College Football Coaches Who Could Easily Recruit for School's Basketball Team
Even though spring practice is well underway for college football teams throughout the country, March belongs to college basketball. The gridiron game takes a back seat to the madness on the hardwood, yet many football coaches still find a way to integrate themselves into that other sport.
Earlier this month, when Georgia's basketball team hosted top-ranked and unbeaten Kentucky, Bulldogs football coach Mark Richt capitalized on the excitement by taking several notable recruits to that game.
Richt is one of a handful of college football head coaches whose recruiting savvy is such that they could probably help the basketball program land top talent as well.
Who else is on that list? Scroll through to see our picks.
Art Briles, Baylor
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If not for Art Briles, Baylor's football program probably wouldn't be playing in a fancy new stadium and among the top teams in the country on an annual basis. His uptempo style has been enticing to recruits, and his ties to Texas high school football gets him into the living room of pretty much every in-state prospect.
The odds are that he'd have the same success convincing basketball talent to play for the Bears, though he's been unlucky in convincing a current Baylor men's hoops player to join his team.
According to Bleacher Report's Jason King, Briles has offered 6'8", 280-pound power forward Rico Gathers a tryout to play tight end on the football team. Gathers has declined, and King wrote that "Gathers would prefer to play defensive end because that position commands a higher paycheck in the NFL."
Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
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In these past few years, it's felt like Jimbo Fisher has landed every recruit he's wanted. He's loaded up on so many quarterbacks that some are almost guaranteed to move on after failing to crack Florida State's starting lineup, as was the case with Clint Trickett (West Virginia) and Jake Coker (Alabama).
If Fisher were recruiting for the Seminoles' basketball team, though, he'd have less worry about pursuing multiple players at the same position because of the higher frequency in cycling in fresh bodies. If Fisher wanted his roster to have four point guards, all of them could get playing time.
Mike Leach, Washington State
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Mike Leach is a big fan of pirates, Native American history and other weird topics. Yet that hasn't kept him from being able to convince impressionable teenagers to come play for him in some small communities, first in Lubbock for Texas Tech and now in Pullman for Washington State.
If you've been to either place, you'll understand.
This ability to sway fickle youth likely isn't limited to football players, and Leach's fondness for speed and ignoring the play clock could easily transfer over to basketball.
Washington State basketball coach Ernie Kent likes to push the tempo as well, averaging better than 70 points per game (but also giving up more than 76), and odds are Leach would be interested in keeping up that pace and would recruit for the Cougars accordingly.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Les Miles, LSU
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Les Miles spent much of the big basketball game between LSU and Kentucky in the student section at the Maravich Center in February and spent plenty of time schmoozing with the powers that be. Though this was only a few days after Miles signed another strong football recruiting class, he seemed like he easily transitioned over to basketball mode.
The Mad Hatter could probably sell you the car on the lot that doesn't have a passenger door, too.
Miles is particularly adept at going into enemy territory and pulling out prospects, as not only does he recruit well in Louisiana but also in Alabama, Florida and Texas. This would be a major boon for LSU's basketball team, because those are some of the states in which Tigers coach Johnny Jones regularly recruits.
Mark Richt, Georgia
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It's been a symbiotic relationship in Athens between Mark Richt and Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox, with both head men taking advantage of the other's games to woo recruits.
With this in mind, it stands to reason that Richt has watched enough basketball to know what Fox is looking for in terms of players and could help him land some whom the Bulldogs wouldn't normally get.
Since 2001, Richt has routinely cleaned up on the recruiting trail, and several times during that stretch he's managed to convince two-sport stars to give up basketball (among other disciplines) to focus on his football team.
Couldn't he reverse that trend, with the focus on baskets and rebounds rather than touchdowns and tackles?
Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
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Arizona isn't a school that needs much help recruiting on the basketball front, as Sean Miller has routinely had one of the best classes every year since replacing Hall of Famer Lute Olson. But if Miller ever wants to take a different approach to recruiting and chooses to seek out hidden gems, Rich Rodriguez will be the guy to help him.
Rodriguez has elevated the Wildcats' football program to a level it hasn't been at since the 1990s, and while it's still far below what the school does in basketball it has made Arizona one of the best hoops-football combos in the country.
And Rodriguez has fed off the basketball interest to improve his team's reputation, attending many games. In December, he and his team were honored during halftime of a game at McKale Center for winning the Pac-12 South Division title.
Not coincidentally, that game was against Michigan, the school that sent Rodriguez packing and enabled him to turn around Arizona's program.
Steve Sarkisian, USC
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At Washington, Steve Sarkisian was able to boost that football program at a time when basketball was the better sport at the school. USC would probably love it if he could take some of what he saw in Seattle and use it to boost the Trojans' basketball team.
Sarkisian is landing recruits from all over the country while still getting his pick of the litter in the fertile Los Angeles area. USC's basketball team hasn't been as lucky, having to settle for second-tier players both locally and outside the region.
USC football just recently came out of NCAA-imposed scholarship restrictions, yet Sarkisian hasn't had any trouble pulling in top talent. The basketball program recently had similar sanctions, so it might be wise to ask Sarkisian to provide hoops coach Andy Enfield with some tips for getting out of that situation.
Charlie Strong, Texas
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Facilities, coaching staffs, uniforms and playing time all factor heavily in football recruits' decisions when it comes to choosing a college. But so too does making a choice that best benefits their families, and there are few football coaches out there more dedicated to family values than Charlie Strong.
His hard-line approach to core values at Texas led to a number of players from the previous regime leaving the program this past season, and this scenario very likely impressed a number of parents who met him along the recruiting trail.
Finding a coach who cares about the players like they're his own children is a priceless trait and isn't just reserved for football.
Strong has managed to woo some notable prospects to Austin since arriving there last winter, and could no doubt do that for the Longhorns' basketball program as well.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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