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Checking back on SEC coaches
<!-- /HEADLINE --><!-- MAIN PHOTO --><!-- /MAIN PHOTO --><!-- BYLINE -->
By Pat Dooley
Columnist
<!-- /BYLINE --><!-- PUBDATE -->Published: Monday, November 24, 2008 at 7:13 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, November 24, 2008 at 7:13 p.m.
<!-- /PUBDATE -->Back in Hoover, we were half right.
<!-- GRAY BOX ARTICLE CONTENT--><!-- /GRAY BOX ARTICLE CONTENT-->In July, the media picked Florida and Auburn to win their respective divisions at SEC Media Days. Auburn? Hey, there were 13 people who picked Auburn to be the conference champs. And only 11 of them were related to Tiger mega-booster Bobby Lowder.
Whether we nailed it on Florida, which was picked by more than half of the voters to be celebrating in Atlanta, remains to be seen. But the point of this is not to show how clueless the media is when it comes to predictions. You already knew that because you read Dr. Football.
No, it's to point out that expectations often come with baggage and that it's more than the number of returning starters on a team that leads to its success.
On the way home from The Citadel-Florida game, I started thinking about the performances of the 12 conference coaches this season. Remember, this conference has the best coaches in the country. So how did they do this season?
There is still football to be played, but if I was ranking them in order for the jobs they performed in the 2008 season, it would go like this:
1. Nick Saban: We all thought Alabama was a year away, but Saban did a masterful job of blending veterans with an amazing crop of freshmen to form what is now an unbeaten team. The Tide hasn't looked as dominant as Florida or Oklahoma, but there is only one BCS team without a loss.
2. Houston Nutt: If not for Alabama's perfect record, Nutt would be the SEC coach of the year. Remember that Ole Miss didn't win a conference game last year. Usually a coach has a year of transition like Saban, where it takes time to get players to buy in. To go 7-4 with a game left and probably headed for the Cotton Bowl shows that Nutt knows what he's doing. The question is whether he can take the program to the next level.
3. Urban Meyer: The way Meyer adjusted after the Ole Miss loss can't be overlooked. He has Florida playing incredible football and it has to be pointed out that after last year's Michigan debacle, Meyer went to work with his defensive coaches to change the way the Gators play. He has also done a good job (with the exception of one game) of keeping the team focused and motivated amid the hype.
4. Bobby Johnson: Usually, getting Vanderbilt into a bowl game would be good enough to get you coach of the year. Instead, it may land Johnson a job elsewhere. Nobody is dealt a tougher hand than the Vanderbilt coach on a yearly basis. Despite the loss to Tennessee, getting to 4-4 in the conference deserves some accolades.
5. Steve Spurrier: The ball coach has been frustrated all year with his quarterback play, but he has been smart enough to let the defense win games. This isn't the same Spurrier that coached at Florida, but another bowl trip should have Gamecock fans giddy.
6. Mark Richt: You know, Georgia is 9-2. But so much more was expected of the Bulldogs. The expectations may have been part of the trouble. So was the schedule. Some of us saw this coming. Richt wasn't among us. Georgia played three big games this year and was hammered in two of them.
7. Rich Brooks: Brooks has the Wildcats bowl-eligible again and deserves a lot of credit. But only two wins in the conference drops his stock, as does his inability to realize Mike Hartline can't play quarterback.
8. Bobby Petrino: Arkansas certainly wasn't blessed with talent when Petrino took over but it wasn't 1-6 in the SEC bad. Petrino was able to make the Razorbacks competitive three losses were by a total of six points but they have to win the close ones in the future.
9. Les Miles: The Hat struggled in 2008. The big question the LSU fans have to have is whether the defense was all about Bo Pelini. I know that the big problem has been quarterback play but that defense shouldn't be giving up those kinds of points.
10. Sylvester Croom: We thought the Bulldogs would slip back into obscurity and they did. Croom has to figure it out offensively or he'll be looking for a job.
11. Tommy Tuberville: Our optimism for the Tigers was based on a new spread offense under Tony Franklin to go with the usual rugged Tigers defense. Tommy might want to try vetting next time. There is no excuse for two conference wins for the Tigers. And one of those was 3-2.
12. Phillip Fulmer: Don't mean to jump on the pile, but when your team is this bad, you've done a lousy job. For Fulmer, it goes back to recruiting and discipline, neither of which have been a part of UT football of late. We won't have Fulmer to kick around much longer.
<!-- /HEADLINE --><!-- MAIN PHOTO --><!-- /MAIN PHOTO --><!-- BYLINE -->
By Pat Dooley
Columnist
<!-- /BYLINE --><!-- PUBDATE -->Published: Monday, November 24, 2008 at 7:13 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, November 24, 2008 at 7:13 p.m.
<!-- /PUBDATE -->Back in Hoover, we were half right.
<!-- GRAY BOX ARTICLE CONTENT--><!-- /GRAY BOX ARTICLE CONTENT-->In July, the media picked Florida and Auburn to win their respective divisions at SEC Media Days. Auburn? Hey, there were 13 people who picked Auburn to be the conference champs. And only 11 of them were related to Tiger mega-booster Bobby Lowder.
Whether we nailed it on Florida, which was picked by more than half of the voters to be celebrating in Atlanta, remains to be seen. But the point of this is not to show how clueless the media is when it comes to predictions. You already knew that because you read Dr. Football.
No, it's to point out that expectations often come with baggage and that it's more than the number of returning starters on a team that leads to its success.
On the way home from The Citadel-Florida game, I started thinking about the performances of the 12 conference coaches this season. Remember, this conference has the best coaches in the country. So how did they do this season?
There is still football to be played, but if I was ranking them in order for the jobs they performed in the 2008 season, it would go like this:
1. Nick Saban: We all thought Alabama was a year away, but Saban did a masterful job of blending veterans with an amazing crop of freshmen to form what is now an unbeaten team. The Tide hasn't looked as dominant as Florida or Oklahoma, but there is only one BCS team without a loss.
2. Houston Nutt: If not for Alabama's perfect record, Nutt would be the SEC coach of the year. Remember that Ole Miss didn't win a conference game last year. Usually a coach has a year of transition like Saban, where it takes time to get players to buy in. To go 7-4 with a game left and probably headed for the Cotton Bowl shows that Nutt knows what he's doing. The question is whether he can take the program to the next level.
3. Urban Meyer: The way Meyer adjusted after the Ole Miss loss can't be overlooked. He has Florida playing incredible football and it has to be pointed out that after last year's Michigan debacle, Meyer went to work with his defensive coaches to change the way the Gators play. He has also done a good job (with the exception of one game) of keeping the team focused and motivated amid the hype.
4. Bobby Johnson: Usually, getting Vanderbilt into a bowl game would be good enough to get you coach of the year. Instead, it may land Johnson a job elsewhere. Nobody is dealt a tougher hand than the Vanderbilt coach on a yearly basis. Despite the loss to Tennessee, getting to 4-4 in the conference deserves some accolades.
5. Steve Spurrier: The ball coach has been frustrated all year with his quarterback play, but he has been smart enough to let the defense win games. This isn't the same Spurrier that coached at Florida, but another bowl trip should have Gamecock fans giddy.
6. Mark Richt: You know, Georgia is 9-2. But so much more was expected of the Bulldogs. The expectations may have been part of the trouble. So was the schedule. Some of us saw this coming. Richt wasn't among us. Georgia played three big games this year and was hammered in two of them.
7. Rich Brooks: Brooks has the Wildcats bowl-eligible again and deserves a lot of credit. But only two wins in the conference drops his stock, as does his inability to realize Mike Hartline can't play quarterback.
8. Bobby Petrino: Arkansas certainly wasn't blessed with talent when Petrino took over but it wasn't 1-6 in the SEC bad. Petrino was able to make the Razorbacks competitive three losses were by a total of six points but they have to win the close ones in the future.
9. Les Miles: The Hat struggled in 2008. The big question the LSU fans have to have is whether the defense was all about Bo Pelini. I know that the big problem has been quarterback play but that defense shouldn't be giving up those kinds of points.
10. Sylvester Croom: We thought the Bulldogs would slip back into obscurity and they did. Croom has to figure it out offensively or he'll be looking for a job.
11. Tommy Tuberville: Our optimism for the Tigers was based on a new spread offense under Tony Franklin to go with the usual rugged Tigers defense. Tommy might want to try vetting next time. There is no excuse for two conference wins for the Tigers. And one of those was 3-2.
12. Phillip Fulmer: Don't mean to jump on the pile, but when your team is this bad, you've done a lousy job. For Fulmer, it goes back to recruiting and discipline, neither of which have been a part of UT football of late. We won't have Fulmer to kick around much longer.
