College Football
Building the Hive
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college football season is almost over but one aspect never ends, recruiting. The early signing period was last month and signing day is in February. I want to look at a team that is making a splash in recruiting in 2020, Georgia Tech.
So far, the Yellow Jackets have the 26th ranked recruiting class in 2020. Under Paul Johnson, they routinely finished almost last in the ACC. This is a major improvement by them after head coach Geoff Collins’ first season. They had a rough year finishing 3-9 but they are attracting better talent.
The first player I have to mention is four-star wide receiver Bryce Gowdy. By now, I am sure you heard his tragic story. The talented Deerfield Beach, Florida native took his own life and was hit by a freight train December 30.
He was supposed to start classes at Tech this week. He was an honors student that graduated early but suffered from mental-health issues and homelessness. This was a big loss for the program and I’m not referring to on the field.
One of the best running backs in the state of Georgia, Jahmyr Gibbs is a hard commit. Gibbs played for Dalton High School and in 11 games this past season he rushed for 2,554 yards, 40 touchdowns and averaged 11 yards per carry. The four-star recruit played in the All-American Bowl last week.
Four-star dual threat quarterback Jeff Sims from Jacksonville, Fl played in the Under Armour All-America Game. Sims is 6’3, 205 pounds and very athletic. He was initially committed to Florida State before he signed with Tech.
There is another QB from Florida that signed with GT, three-star recruit Tucker Gleason. Gleason played for Plant High, which is a very good program. He 6’3, 220 lb. pro style quarterback.
Collins is recruiting the state of Florida very well and more specifically the Jacksonville area. Four-star cornerback Miles Brooks played at Trinity Christian Academy. Brooks is 6’2 so he has great size for the position. He also had offers from Alabama, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Ohio State.
Brooks has an official forty time of 4.52 and a 35.3-inch vertical.
It is interesting to see players come to Tech that were also recruited by major programs. Under CPJ you would see guys and the other teams recruiting them would be Wofford and Middle Tennessee State. The best offer they had was from GT so that is why they committed.
Defensive End Jared Ivey from North Gwinnett High School is another four-star. He’s 6’6, 225 pounds so he has prototypical body for the position. In the 2019 season, he wreaked havoc with 80 tackles, 32.5 tackles for loss and 20 sacks. He also broke up four passes and has a forced fumble.
Wide receiver Nate McCollum is also a Georgia native from Dutchtown High (Hampton). He’s a small receiver (5’11) but he is very fast, running the forty in 4.41 seconds. He’s also a stand out in baseball and we will see him on the diamond at Georgia Tech.
There are seventeen more three-star commits in this class. They are getting faster and more athletic at every position. We will see if these players can turn the program around in year two under Collins.
You Can’t Spell Sugar Without UGA
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 5th ranked Georgia Bulldogs playing shorthanded at key positions and out hustled, out hit, out coached and out played the 7th ranked Baylor Bears in a 26-14 victory in the 86th annual Allstate Sugar Bowl.
The Dawgs led 19-0 at the half, but Baylor came out and scored a couple of second half TD’s. However, as they have most of the season, the UGA defense took over the contest in the 4th quarter and Georgia finished off the Bears to finish 12-2 on the season.
The UGA senior class finishes their career with a 44-12 record which ties for most wins in school history with an SEC Championship, 3 straight SEC East Titles, wins in the Liberty, Rose, and Sugar Bowl, a college football playoff appearance, and a national title game appearance.
Observations from the Sugar Bowl win over Baylor:
1.George Pickens is a superstar in the making.
The freshman WR tied a Georgia record for receptions in a bowl game with 12 for 175 yards and a TD.
Pickens gave the Baylor secondary fits all night long pumped some much needed life into the UGA passing game.
Pickens now will be the leader of a talented wide receiver group going into 2020 that goes from a weakness in 2019 to a team strength in 2020.
Remember this point next fall when you hear teams like Florida making excuses because they lost their top 4 wide receivers from 2019.
2.The UGA coaching staff out-coached the Baylor staff.
The naysayers criticize Kirby Smart’s coaching abilities, by hurling veiled back handed compliments lauding Smart’s recruiting abilities, but saying he is not a good game day coach.
Georgia was better prepared and better motivated than a Baylor squad that has a head coach linked to current NFL openings.
Kirby Smart is now 8-4 against top 10 teams in his 4 years at UGA.
You don’t just throw 4-5 star recruits on the field and say just freelance and conquer. You have to coach them up. Give Kirby Smart some credit for being an all-around pretty good football coach.
3.The 2019 UGA football team became the fifth team in school history to win 12 games or more in a season.
Kirby Smart has coached two of those five teams in four years. Never let facts stand in your way on a good internet troll attempt, right?
4.You got a pretty good sneak peek at the 2020 defense in the Sugar Bowl. Did you like what you saw? The rest of the SEC did not, and trust me they were watching.
5.Zamir White, once fully recovered from back to back ACL injuries, will be in beast mode in 2020.
6.Georgia arrived in New Orleans missing 12 players that started a game at one time or another in 2019. Including three starting offensive lineman, two All-SEC players on defense and did not seem to miss a beat against an 11-win Baylor team.
Recruiting and roster management is an essential component in being a quality football coach.
UGA is now, annually, a legitimate contender for a spot in the college football playoff.
The 2019 Georgia Bulldogs won’t be remembered for style points during this 12-2 season. They will be remembered as a tough, physical football team that beat Notre Dame at Sanford Stadium, got upset at home by South Carolina, lost the SEC title game to a generational QB in Joe Burrow and LSU, won the SEC East and beat Florida for the third straight year, while holding them to 21 yards rushing, and last but not least the 2019 Dawgs will be remembered as your 2020 Sugar Bowl Champions.
Always remember you can’t spell sugar without UGA.
Expansion
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We need to expand the College Football Playoffs to eight teams, they say. We need to acknowledge the conference champions and provide access to more deserving teams.
Maybe it is time to relax and ask the important question: Do we want to expand?
The Oklahoma – LSU game looks bad and has many armed chair quarterbacks questioning the teams that deserve to be in the playoffs.
Oklahoma earned the spot during the regular season and with the Big 12 championship. Oklahoma had the best resume.
It is certainly possible that the Playoff Committee made a mistake in selecting the Sooners this year.
Could Alabama or Georgia put up a better fight against LSU? LSU beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa on November 9th 46-41. Then Alabama suffered their second loss of the season in the Iron Bowl 48-45 to Auburn.
Georgia was boat raced out of the Georgia Dome by LSU in the SEC championship game 37-10. Plus, Georgia had a huge wart on their resume with a 20-17 loss to a four-win South Carolina team.
This is not an argument for expansion, because expanding to six or eight teams would increase the blowouts.
This season there were 3 elite teams in college football: Ohio State, Clemson and LSU.
Since the playoffs have started, we have experienced some classic National Championship games, but only a couple semifinals have lived up to expectations.
The four team playoff is an improvement over the BCS. I know today’s society wants everything bigger and better. Expanding to eight teams would open things up for each of the Power 5 Conferences to be represented.
The hunger to expand to an eight team playoff is slowly, but surely taking over the sport and when it happens, many will cheer. An expanded playoff means the gap between the quality of opponents is going to get even bigger not smaller.
If the goal is to get better games then surely expansion is not the answer. If the goal is to increase revenue to the Power 5 Conferences than expansion will happen. “Follow the Money”
There is no ideal way to determine a national champion in college football. Limit the field and you run the risk of not seeing the best teams compete for a title.
Expand the field and fans are watching more watered down games. As a college football fan, who may complain now with 4 teams, will complaints stop after we add another 4?
College football fans love watching classic games. The Clemson 29-23 win over Ohio State, which sent the Tigers to the College Football Playoff Championship game was one. This game was an instant classic and drama at the highest level.
It was a grueling battle between two elite college football teams filled with comebacks, instant replay overturned and late game, gut wrenching drama.
In many cases, more college football is a good thing, but blowouts are not good for anyone.
Expanding the playoffs is a way that makes more money for the Elite Power 5 Conferences, whose only priority is to increase revenue. Expanding the playoff will dilute the quality of the games.
That is why the upcoming Championship game is so attractive.
Down To Two
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The first round of the College Football Playoff was played this past weekend. Let’s take a look and recap what happened.
No. 1 LSU and No. 4 Oklahoma played the first game, The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Ga.
The Tigers (14-0) demolished OU (12-2), 63 – 28. Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow was spectacular, passing for 493 yards and seven touchdowns. He also ran for a TD.
“We go into every game thinking nobody can stop us,” Burrow said.
LSU scored 49 points in the first half. Justin Jefferson scored all four of his touchdowns in the first half and finished with 14 catches for 227 yards.
Tight end Thaddeus Moss, son of Hall of Famer Randy Moss, had 99 receiving yards and a touchdown.
LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger learned shortly before kickoff that his daughter-in-law, broadcaster Carley McCord, was among five people killed in a plane crash in Louisiana. The small plane went down shortly after takeoff for what was supposed to be a flight to Atlanta for the game.
Head coach Ed Orgeron delivered the news to Ensminger, who was seen with tears running down his cheeks but stuck to the task at hand.
“What a tremendous, tremendous LSU Tiger,” Orgeron said after the game. “He called a great game tonight.” Coach O gave him the game ball.
No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Clemson was a battle of two unbeaten teams. The Playstation Fiesta Bowl was played in Glendale, Arizona. Clemson won a close game, 29 – 23.
I’m not sure how the defending champion Tigers are being overlooked but they feel disrespected by it.
The Buckeyes (13-1) jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first half. They responded to a Clemson rally to retake the lead 23-21 in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers (14-0) needed four plays and 1:18, with Lawrence completing all three of his passes and mixing in an 11-yard run. The sophomore quarterback, who has never lost a college start, passed for 259 yards and two scores. He also ran for a career-high 107 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown late in the first half.
OSU drove the ball to the Clemson 23-yard line, but Justin Fields was intercepted by Nolan Turner with 37 seconds left.
“Everybody kept saying we didn’t play nobody, that we blow out teams. Tonight showed what we can do,” Clemson receiver Tee Higgins said. “We showed everybody we got fight in us.”
The Buckeyes played well on offense. Fields threw for 320 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. J.K. Dobbins ran for 174 yards and a touchdown.
“I told Ryan, that Ohio State team, what an unbelievable game, their quarterback, their back, those guys played their hearts out,” Swinney said. “But in the end, our guys showed what they’re made of. They’ve got the heart of a champion; they’ve got the eye of a tiger.”
The semifinals played out the way I expected. The best two teams won and they will play the national championship game in New Orleans January 13.
This is basically a home game for LSU but don’t count Clemson out.
Fields Or Fromm?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Refer to it however you would like: Armchair Expert, Monday Morning Quarterback.
As fans, it’s easy to look back and judge a coach or an organization on personnel moves or play calls and claim we would’ve done something different.
For one, we’re not held accountable when it goes awry, so we can choose to gamble.
Also, most of these coaches are being paid millions of dollars to correctly make those difficult decisions, so I get the expectations. It doesn’t make those choices any easier though.
When you look back at this past year, I imagine most Georgia fans feel as though their season would’ve been more successful had Justin Fields been under center, rather than Jake Fromm, with most directing their displeasure towards Kirby Smart.
In almost all the major categories we use to gauge the success of a quarterback, Fields out performed Fromm, so it would make sense for fans to feel that way. Like with most things though, it’s not quite that simple.
For one, you have to consider the conference Fields plays in. Most SEC fans, and media for that matter, like to scream from the mountain tops about how difficult the SEC is, and how much more dominant it is over every other conference.
For the record, I’m not disagreeing, but if the criteria we’re going by is based on SEC superiority, then it makes sense that Fields numbers wouldn’t be the same had he stayed in Athens.
If you were to take away one touchdown and add 0.5 interceptions per conference game, something that is realistic if Fields were to have played in the SEC, his numbers aren’t far off from Fromm. And that’s with Fromm having under-achieved this year, compared to last season.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Fromm actually had the better season, just trying to put things into perspective.
The other thing to keep in mind is where the program was at this point last season. Even though Georgia lost to Texas, Fromm had led the Bulldogs to their second consecutive SEC Championship game appearance, while improving on his stats from the year before.
Fields had shown flashes of what he could do in limited playing time, but not enough to make it obvious he should be the starter.
One of the things I hear and read from Georgia fans is how they respect the fact Smart doesn’t promise playing time to any players, they have to earn it.
I don’t claim to know the inner workings of the Georgia program, but I imagine Fields was looking for a guarantee that Smart wouldn’t give.
If he had, and Fields produced similar numbers to what Fromm did during his sophomore campaign, how would the fan base feel?
Would they be ok with that kind of production or would they clamoring for Fromm, upset that Smart went with potential over the proven commodity? Based off his two seasons in Athens, and the expectation Fromm had going into his Junior year, he was the logical choice; at least enough to give him a shot to keep his job.
I know this is all hypothetical, but that’s kind of the point. As fans, we have the luxury of playing in this “what if” world, where we don’t have to commit to any particular decision because we’re not accountable for it.
Coaches, no matter how much money they’re paid, don’t have that option.
Happy Anniversary
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Happy Holidays everyone, as we approach 2020, let’s take a sleigh ride down memory lane. 2020 happens to be a huge anniversary year for the University of Georgia.
It is the 40th Anniversary of the Bulldogs last national championship. The 40th Anniversary is the Rudy Anniversary. Wow-it has been that long!
Let’s take a look at the 1980 Georgia Bulldog season. We will look at three key games that led to the National Championship.
Georgia opened the season in Knoxville, this was the Herschel Walker’s coming out party.
After falling behind 15-0, Herschel put the Bulldogs on his back. The key play was a simple pitch play, Walker took the pitch and proceeded to run over Bill Bates on his way to the end zone.
November 8th, according to most, is the most memorable football play in Georgia football history. “Run, Lindsay, Run” as the Bulldogs beat the Gators 26-21.
January 1, 1981, The Bulldogs jumped on Herschel Walker’s back to capture the National Championship. I remember the players carrying Vince Dooley off the field on their shoulders, Georgia fans storming the field and the smiling face of Herschel.
Players like Buck Belue, Lindsay Scott, Amp Arnold, Eddie “Meat Cleaver” Weaver, Tim Crowe Scott Woemer, Freddie Gilbert and many others made the 1980 season a once in a lifetime championship run for the Georgia Bulldogs.
It’s nice to sit back and reminisce about the glory days of Georgia football. That memory has remained once in a lifetime, at least after 40 seasons.
Yes, Georgia has come close a couple times to capturing another National Championship. The most recent was January 8, 2018.
Georgia played Alabama in the College Football Playoff Championship game in Atlanta; this game was an instant classic. The Bulldogs dominated the first three quarters of the game and led 20-10 entering the final period.
Alabama forced overtime by scoring 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
Georgia’s offense stalled on their overtime possession and Rodrigo Blankenship kicked a 51-yard field goal to give the Bulldogs a 23-20 lead.
On the first play of overtime, Jonathan Ledbetter and Devin Bellamy sacked freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for a 16-yard loss. The Georgia fans were celebrating.
On the next play, Tagovailoa found freshman DeVonta Smith for a 41-yard touchdown. Alabama captured yet another National Championship.
The victory was an Alabama triumph as much as it was a Georgia collapse.
Let’s take a stroll down that 40 year memory lane: Star Wars V; The Empire Strikes Back was the box office smash, Dallas and “who shot JR” was TV’s most popular program, Kenny Rogers “Lady” and Blondie “Call Me” were chart toppers, Jimmy Carter was President and the chants of USA, USA and “do you believe in miracles” rang through home in America as the USA Olympic Hockey team won the gold medal.
Kirby Smart has raised the bar for Georgia and it doesn’t surprise me that Georgia should push for the playoffs every season.
Vince Dooley, Herschel Walker, Buck Belue and company, let’s get together and Celebrate Your 40th Anniversary!
The New Recruits
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2020 early signing period started this week with most of the nation’s top prospects signing their letters of intent for the school of their choosing. Let’s take a look at early grades for teams in our geographical region.
Clemson: A+. The Tigers on paper have the best signing class in the country. Dabo dipped into the state of Georgia and signed 6 players.
Clemson restocked along the offensive and defensive lines with 10 of their 23 signees coming into those position groups.
Headliner: Bryan Bresee: The DT from Maryland is the top-rated player in the country and comes into a position group at Clemson that has become an NFL pipeline.
Sleeper: Sergio Allen LB Fort Valley, GA: Allen is a baller and will be an All ACC player at Clemson. Great pickup by the Tigers.
Alabama: A. Another top 3 class by Nick Saban. Alabama just continues to reload year after year. Alabama restocked at defensive line by signing 6 players.
Headliner: Bryce Young: Young is the number one rated dual threat QB in the country and looks to be in line to replace Tua at QB.
Sleeper: Brian Branch S from Sandy Creek, GA looks to be another in the long line of great Alabama players at the safety position.
Auburn: A-. Gus recruited like a rock star during this cycle building off the momentum of the huge Iron Bowl victory.
Headliner: Tank Bigsby RB. Tank was the best running back in the state of Georgia this past season and when AU can run the football, championships follow close behind.
Sleeper: Marco Domio CB: AU needed help at corner and dipped into the JUCO ranks and found their man.
Georgia: B+. Kirby restocked the receiver room at UGA with some much-needed playmakers at the position by signing four, including flipping Jermaine Burton from LSU on signing day and dipped into Lakeland, Florida for burner Arian Smith.
If Kelee Ringo and Darnell Washington end up at UGA then this class becomes an A+.
Headliner: Kendall Milton the big RB from California is expected to come in and be the man if Swift goes pro.
Sleeper: Marcus Rosemy WR: This kid can take over games and just makes plays. That was something UGA was missing during key times in 2019.
Florida: C. The Gators should be a top 5 class every season due to being the flagship school in talent rich Florida.
Lakeland used to be a Florida stronghold but Clemson pulled 5-star RB Demarkus Bowman and UGA pulled 4-star burner Arian Smith right out of Florida’s backyard. The Gators did not address the RB position, which was much needed.
Headliner: Gervon Dexter DT: The Gators lost two key contributors on the DL and Dexter was a huge get for UF.
Sleeper: Joshua Braun OT: Huge pickup for UF flipping Braun from UGA after Sam Pittman took the Arkansas job. Braun will be a 3-4 year starter for Florida.
FSU: I for Incomplete. The Seminoles got a late jump into the pond after hiring Mike Norvell from Memphis to continue to fix the mess Jimbo left that gets blamed on Willie Taggart.
Norvell will get it done in Tallahassee but needs a couple of cycles to get FSU back on track.
Headliner: Demorie Tate CB: Tate is a cover corner at the place that produced Primetime and T-Buck. Tate will be a solid CB for FSU.
Sleeper: Lawrance Toafili RB: The Largo product will be a solid RB for FSU in the next three years. FSU has to get back to being more physical on offense.
Georgia Tech: B: The Jackets continue the process of rebuilding the roster away from the Paul Johnson dinosaur offense. It is still going to take time, but give Geoff Collins credit for pulling in a top 25 class.
Headliner: Jeff Simms QB. Simms is a dual threat QB from Sandalwood in Jacksonville and is just what the doctor ordered for GT. You can’t win without a good QB and GT found their man.
Sleeper: Bryce Gowdy WR. The Jackets signed 5 WR’s and Gowdy looks to be the leader of the position group that needs to transition the most while GT completes the roster overhaul.
Gateway Open
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Over the last year, ardent followers of college football were introduced to the transfer portal.
The creative name served to describe a new and more liberal process in which the NCAA facilitated student-athletes wishing to leave a school in which they are currently enrolled in hopes of landing at another school and playing the same sport.
Transfers are nothing new. While especially prominent in football and basketball, it’s never been world-shattering news for a player to begin his or her collegiate playing career at one school, only to move on to another. But the emergence of the transfer portal seems to have kicked the process into overdrive.
Whereas the process of transferring was previously a secretive method that involved third and fourth-party conversations that were rarely known by the public, the portal ostensibly makes the process of moving from one high-profile program to another akin to the offseason free agent frenzy of professional sports.
Initial reaction to the portal was pretty predictable. The multi-billion-dollar college sports industry is propped up by universities, boosters and media corporations that all have huge investments and stand to make even bigger profits off the success of 18-22 year old kids, who never see a cent of the money.
So, of course, those controlling entities have thrown plenty of negative opinions at a process that throws their assumed profits into flux.
All around the country, there have been cries of how there is no loyalty to schools on the part of athletes despite them accepting full scholarships.
There is also the widespread opinion that athletes aren’t showing any toughness or accountability, quickly leaving for another school if they don’t get their playing time right away.
Those complaints won’t stop anytime soon, but they are also the talking points of a side that is going to lose this battle.
Legislation has already passed paving the way for future collegiate athletes to financially benefit off of the use of their likeness, when their schools do the same.
The creation of the transfer portal is likely to be a similarly huge step forward for athletes, as it creates a sort of free agency for them despite several courts squashing attempts of college athletes to form any sort of alliance that could act in the same manner as players’ unions in professional leagues.
The transfer portal isn’t going to cool down anytime soon and for good reason.
Long gone are the days where someone has to be well into their professional career before society thinks he or she should be able to control the terms of their employment.
It’s plainly evident that millions of dollars of sales, marketing and promotion are firmly anchored to, and dependent upon, college kids.
And due to current regulations, those college kids are still smuggling extra food out of the campus cafeteria and depending on mom and dad for gas money to get home for the holidays, even if their face is flashing across your television screen on a College Football Playoff promo a dozen times each night.
The transfer portal isn’t an out for college athletes. It’s a long-overdue taste of just a little bit of sovereignty in a system that has never allowed it before.
The New Chief
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida State University finally got their man.
After striking out on no less than six other candidates, Mike Norvell was hired as the 11th full time head football coach at FSU.
Mike Norvell has spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Memphis, leading the Tigers to a record of 38-15. His .717 winning percentage is the highest in Memphis history.
Memphis is the 2019 American Athletic Conference champion. Norvell has guided Memphis to three straight conference championship games.
Norvell’s first move as head coach was to retain Odell Haggins as a key member of the football program. Haggins served as the interim coach after the firing of Willie Taggart.
Norvell is known as an offensive guru. Since 2016, Memphis has averaged 38 points per game and has ranked in the top third in the county every season offensive SP+ (SP+ is measured by equivalent points per play).
Just like the past two Seminoles coaches Jimbo Fisher and Willie Taggart, Mike Norvell calls the plays instead of his offensive coordinator. Norvell runs a spread offense, but he has shown the ability to adapt his offense to the team’s strengths.
Memphis is one of three FBS teams that have ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring offense each of the last four years, along with Ohio State and Oklahoma.
Mike Norvell is walking into a Florida State program that has hit rock bottom. Florida State fans, boosters, and administrators have to give Norvell time to rebuild this proud program that Bobby Bowden built.
I understand that the Florida State Logo recruits on its own, but to become a program that competes for conference championships, you have to recruit on an elite level. The Seminoles are currently ranked 26th nationally and 5th in the ACC.
After the hire announcement, the Seminoles had five players decommit including four-star quarterback Jeff Sims. Norvell will need to address the offensive and defensive lines with JUCO or portal transfers.
The key to the Seminoles success in recruiting in the future is Norvell’s coordinator and position coach hires. He must hire coaches who have recruiting ties to Florida and Georgia.
Mike Norvell is an offensive minded coach, so who he hires on the defensive side of the ball will be critical to the program. Norvell hired Adam Fuller the former defensive coordinator at Memphis as the new defensive coordinator at FSU.
Florida State allowed 28.5 points per game this season and gave up 436 yards per game. The Seminoles allowed 42 points to Clemson, en route to a 45-14 blowout loss and in state rival Florida scored 30 points in the first half before thrashing the Seminoles 40-17.
Mike Norvell certainly wasn’t FSU’s top target, but he checks a lot of boxes when it comes to young head coach potential. Can he get it done at FSU?
We’ll see how Norvell does, but I hope he does well. College football is simply better when Florida State University is better.
Coaching Carousel
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When I realized earlier this year the SEC had no turnover within their head coaching ranks after last season, I reacted like you do when you get a perfect pump at the gas stations- I was caught by surprise, immediately told anyone around me what had transpired, and knew that it would be a while before it happened again.
So, while it was a nice story that no head coach lost their job, you knew a few wouldn’t be so lucky this time around.
Of the three coaching changes that have taken place, one you could see coming before the season even started (Arkansas), one made sense even though it wasn’t a foregone conclusion (Missouri), and the other seemed to take place in part due to a poorly timed, even though well executed, end zone celebration (Ole Miss).
Regardless of why any of the changes were made, the only thing that matters is “will their respective replacements be an upgrade?” That’s where things get a little more interesting.
If the adage about not hiring the same type of coach you just fired was ever engraved on a plaque, I imagine you’d see it placed sporadically throughout the hallways of the Ole Miss athletic facility.
In the span of three years the Rebels football team will have been coached by Hugh Freeze, Matt Luke, and now Lane Kiffin, who is basically Hugh Freeze on a steady diet of Red Bull, Jägermeister, and Birthday Cake Oreos.
As far as what Ole Miss can expect to see on the field, it’s a good hire. I think Kiffin is an above average coach, who will recruit well for the program.
The problem is you have no idea what’s going to happen off the field. It’s like driving 120 in a 35mph zone- it’s a great thrill ride, if you make it to the end, but more than likely you’re going to run off the road, drive head first into a tree, and die in a spectacular explosion. Welcome to the Lane Kiffin era, Oxford, I hope you have good airbags.
I can’t blame Eliah Drinkwitz for leaving App. State to go to Missouri- you can’t pass up a 400% raise in salary- but I do question why the Tigers are paying him that much ($4 million) to come to Columbia.
Drinkwitz was in the precarious situation in Boone where he inherited a very talented team and was able to lead them to a very successful season.
Was he the reason for the success, or just in the right place at the right time? Like most things, the answer is a mixture of the two, but that’s still an awful lot of money to pay a coach with one year of head coaching experience, especially when it didn’t seem like there was much competition for his services, outside of Missouri.
As for Arkansas, I don’t know much about Sam Pittman, except he seems to be popular among his peers and was an impactful recruiter at Georgia.
Pittman was the backup plan to the backup plan on the Razorbacks list of coaches, but it doesn’t matter how or why he got the job, only what he does with it now that he has it.
There may still be another coaching casualty after the bowl games, but for right now this is the new crop of SEC head coaches.
It may be a while before the conference goes a year without having any turnover; my bet is at least two of these coaches will be contributors as to why.
