FREE THOUGHT FRIDAY

COACH CLASSIFICATIONS: Several weeks back Tony asked me to put together a tiered rating of current College Football Playoff Division (mostly) head coaches. Since we will soon (relative term) be in the market for a new one I thought it would be a good time to dust it off so we get a good look at potential candidates. This of course excludes guys that will come up in discussions like Lane Kiffin, Greg Schiano, Jim Bob Cooter, Jon Gruden, Phillip Fulmer, Peyton Manning and Donald Trump.

I have changed the status of several coaches since my first effort not due to what happened to their teams this season but because I poorly categorized them the first time through. Here are the revisions:

-I removed the Already Peaked category because it wreaked of age discrimination which a fossil such as I should have no part in. Mark Richt, Paul Johnson, David Cutcliffe, Mike Riley, Rich Rodriguez and Todd Graham were moved to Solid but What’s Next; Bob Stoops and Bill Snyder were moved to Next Level; Lovie Smith was changed to Who Knows Jim Grobe was removed since his services are no longer needed at Baylor.

-I removed Brian Kelly and Mike Gundy from the Phoney Baloney category and placed both in the Next Level rankings. I realize I was angry at Gundy due to one bloated, belligerent Oklahoma State fan and I minimized Kelly because he was at hated Notre Dame.

-I removed Mike MaCintyre and Clay Helton from Soon to Be Coordinators due to my vast underestimation of the job MaCintyre had done in Boulder (and at San Jose St before) and Helton should have been in Who Knows. Both are now included in the Solid but What’s Next grouping.

-I did reshuffle the Next Level rankings based on this season’s results where I saw fit. I have also given each coach listed -with the exception of Who Knows, an Up, Down or Steady rating as to where I believe their stock is currently heading.

Here we go:

TOP-15 MINUS 1

GENERATIONAL:
1-NICK SABAN-Alabama (UP)

2-URBAN MEYER-Ohio State (STEADY)

VERY CLOSE
3-JIM HARBAUGH-Michigan (UP)

NEXT LEVEL
4-CHRIS PETERSEN-Washington (UP)

5-DABO SWINNEY-Clemson (STEADY)

6-JIMBO FISHER-Florida St (DOWN)

7-DAVID SHAW-Stanford (DOWN)

8-BOBBY PETRINO-Louisville (UP)

9-GARY PATTERSON-TCU (DOWN)

10- MARK DANTONIO-Michigan State (DOWN)

11-BOB STOOPS-Oklahoma (STEADY)

12-BILL SNYDER-Kansas State (STEADY)

13- BRIAN KELLY-Notre Dame (DOWN)

14 MIKE GUNDY-Oklahoma State (UP)

RISING STARS: TOM HERMAN-Houston (now Texas) (UP) PJ FLECK-W Michigan (UP); JUSTIN FUENTE-Va Tech (UP); PAT NARDUZZI-Pitt (UP); PAUL CHRYST-Wisconsin (UP)

SOLID BUT WHAT’S NEXT? BUTCH JONES-Tenn (DOWN); GUS MALZAHN-Aub (UP); JIM McELWAIN-Fla (STEADY); BRETT BIELEMA-Ark (DOWN); DAN MULLEN-Miss St (DOWN); HUGH FREEZE-Ole Miss (DOWN); KEVIN SUMLIN-Texas A&M (DOWN); PAT FITZGERALD-N’Wesern (STEADY); JAMES FRANKLIN-Penn S (UP); SONNY DYKES-Cal (STEADY); JIM MORA-UCLA (DOWN); KYLE WINNINGHAM-Utah (STEADY); GARY ANDERSEN-Oreg St (DOWN); LARRY FEDORA-UNC (DOWN); BRONCO MENDENHALL-Va (STEADY), MARK RICHT-Miami (STEADY); PAUL JOHNSON-Ga Tech (STEADY); DAVID CUTCLIFFE-Duke (STEADY); MIKE RILEY-Nebraska (UP); RICH RODRIGUEZ-Arizona (DOWN); TODD GRAHAM-Arizona St (DOWN) CLAY HELTON-USC (UP); MIKE MACINTYRE-Colorado (UP);

PHONEY-BALONEYS: CHARLIE STRONG-Texas (FIRED); WILL MUSCHAMP- S Carolina (UP); KIRK FERENTZ-Iowa (STEADY); MARK HELFRICH-Oregon (FIRED);

ALL BLING NO RINGS (Fun but they’re not going to win anything): MIKE LEACH-Wash St (UP); DANA HOLGERSON-WVU (UP); KLIFF KINGSBURY-Texas Tech (DOWN); DINO BABERS-Syracuse (UP)

SOON-TO-BE COORDINATORS: MARK STOOPS-Kentucky (UP); DEREK MASON-Vandy (UP); ED ORGERON-LSU (WAY UP); KEVIN WILSON-Indiana (Fired); DARRELL HAZEL-Purdue (FIRED); MATT CAMPBELL-Iowa State (STEADY); DAVID BEATY-Kansas (STEADY); STEVE ADDAZIO-BC (DOWN); DAVE DOEREN-NC St (DOWN); DAVE CLAWSON-Wake Forest (UP)

WHO KNOWS? KIRBY SMART-Georgia; CHRIS ASH-Rutgers; TRACY CLAEYS-Minnesota; BARRY ODOM-Missouri; DJ DURKIN-Maryland; KILANI SITAKE-BYU; LOVIE SMITH-Illinois;

TAKEAWAYS:

-The most surprising result was the downward movement of a large percentage of the Next Level coaches. Of the 11 listed only 3 were deemed to be on an upward trend. Three were ranked steady with the remaining 5 headed downward.

-One of the more successful groups were the guys I had with one foot out the door in the Soon to be Coordinators category. Of those 10 coaches; 2 were fired and 2 had disappointing seasons but the others have solidified their current position or in Ed Orgeron’s case earned a plum job.

-In what I consider the most volatile category Solid but What’s Next the results weren’t good. With 23 coaches listed there were only five whose stock is headed upward in my opinion. There were 8 rated Steady while the other 10 were given a Down.

WHAT VOL HOOPS FANS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GA TECH

6-10 Center Ben Lammers (16.7 ppg; 10.7 rpg) and 6-9 F Quinton Stephens (11.2 ppg; 8.3 rpg) have seven double-doubles between them.

Lammers, has an NCAA-best 32 blocked shots in six games

6-5 Freshman F Josh Okogie has averaged 18.0 points through his first six collegiate game

6-2 G Tadric Jackson has come off the bench to score 15 points or more in each of Georgia Tech’s last 3 games.

Tech lost its top four players in scoring, starts and minutes played from a year ago and now per ESPN are the least experienced team in the nation.

Josh Pastner, the 14th head coach in program history.

This is Tech’s second visit to the Thompson-Boling Arena, where the Yellow Jackets’ national runner-up team captured a 76-60 victory over the Vols in February of 2004.

Tennessee has a 42-28 lead in the all-time series which dates back to 1921

Tech is 9-24 all-time against the Volunteers in Knoxville, including a 1-0 record at Thompson-Boling Arena, 2-8 at Stokely Athletics Center and 3-12 at Alumni Memorial Gym

Saturday’s game is the second of four meetings the teams have agreed to play. The teams will play in McCamish Pavilion in 2017-18 and play again in Knoxville in 2018-19.

WHAT WE WILL LEARN IN WEEK 14

CAN COLORADO SHUFFLE THE TOP-4? This year seems to be the most solidified the Top-4 positions have been heading into the last weekend in the CFB Playoff’s short life. If you’re looking for a possible candidate to drop out I believe Washington is the most likely. Colorado is on a 6-game winning streak and appear to be a live 6- point dog for Friday night’s contest. The teams have played 8 common PAC-12 opponents (Ariz, Stan, Oreg, Oreg St, Utah, USC, Ariz St, Wash St) and the results suggest a close game. Both went 7-1 versus the teams listed above with the defeat coming at the hands of USC. Washington defeated those teams by an average score of 40-23 while the Buffaloes had a 33-19 advantage. The only real difference being the 70 points the Huskies laid on Oregon while the Buffs scored only 41.

HOW ABOUT VA TECH? Alabama can make the Final-4 even with a loss to Florida in the SECCG while Ohio State is solidly entrenched at #2 and will spend Saturday sitting on the couch. That leaves only the Huskies and Clemson needing to win this weekend to celebrate a playoff opportunity. Justin Fuente has done an admirable job in his first season in Blacksburg but much like the SEC there appears to be a fairly significant gap between the best team from the ACC Atlantic (Clem) and the Coastal (VT). Clemson suffered a surprise loss to Pitt and were unimpressive in several other victories. With everything on the line however I find it hard to believe that the Tigers will be caught sleep-walking or that a Hokies squad that lost by 10 to Georgia Tech a couple of weeks back could take advantage of it if they are.

BEDLAM WILL BE FUN: It’s come down to Oklahoma State at Oklahoma for all the marbles in the Big-12. I don’t know about you but that seems more right to me than anything involving Baylor and TCU who spent most of my life being also-rans. Oh, I know the Cowboys weren’t exactly a household name for many of those seasons as well but they were at least a Big-8 staple and there’s something about a conference championship coming down to the last weekend featuring heated state rivals that appeals to me. It hasn’t exactly been evenly matched with the Sooners holding an 85-18-7 all-time advantage and Bob Stoops dominating OSU at a 13-4 clip. The Cowboys have won 2 of the last 5 however including a 38-35 OT thriller the last time the teams played in Norman.

HOW MAD WILL PENN STATE FANS BE? If Penn State completes a solid turnaround season with a victory over Wisconsin Saturday night in Indianapolis and either Washington or Clemson are upset it will be a wonderful thing for all of us hoping the playoffs goes to 8 teams sooner rather than later. The product of the above results will mean that not only will there be two Power-5 Conferences unrepresented there will be three P5 Conference champs on the outside looking in. That’s because BOTH Ohio State and Michigan will make the Final-4 giving the Big-10 two entries when neither of which did so much as win a division. That should get an 8-team bracket on the committees drawing board by around midnight Saturday.

FINAL FRIDAY THOUGHT: I am praying for protection, strength, comfort and provision for all those affected by the fires throughout the area and thanking God to be from such a caring, loving part of the country. East Tennessee is truly a remarkable place filled with wonderful, sacrificial people. God bless you all.

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