Hot Seat

Well it's another day college football fans. Not too much to talk about, off-season and all that, but I decided I would analyze an article about coaches on the hot seat this season that I read about this morning on CBS. You can read the whole thing here.

There are five coaches that this article lists and for the most part I completely agree with the people he listed. I think there are others, but let's discuss this first.

5. Kevin Sumlin/ Texas A&M

Oh yes. I mean let's be real here Kevin Sumlin has been on the hot seat for a while and that seat is only getting hotter with the passing seasons. He was hired prior to the 2012 season with Kliff Kingsbury as his offensive coordinator. The Aggies were 11-2 that year and it was probably the most excited that A&M fans have been in a while. It was the introduction of Johnny Manziel at quarterback, a Heisman trophy, a win over Alabama, and in the Cotton Bowl. It was a promising year. 2013 was 9-4, not as good, but still not shabby plus they won over Duke in the Chick-Fil-A bowl so people were still looking up. 2014, 2015, and 2016 have been 8-5 seasons. Conference play has been 3-5, 4-4, and 4-4. It's not getting any better for the Aggies, it's staying the same. They had quarterback trouble after Manziel got gone, and it just seems like Sumlin's time is running up. I imagine that A&M fans are tired of the same record year after year, I can think of another SEC team where that is also ringing true not to mention any names outright (Auburn), and they want something to change. Their schedule isn't exactly the most favorable. Four away games at Florida, at Ole Miss, and at LSU and UCLA plus a neutral site game against Arkansas. It is not going to be easy to turn it around unless they have some miraculous season. If I were Sumlin I would be keeping packed bags in the closet just in case.

4. Rich Rodriguez/ Arizona

Oh Rich Rod. Poor guy. All he wanted was a chance to coach Michigan. And that did not work at all. AT ALL. So he went to Arizona instead. Expectations aren't as high. 8-5, 8-5 and then his third season. Oh yes that third season. 10-4, winner of the Pac-12 South for the first time in school history, second 10-win season ever.They did lose both their bowl and the conference game against Oregon, but it's still an accomplishment. But 2015 was a disappointment at 7-6 overall and 3-6 in conference play. Not the follow-up season that Wildcat fans hoped for. Then it fell completely flat in 2016 with a 3-9 season and only one win in conference play against rival Arizona State. Rich Rod needs to get it together this year. Although the Pac-12 is doing much better overall than in previous years. Washington made it to the College Football Playoff, although they lost to Alabama 24-7, and they along with Stanford, Colorado, USC, and Utah were all ranked in the final Top 25 as opposed to only having three ranked the previous year. Arizona needs a decent turnaround, at least eight games, for Rich Rod to keep his job. I think they'd give him one more if he could pull an eight-win season.

3. Kliff Kingsbury/ Texas Tech

I honestly have no idea how Kliff Kingsbury has a job still, to be honest. He's 24-26 at Texas Tech and his best year was his first in 2013 with an 8-5 record a win in the Holiday Bowl against Arizona State. He garnered attention because he was the offensive coordinator at A&M when Sumlin's Aggies went 11-2 and the quarterback that Kingsbury coached, one Johnny Manziel, became the first freshman to win the Heisman. Plus he had played QB at Texas Tech back in the day. And he was going to be one of the youngest head coaches ever, he's only 37 now. But 4-8, 7-6, and 5-7 are not good follow-ups. It's like he keeps getting worse at doing what he's doing. He'll be lucky to keep his job another year, although in all honesty I don't know who they'll pick up if they don't want to keep Kingsbury. But hey, if he does lose his job he can always get a job as a model. I mean look at this guy:

This is a fan photo. Not like a headshot or anything. "Oh yes I just woke up with hair this perfect and smoldering eyes in black and white." Football coach, sure.

2. Brian Kelly/ Notre Dame

Ugh. Notre Dame. I really don't like Notre Dame. I think the only people that do are Notre Dame fans and Lou Holtz. That's really it. Every single year people are like yeah this is Notre Dame's year, they're gonna pull a Rudy and be miraculous and show everyone that they are it. They are THE team in college football. And then every year it's a lot of the same thing. Nothing. Plus Notre Dame is one of four teams that is Independent, which means they have no conference affiliation. They play teams from the ACC every year but otherwise no conference. Honestly Brian Kelly hasn't done all that bad as a coach. I mean it hasn't been the glorious recognition that Notre Dame fans would want, and there was that whole 12-0 regular season and BCS National Championship game that they proceeded to lose with a 42-14 stomping by Alabama. But Kelly really hasn't been awful until this past season. He's managed at least eight wins in each of the last seasons he's been part of. But 2016 was not good for the Irish. They were ranked in the first three weeks, but after two losses to both Texas and Michigan State they fell out of that around week four. They were 4-8 and to be fair they did beat both Miami who was 9-4 last year, shockingly, and Army who was 8-5. But the rest were losses that were just not good. I'm not sure I entirely agree that Kelly is on the hot seat. I mean yeah he hasn't had great years but they haven't been bad. He needs to turn it around next year. I mean like more than eight wins which I don't see happening. If that doesn't happen he probably won't be around for a ninth season.

1. Butch Jones/ Tennessee

Oh yes Butch. This one I completely agree with. Tennessee is expectation after expectation but nothing to show for it. People want Tennessee to do so well, and I really feel a little bad for them because they were trying so hard last year, but it just didn't happen. And for Butch Jones that has to be frustrating year after year having people be so hyped and so ready, and let's give credit to Tennessee fans they believe in Rocky Top, and then him not be able to do anything. They've had some bad luck with coaches since getting rid of Philip Fulmer, who I don't think should have ever been fired, what with Lane Kiffin running out on them and Derek Dooley just not panning out, I just don't think Butch Jones is the answer. He's been there since 2013 and is 30-21 overall and 14-18 in conference play. That's not good. They were 5-7 the first year and then 7-6 the next. There was a bowl win and Tennessee fans started to hope that maybe... just maybe. 2015 was 9-4. They were ranked in the final AP poll and second in the SEC East. They one the Outback Bowl against Northwestern. It was looking up. 2016 was the year. It was going to be the year. But it ended much the same. Second in the East with a 4-4 conference record, a win in the Music City Bowl against Nebraska, and a 9-4 record. Tennessee fans are holding onto hope that 2017 will be the year that they win the East and make a run for a championship. And maybe they will. But if Butch Jones can't pull the season together it will probably be his last.

Now let's talk my hot seat. Who do I think is the number one coach on the hot seat?

Rebekah's Hot Seat Pick: 
Gus Malzahn/ Auburn

I mean is this really a shock? I'm so tired of 8-5 seasons. So, so tired of them. I mean let's be real. Gus' first season after a 3-9 horrible, miserable season that I never want to relive, was a beaut. It was 12-2, we beat Alabama, we beat Georgia, oh the joy of beating our rivals. I miss that so much. We went to the National Championship game and couldn't quite hold off Jameis Winston, but I mean it was still something. We were riding high. And then 2014 happened. 8-5, 4-4 in the conference. Lost to Georgia, lost to Alabama. We stomped on LSU, so that was something but it didn't matter to me because we didn't win the ones that mattered. Plus we lost our bowl in OT to Wisconsin. Ugh. Better luck next year right? Nope. 2015. 7-6, bottom of the West 2-6 in conference play. Almost became another Ole Miss and let FCS Jacksonville State beat us the second game of the season! Quarterback trouble, messy playing, Only conference wins were Kentucky and Texas A&M. Sad losses to Georgia and Alabama because we can't do anything except kick field goals. So I looked to the 2016 season with high hopes. We had to be turning a corner sometime. Please, football gods let us turn a corner. 2016. 8-5. 5-3 in conference play. I mean to be fair we were second in the West behind 14-1 Alabama, who we lost to AGAIN, but it was only because the West was struggling last season. I was confident. I was. We lost two of our first three then won 6 in a row. Wow. What happened. Defense, decent playing. I was shocked. Then we lost to Georgia, Alabama, and Oklahoma in a Sugar Bowl we didn't deserve to go to. Our rival games, nothing. Our bowl game, nothing. I'm disappointed. I don't have much hope for Gus and I don't think that fans do either. We want him to do well, but it's not happening. One more 8-5 season and that will be it for Gus.

Well so that's my analysis of the CBS article, plus my own personal critique. I'm looking forward to next season, mostly so I'll have things to write about. Until next time college football fans, and dad!

Long Week, Short Post

Good Tuesday college football fans. In light of the fact that it is a busy, busy week for me and I really need to squeeze a blog post in here somewhere, I have decided to use this blog day to put up the football schedules for the SEC. I know you can get this information anywhere else, literally anywhere else on the internet, but why do that when you can come here to my little ol' blog and get it here. Besides if you go anywhere else you'll miss out on my colorful and sometimes obnoxious commentary that you can't get at those other places. I know it's such a treat. So anyway let's get started shall we. We'll begin in the East. Here we go!

SEC EAST SCHEDULES

FLORIDA GATORS

Michigan Wolverines: 9/2/17 @ AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX

Northern Colorado Bears: 9/9/17

Tennessee Volunteers: 9/16/17

@ Kentucky Wildcats: 9/23/17

Vanderbilt Commodores: 9/30/17

LSU Tigers: 10/7/17

Texas A&M Aggies: 10/14/17

OFF: 10/21/17

Georgia Bulldogs: 10/28/17 @ Everbank Field in Jacksonville, FL

@ Missouri Tigers: 11/4/17

@ South Carolina Gamecocks: 11/11/17

UAB Blazers: 11/18/17

Florida State Seminoles: 11/25/17

Wow. Florida has three away games. Three. Incidentally at least two of them will probably be their weakest games of the season. Kentucky may surprise everyone, but I wouldn't look for it. Florida plays two tough West opponents in LSU and A&M provided that they can both get their acts together. Florida has a pretty simple schedule, Northern Colorado and UAB please, and can probably run the tables in the East again if Georgia or Tennessee don't miraculously have their "year".

GEORGIA BULLDOGS

Appalachian State Mountaineers: 9/2/17

@ Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 9/9/17

Samford Bulldogs: 9/16/17

Mississippi State Bulldogs: 9/23/17

@ Tennessee Volunteers: 9/30/17

@ Vanderbilt Commodores: 10/7/17

Missouri Tigers: 10/14/17

OFF: 10/21/17

Florida Gators: 10/28/17 @ EverBank Field in Jacksonville, FL

South Carolina Gamecocks: 11/4/17

@ Auburn Tigers: 11/11/17

Kentucky Wildcats: 11/18/17

@ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia has five away games this season, and they might have reason to be concerned about all but one of them. If you think I'm talking about Vandy think again. I'm talking about Notre Dame. The Irish went 4-8 last season, to be fair a lot of those were close losses, but I'm not looking for them to bounce back this season. Georgia is off the week before the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party and I expect that to be a deciding moment in the East Championship decision this season. 

KENTUCKY WILDCATS

@ Southern Miss Golden Eagles: 9/2/17

Eastern Kentucky Colonels: 9/9/17

@ South Carolina Gamecocks: 9/16/17

Florida Gators: 9/23/17

Eastern Michigan Eagles: 9/30/17

Missouri Tigers: 10/7/17

OFF: 10/14/17

@ Mississippi State Bulldogs: 10/21/17

Tennessee Volunteers: 10/28/17

Ole Miss Rebels: 11/4/17

@ Vanderbilt Commodores: 11/11/17

@ Georgia Bulldogs: 11/18/17

Louisville Cardinals: 11/25/17

Kentucky I often feel badly for. I mean sure they have a few pansy match-ups but look at that second half of the season schedule. I'd take that off week too. Six difficult match-ups including both of the Mississippi teams in the West. Kentucky could surprise us all and make a run for it, after all they were in talk for the East last season and they also upset No. 11 Louisville at their home stadium and shocked everyone. Kentucky's time is coming.

MISSOURI TIGERS

Missouri State Bears: 9/2/17

South Carolina Gamecocks: 9/9/17

Purdue Boilermakers: 9/16/17

Auburn Tigers: 9/23/17

OFF: 9/30/17

@ Kentucky Wildcats: 10/7/17

@ Georgia Bulldogs: 10/14/17

Idaho Vandals: 10/21/17

@ UConn Huskies: 10/28/17

Florida Gators: 11/4/17

Tennessee Volunteers: 11/11/17

@ Vanderbilt Commodores: 11/18/17

@ Arkansas Razorbacks: 11/25/17

Mizzou has pretty much made a name for themselves at the bottom of the East. I mean since their pretty good first few years and even an East Championship game, they haven't really done much else. They went 4-8 last season and 2-6 in conference play beating only Vandy and Arkansas from the West. Their schedule is much the same and with five away games and tough home games, I see Mizzou at the bottom again.

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS

NC State Wolfpack: 9/2/17

@ Missouri Tigers: 9/9/17

Kentucky Wildcats: 9/16/17

LA Tech Bulldogs: 9/23/17

@ Texas A&M Aggies: 9/30/17

Arkansas Razorbacks: 10/7/17

@ Tennessee Volunteers: 10/14/17

OFF: 10/21/17

Vanderbilt Commodores: 10/28/17

@ Georgia Bulldogs: 11/4/17

Florida Gators: 11/11/17

Wofford Terriers: 11/18/17

Clemson Tigers: 11/25/17

Oof. South Carolina. Their schedule is definitely doable if they can turn things around. A&M and Arkansas are up in the air every year whether or not they're going to be good or not, so the Gamecocks could very well beat both of them. Of course they, as well as Auburn, must contend with the reigning National Champs Clemson. I forsee Clemson beating them both, but we'll see.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: 9/4/17
Indiana State Sycamores: 9/9/17
@ Florida Gators: 9/16/17
UMass Minutemen: 9/23/17
Georgia Bulldogs: 9/30/17
OFF: 10/7/17
South Carolina Gamecocks: 10/14/17
@ Alabama Crimson Tide: 10/21/17
@ Kentucky Wildcats: 10/18/17
Southern Miss Golden Eagles: 11/4/17
@ Missouri Tigers: 11/11/17
LSU Tigers: 11/18/17
Vanderbilt Commodores: 11/25/17

Tennessee really has a pretty favorable schedule if you don't include Alabama and LSU. Most of their tough East match-ups are at home, the only exception is Florida, so realistically they could make a run for it. And when I say run for it, I mean run for the East. That's all. Kentucky did give them a hard time last year and Vandy beat them, Tennessee does have a tendency to fall apart when the chips are down. So we'll see what happens.

VANDERBILT COMMODORES

@ Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders: 9/2/17
Alabama A&M Bulldogs: 9/9/17
Kansas State Wildcats: 9/16/17
Alabama Crimson Tide: 9/23/17
@ Florida Gators: 9/30/17
Georgia Bulldogs: 10/7/17
@ Ole Miss Rebels: 10/14/17
OFF: 10/21/17
@ South Carolina Gamecocks: 10/28/17
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: 11/4/17
Kentucky Wildcats: 11/11/17
Missouri Tigers: 11/18/17
@ Tennessee Volunteers: 11/25/17

Vandy used to be perpetually at the bottom of the SEC East before Missouri came along. Now Vandy sometimes looks like they might be on their way to a good season. They have it rough with Alabama and Kansas State coming to town, although it's good that they're getting both of those at home. I'm sure Vandy would much rather play them home than at Bryant-Denny or Snyder Family Stadium. They upset Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee last season all of which they play again this season. We'll see what Vandy can do.

Alright! Let's go West young man!

SEC WEST SCHEDULES

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

Florida State Seminoles: 9/2/17 @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA
Fresno State Bulldogs: 9/9/17
Colorado State Rams: 9/16/17
@ Vanderbilt Commodores: 9/23/17
Ole Miss Rebels: 9/30/17
@ Texas A&M Aggies: 10/7/17
Arkansas Razorbacks: 10/14/17
Tennessee Volunteers: 10/21/17
OFF: 10/28/17
LSU Tigers: 11/4/17
@ Mississippi State Bulldogs: 11/11/17
Mercer Bears: 11/18/17
@ Auburn Tigers: 11/25/17

Ah Alabama. For the more than likely most powerful team in the country starting out, they sure do have a favorable schedule. Now with all of these things it's important to note that we'll have to see how all the teams do before we make judgments, but based on this they're pressed to go to the playoff again. Three easy home games against pansies, Away games are also pretty easy, except the Iron Bowl you just never know with that one, but for the most part Alabama has it made. The only place that might give them trouble is the little stretch with Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Tennessee back to back. I don't see it being an issue, but again we'll just have to see.

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

Florida A&M Rattlers: 8/31/17
TCU Horned Frogs: 9/9/17
OFF: 9/16/17
Texas A&M Aggies: 9/23/17
New Mexico State Aggies: 9/30/17
@ South Carolina Gamecocks
@ Alabama Crimson Tide
Auburn Tigers: 10/21/17
@ Ole Miss Rebels: 10/28/17
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: 11/4/17
@ LSU Tigers: 11/11/17
Mississippi State Bulldogs: 11/18/17
Missouri Tigers: 11/25/17

I'm going to be honest Arkansas has a tough schedule. And if they don't do any better than they did last year they're going to have a big problem. Look at it. Really. TCU before an off date, okay. Good. Then they have a brutal SEC schedule, one right after another. Away games at Bryant-Denny, Tiger Stadium, and Vaught-Hemingway? That's awful. Lucky for them they get Auburn, A&M, and TCU at home. The others they can probably win. If they're good this year.

AUBURN TIGERS

Georgia Southern Eagles: 9/2/17
@ Clemson Tigers: 9/9/17
Mercer Bears: 9/16/17
@ Missouri Tigers: 9/23/17
Mississippi State Bulldogs: 9/30/17
Ole Miss Rebels: 10/7/17
@ LSU Tigers: 10/14/17
@ Arkansas Razorbacks: 10/21/17
OFF: 10/28/17
@ Texas A&M Aggies: 11/4/17
Georgia Bulldogs: 11/11/17
ULM Warhawks:11/18/17
Alabama Crimson Tide: 11/25/17

Ah yes. Here we are. The team that I love. Honestly the first half of the season is pretty doable, except for that away game against Clemson whose idea was that?? Mercer sure has it rough having to play both Alabama and Auburn in the same season, but whatever. Then we hit that LSU game in Tiger Stadium... then at Arkansas, then at Texas A&M. The only thing that makes this okay is that we get both Georgia and Alabama at home. That might make the bleeding go down a little.

LSU TIGERS

BYU Cougars: 9/2/17 @ NRG Stadium in Houston, TX
Chattanooga Mocs: 9/9/17
@ Mississippi State Bulldogs: 9/16/17
Syracuse Orange: 9/23/17
Troy Trojans: 9/30/17
@ Florida Gators: 10/7/17
Auburn Tigers: 10/14/17
@ Ole Miss Rebels: 10/21/17
OFF: 10/28/17
@ Alabama Crimson Tide: 11/4/17
Arkansas Razorbacks: 11/11/17
@ Tennessee Volunteers: 11/18/17
Texas A&M Aggies: 11/25/17

Well LSU scheduled all their pansies at the start of the season to give them a headstart going into the second half of which they probably won't come out alive. They legitimately scheduled all of their SEC opponents in the second half all at the same time. Why LSU? I mean there's no way they're losing to BYU or Chattanooga or Syracuse or Troy and probably not Florida, so they'll be walking tall going into that game against Auburn. It's gonna be rough for LSU. I mean they get Auburn, Bama, Ole Miss, and Tennessee at home so maybe that's good. But the rest, I dunno we'll see.

MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS

Charleston Southern Buccaneers: 9/2/17
@ LA Tech Bulldogs: 9/9/17
LSU Tigers: 9/16/17
@ Georgia Bulldogs: 9/23/17
@ Auburn Tigers: 9/30/17
OFF: 10/7/17
BYU Cougars: 10/14/17
Kentucky Wildcats: 10/21/17
@ Texas A&M Aggies: 10/28/17
UMass Minutemen: 11/4/17
Alabama Crimson Tide: 11/11/17
@ Arkansas Razorbacks: 11/18/17
Ole Miss Rebels: 11/23/17

Mississippi State is probably going to be just good enough to get into a bowl again this year, and a win against Ole Miss will keep Dan Mullen around another year. They love him there. They play away at Georgia and Auburn which is hard, but they get Ole Miss, Alabama, and LSU at home. The rest of their schedule is actually pretty favorable so we'll see what they do.

OLE MISS REBELS

South Alabama Jaguars: 9/2/17
UT Martin Skyhawks: 9/9/17
@ Cal Golden Bears: 9/16/17
OFF: 9/23/17
@ Alabama Crimson Tide: 9/30/17
@ Auburn Tigers: 10/7/17
Vanderbilt Commodores: 10/14/17
LSU Tigers: 10/21/17
Arkansas Razorbacks: 10/28/17
@ Kentucky Wildcats: 11/4/17
UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns: 11/11/17
Texas A&M Aggies: 11/18/17
@ Mississippi State Bulldogs: 11/23/17

Hahahahahaha. Ole Miss is gonna have a rough year. At Alabama and Auburn in back-to-back weeks?? Poor Ole Miss. They get LSU, Arkansas, and A&M at home but my confidence in Ole Miss' football program is pretty much shot. It's not like if they win it'll matter. I've said it before and I'll say it again: don't pay your players kids.

TEXAS A&M AGGIES

@ UCLA Bruins: 9/2/17 @ Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA
Nicholls State Colonels: 9/9/17
UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns: 9/16/17
@ Arkansas Razorbacks: 9/23/17
South Carolina Gamecocks: 9/30/17
Alabama Crimson Tide: 10/7/17
@ Florida Gators: 10/14/17
OFF: 10/21/17
Mississippi State Bulldogs: 10/28/17
Auburn Tigers: 11/4/17
New Mexico Lobos: 11/11/17
@ Ole Miss Rebels: 11/18/17
@ LSU Tigers: 11/25/17

A&M has a favorable enough schedule. They could lose to UCLA especially at basically a home game for them, but then again A&M might pull it out. Their home schedule is smooth sailing. All of their hard games except maybe LSU are at home. Alabama and Auburn, and South Carolina. Now Florida will hurt, Ole Miss won't, LSU probably will. If A&M doesn't improve this will be Kevin Sumlin's final year.

So there you have it, my take on all 14 SEC schedules for next season. Turned out to be way longer than I had hoped for, but whatever.

Until next time college football fans, and dad, see you!

The Patron Saint of Tuscaloosa

It's always hard to find interesting things to write about during the off-season. I think we all know that. But I took a turn for the dark the last time I wrote when I talked about Baylor and all their issues. It made me sad. So I've decided that I'm not going to elaborate on Baylor anymore for this week's post, and I'm not going to talk about Ole Miss and all their issues, even though I probably should, instead I'm going to talk about things that make me happy. Well at the very least make my Alabama fan readers happy. Yes. That's right. We're going to talk about Nick Saban.

Everyone knows Nick. Good ol' Nick, Nicky Satan, and all those other nicknames that people give him. He's easily one of the most interesting men in college football at the moment and possibly for the last five or so years. He's this small, fiery man who dislikes stupid questions and doesn't seem to know that winning is a time to compliment your team instead of dissecting what they did wrong. He didn't do so well in the NFL and took the Alabama job only after insisting that he wouldn't take it. And oh yeah did I mention he's won 5 National Championships, four at Alabama and one at LSU which makes him only the second head coach to ever win a SEC Championship at more than one SEC school. Want to know who the other one was? Paul "Bear" Bryant. He's also one of only two FBS head coaches who have won National Championships at two different schools, the other is Urban Meyer. Yep. Nick Saban is that guy.

To be fair Alabama really needed someone to make them feel good about themselves. It had been a while for them. They had struggled in the years before with all the stuff that happened after the Mike Dubose era. In case you're wondering what happened I'll sum it up for you: paying players is bad kids. Don't do it if you coach football. Even though Dubose claimed he didn't know, that really didn't matter to the NCAA. They gave them harsh penalties including a two-year bowl ban, a loss of 21 scholarships over 3 years, and five years of probation, that was the closest that the NCAA came to handing down the death penalty in the years since SMU (this was before USC and Penn State). That's a lot of years and a lot of issues. So anyway then there was Dennis Franchione, who let's face it was never going to stick around for long, Mike Price who lasted for as long as the drinks and hotel visits that got him into trouble, and poor Mike Shula. He really did try. Honestly. But it wasn't quite enough for Alabama. They were on a losing streak to Auburn and it was hurting. It was then that Nick Saban was mentioned. At the time he was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and not doing as well as one would expect. And Alabama came calling, and Nick Saban answered. Really what happened next was nothing short of a miracle. Seriously this whole thing has it's own Wikipedia page. I'm not kidding it's here. What happened to Alabama after Nick Saban took over is so important that it has a page of it's own.

And honestly I think we can all agree that it has been pretty much amazing. I mean look at all he's accomplished. Alabama is a perennial powerhouse every single year. I mean sure, there are years where they don't look like they're going to do as well, and they may even lose a game, but yet they always end up in the talk for the Championship and sometimes even end up in and win. Alabama is such a good team that even when they're not playing up to expectations they're still better than the teams that are at the top of their game. Of course sometimes they lose: See Ohio State and Clemson. But even then they're still Alabama. I think that Nick Saban is the main cause of all the great things that Alabama has done. If it weren't for him they'd still be stuck in this endless cycle of cheating coach, Texas A&M traitor coach, gross coach, and well he tried coach. On and on and on again.

I guess the main thing I want to talk about with Nick Saban is his future. As of this off-season he has been approached by six, yes six, NFL teams with coaching vacancies. According to AL.com, "The San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills all had NFL head coaching openings this offseason. And every single one of them reached out to Alabama coach Nick Saban to gauge his interest."

Then according to the report they published from Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman, "A league source told me that every NFL team with a coaching opening contacted Alabama's Nick Saban. All were emphatically told 'no thanks.' I'm not certain whether Saban told them directly. It could have been Saban's agent or some intermediary."

So basically the NFL is begging Nick Saban to return. But let's be real here. Why in the world would he leave Alabama? Let's look at the facts. He's 65 years old, in the last years of his coaching career more than likely. He makes over 6 almost 7 million dollars a year coaching at Alabama, he lives well, seems to really like Tuscaloosa (they certainly love him there). Why would he forfeit all that to start from the ground up at an NFL team that he may or may not succeed at? I mean it would be sort of like Brett Favre coming back for another year as some random team's quarterback and saying, "I really think I can make this work for me now." It just doesn't make sense to do so, in either of those situations.

No, Nick Saban has stated before that he's happy where he is. In an interview with CBS Sports he said, "It's certainly flattering that somebody would have interest, but at this station in life, from a family standpoint, from a personal standpoint, we're excited about the challenges we have in trying to continue to have a successful program at Alabama, and we haven't entertained any other opportunities outside the opportunities we have at Alabama."

That was recently. Like December 2016 recently. Even though Saban has certainly fudged the truth about leaving before, "I guess I have to say it, I'm not going to be the Alabama head coach", but at this point I don't think he's fudging the truth. At his age, and with the success he has and continues to have year after year why should he even think about leaving?

People keep calling Alabama under Nick Saban a dynasty because they win all the time and are seemingly unbeatable most years. But what makes Alabama a dynasty isn't that they win all the time, it's the fact that they are contenders every single year. Even teams at their best can't do from year to year what Alabama consistently does. It's been incredible to watch, and I look forward to seeing what happens with Nick Saban in the future.

Until next time college football fans, and dad.

Baylor...

You know I was sad that I missed a whole year of writing because I missed being able to share my opinion on this whole Baylor covering up rape and sexual misconduct and a plethora of other things in order to protect their precious football program, and lo and behold, the football gods have seen fit to give me an opportunity to talk about it anyway. Well call it football gods or karma or whatever you want, but here we are again with Baylor. 

Now you might remember Baylor. The football team in the Big-12 who somehow managed to work their way to being close to attending a National Championship a few times but never actually made it because the Big-12 doesn't have a Championship game and only conference champions get into the Playoff... wait that's not right? Oh yeah Penn State. Never mind. So in the time before a certain coach named Art Briles got to Baylor there was no hope for football in Waco, Texas. Before him the best record the Bears had ever managed to have was 10-2 during the 1980 season under Grant Teaff. At this point in football history the Southwest Conference was still in tact and this was before the whole SMU thing, the first death penalty which is important later on in this conversation so keep that in mind. Football in Texas was a huge deal and the Southeastern Conference hadn't quite yet gotten hold of the "dominance" that they enjoy. And Teaff enjoyed moderate success at Baylor, two Southwest Conference titles and eight bowl games, and retired from coaching in 1993. 

Now, he was the most successful coach at Baylor for a while. And when I say a while I mean over a decade. 14 years to be exact. That isn't to say that Briles didn't struggle. His first two seasons were 4-8, then there was a 7-6 season... But then 2011 happened. 10-3. 6-3 in conference play and a win in the Alamo Bowl. Not too bad. People had started to hope. 2012 was nothing special, 8-5. But then there was 2013 and 2014, 11-2 both seasons. Big time bowls, we're talking Fiesta and Cotton, no wins in either but still a good bowl. Briles' career ended abruptly in 2015 after a 10-3 season when he was fired for, you guessed it, covering up his athletes' misconduct... pardon me the rapes and abuses and bad things that his players did. ESPN and other places want to call it misconduct when it's so much more than that. Call it what it is. It's sexual abuse and domestic violence and general not-niceness that was covered up for years. 2011-2014 to be exact. Those years when he was doing so well at Baylor. 

Briles and his staff kept things secret and handled things "internally", code for not at all so their players didn't have to miss playing time, and never reported very important things that happened. They had instances of players such as Sam Ukwuachu who was indicted for sexually assaulting a Baylor female athlete and later was convicted, but he was still participating in team activities. But these weren't isolated incidences. According to ESPN's Outside the Lines, Baylor either "failed to investigate or adequately investigate allegations of sexual violence". Baylor was taking years to investigate complaints of sexual violence made by their students, or in some cases, they weren't investigating them at all. Art Briles was eventually fired, University President Ken Starr resigned, and AD Ian McCaw resigned as well. 

I can't accurately cover the extent of what all happened during the course of this whole thing, because there's so much information involved with it. It was and still is a mess. Recently a woman has come forth and alleged that there were 52 separate incidences of sexual assault by 31 players from 2011-2014. Right now those are just allegations, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Baylor is a mess of a program. A mess. Whether or not all those are true, I'd be willing to bet there's some truth in it. According to Sports Illustrated, "The university called Briles's team culture a disciplinary 'black hole' where 'reports of misconduct such as drug use, physical assault domestic violence, brandishing of guns, indecent exposure and academic fraud disappeared.'"

I mean just reading all that is sickening. What is the extent that coaches and athletic departments will go to to make sure they can play football well? Covering up literal crimes? Making sure that people who are broken by this are never talked to or heard? Hiding criminals just so they can play football? What is this? I'm not naive enough to believe that this is something that doesn't go on in other football programs, I'm sure it does, but the bottom line is that what happened at Baylor is now out there for everyone to know. There has to be punishment. I don't care that they fired Briles, who should never coach college football again, and I don't care that they replaced their AD and President. I don't care about any of that. It. Isn't. Enough. 

Remember when I said we'd revisit this whole death penalty thing later on? Well here it is. I think Baylor deserves it. I feel badly for the players who had no knowledge of what was happening, and probably lots of the players at Baylor now weren't even near the school when it was happening, but the bottom line is that Baylor doesn't deserve to have a football program. The things that the program did and covered up and lied about are sick. And for that reason why should they play football? Why should they be allowed to do that? 

And look at USC. They were stripped of most everything and had rights taken away from them. For paying players. Granted it went deeper than that, but still. The NCAA handed down these harsh punishments for that, practically the death penalty, and we're still not talking about Baylor getting it? SMU got the death penalty in the late 80's for a slush fund and for basically paying players. So what I'm saying is that if the NCAA is going to punish teams for paying players then they should definitely punish teams for having an entire athletic organization that thinks it's okay to cover up sexual assault and violence and other crimes by football players just for the sake of the game. That is not okay. Because what happens is that these players go on to the NFL where it's basically considered a right of passage to beat and/or abuse your spouse or significant other or random women and still be allowed to play. Why is this okay? It isn't. And it shouldn't be rewarded as such. 

Baylor needs to be punished for this. They need the death penalty. By not giving them any punishment the NCAA is saying it's okay for this to happen, they can still play football, they can still do what they do and business will continue as normal. But that's not okay. None of it is okay. 

Until next time college football fans, and dad.

I'm back!!

Well, well. It's been almost two years to the day that I started this blog. If you've read any of my previous posts you'd know that I am absolutely terrible at providing quality content. Or at the very least providing it on any sort of organized time schedule. But here we are again. It's nearing the end of my time at school and once again I find myself in need of a blog for a class. So here we are. I'm hoping that this time I'll be able to keep up with it even though, once again, we find ourselves at the beginning of the off-season. Ugh. I hate the off-season. But for today we have a partially interesting post: The College Football Playoff!!

Playoff Time!

So yesterday was the college football playoff. The third annual I believe. And this time guess who was in it? Go ahead guess. Alright I'll tell you. It was the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers. One of those teams absolutely no one was surprised that they got there, Alabama, and the other well they've been earning respect for a few years and they did so well against my arch nemesis, Ohio State in case you're new here, that I was sure they also deserved to be in the playoff. That's Clemson, by the way. In case I've never mentioned it before I'm an Auburn fan. A huge Auburn fan as a matter of fact. And if you're also new to the whole college football thing, you should know that Auburn and Alabama are huge rivals. As such it was extremely hard for me to pull for them AGAIN to win the National Championship AGAIN. If Alabama had won last night it would be the second college football playoff win for them and their third National Championship in five years. For an Auburn fan, such as myself, it's insanely depressing to see your arch rival go to yet another National Championship when we can't even make it past 8-5 on the season. But being a good SEC fan I pulled for Alabama mostly due to the fact that I also don't care for Clemson who has also beat us a handful of times and annoyed me more than a handful of times. 

The problem arose, however, that Alabama did not win. Nope you read that right. They didn't win. Clemson did. In fact, it was Clemson's first National Championship in 30-some odd years. It's always weird when Alabama loses, I guess because it happens so rarely. It wasn't an easy game for the Tide. Not that they didn't play well, they just sort of let the game get away from them. That and there were certainly some sloppy mistakes. Alabama had 9 penalties for 82 yards, which is high for a usually very calm and collected Alabama squad. One could argue that Clemson didn't get called for penalties that they should have been called for but, for the purpose of this post, let's pretend that Clemson only actually deserved the three penalties that they got for 35 yards. Alabama looked a little iffy. Not just on defense, which allowed 420 total passing yards, but also on offense. Jalen Hurts was only 13 of 31 for 131 yards against Deshaun Watson who was 36 of 56 for those previously mentioned 420 yards passing. Hurts just didn't quite look like himself. He also ran for 10 carries and 63 yards but even that didn't seem to help much.

Now, let's give credit to Alabama where credit is due. They owned the first half. In fact they owned the first three quarters. Alabama scored a total of 24 points in the first three quarters to Clemson's 14. OJ Howard even surprised everyone by running for 68 yard touchdown off a pass from Jalen Hurts. But the person who scored those first two was missing later on in the game. That's right. Bo Scarbrough. The running back. The guy that everyone has been saying to hand the ball off to all year because when he touches it, no one can touch him. It's been a source of stress for Alabama fans. Watching their offensive coordinator call pass plays or screens or pitches or whatever and not give the ball to one of the best players on their team who has consistently proven he can bash defenses to bits to get yards and points. Bo lit it up last night with his 16 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns. But he went out in the third quarter with what was eventually named a broken bone in his leg, and the Crimson Tide seemed to falter along with his departure.

Clemson was able to rally behind their quarterback not to mention their exceptional running back Wayne Gallman who had 18 carries for 43 yards and a host of receivers. Among them were Jordan Leggett who had 7 receptions for 95 yards, Mike Williams who had 8 receptions for 94 yards, Deon Cain who had 5 receptions for 94 yards, and Hunter Renfrow, who caught the game winning touchdown pass that ended the game, with 10 receptions for 92 yards. In case you're not keeping track that is four receivers who each had almost 100 yards receiving. Alabama didn't have anywhere close to that. OJ Howard had 4 receptions for 104 yards, which is impressive, but the only other person who managed to have substantial receiving yardage for the Tide was Calvin Ridley who caught five balls for 36 yards which just isn't much when compared to Clemson's receiving corp.

Make no mistake Clemson earned their National Championship. They rallied in the fourth quarter and scored three touchdowns, one in the final seconds of the game, to beat the number 1 team in the country. Nick Saban had never been beaten in a National Championship game before. And yet Clemson beat them. It was a good night for Alabama, and they have a lot to be proud of. After all they have the exact same record as Clemson does even with their lack of National Championship. More than likely Alabama will be ranked number 1 in any pre-season poll that comes out, and they will probably go back to the playoffs next year. But for now the National Championship is Clemson's, and I think they deserve it.

Until next time college football fans, and dad, see ya!

Tebow Time?

Okay I know this is supposed to be a college football blog, but this particular post involves Marcus Mariota who is technically not in the NFL yet so there's that. Also Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow attended college and played football so I think it's safe. Either way I'm going to talk about Tim Tebow making his return to the NFL in the form of the Philadelphia Eagles. 

So is Chip crazy or what?

Okay so I guess I first need to address that I'm not the biggest Chip Kelly fan. He was a good and aggravating coach at Oregon that transitioned to the NFL and has proceeded to confuse pretty much every fan of the game with his trades and general Chippiness. He traded Nick Foles and acquired Sam Bradford first of all. And, not that I don't love Sam, but what the heck? Sam Bradford has been perpetually injured since he made his arrival in the NFL. One injury after another and that's after the injuries that sidelined him at Oklahoma. I mean yeah he was a Heisman-trophy winning quarterback, and rightfully so, but he's still "Always Injured Bradford". I wonder how much longer he has in the NFL before he just says, "Okay if I get injured anymore I will literally no longer have legs" and retires early like so many of his counterparts. I'm not saying that Nick Foles was some amazing quarterback for the Eagles that didn't deserve to not be traded, but I'm saying that I really wonder what Chip was thinking when he traded him. Of course I'm also just this biased blogger so I guess I don't really get to have a say in the goings on of NFL teams. 

So then you start hearing rumors that Kelly is trading up to get Marcus Mariota, who he coached at Oregon, to come to the Eagles as well. If you're keeping track that would be 2 Heisman-trophies at the Eagles. I honestly think that Mariota is going to be the best possible option for the Eagles especially after the next one I'm about to lay on you. 

Alright so here's the real point of this blog. That's Tim Tebow. Yes that Tim Tebow. The one that painted the Bible verses on his face and led Florida to two national championships. That same one. Also the guy that is currently an analyst for the SEC Network, but I digress. The Eagles have signed him to a contract and apparently it's a good thing? I'm not really sure. All I know is that I watched Tim Tebow play in the NFL. And while he was definitely the best player for his team while he was in college, the NFL just was on a different level. He could never quite get up to the hype that everyone thought he would. That's not entirely his fault. A lot of the time the college quarterbacks that everyone thinks are going to play out really well in the NFL don't quite do that. Instead they fall flat on their face and people like Tom Brady step on them on their way to fame and fortune. Let's not forget that currently some of the best quarterbacks in the league were not first round picks or Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks. 

I know I keep bringing up Tom Brady, who I hate, but it's because the dude just won the Super Bowl AGAIN and he was the 199th pick in the NFL Draft from Michigan. Did anyone think that he would do what he's done as a quarterback? No. They didn't. In fact the number 1 pick that year was defensive end Courtney Brown. Ever heard of him? No. Me neither. That's because he had a mediocre professional career and finished in 2006. 

The point is that just because a quarterback seems good on paper doesn't mean they always are. Bradford and Tebow are just that. They're pretty good on paper, and they even play kind of well. But well enough to really make a splash in the NFL and say, "They were worth that pick." No not really. Honestly, I think that the smartest thing Kelly could do at this point is draft Marcus Mariota and let him play just because I honestly believe Mariota could make waves for the Eagles. Especially since he and Kelly already have the connection of coach-player. And it clearly worked for them at Oregon. Why wouldn't it translate to the NFL? Right? Maybe. 

Of course what would also be fun is to have three Heisman-trophy winning quarterbacks signed on the team and then just let them go at it Gladiator style in order to crown a winner. I'd watch that.

Trouble, Trouble, NCAA Part 2

Homeless and Not Important

When I say I’m bad at blogging I mean really bad. Clearly I’m just not cut out for this sort of thing which is good I guess since the class ends tomorrow. Anyway I’m going to continue on about the NCAA while I’ve got the chance.

I guess the biggest issue at the moment that I want to discuss is the whole homeless Baylor player thing. In case anyone didn’t know there was a player at Baylor named Silas Nacita who apparently was homeless when he walked on at Baylor. He accepted a place to live from someone and that is not good with the NCAA as they ruled him ineligible despite his high grades, and the fact that he made Academic All Big-12. I’m not really sure how to begin here. Everyone knows that the NCAA is full of these little quips and stupid rules that no one understands nor cares about. Why in the world is it right for a player who wants to play the sport he loves at the school he loves to be told he can’t because he doesn’t have a house to live in? How is that right? At least that’s what people are asking and have been asking since this whole thing came out. This whole situation also played out this time last year when JUCO transfer Antoine Turner, who was headed to Boise State, was also homeless. He had nothing. He began getting offers from strangers all over the Boise area offering him money and a house and everything that you could imagine. The only problem was that if he had accepted any of it, the NCAA could have declared him ineligible. The same thing that they did with Silas Nacita.

The difference between the two is that Turner was already going to be on scholarship at Boise State and Nacita wasn’t. Unfortunately that means that the odds are in Turner’s favor. He was granted a waiver from the NCAA and Boise State was able to help him. Also the NCAA employs a thing called the “Student Assistance Fund” that the NCAA has. In essence it gives money to the schools to help people like Turner who have no home, or no food, if the situation calls for it.

But what about poor Silas Nacita? Well the difference is that he was a walk on athlete. Which means he was not on scholarship so these benefits do not extend to him. It’s a ridiculous scenario and one that really needs to be looked at again. Even if we don’t know the whole story behind this kid, why in the world should a homeless athlete be punished for being homeless? He has nothing and no one and even the school that he plays football for can’t help him because the big, bad NCAA has rules that prevent homeless athletes from being taken care of? Wait, no, excuse me, just the ones who are on scholarship. Those are the special ones.

“We’ll look after those, but forget the ones that weren’t quite good enough to be offered a scholarship.” –The NCAA Probably.

I know that in every story there are things that aren’t reported on. We may not know the whole story behind Silas Nacita, but it’s still unfair. Why aren’t all athletes taken care of if need be? Why does the Student Assistance Fund only apply to scholarship students? And if the NCAA doesn’t care enough to use the SAF to help non-scholarship athletes then why should it matter if someone wants to offer him their couch for the week? Or give him a gift card for food? He matters then. He is important enough to violate their rules because he plays football for the university, but he’s still not important enough for us to use the funds set up for this kind of scenario to help him. Yeah real smart NCAA.

The NCAA has been called many things with “bully” being the chief among them. It seems they like to flex their muscles and intimidate and annoy. They’re like the bug flying around your head that you can’t get rid of, but if you irritate it then it’ll sting you. I don’t like the NCAA. I think there needs to be punishment for breaking rules, but the rules need to be changed… or at the very least updated. So that every single thing that the NCAA does isn’t a contradiction.

Anyway that’s that for now. Until next time college football lovers.