Vols big board
Well, it's now been more than a day and the surreal-ness of the Tennessee-Schiano-backlash against Currie-Twitter changing everything-etc. scenario has not faded.
Want proof?
OK. Jason Witten had to deny he was a candidate for the head coaching job at Tennessee. Jason Witten. Dude is a Hall of Fame tight end - first-ballot even - but who in a million years thinks he's ready to take a job the magnitude of the Tennessee gig?
The national narrative has not subsided. (Yeah, Booger McFarland is not going to win any popularity contests in Knox County any time soon. Dude has blasted Tennessee leadership and its fan base at every turn.)
The Witten development means that either a) John Currie has completely lost it or b) some rouge boosters are gauging the interest of anyone that has ever worn a helmet with a T on it and driven up and down The Strip more than three times. Neither is good.
Now know that the crowd at the WWE Event in Knoxville on Monday night was chanting "Fire Currie! Fire Currie!" Not exactly the smoothest of sailing in K-town. Chris Low, the ESPN reporter who still has a ton of contacts in and around Knoxville, reported Monday night that David Cutcliffe told UT officials he was going to finish his coaching career at Duke.
There's a lot going on, clearly. Here's Currie's statements defending his decision to go after Schiano and yes, those were released statements. Here's betting the next time ol' John steps in front of the media live and in person will be a show.
With the knowledge that Coach Cutt (an underrated head coach who would have done well by UT) and Witten are not interested, and because Stewwie, one of our regulars around these parts, asked for it, here's the 5-at-10's draft board for UT candidates. (Please note: This does not have folks that we believe have little-to-no-chance barring a $10 million a year offer of coming to UT.)
1. Mike Leach. We think Arkansas may make that call too, but here's saying Leach's history of high-flying offense would surely work in the SEC. We also believe that Leach would listen to anything. And he would embrace the zaniness going on around UT as passion. (Now if he becomes a candidate, it will be interesting to see if the high morality of the UT Twitterverse that wanted no part of Schiano's link to Penn State would be OK with a coach who was fired for cause because of allegedly locking a player in a utility shed. To be fair, we side with Leach on the Leach vs. Craig James debate that ended his time at Texas Tech, but we also do not know what Schiano did or did not know either.)
2. Lane Kiffin. We think he would be willing to come back and there's no one out there that wants to have another chance to beat Nick Saban. He is an elite play-caller and an elite recruiter and hey, he has baggage just like the baggage UT is bringing into the deal. And considering the place UT finds itself after the Twitter-revolt (and anyone suggesting the Schiano thing was a smokescreen, well that seems silly), the past can be in the past.
3. Mike Norvell. Dude already has proven he has a leg up on Butch Jones considering he turned Riley Ferguson into an All-American at Memphis.
4. Jeff Brohm. A bright offensive mind that learned from Bobby Petrino, who we all know is one of the best play-callers in the game. And yes, Brohm completely has Butch 2.0 potential, but after the actions of Sunday, Tennessee's scope has changed. (Again, considering that Dan Mullen got $6 million to go to Florida, Sunday's protest may have stopped a very unpopular hire that could have flopped. It also cost UT millions in terms what the school will have to pay its next coach.)
5. Chad Morris. The SMU head coach was a rising star as the OC at Clemson - a school that has had some success of late. If they go coordinator, we'd think Brent Venables the DC at Clemson would be an interesting candidate, but Morris already has a step or three on him as he has already been a head coach.
As for name du jour, Tee Martin, well, we could see it, but we're far from sold. We are running short on time, and we're sure there are other candidates that we should list or could be explored. Tee Martin would certainly go a long way toward uniting the former players and the masses. And he can certainly recruit. But man, it's hard to see that being anything other than "no one else would take it" type of move. Because Martin was all the same things - former UT star, quarterback who brought home a national title, et al. - before Sunday and he was not even remotely a candidate.
Thoughts?
And what say who? Who do you want as the next UT coach.
FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2017, file photo, San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly stands on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, Calif. Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly is joining ESPN as a studio analyst next season. ESPN announced Friday, May 26, 2017, it has signed Kelly to a multiyear deal. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar, File) Coaching carousel
As the speed of the carousel in Knoxville jumps straight to "Ludicrous Speed" (Shout out to Spaceballs; Barf, God love you) there are a lot of other moves being made around college football.
Let's explore them, even those lost amid the Big Orange avalanche of discussion about the last 48 hours and Currie's scurry into Columbus.
UCLA lands Chip Kelly. Grade A+. Home run hire, and we expect UCLA to be a national player sooner rather than later. Truthfully, we think this is no worse than a Spurrier-to-South Carolina-level hire and if things fall right, it could be a Saban-to-Alabama-level hire.
Florida lands Dan Mullen. Grade A. Mullen had done more than ever imagined at Mississippi State with players like Dak Prescott (MSU was his only SEC offer) and Nick Fitzgerald (who Mullen famously said he stole from "UT-CHATT-anooga"). Now he'll get the chance to get to Atlanta with the power of the Gators program and the riches of the Sunshine State talent. The Mullen-Kirby Smart dynamic will be fun for a lot of years to a lot of us.
Iowa State extends Matt Campbell. Grade A. Campbell has done work at Iowa State, and the administration moved big-boy dollars to keep him there with a six-year, $22.5 million extension with a monster buyout. Being good at football is fun people.
Ole Miss removes the interim tag and hires Matt Luke. Grade B. This may be higher than most, but Luke did a fine job - considering injuries and background noise and a defense that was indifferent to tackling - and winning the Egg Bowl made this decision easier. The X Factor here is we don't know how many folks or how good the resume pool applying for a gig that is in the NCAA crosshairs really was.
That leaves Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Oregon State and Nebraska still open. And that's before potential moves from current head coaches - and if Jimbo Fisher slides from Tallahassee to Texas A&M and FSU opens up, look out - is factored in.
(Side note: Bret Bielema is going to slay TV and we think Kevin Sumlin will be in play for one of the above jobs, and would be an excellent fit at Arizona State, in this view.)
Playoff committee speaks
The college football playoff committee will share their rankings tonight. The final rankings and the playoff invites will be revealed Sunday after all the conference championships.
Here's how we expect the rankings to be tonight:
1. Clemson, 2. Oklahoma, 3. Wisconsin, 4. Auburn.
The first four, in some order, seem to be pretty universal. Also, it seems pretty agreed upon that if Oklahoma and Wisconsin win their conference title games this weekend, the four will be the Sooners, the Badgers and the winners of the ACC title game between Clemson and Miami and the SEC title game between Auburn and Georgia.
That would be the easiest solution and the cleanest. But when has the college football world been easy and clean? (Side note: ESPN college football playoff ace Heather Dinich will join Press Row today to discuss tonight's announcement and what she thinks will happen. Pull up a chair friends, on ESPN 105.1 the Zone and listen on line at timesfreepress.com.)
So with the real possibility that a certain amount of craziness will happen in the conference championships, the teams outside of the top four may be more important and more revealing.
We can see the committee taking the easy way out with Georgia and Miami ranked 5 and 6, since those teams appear to be in a win-Saturday-and-you-are-in title games.
But that would mean dropping Alabama from 1 all the way to 7 for losing on the road against your bitter rival which also happens to be ranked in the top five. That seems a little harsh for a team that has been 1 or 2 all season.
The counter to that, of course, is that, considering FSU has fallen from grace, Alabama's best win is a home win over an LSU team that will be somewhere between 12-and-20.
The other interesting ranking will be Alabama's position compared to THE Ohio State. Alabama is going to need help, and since THE Buckeyes are a six-point favorite over unbeaten Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game, THE OSU appears to be the best bet to help the Tide.
But, if a two-loss THE OSU topples Wisconsin, would that win and the a Big Ten title be enough to hop Alabama and get into the playoff. Crazy, right?
And here's one more thing to watch tonight: Where will unbeaten UCF and coaching carousel darling Scott Frost be in the rankings?
With that, here's one view at how the top 10 will look:
1. Clemson
2. Oklahoma
3. Wisconsin
4. Auburn
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Miami
8. THE Ohio State
9. USC
10. Central Florida
So there's that.
This and that
- Just realized we did not have the NFL power poll. Tomorrow. Deal? Deal.
- Former Signal Mountain High all-state football player Harrison Moon has announced on social media he will transfer from Mississippi State and finish his career at UTC. His presence on the offensive line will be a boost for the Mocs.
- On this day in 1983, Michael Jordan appeared on the cover of SI for the first time. He was there with Sam Perkins as UNC was picked as the preseason No. 1 team. According to Darren Rovell, MJ has been on 50 SI covers - the most of any athlete ever.
- Man, the NBA regular season is nuts. And meaningless. Yes, we enjoy the NBA game more than we have at any point since the 1980s-90s heyday, but the path to 50-plus wins for the five or six teams with a legit chance to scare the Warriors is filled with entertaining but meaningless moments. So there's that.
Today's questions
True or false Tuesday. Let's do this.
True or false, Spaceballs is underrated.
True or false, Tennessee's next coach is on our list above.
True or false, Alabama will be No. 5 tonight.
True or false, Dan Mullen will win an SEC title at Florida.
As for today, Nov. 28, well, let's see what we have:
Anna Nicole Smith would have been 50 today.
Former LSU star and current Miami receiver Jarvis Landry, who has been aces on our fantasy team this season despite running patterns for Cutler and Moore, is 25 today.
TV funny guy Jon Stewart is 55 today.
NASCAR hotshot youngster Chase Elliott is 22 today.
Judd Nelson is 58. Yes, Bender from Breakfast Club is two years short of 60. Man we feel old.
Ed Harris is 67. Man, ol' Ed has a better catalog than most recall.
Speaking of that, Easy Ed Harris is married to Amy Madigan (Costner's wife in Field of Dreams) and has been for 33 years.
Rushmore of Hollywood marriages. Go.