SEC Football Weekly: Coaching Carousel, Game Previews, and More

Joel BarkerNov 10, 2009

SEC Coaching Carousel Stalls... For Now

Last season at this time we knew at least two SEC coaches would be gone at seasons end. A few weeks later a third joined the unemployment line.

So far the replacements have been quite successful. Lane Kiffin, Gene Chizik, and Dan Mullen have begun to carve their initials into their respective programs and it appears all three schools made great decisions.

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As of right now there is no apparent potential hot seat in the SEC for this season.

Georgia is on its way to a 7-5 season at best, but Mark Richt has enough tenure to be allowed another season, at the least, to make changes and turn things around.

Vanderbilt has had a very disappointing season compared to last year’s bowl winning squad, but Bobby Johnson is one of the best coaches, at a perennially awful program, in America.

At Kentucky, Rich Brooks is riding out the clock until his successor, Joker Philips takes over.

Ole Miss has been highly disappointing when you consider the expectations that were mounted on the Rebels, but Houston Nutt’s job is safe.

Arkansas is just fine with Bobby Petrino and the Razorbacks could be ready to take a huge step forward next season.

Of course being fired is not the only way to cause turnover.

The more successful coaches in the SEC always face questions about turning their successes into bigger, better jobs with more Benjamins.

Urban Meyer is no stranger to that talk. This year, expect the rumors to grow wildly and become much more rampant between now and February when it comes to the Florida coach.

I know he has stated, “I’m not interested in Notre Dame. Ever.” But since when has that stopped anyone?

Notre Dame will certainly be open soon. Losing to Navy sealed Charlie Weis’ fate and the upcoming losses to Pitt and Stanford will hasten his exit.

Urban Meyer will definitely get a call.

When you consider that Tim Tebow and much of that vaunted defense will be gone after this season, Notre Dame might become more attractive to Meyer.

Throw in the fact that Florida has a tough schedule (for once) next season and you have the prefect recipe for a coach wanting to move on to bigger and better things.

But Florida does have a ton of talent coming in thanks to Meyer’s recruiting and on the field successes which could keep him around for years.

If Alabama wins the national title you can bet the house that NFL teams will once again come calling for Nick Saban. Whether he answers or not is anyone’s guess.

My guess is that Saban is done with the NFL and will continue to lead Alabama’s program for years to come. He’s had too much success in too short a time to think about leaving now—especially with the enormous talent that he continually recruits there.

If Michigan loses their final two games, which is a distinct possibility, Rich Rodriguez could find himself in trouble yet again. If the chatter in Ann Arbor reaches a crescendo I could definitely see RichRod in the unemployment line again.

If that happens, LSU coach Les Miles will bolt quicker than you can say “geaux Tigers”. He would have been gone two years ago if his team wasn’t on the verge of playing for an SEC/National title. Miles loves Michigan and I believe he would be extremely successful there.

I’ve been predicting a Steve Spurrier resignation for a couple of years now. It hasn’t happened yet, but a 6-6 season with this team which was 5-1 at one point might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, despite today’s report to the contrary.

Spurrier has had nothing but mediocre teams in South Carolina and with the competition in front of them the Gamecocks will probably never escape the SEC East shadow of the big three (Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee).

Who knows? He could end up as a candidate at Florida.

Previews—Week of 11/14

I was 7-1 in my picks last week. The lone loss coming from my South Carolina over Arkansas pick.

Kentucky at Vanderbilt : Bottom line for Kentucky; win. The Wildcats will become bowl eligible with a win here, but a loss would devastating as they must play Georgia and Tennessee to finish the season.

They must beat the 2-8 Commodores. I think they do. ‘Cats 34-17 .

Florida at South Carolina : Can the Gamecocks do it? How huge would it be for Steve Spurrier if they do? Florida has been about as unimpressive as any defending national champion in a long time.

Despite Florida’s many struggles, I just can’t see the faltering gamecocks winning this one. Gators 23-6 .

Alabama at Mississippi State : The last time ‘Bama went to Starkville it left with a shocking loss. This ‘Bama team is a far cry from that ‘Bama team.

State has plenty to look forward to… in the future. This year, not so much. Alabama 34-9 .

Auburn at Georgia : This should be another interesting test for Auburn. Simply stated, if their defense plays well Auburn will win. This Georgia team cannot keep up with them on the best of days.

Homefield is worth something in the SEC, but I think Auburn’s defense comes up with a key stop late in the game to win. Auburn 34-28 .

Louisiana Tech at LSU : One word… Blowout! LSU 45-7 .

Troy at Arkansas : Closer than some may think. Troy is no pushover. Arkansas 35-21 .

Game of the Week

Tennessee at Ole Miss : The Vols might be the hottest team in the conference right now. QB Jonathan Crompton has turned the corner and the defense is as stingy as ever.

If Tennessee can force turnovers early, this one could get ugly in a hurry. However, if the Vols continue to struggle on special teams that could be the great equalizer.

I have no reason to believe Jevan Snead will turn things around this week against a tough secondary. Eric Berry finally sets the interception return yards record this week. Vols 21-10.

Random Musings on the National Scene

I've already mentioned it once, but Notre Dame will have a new head coach next season. Shocker, I know. How do you defeat a team 43 straight times, then lose two out of three against them? Apparently the answer to that question is, Charlie Weis.
What would you have said if I would have wrote, "Jonathan Crompton will finish this season ranked third on the all-time Tennessee single-season Touchdown's Thrown list" after the UCLA and Florida games? He's three TD tosses away from that distinction.
I'll admit I didn't see Ohio State beating Penn State Saturday. As a matter of fact I don't know of anyone who would (Well other than Ohio State fans). Just further proves my point that Tressel needs to keep the shrink wrap off of Pryor and let him do his thing.
Who had Oklahoma losing four games? Not me.
Where in the world did Oregon go? I like Stanford and Toby Gerhart, but I didn't think they had it in them. Suddenly Jim Harbaugh's name is mentioned for high-profile coaching jobs (Well deserved I might add), and Toby Gerhart instantly gets Heisman talk.
If Alabama can count on Greg McElroy to stay consistent in the passing game, no one will even come close to defeating the Tide the rest of the way... including Florida.
Texas looks like the No. 1 team right now. Mack Brown has built a perennial national title contender in Austin. Goes to show that you can be a classy, nice guy and build a winner at the same time.
USC does not have a very good football team right now. After Stanford wins at the Coliseum this weekend that will be the prevailing thought. Of course they'll still only fall two places in the AP and Coaches Poll.
Temple? Are you kidding me? Seven wins!? Wow. Never saw that coming.
How can you not feel sorry for Iowa? Lose Stanzi, lose the game, lose any shot at the Rose Bowl. Sad.