SEC Extra Points with Barrett Sallee: Kirby Smart a Distraction for Alabama?
One of the biggest dominoes during the coaching silly season has dropped, and it could have dropped at the most inopportune time for Alabama as it prepares to square off against Florida and perhaps earn its second straight berth into the College Football Playoff.
According to Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kirby Smart will be named the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs shortly after the SEC Championship Game, and he could bring other members of the Crimson Tide staff with him, including strength-and-conditioning coach Scott Cochran, according to FootballScoop.com.
The Smart news isn't exactly a surprise, but if Smart brings Cochran—who has been with head coach Nick Saban since he arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007—that could be enormous for the Bulldogs and hurt the Tide, as Matt Hayes of SportingNews.com noted on Twitter.
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Could this be a distraction this week vs. Florida?
I doubt it.
Smart's move isn't official, Cochran is still in Tuscaloosa and, while the silly season might have occupied at least some of their time, this week is all about football and all about the SEC Championship Game.
"I would like for our guys to stay focused on what they're doing here right now," Saban said on Sunday. "I have no reason to believe that anybody isn't totally focused because for us to play well at whatever they're responsible for is certainly going to be helpful to any opportunities that they can create for themselves."
However, if Alabama beats Florida and earns a playoff berth, this absolutely could be a problem.
It's one thing for one or two coaches to double-dip while preparing for the national title in December. Dan Mullen did it successfully in 2008 after he got the Mississippi State job, and Tom Herman did the same last year during Ohio State's title run while preparing for his new gig at Houston.
It's an entirely different thing if that new head coach raids his own staff on the way out the door.
Seth Emerson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tossed out the idea of Billy Napier, Alabama's current wide receivers coach and former offensive coordinator at Clemson, taking over the Bulldogs offense. Along with Smart taking some coaches with him, others could certainly be on the way out the door.
What's more, unlike Herman's move to Houston and Mullen's to Mississippi State, Smart will be recruiting a lot of the same players at Georgia. Would Saban be alright with Smart sticking around knowing they're both swimming in the same recruiting pool?
No way.
If Smart sticks around after this week, there certainly could be trouble looming.
For now, though, there isn't much to worry about.
Wing and a Prayer
The month of November was not kind to the Florida offensive line.
Injuries up front including to starting left tackle David Sharpe, ineffectiveness from versatile freshman Martez Ivey, Trip Thurman moving from guard to center and the grind wearing down the big boys up front transformed the Gators offensive line from a unit that was competent to one that was a liability.
They gave up 15 sacks over the last four games of the season, and are hurting up front heading into the Georgia Dome. During that time, they squared off against the likes of South Carolina (three sacks allowed) and Florida Atlantic (five), which don't exactly stack up against the fearsome Alabama front seven.
"I just hope our offensive line, their knees don't crack together from shaking as they got to play against those guys," Gators head coach Jim McElwain said on Sunday's teleconference. "They just keep rolling them through there."
That they do.
Whether it's A'Shawn Robinson, Jonathan Allen, Jarran Reed, Darren Lake, D.J. Pettway, Da'Ron Payne or others, the Crimson Tide is deep and talented up front. They lead the SEC and are third in the nation with 41 sacks and have 86 tackles for loss on the year, and that group is the strength of this year's SEC West champs.
"A lot of the guys that are playing on our front seven have played in the past," Saban said on Sunday. "We only have one freshman who contributes and plays. All the rest of the guys have played quite a lot of football and have a lot of starts. We thought this should be one of the strengths of our team from the very beginning."
Florida has to find a way to get either surprising success in the trenches or move quarterback Treon Harris out of the pocket to work east-west to try to neutralize what will be the biggest challenge of the year for the Gators.
Treon Time?
If Florida is going to spring the upset, it's going to have to get the best game of Harris' career. The sophomore dual-threat quarterback was inserted back into the lineup in late October vs. LSU after former starter Will Grier was suspended for a year for violating the NCAA's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Since then, he's regressed.
He completed 53.1 percent of his passes against the Tigers and threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns, but he has gone north of 50 percent passing only once since then, he's thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns (four) and he's become a major question for the Gators.
Why the regression?
"I think part of it is, I think, a little bit of the unknown in the LSU game and what people have done to take the things away from him that kind of made him successful there," McElwain said.
Unfortunately, there's not much McElwain can do to combat it. Harris has shown the ability to hit the big play, after completing 11 passes of 30 or more yards this season. But if the offensive line isn't giving Harris time to drop back and the receivers time to get downfield, one of his strengths will go to waste.
Expect McElwain to get creative in the passing game and running game with Harris. The first-year head coach and former Tide offensive coordinator knows Alabama sometimes struggles with mobile quarterbacks, and now's the time for Florida to surprise the world with a "Florida 2.0" offense that emphasizes Harris' mobility.
If it doesn't, it's going to be a long afternoon.
So You're Telling Me There's a Chance?
If Florida is going to have a chance against Alabama, it's not only going to have to force mistakes—it's going to have to turn those mistakes into immediate points.
The Gators have returned two interceptions for touchdowns (both by sophomore corner Jalen Tabor), have the second-most fumbles recovered in the SEC (10) and notched a safety last week against Florida State.
Special teams could get into the mix, too.
Antonio Callaway is third in the SEC in punt returns at 14.04 yards per game, has taken one to the house this year and is as shifty in space as anybody in the SEC. Alabama, on the other hand, is sixth in the SEC at 8.26 punt-return yards per attempt, has given up a score and has been a little inconsistent this year.
The way to beat Alabama is to get Alabama out of its comfort zone, force quarterback Jake Coker to be a difference-maker rather than a game manager and limit the impact of running back Derrick Henry.
Florida has the ability to do that with its defense and special teams. If it can, especially early, it gives McElwain his best hope of an upset.
Spinning Wheels
A week ago, Smart seemed like he was destined to coach in the SEC East, but perhaps at South Carolina instead of at Georgia.
Since Georgia opened up and Smart became the only option, the Gamecocks have expressed interest in former Florida head coach and current Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, according to the State, and current Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt—who has no head-coaching experience—according to JC Shurburtt of 247Sports.
That sound you hear is the South Carolina athletic department spinning its wheels trying to go in another direction, because athletics director Ray Tanner is fighting an uphill battle to land his top candidate.
That doesn't mean that he won't find the right guy.
Chris Low of ESPN reported on Wednesday that Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley might be in the mix.
Riley has the Sooners on the brink of a College Football Playoff berth, has worked wonders with quarterback Baker Mayfield this year and has found a nice balance between his Air Raid background and the power running of Samaje Perine. He has experience in the region from his time at East Carolina (2010-2014), and he would make it difficult for opposing defensive coordinators to scheme against the Gamecocks.
Just because No. 1 doesn't look likely doesn't mean this search will be a failure for South Carolina. If they end up with Riley, that'd be a home run.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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