustin bonner (who later transferred
to valdosta st) threw for nearly 300 yards a game in couch's place. couch
would have put up stagggering passing numbers as a senior and would have
pushed dayne for the heisman (joe hamilton was 2nd that year). |
I your
question of the week is both intriguing, but also frustrating. picking
a non-skill position player for this spot is a difficult venture. would
charles woodson have had a productive '98 campaign had he returned.
certainly, but not likely to the stature he enjoyed the prior year.
would a stud offensive lineman become any more dominant the next year?
certainly, but difficult to gauge. therefore, you will find my list
focused in a narrow perspective. qb's are easy to gauge and ultimately
predict. |
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APRIL 27, 2008 |
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QUESTION - Give me three nfl draft related thoughts. |
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S 1) the sec had 35
players drafted (4 in the top 10). by comparison, the b10 had 28 players drafted,
the acc had 33, the p10 had 34, and the b12 had 29 (the big least had 19).
this is not to say "haha, the sec had more
players drafted". quite the contrary, this is to say that the major
conferences had very similar totals. which begs the question: what leads cfb pundits to proclaim the sec as the king conference?
in a word, depth. it's not the juniors and seniors at the very top, most
teams and every conference has those. it's the players and teams in the
middle that separate the sec. it's the 2nd string cb who runs and 4.29 and
it's the sophmore lb who has 125 tackles. it's the arkansas' who has 6
players selected and it's the auburn's who had 5 players selected. depth
separates the sec from the rest. 2) alabama,
ole miss, and miss st combined for zero players
drafted. this might be the norm for the mississippi
schools, but it had been 38 yrs since such an event at alabama.
a couple of comments: a) thank-you mike shula - you
wisely offered every marginal 3-star and 4-star recruit that other sec schools
passed on to prop up your recruiting rankings while driving alabama fball into oblivion, b)
note to ncaa, probation works (and hurts) - there's
no more damaging proof than to say that the school with the richest and
proudest tradition in the sec went 0-fer in the nfl
draft, while d3 wheaton college and d2 grand valley
had players selected, and c) save us nick saban - alabama has placed the entire fball
program in saban's hand (and that is saying
something significant) on the hope that he can do in tuscaloosa
what he did in baton rouge, starting with bringing nfl-caliber
recruits to campus. 3) my favorite sec picks: a) mcfadden to raiders - i
was simply glad to see mcfadden go early. the raiders are a cursed franchise,
and it will take a miracle for dmac to succeed, but he deserved #4 money. b) jones to cowboys - jones
has the speed, agility, and toughness to be a 5- to 10-yr back. he was
(understandably) underused in college so he has plenty of wear and tear and
he's shifty enough not to absorb big hits. c) hester to chargers - on
a team as talent-rich as lsu, it's significant to say that hester was the
go-to guy. always capable of the extra yard, sure-handed, tough . . . hester
is exactly the kind of kid who should be paid to play fball. |
I three
nfl draft thoughts... |
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APRIL 20, 2008 |
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QUESTION - last week a fan tried to bury a red sox jersey in the new
yankee stadium - a worthy attempt at a great rivalry prank if you ask me.
college fball has seen its share of good rivalry pranks too. yale students
posed as harvard students a few years ago and had real harvard students hold
up colored squares at the harvard/yale fball game that read "we
suck". cal students hacked the officiating mic at the stanford game in
the 90's and announcd "penalty, unsportsmanlike arrogance, stanford
sucks" over the loudspeaker. for this week's question, describe the
rivalry prank you'd pull (or would have pulled) on your most hated rival. |
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S it's easy to
come up with a list of possible victims. i hate notre dame more than any other
school, loath is probably a better word. so the irish are a possibility.
maybe change the "play like a champion" to "pray like a
champion". subtle but funny. only nd isn't a rival of either the hogs or
the tide. the hogs biggest rival is texas, so the horns are a possibility.
maybe alter the longhorn logo at the 50-yard line of the fball field to look
like the female reproductive system, complete with a pair of ovaries. not
subtle but funny. the tide's biggest rival is auburn, so the tigers are a possibility.
maybe drive tractor-trailers full of cows onto campus in the middle of the
night before the game and release them to graze. (after all bear bryant told
us that auburn was just a cow college). i can imagine people showing up to
tailgate and seeing hundreds of cows mooing by the chemistry building and
eating the grass in front of the president's house. maybe even drag a mobile
home in for good measure and park it righ next the stadium. not subtle and
very funny. tennessee is also a tide rival and fulmer add's an extra
incentive. maybe use the T on the fball field as part of a large drawing of
fat phil. the bar of the T could be fulmer's buttcrack and the cross could be
a surface he's sitting on (bending under his weight, of course). maybe even
paint pepperoni's on each of the squares in the checkered endzone. not subtle
and still funny. but the most
appealling, and the most timely, would be to take advantage of ole miss'
recent hiring the hogs former head man houston nutt. here's what i'd
do. ole miss is referred to as a couple of things in sec circles: 1) ole piss
and 2) ole mrs. i'd use the latter (though both could work). one for the each
endzone. currently, the rebs have "OLE MISS" painted in the
endzones. in both endzones i'd change "OLE MISS" to "OLE
MRS". then, underneath each "MRS" i'd paint a gigantic pair of
cartoonish-looking testicles - yes, an enormous ballsack. to finish the
whole thing off i'd write, in big letters on the 50-yard: "ENJOY OUR
NUTTS" |
I i
initially was going to get crafty and formulate some insane prank that
involved corrupt bus drivers, drug sniffing dogs, and hostile pre-game
parties. then i realized that would never happen and you'd likely get
bored stiff reading it. therefore, i am ready. this is the
earliest i have ever submitted an answer (have to get ready for the
draft!!). instead of crafting something elaborate
and far-reaching i am submitting something mostly practical that would
personally make me laugh my ass off. the
victim: ohio state, of course.
|
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APRIL 13, 2008 |
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QUESTION - all programs have players that humilate their
program. nebraska had to put up with the constant off the field
issues of lawrence phillips. mo clarett haunted ohio state for
more than a year after his career was over. tennessee has had too many
players in trouble to even begin naming them. |
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S truth is,
players haven't been the real source of embarassment for bama or arkansas.
but coaches have. the two that most easily come to mind are mike dubose at
alabama and houston nutt at arkansas. here's a little summary of what their embarrasments. dubose - a career
defensive assistant, many tide fans questioned whether dubose was ready for
the job in the first place. assistants aren't usually the first name on the
list for elite, national title programs - in part because of experience and
in part because of maturity. an additional question was whether dubose could
keep mega-boosters at away from the program. the answer to each of these
questions turned out to be no. dubose's first year was alabama's worst season
in 40 yrs. his second season featured the rumor of an affair with his
secretary and a near resignation. his 3rd season included an sec title and a
loss to latech. a reason for hope? nope. in his fourth and final season
dubose took a #3 preseason ranking and promptly went 3-8. shortly after the
season dubose was fired and shortly after that alabama was hit hard by the
ncaa for the recruitment of albert means. under dubose's watch, mega-booster
logan young had been paying players, including means $150k, to sign with bama
(allegedly). dubose proved: he wasn't ready for a program like bama and that
he couldn't keep boosters away from the program. nutt - by most
accounts nutt had a good tenure at arkansas. he won some big games (texas,
lsu) and signed some great players. one such player was mitch mustain, the
national high school player of the year in 2005. mustain's signing was
particularly important because it saved nutt from restless hog fans and
included offensive coordinator gus malzahn - a local high school coach and
fan favorite. malzahn and mustain led the hogs to an 8-1 record to start the
2006 season, an eventual sec title game appearance, and top 5 ranking. then
nutt's ego stepped in and the embarrasment began. first nutt, resenting the
high school coach, benched mustain (who was undefeated) and handcuffed
malzahn (whose "wildcat" formation made mcfadden a heisman
candidate). the shorterm result was a late season collapse. the longterm
result was mustain transferring, malzahn leaving, and fans requesting (and
getting) nutt's private records. phone records revealed 1000's of texts to a
local female news reporter and no texts to recruits. court testimony revealed
bullying by nutt, his staff, and a few select players (at nutt's request)
toward mustain and malzahn, nutt's wife and friends (with nutt's knowledge)
sending hate mail to mustain, and nutt eventually leaving arkansas for ole
miss. |
I michigan
has had its share of normal delinquent behavior on the football team.
we've had drunken bar fits (brian griese), gruesome assault charges (chuck
winters), weapon charges (james whitley), marijuana possession (kelly
baraka), and other random arrests that nearly everyone encounters. we
do, however, have one incident many cannot claim. |
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APRIL 6, 2008 |
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QUESTION - if you were to get one cfb-related tattoo what would it be? |
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S the finalists: 1) running
razorback - the same hog that resides on the arkansas helmet. i'd get it in
red on my ankle to symbolize that i could run like a very fast hog. 2) alabama
"A" - the tide's scripted "A" is classy and discrete. i'd
get it in crimson on the outside of my wrist and when people asked what time
it was i'd look at my wrist and say "tide time". 3) mcfadden's
number 5 - the jersey number of the single greatest razorback in school
history. i'd get it on my bicep because dmac's signature td move was to flex
both biceps. 4) 1964 - in
'64 alabama was voted the ap national champ and arkansas was voted national
champ by the writers. i'd get it in the classic tatoo location: on the upper
arm. and when people asked why i had "1964" tatooed on my arm i'd
say that it was the year the sec won 2 national titles. the winner: a plain red
"UA" - both arkansas and alabama have the same initials, similar
colors, and are teams i root for
deeply. so this is an easy choice. but more importantly, both represent
places that are significant in my life: my son was born in alabama and
attends UA and i met my wife in arkansas when we attended UA. both schools
will always be a significant part of my life story and will always have teams
that i follow closely. i'd get it on my chest (close to my heart, awww) right
wear a polo logo would be. |
I the
nominees... |
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MARCH 30, 2008 |
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QUESTION - we all hear "beliefs" in individual sports that
we are almost forced to believe because we hear them so much. for
example;
2. hot goaltending
will carry you in the nhl playoffs. 3. pitching wins
championships.
|
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S i believe in running the
ball - cfb
analysts say "you have to be able to run the ball" and i agree.
houston nutt survived a decade in the sec without a single draftable qb (matt
jones was drafted as a wide receiver and i can name 10 other hog qbs who
never even entered their name in the draft). no other coach has done that,
even vandy (cutler) and kentucky (couch, lorenzon, and now woodson) have had
draft worthy qbs. but it isn't just from watching nutt succeed. a good
running game, put simply, is reliable. when you're ahead a good run game can
kill the clock and exhaust the opponent. when you're close, a good run game
can open up wrs over the middle for big gains. and when you're behind, a good
run game can keep a drive alive and boost confidence (and in arkansas' case
could even lead to quick scores). a passing game is nice, but a running game
is vital. i don't believe in hiring
alumni -
this is a little extreme because some alumni (bryant at bama, spurrier at
florida, etc.) are among the greatest coaches ever. but as a general rule i
think that ad's who limit their search to former coaches and players are
putting themselves at a great disadvantage - like trying to catch a slant
with only 1 hand. at many schools fball is the only revenue-earning sport and
the other sports depend on it. why limit your candidate pool to those who
happened to have been on your sidelines previously? i understand that
watching bobby petrino awkwardly call the hogs or seeing nick saban hold the
bcs trophy in purple and gold is disappointing, but that doesn't change how
they coach. bobby bowden, bo schembechler, pete carroll, urban meyer, frank
broyles and darrell royal (among many others) are coaches who had tremendous
success at schools that they had never played or coached for previously. i believe in recruiting
in-state kids
- everyone wants the 5-star kids, the terrell pryors, the tim tebows. and
some programs, like usc, can fill entire recruiting classes with such guys.
they can go into neighboring states and get the best kids, they can go across
the country and get the best kids, they can go across town and get the best
kids. for usc that usualy works. but, for rest it usually doesn't. for these
guys, i'd suggest a different strategy. target a couple of
"difference-makers" from neighboring states, maybe the 4.3 rb or
the 6'5'' lineman, and go after them hard. after that, stick with homegrown
talent. kids who've dreamed of running through your tunnel, kids who'll
redshirt because they love your helmet. kids who'll sit out or switch
positions just to wear your jersey. kids who will be there everyday, wake up
early, humbly do the dirty work, understand the tradition, and play with
pride. kids who care more about the program than themselves and will prove it
everyday. i've always thought that this is what allows teams like vtech, wisconsin,
arkansas, and nebraska to overachieve. |
I what
i believe in:
|
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MARCH 23, 2008 |
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QUESTION - All CFB programs lose. They lose games (e.g., uos loses
back-to-back bcs title games), they lose players (e.g., arkansas’ mcfadden
and jones declare for nfl), and they lose coaches (e.g., michigan’s carr
retires and schembechler dies). What 2 losses have hurt you as a CFB fan the
most? |
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S 1 big loss for arkansas,
1 big loss for alabama . . . 1) arkansas
= springdale crew leaves (malzahn and mustain) - arkansas coach houston
nutt saved his job in 2006 by hiring local high school coaching phenom gus
("i was born to coach offense") malzahn and by signing the gatorade
national player of the year qb mitch mustain. nutt lost his
job 2 years later when he couldn't keep either one on campus. nutt's offense
had gotten progressively more conservative and less productive over his 8
years in fayetteville and, correspondingly, the hog fan base had gotten more
and more impatient. the malzahn hire was seen as a way to inject some
creativity and life back in to the offense. to nutt's
credit, he had always had a sound running game. and that was still true in
2006 with 2 all-sec caliber sophmores in darren mcfadden and feliz
jones. but nutt hadn't had even a
marginal passing game since clint stoerner departed arkansas in 1999. malzahn
(known for a hurry-up no-huddle offense) and mustain (5-star pro-style qb)
would change that. in 2006, the
hogs finished with 10 wins (for the only time in nutt's tenure), climbed the
polls to #4, played in the sec title game (only for the 2nd time under nutt),
and managed a heisman runner-up for the first time in school history. malzahn
was named coordinator of the year and mustain was undefeated as a college qb
(8-0). with mustain
poised to return and super-sophs mcfadden and jones in the backfield, hog
fans had even bigger dreams for 2007. that is, until nutt demoted malzahn and
benched mustain. it was a bizarre and ego-driven decision that evetually
caused malzahn (to tulsa) and mustain (to usc) to leave and sealed nutt's
fate. what unfolded over the next year was ugly and overshadowed mcfadden's chase for the
heisman and an upset of #1 lsu in baton rouge. even with the
hire of bobby petrino, most hog fans still look west to tulsa and wonder what
might have been . . . 2) alabama =
prothro's injury - in 2005 (shula's 2nd year) bama was 4-0 and climbing
the polls. the signature moment through those first 4 games was tyrone
prothro's espy-winning catch against the back of a southern miss db. it was
prothro's most spectacular moment, but it would not be his most memorable. the bama
offense had found strokes creativity in 2005 and prothro had been the brush.
he lined up at wr, tb, kr, pr, and qb. with quickness, sure-handedness,
split-second decision making, elusiveness, and vision prothro always made
plays; especially around the goalline. the jury was still out on the tide
that season (they hadn't beaten a good team yet) but at 4-0 and with the
gators were coming to t-town, bama was ready to make a statement. bama controlled
the game from the beginning when prothro out ran the gators secondary and
scored on an 87 yard td for the game's first points. prothro would have 5
catches and amass 134 yds in the game and bama would whip the gators (and
superhero coach urban meyer) 31-3. the win propelled the tide into the top
10. but they would
pay a dear price. midway through the 4th quarter, with bama leading 31-3,
prothro lined up and ran a fade route to the corner of the florida endzone.
he collided with a db in midair, landed awkwardly, and incurred one of the most grotesque leg
injuries in recent cfb history. the then boisterous bryant-denny crowd
immediately went silent and prothro's season and career ended that moment -
up 4 tds in the 4th quarter and running a fade route . . . when he should
have been sipping gatorade on the sideline. bama would win
the next 4 games to start the season 9-0 and eventually moved up to #3 in the
polls. but no one wasfooled. the offense wasn't the same without prothro.
with him the tide had averaged 30 pts a game; without him, they averaged 15.
an anemic offense eventually cost the tide in two season-ending losses, one
to lsu and one to auburn. |
I 2
biggest losses for um football...
|
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MARCH 16, 2008 |
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QUESTION - In honor of this year's four #1 seeds (Kansas, UCLA, UNC,
and Memphis) provide the CFB equivalent of each program with rationale. |
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S kansas bball =
michigan fball - both programs are historically elite and win lots of games
(kansas gets #1 and #2 seeds, michigan
gets rose bowls and bcs bids). however, both often fail to meet expectations
in the postseason. ucla bball =
alabama fball - both programs are ncaa royalty who can trace most of their
current status directly to an iconic coaching legend. john wooden won 10
national titles for ucla and bear bryant won 6 for bama. unc bball = usc
fball - both programs are consistently the "it" program in
their sport and both are a pipeline for future pro players. high school
athletes dream of wearing these jerseys. memphis bball =
lsu fball - both programs are in a period of unprecedented success that
can be entirely explained by coaching hires. lsu hired nick saban and memphis
hired john calipari. when these coaches leave both programs will (eventually)
return to normal. |
I ucla
= ohio state football:
|
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MARCH 9, 2008 |
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QUESTION - brett favre's retirement
was a surprise to many fans because favre could still play. but, by retiring now,
favre has done something that most people don't get to do: leave on top.
for this week's question, list 3 cfb coaches: one who left on top, one
who stayed too long, and one who should leave right now in order to go
out on top. |
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|
S 1) left on top
= barry alvarez - the obvious example is tom osborne. osborn finished his
career 3 national titles in 4 years. but alvarez did something equally
impressive, though on a much smaller scale. when alvarez took over at
wisconsin, the badgers had only been to 6 bowl games in their entire history
and had managed only 1 bowl win. in the next 16 seasons alvarez took the
badgers to 11 bowl games including 8 wins (3 of which were rose bowl wins).
he managed 4 10-win seasons, including 10 wins in his final season, and 3
top-10 finishes. alvarez left his successor a team that went 21-5 over the
next 2 seasons. 2) stayed
too long = steve spurrier - the obvious examples are bobby bowden and joe
paterno. both bowden and paterno peaked years ago and are only eroding their
status as legends by hanging around. but spurrier had earned the ranking as
the 2nd best sec coach ever (behind bryant). he put florida football on the
map in the 60's with a heisman win and then coached florida into national
prominence in the 90's by coaching a heisman winner, winning 6 sec titles,
and winning a national title. he left gainesville as an immortal hero, the
alpha male of florida legends. his nfl years would have had only a minimal
effect on his reputation (and would have been forgotten within months) had he
walked away from the game when he left the 'skins. instead, spurrier rolled
the dice by taking a rebuilding job at a loser program (s carolina). what
would have been a 2-year blip in his career now looks like a 5-year trend
that makes you wonder if the ol' ball coach has regressed. 3) time to
leave = frank beamer - les miles
is tempting here with a 32-6 record in 3 yrs and a national title. but he's
too young. beamer is not too young turning 62 later this year. beamer is a
legendary fixture in blacksburg and has been for 21 seasons. he's coached the
hokies to a national title appearance. he's won 10+ games in 9 of the last 13
seasaons. he successfully navigated the transition from the big east to the
acc and established vtech as a elite acc team. he's fresh off an acc title.
but he's also plateaued. beamer's teams have lost 3 or more games in 7 of the
last 8 years, often with at least one bad loss. and aside from the michael
vick years, beamer's teams have never had enough offense to make a serious
run at a national title. his defenses and special teams will always bring
winning seasons and bowl bids, but beamer will never take vtech any farther
than he already has. beamer is in good standing and would be a good ad. his
first hire would be easy: give bud foster the job. |
I 1.
Left on top...
3.
Time to leave...
|
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MARCH 2, 2008 |
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|
QUESTION - what program is more relevant to
college football; michigan or alabama? provide 4-6 reasons. personal disclaimer:
|
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|
S alabama is more relevant .
. . 1) because all 12 sec teams
are more relevant than the most relevant b10 team. the b10 hasn't been
relevant since the 40's. 2) because 1 co-national
title in 60 yrs is the definition of irrelevant. maryland, syracuse, minnesota,
pittsburgh, clemson, byu, colorado, and georgia tech each have 1 national
title over that same period. alabama has 7. fun fact - michigan st has more national titles over the past
60 yrs than michigan. fun fact - michigan has graduated as many unabombers over the
past 50 yrs as national championship qbs. 3) because bear bryant had
guys like schembechler as assistant coaches. 4) because michigan's claim
to fame, fielding yost's 55-game win streak, occured 100 yrs ago and included
28 victories over: kalamazoo, albion, case
tech, oberlin, ohio northern, beloit, buffalo, drake, american medical,
ferris st, physicians and surgeons (yes, that's the name of the school), and
carlisle indian school. fun fact - after the initial 55-game streak, yost never won
more than 8 games again. fun fact - 1-aa app st beat michigan and lost to wofford in
the same season (2007). fun fact - lloyd carr, michigan's last national championship
coach, had as many victories over jim tressel as ron zook. 5) because tom brady came
after bart starr; desmond howard came after don hutson; and steve hutchinson
came after john hannah. bama did it better, earlier. 6) because the 'big mouse'
is overrated. how quiet is it? you can hear the guy 2 rows up wondering if
mike hart is faster than the line judge (it's actually closer than you'd
think). fun fact - michigan associate ad michael stephenson wants the noise level in michigan stadium
kept low so that opposing teams do not need to use hand signals on offense. 7) because doing the wave
is lame and doing variations on the wave is even more lame. because 'down in
front' is not a cheer. because noon start-times are for little league.
because 'wolverine' is a below-average nickname with no interesting history. fun fact - the famed winged helmet started at princteon, not
at michigan. 8) because no
advertisements, no skyboxes, and no mascots equal no fun. 9) because participating in
the rose bowl parade should not be the highlight of going to pasadena. bama is
5-1 in rose bowls. 10) because rich rodriguez
is as relevant to college football as west virginia is. |
I 1.
finding things to be happy about
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FEBRUARY 24, 2008 |
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QUESTION - everybody makes stupid decisions: players on and off the
field, coaches on and off the field, administrators, fans. etc. the latest
evidence of this comes from indiana university, a tradition-rich and proud
basketball program, who stupidly hired and then fired a coach known,
ironically, for his own stupid decisions. in this week's question, list 3
stupid decision related to college football. |
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|
S 1) alabama hires coach
mike dubose, 1996 - gene stallings coached alabama to 72 wins in 7 years and
won a national title. but following a run-in with the ncaa and nervous
administrators who thought he was becoming too powerful, stallings was forced
out. it would be easy to think that a program steeped in tradition and coming
off the most successfull 40 year period in modern college football (7
national titles and 15 sec titles) would have its pick of any head coach in
the country. so it surprised some that bama went with little known dc mike
dubose. dubose quickly showed his inexperience by going 4-7 for bama's 1st
losing season in 15 yrs and only the 2nd in 40 yrs. it got worse when, under
tremendous pressure to win, dubose got cozy with a memphis booster (and a ua
secretary) who was paying players. dubose was evetually forced out after a
preseason #3 ranked team went 3-8 in 2000. shortly after, the ncaa levied
alabama with the most severe penalty for a cfb program since smu. in short years dubose crippled what had been
one of the the proudest, most dominant programs in the nation. in 2008 (8 yrs
later) alabama is still recovering. what made this stupid?
being cheap and hiring dubose cost the alabama program millions and millions
in lost revenue and reputation and, eventually, $4 million a year for a coach
that could fix it. 2) auburn president, ad,
and trustees fly to louisville -
jetgate, as it would come to be known, was a who's who of auburn
university figures. there was the president william walker, ad david housel,
uber-booster-trustee bobby lowder, and lowder's jet. the plan was simple, a
few days before the 2003 iron bowl everyone pile into the jet at night and
fly to a remote airstrip near louisville kentucky and hire bobby petrino to
replace tommy tuberville. on the surface replacing a consistently 7-5 tubs
with up-and-comer petrino is not such a dumb decision. the problem is,
everyone found out. in the year that followed, walker was fired as president
(he died shortly after), housel 'retired' as ad, and lowder . . . well lowder
is still a mega-millionaire so he can do whatever he wants. tommy tuberville
took the next year's auburn team to an undefeated season and an sec title.
tubs has gone 27-6 in conference play over the past 4 seasons and 42-9
overall. what made this stupid? tubs
still has a job, none of the other guys do, and tubs turned out to be exactly
the kind of coach the jetgate crew hoped petrino would be. 3) nebraska hires ad
steve pederson - it's risky business to hire an alumni and fan to an
imporant university position and at nebraska only the head fball coach ranks
higher than the ad - and the ad decides who gets to be coach. after decades
of unprecedented fooball success (and 3 national titles in 4 yrs), nebraska
switched ad's in part to make a decision (possibly a tough one) about then
head coach frank solich. by nearly every measure solich was an incredibly
successful coach. he went 59-19 over 6 seasons and appeared in 1 national
title game. for some reason though, die-hard nebraska fans (of which new ad
pederson was a member) feared the worst and within a year of being hired
pederson canned solich. this was the first stupid decision. with no plan in
place, pederson wandered from coach to coach only to get rejected every time
(even by houston nutt). finally, recently fired raiders coach bill callahan
said yes. this was the second stupid decision. within weeks callahan had
abandoned nearly every meaningful nebraska tradition (walk-on program, black
shirts, run-oriented offense, etc.), passed on homegrown nebraska kids and
historic recruiting ties for juco kids from california. with no apologies,
callahan scrapped decades hard-nosed fball for a pansy offense that no one on
the team was equipped to run. callahan immediately went 5-6 and broke
nebraska's 35-game bowl streak and started the frightening decline of
nebraska fball. what made this
stupid? pederson was too much of a fan to objectively oversee nebraska
athletics. he said when solich was fired that the nebraska program was
slipping, he was right. |
I Personal
Disclaimer:
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FEBRUARY 17, 2008 |
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QUESTION - The top 5 picks of the nfl draft are as follows:
2. st louis 3. atlanta 4. oakland 5. kansas city
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S i'd draft talent + need
(i.e., who are the most talented players and which do i need most). the most
talented 4 draftees are mcfadden, c. long, j. long, and dorsey.
certainly this is debatable, but these 4 guys are legit number 1's for the right
team. 1) miami - the fins need a
youth movement on defense and should be choosing between a
terrorizing rush end (c. long) and a show stopper in the middle (dorsey). if
i'm gm, dorsey is the smarter choice because he stop the run and
pressure the qb. doresy is surprisingly quick and agile for someone his size
and would command a double team. 2) st louis - of the top
players, the rams don't need mcfadden (see steven jackson) or ellis (see adam
carriker) so it's between c. long and j. long. if i'm gm, j. long is
the smarter choice because bulger is injury prone, just signed a new
contract, and orlando pace is aging. j. long could either take over the left
tackle spot immediately or play right tackle for a couple of seasons until
pace is moved. 3) atlanta - the offense,
much more than the defense, was the concern in atlanta last
year - especially the passing game. unfortunately, there isn't a qb or
wr worth a top 3 pick (including matt ryan). if i'm gm, mcfadden is
the smarter choice because he's the only offensive player worth the top 3 and
he'd recharge the offense (and excite the fans). mcfadden
could immediately share time with jarious norwood (like he did with
felix jones) and dunn could become a 3rd down back. 4) oakland - the raiders
need help in the trenches, they were too weak and too old last year (among
many other issues). j. long would be a good fit, but he's off the board (what
happened to robert gallery??). so that leaves ellis and c. long. if
i'm gm, c. long is the smarter choice because he'll constantly
pressure the qb, he's got a hard-nosed mentality, a high motor, and the
raider faithful would love having a long back in the silver and black. 5) kansas city - with
the elite players off the board the chiefs have the pick of 'the rest'.
chiefs need to inject some youth into a aging o-line but also need a wr and
kr to spice up a suddenly anemic scoring offense. there are no
viable o-lineman in the top 5 (after long) so it's worth looking for a
versatile player. if i'm gm, desean jackson is the best
choice because he's a playmaking threat at wr and kr and
can take some pressure off brodie croyle and a sluggish offense. |
I 1.
miami: if am the gm of the dolphins i have one goal: build a
young and fast defense to keep me in games. i want to mirror the nyg of
the late 80's of the baltimore ravens of just a few years ago.
therefore, i select chris long with confidence. i would not even
want to trade the pick. long is a high character selection that will
provide the doplhins with a top 5 pass rush. |
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FEBRUARY 10, 2008 |
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QUESTION - of
all the 2008 recruits, who (and how many) do you expect to see at
the downtown athletic club for the 2011 heisman ceremony? |
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S 2011 will be the
senior year for the 2008 crop of recruits. seniors, juniors, and sometimes
even sophmores make the list of heisman invites. tebow was a sophmore this
year and mcfadden was a junior. last year mcfadden was a sophmore and troy
smith and brady quinn were seniors. in earlier years lienart, bush, and white
were all juniors when they won. so, obviously, underclassmen take up some of
the spots. also, there are only 3-4 invites every year. this year there were
4 invites and last year there were 3. since all of the invites won't be
seniors, 2 is a safe number to expect from the class of '08. so, which 2
seniors should get invited? well, they
should be highly rated (like tebow & bush). they should play for teams
that matter (like smith for osu and palmer for usc). they should be offensive
players so current recruits like daquan bowers or patick johnson are out. and
they should be qbs or rbs so current recruits like julio jones and no aj
green are out. here's a brief
breakdown of the 5-star players left: 1) terrell
pryor, qb, undecided - no matter where he goes, scouts say pryor is good
enough to start and be among the nations best quickly. if true, pryor will
never make it to his senior year. chance at heisman = 1%. 2) darrell
scott, rb, colorado - hawkins offenses are pass 1st, scramble 2nd, run 3rd.
the leading rusher in '07 had 1000 yards. scott will be a good back with
average stats. chance at heisman = 1%. 3) blaine
gabbert, qb, mizzou - no one from missouri has ever won a heisman. chase
daniel just finished a historic year for a mizzou qb during a historic
season. he did not finish in the top 2. chance at heisman = 2%. 4) jermie
calhoun, rb, oklahoma - oklahoma has an explosive offense that's flexible
(adrian peterson and jason white have recently been to nyc). the sooners will
also be nationally relevant. chance at heisman = 10%. 5) dayne crist,
qb, nd - crist will likely sit behind super-phenom jimmy clausen for 3 yrs.
if he beats out clausen then he'll certainly be in the conversation for the
heisman. if not, he'll be starting his senior yr for nd. by then his name
will be pronounce 'christ' and the catholics and voters will love it (think
theesman to theisman to rhyme with heisman). chance at heisman = 10%. so, the 2
seniors i expect to see at the 2001 heisman trophy ceremony are: jermie calhoun
and dayne crist. |
I For
starters, I doubt more than 2 players from the class of 2008 are in NYC four
years later. Underclassmen are dominating the scene at the Heisman Ceremony
lately. And the truly eilte players from this class will find themselves in
the NFL prior to this date. Therefore, without further analysis.... |
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FEBRUARY 3, 2008 |
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QUESTION - Give me four thoughts about
Michigan or Arkansas' present recruiting class. |
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S 1) in-state
/ out-state recruiting - despite the bad press stemming from his atlanta
departure and despite nutt recruiting the former arkansas commits, petrino got
every player in the state he wanted. in total, 15 signees were from arkansas
(most recruited by tim horton who petrino retained from the previous staff)
and only 2 of the top 15 players in the state went somewhere else (1 to ark
st and 1 back home to wiscy). that is good new for hog fans as petrino will
keep the best players in state. the flipside though is that the state of
arkansas doesn't generally produce enough talent to be competitive in the
sec. petrino will have to go out of state. in this class, the hogs signed
out-of-state 4-star (from louisiana) and only 2 players total from texas. to
be in the top tier of the sec arkansas needs good players, especially from
texas. 2) beat usc
for joe adams - arkansas is in the running for a recruit like joe adams
every few years. he's the type of in-state kid that draws attention schools
from across the nation and has offers from every top program. adams final
list of 6-7 included schools like oklahoma, michigan, lsu, florida, and
georgia. eventually he chose usc and stayed firmly committed to the trojans
all year. he didn't want to play for nutt and, like little rock native (and
2007 usc signee) broderick green (and kodi burns and lee ziemba for that
matter), wasn't even being heavily recruited by nutt's staff. this had become
a pattern under nutt and the best kids often left the state because nutt
didn't want to work for them - nutt wanted them to be razorbacks 'in their
hearts'. by getting adams petrino showed that he could hold off the hounds,
keep the best talent home, and make kids want to be hogs. 3) needs
filled - losing mcfadden and jones leaves a need at rb and transitioning
to a passing offense leaves a need at qb and wr. petrino's first class filled
each of those needs. 3 qbs signed including the headliner mallet and heavily
recruited arkansas native tyler wilson - who could push for immediate playing
time. 4 receivers signed lead by mr everything joe adams, but also included 3
others that are each listed at 6'3' or taller, over 200 lbs, and with 4.5
speed. 3 rbs signed, lead by de'anthony curtis, each of whom are small (under
5'10') with blazing speed (4.4) and should find lots of space against
defenses that will have to respect the pass. 4) no
colloquialisms - nutt called every player 'special' and said most had a
lot of 'heart' or were 'sleepers'. nutt always made it seemed like he was
fighting the big guys to keep his players, 'we had to hold off alabama at the
end' he said of a 2-star alabama rb that the tide contacted late last year
after another kid backed out when shula was canned. one of nutt's favorite
things to say was that a kid 'would be a 5-star in texas'. there was very
little depth to his comments and fans rarely knew how 1 player differed from
another. it always seemed like nutt was trying to convince the fans and media
that the class was really better than it looked (or was ranked) - and to his
credit, his classes were often better than they ranked. still, instead of
letting that become apparent on the field, he acted defensive and propped
them up from the first presser on. contast that
with perino who (while looking at the media and speaking confidently) called
every player by name, listed their strengths and where they projected (and
why) and had something unique to say about each kid (e.g., good tackler,
speed, technique, leadership, length, versatile, etc.) not only did petrino
seem like he knew exactly what he was doing but it seemed like said the same
things in the pressed that he said in the kid's living room. petrino made no apologies
for who he signed or how hard it was to recruit on such short notice with bad
press from national media. |
I four
thoughts regarding um's recruiting class..
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JANUARY 27, 2008 |
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QUESTION - in honor of the upcoming
national signing day, list the 5 most important recruits from the houston nutt
or lloyd carr era. these don’t have to be the players with 5 stars or the
eventual all-american’s, but those recruits who meant the most. |
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S 1) darren
mcfadden (2005) - this is an obvious choice. while at arkansas mcfadden was
a 2-time doak walker winner, a 2-time heisman runner-up, a 2-time
all-american, the sec's 2nd all-time leading rusher, etc. but even before he
arrived in fayetteville mcfadden was a hog. he committed early and never
wavered. he proudly maintained that he had razorback blood and politely
brushed aside pursuit from alabama and tennessee along the way. his signing
allowed modern day hog fans to say they saw the greatest player to ever wear
the hog on his helmet. dmac gave lifelong memories to a whole generation of
hog fans whose dad's still talked about frank broyles, the glory years, and
beating texas. his signing also reassured hog fans that being a razorback
still mattered to arkansas kids - even after a 4-7 season and even with a
coach who had flirted with nebraska. the kids still loved their hogs. 2-4) class of
2001 - the 2001 class was nutt's highest-rated and included several heavily
recruited playrs. tackle shawn andrews was the biggest name (and body)
in that group. like mcfadden, andrews was never really a threat to leave the
state for another school. he was a massive, lineman who mauled opposing
d-lineman and fit perfectly into nutt's run-first offense. andrews would
evetually anchor the hog line for 3 years, including an sec title game,
before being drafted by the eagles in the 1st round in '04. he was nutt's 1st
1st-round draft choice. corner ahmad 'batman' carroll was the biggest
surprise of the group. nutt pulled batman, one of the top 3 cbs in the nation
in '01, out of georgia where he was considered a lock to sign with the dawgs.
carrol would go on to be a solid corner and drafted as a junior in the 1st
round. legend has it that nutt got batman by meeting him at the airport in a
batmobile. beating georgie for a georgia kid was huge. qb matt jones
was the biggest impact of the group. jones chose the hogs over ou, tenn, and
miami in part because he was given a shot at qb. during his 4 yrs in
fayetteville jones became a fan favorite known for his cool demeanor and stunning athleticism.
jones was often the fastest most elusive guy on the field (not bad for being
6'5'' and white) and was capable of miracle plays. very few players will
carry the lifelong legend that jones will for hog fans. 5) lawrence
richardson (1999) - richardson was really the 1st bigtime prospect that
nutt got out of texas and nutt beat fsu, tenn, lsu, and neb for his
signature. to lure richarson nutt used a rare technique (at least for a
middle-aged white guy) he quoted underground rap lyrics - you're my 'baller,
shot caller' nutt said to richardson at that was the deal-sealer. getting
players off the top of the texas talent pool was critical for arkansas to
survive the recruiting wars of the sec. after sitting out a year for
academics richardson proved his worth immediately. in his 1st game, arkansas
faced unlv in a rematch of the previous year's las vegas bowl. unlv had
beaten arkansas in that game and most fans had chalked it up to the bright
lights and the nightlife in sin city. until the rematch that is. arkansas
managed 2 1st downs during the 1st 58 minutes of the rematch and trailed 10-7
with under 30 seconds left in the game. the only points to that point came
off a richardson pick-6. then later, late in the 4th quarter, a unlv rb broke
free for what was almost certainly going to be a game-clinching td. but the
lightning-fast richardson appeared out of nowhere to make a desperate
shoe-string tackle inside the 10. on the subsequent plays the hog defense
managed to push unlv back a few yards and the rebels kicker missed a field
goal. richardson's int/td and game-saving tackle almost single-handedly saved
the hogs from an embarassing home loss to unlv and helped avoid an 0-4 season
start. honorable
mention - felix jones, tonu ugoh (out of texas), cedric cobbs |
I 5.
Chad Henne: A five star stud out of PA he had narrowed his
choices between two: PSU and Michigan. Many felt he was a PSU
lean because it was his native state and because UM had inked Matt Gutteirez
(sp) the previous year. The aftermath revealed that PSU had gotten lazy
recruiting Henne because they considered him a lock for PSU. It als
revealed some shrewd and aggressive tactics taken by Carr and Loeffler.
To add to PSU's bitterness Henne won all three games he started vs PSU while
at Michigan.
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JANUARY 20, 2008 |
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QUESTION - pick a program.
any program. tell me their three most memorable td's of the last 20
years. |
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S 1) arkansas
vs lsu, 2002 - called the 'miracle on markham', arkansas' matt jones
completed a 31-yd td pass to decori birmingham with just seconds
remaining to go to beat lsu and claim the sec west crown. the td
followed a 50-yd bomb on the previous play and completed the most unlikely
drive imagineable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0p8DSekHwg 2) arkansas
vs tennessee, 1999 - simply known as 'stoerner to lucas', this
go ahead touchdown came on a 23-yd td pass from clint stoerner to anthony
lucas. the td sealed an emotional and ironic 28-24 win for
the razorbacks. 1 year earlier, in knoxville, stoerner fumbled while
taking a knee ('stoernover') allowing tennessee to score a late td and a
28-24 victory. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-vBtgUDYPQ 3) arkansas vs usc, 2006
- highly touted qb mitch mustain makes
his debut. mustain, with help from new oc gus malzahn, leads the hogs offense
on a meaningless td drive that had the home crowd in a frenzy. for a few
minutes, the arkansas fan base was rejoicing as a new era of football had
begun . . . or so they thought. 18 months later mustain had transferred,
malzahn had left, and nutt had resigned. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRa3uv_lKwg honorable
mention - matt jones dunk vs ole miss (2001), barry foster run vs miami
(1988), mcfadden vs lsu (2007), lunney to meadors vs alabama (1995) |
I 1.
Charles Woodson punt return v. Ohio State: 1997
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJjG-XCFfAE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ7wzTaQUuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-llh0HpBnxQ
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JANUARY 13, 2008 |
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QUESTION - rank the sec's head
coaches. |
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S after miles,
these rankings are based on the question: who would i want coaching my team?
as for miles, he's another story. quite honestly, i don't want miles anywhere
near my team. not today, not tomorrow, not ever. not because he's a bad coach
or because he's a good coach, but because i don't know what he is. but, at
the moment i can't find a single meaningful criticism against him or his
teams. until i do, i'll give him his due in the top spot and hope he only
visits fayetteville or tuscaloosa for game weekends. 1) miles,
lsu - it's fair to think that miles won't hold this spot for long. but in
3 yrs he's gone 34-6 and won a national title. along the way this season he
outcoached beamer, spurrier, meyer, tuberville, saban, fulmer, and tressel. 2) meyer,
florida - it took spurrier a decade to become an all-everything legend at
florida having accounted for heismans and a national title. meyer promptly
pushed spurrier into yesterday's news by bringing both to gainesville in just
3 yrs. 3) spurrier,
scar - spurrier is an sec immortal and will likely always remain in the
top 3. however, scar experienced a major meltdown over the 2nd half of the '07
season leaving some doubt spurrier's ability to re-create his magic in
columbia. 4) saban,
alabama - the evidence was scarce in tuscaloosa this season, but just
look west to baton rouge to see how dominant a program saban can construct.
saban can coach and recruit with the nation's best. 5) petrino,
arkansas - this will likely be the high-water mark for petrino for a
while. the juggeranut offense be built at lville and nfl head coaching
experience (however unsuccessful) certainly indicate that he is an elite
coach, but evidence may not materialze quickly in fayetteville. 6) richt,
georgia - rarely bad and rarely great, richt has built a consistent
winner in athens. his teams have enough elite talent to take georgia on a
national title run in 08, but like year's past he will have to avoid 1 or 2
unexpected losses. 7) tuberville,
auburn - perrenial top 25 teams, a 6-game winning streak over his rival,
and an undefeated season in 03 show that tubs might belong among the
upper-half of sec coaches. but unexpected losses and a 'good but not great'
reputation still anchor him in the middle of the conference. 8) fulmer,
tennessee - throughout his 15 yrs in knoxville fulmer has gone from one
of the elite coaches in the sec to disappointingly 'sub-standard' - quite a
range for a national title winner. but recently it's clear that he's dropped
into the middle half of the league. 9) croom,
miss st - the 07 sec coach of the year may be the best kept secret in the
conference. what croom has done to a program that was in the a dire condition
(and in a dire location) is one of the great rebuilding jobs in recent cfb
memory. go ahead, name a harder place to win . . . 10) nutt,
ole miss - for everyone outside of fayetteville, nutt had a reputation of
over-achieving. in fayetteville he had a reputation of under-recruiting (and
being under-prepared). a few years at ole mrs. will resolve the disagreement. 11) johnson,
vandy - the 'dores have been competitive for the last 2-3 yrs. they have
a starting qb in the nfl (cutler), have beaten ranked teams (scar 07), and
cross-state rivals tennessee (06). that's the stuff of legends in nashville. 12) brooks,
kentucky - back-to-back bowls and a win over lsu have momentariliy
propped up and disguised a program that's headed into obscurity and a coach
that's headed into retirement. |
I Disclaimer:
There is nothing that impresses me more in a CFB coach than one who can turn
around a hopeless situation immediately. To me that is the most evident
sign of a good coach. Therefore I will use the following scenario to
gauge this list: If each SEC coach were to take over the University of
Minnesota program right now who would have it in the best shape four years
later? |
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