Weekend winners
- Russell Wilson. Five TDs in a must-have win over the Steelers before a national TV audience. The Seahawks are now back above .500, and with the wildcat race in the NFC crazy, as long as Seattle gets to the dance, they are going to be a tough out.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson throws during NFL football training camp, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) - Brock Osweiler. Wow. Grab the opportunity, there kid. Was he perfect? No, but he made enough plays - big, strong-armed plays down the field - and led the Broncos to a season-galvanizing win over the previously unbeaten Patriots in the snow in an awesome overtime classic Sunday night. (Side note: The two most compelling sports shorelines of the weekend wrapped after midnight on Saturday and Sunday. There were the Peyton Manning-less Broncos doing work in overtime early Monday morning. And late Saturday night the press conferences inside Tigers Stadium were must-see TV. Which brings us to...)
- Les Miles. We will get more into the college football coaching craziness in a moment, but we have to tip the visor to the Mad Hatter. Dude handle all the questions from the last two weeks about his job security with grace and patience. He then had the last laugh on Saturday night as the Tigers carried him off the field after beating Texas A&M and the public sentiment started to turn. This could very easily be about the complete and total botch job LSU AD Joe Aleva and the entire department did handling this mess. Aleva even said the decision to keep Les was made in the second half of a relatively meaningless game against an Aggies that lost to Auburn at home for crying out loud. Miles now has complete control of the situation. He could walk now and have his pick of very good openings. He could strong-arm Aleva into even keeping that goof Kevin Steele if he wanted. It's Les Miles' world and we're just all along for the ride. Heck, here's hoping that Les comes out for the home opener next September in footed jammies with sleeping cap and a Long Island Ice Tea in his hand. War Grass Chewer.
- UTC. Now that was handling your BID-ness. Before a surprisingly small - announced attendance less than 4,500? - home crowd the Mocs punched Fordham in the face and never looked back to advance in the FCS playoffs. The first quarter was nearly flawless, and featured a key fourth-down conversion near midfield on and early touchdown drive. It was 24-0 before the end of the first and the rout was on.
- Tennessee. Monster weekend for the UT Vols football program, too. They landed two four-star junior college defensive line prospects to a group that already will be one of the nation's best next year. They smoked Vandy in a way no one has all year - and ruined the Commodores chance at entertainment perfection in terms of the over/under, alas. Plus, combined with the unknown around the East - Butch Jones and Mark Stoops are now the longest tenured coaches in the SEC East - and certain fact that UT will be the division favorite next year, UT is at a high-water point since before Mike Hamilton got involved.
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Chip KellyWeekend losers
- Chip Kelly. Wow what was that? The Eagles got housed on Thanksgiving, and Kelly, the grand poobah of the mess that is the Philadelphia Eagles, said they were outreached. By Jim Caldwell and the Lions staff that features Jim Bob Cooter as the O.C., mind you.
- Sports icons in their late 30s. Yes, Brock Osweiler may have just shut the door on Peyton Manning's time in Denver. And we can all agree that him slinging wobbly passes for the Texans or the Jets next year is not appealing, right? Add to that the news that Kobe Bryant will hang them up after this season, and Sunday was a big part of the final chapter for two of the greatest of their generations - and guys in the team picture for the best ever at their positions. Manning is an easy talking point for the GOAT QB, and Kobe is among the names behind MJ as the best 2 guard ever. That said, here's hoping Peyton's exit is every bit as graceful as Kobe's, which featured this heart-felt letter to the Lakers and their fans.
- The Dallas Cowboys. We can finally admit the Carolina Panthers are good right? (And here's hoping you made some Thanksgiving entertainment on the Panthers-even at Dallas last Thursday.) We can also say that the Cowboys are officially done after Tony Romo's second collar bone injury. And being done in the wretched NFC East - which is of course led by the Washington Redskins and could be won by the Eagles, who still could fire their coach - is saying something.
- Jahlil Okafor. Uh, dude, you may want to dial it back a touch. Okafor has apologized for his recent run of run-ins with fans and the law.
- The Patriots' Super Bowl chances. The loss at Denver was not the biggest setback. The Patriots lost Rob Gronkowski to a knee injury. The Patriots are hopeful it is not too serious, and the Gronk will have an MRI today. But if he's out - along with the team's top two wide outs and top running back - for an extended period of time, well, no matter how good Tim Brady's playing if you, me and Paschall are running patters for him, well, that's not going to work longterm in the NFL.
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Coaching carousel
We got a great question on Friday about the coaching openings, and what we thought.
But we assuredly did not think the Georgia job would be added to the list.
Wow.
FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2015, file photo, Georgia head coach Mark Richt celebrates as he walks off the field after his team defeated Georgia Tech 13-7 in an NCAA college football game in Atlanta, Ga. Richt is stepping down after 15 seasons in what is being called a "mutual" decision. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity says he met with Richt on Sunday morning, Nov. 29, 2015, "to discuss the status of our football program" and "mutually agreed that he would step down as head coach and would have the opportunity to accept other duties and responsibilities at UGA following the bowl game." (AP Photo/Brett Davis, File) OK, Mark Richt is done in Athens, and the Bulldogs brass had better make a big-time hire or they run the risk of spinning their red-and-black wheels like The Vols have in the last seven seasons.
Plus, Richt wisely said no to the school's hush money of taking on a role within the athletic department. No, Richt will be a hot commodity for as job as good as Miami - his alma mater, after all - and really could surface at either of the other SEC East jobs, too.
Craziness.
Georgia now is right there as Job 1B that is open alongside USC. But there were some additions. Virginia is now open. So is Rutgers
We listed the 13 jobs that were currently open on Friday, and now - as you may have heard - there have been some bigger names added to the list and some of the gigs filled, which in turn has left some new openings.
The ripples of this will surge and last for the rest of the calendar year.
Here's our master list, and we'll keep updating this through the holidays.
USC - Still open, but lots of folks believe the silence on the Trojans job means they have their man already. That said, if Chip Kelly gets sacked in Philly, that's a game changer.
Georgia - Open, sadly. As an Auburn graduate, the 'hometown' candidates such as Kirby Smart and Mike Bobo would please us greatly. Yes, that's a backhanded compliment. (And don't rule out Bobo, since the entire world believes that Jacob Eason is the best thing since bacon.)
Miami - Open.
South Carolina - Open, and yes, Mark Richt would have already been contacted if we were in charge of the Gamecocks search.
Virginia Tech - Reportedly hired Justin Fuente, who leaves Memphis is a much, Much, MUCH better place than he found it.
Missouri - Open, and yes, Mark Richt would have already been contacted if we were in charge of the Tigers search.
UCF - Reportedly hired Dino Babers, who has turned Bowling Green into a scoring machine.
Syracuse - Open.
Maryland - Open, and yes, Mark Richt would have already been contacted if we were in charge of the Terrapins search. A name like that could really open the eyes of the Under Armour donors. (Although the Baltimore Sun has reported that former Maryland QB and current San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich has interviewed. Michigan defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin also has been linked with this gig.)
Iowa State - Reportedly hired Toledo coach Matt Campbell, who has done great things with the Rockets and is all of 36 years old.
Illinois - Signed interim coach Bill Cubit to a two-year deal. Makes the most sense, considering, as we wrote last week, with an interim AD and interim president, who would take that job knowing the folks doing the hiring would not be your bosses longterm.
North Texas - Could be the next one to pop, and TCU offensive coordinator Doug Meachem appears to be a leading contender.
Hawaii - Hired former Nevada OC and Hawaii quarterback Nick Rolovich.
Louisiana-Monroe - Still open, but again, we'd love to see Ed Orgeron here. War Warhawks.
Minnesota - Announce in early November that Tracy Claeys will replace Jerry Kill, who resigned for health reasons.
Memphis - There are internet reports that the Tigers have moved quickly and have offered the head coaching gig to Missouri DC Barry Odom.
Rutgers - Wide open and without an AD, too. Where's Greg Schiano's cell-phone number?
Virginia - A sneaky good gig for the right candidate.
Tulane - Wide open after canning Curtis Johnson this weekend.
Plus, the Toledo and Bowling Green head coaching jobs are open too.
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This and that
- Here's the schedule for this weekend's college football conference championship games. Good times.
- Speaking of conference championships, this week's Fab 4 picks are going to be much harder. We went 5-3 last week, with two losses on two of our more consistent winners this season: Vandy and the under, and Navy against the spread. Alas. And from the files of painful entertainment losses, Derrick Henry's TD run with less than 30 seconds allowed Alabama to cover the 14-point line in the Iron Bowl.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passes against the Buffalo Bills in the first half of an NFL football game, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) - After the whole DeflateGate mess, a lot of the country thinks Tom Brady's a turkey. Well on Thanksgiving, he proved them right. Here's the video of Turkey Tom scaring the tots.
- In the bizarro world that is the NFL, we can make an argument that the most valuable quarterbacks around are, in order, Tom Brady, Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo and Matt Flippin' Hasselbeck, who has single-handedly salvaged the Colts season (and maybe Chuck Pagano's job).
- Side note: Watched San Andreas over the weekend and we have to say if you take the worst parts of Armageddon, Speed, Waterworld and Jaws III and mix them in a bowl and add The Rock, then you get San Andreas. Awful in its awfulness.
- Local NFL notes: The Titans got jobbed on a questionable call on the other side of the field on a fourth-down play in the final two minutes that allowed the Raiders to escape Nashville with a 24-21 win. (FE to the C, it's still a nice win for the Raiders, but the phantom defensive holding call away from the play is sketchy at best.) As for the Falcons, what's worse than turning a 5-0 start into a 6-6 mark and making the playoffs seem like a long shot (especially with two of the final four against the Panthers)? Your franchise quarterback looking like a turnover prone third-stringer and drawing boos - and his play and starting role drawing the the first five questions of Dan Quinn's postgame news conference.
- Good luck to Jim Foster and the Mocs tonight against top-ranked UConn. If you get the chance, you should go. This is a chance to see the most-dominant team in all of college hoops - and maybe the most dominant since John Wooden's time at UCLA - in person.
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Today's question
Who won the weekend and who lost it?
And quite plainly, what do you make of the Mark Richt decision.