CigarSmokinFootball

Coaches not on the Hot Seat (but should be)

As the 2019 college football season inches ever closer, one of things fans like to know is who is on the hot seat. These coaches know, going into the season, it’s either do or die. At this time of year everyone knows whose pants are on fire, like: Clay Helton at USC, Lovie Smith- Illinois, Chris Ash- Rutgers, and, of course, Gus Malzahn of Auburn. (I personally hope good ole Gus stays at Auburn for a very, very long time). So, instead of going over what everyone already knows, let’s take a look at coaches who are not on the hot seat, but should be.

Will Muschamp, South Carolina – Yep, Coach Boom may not be the person that just leaps out at ya’, but take a minute or two, and think about it. What has he done at South Carolina? Well, not very much! This will be his fourth season holding the reins and there needs to be vast improvement, as in, like, challenging Georgia for the SEC East crown. Will came to the Gamecocks (Remember, he had previously been at Florida as the HC, and Texas, as the HC-in-waiting) at the same time Kirby Smart did. Let’s compare how they’ve done. HC Smart has led the Bulldogs to the National Championship game once and the SEC title game twice. HC Muschamp has won the Outback bowl, he is 12-12 in SEC play and 22-17 overall. That puts him on the exact same pace as he was at Florida, where he got canned. I mean come on, Florida hired Dan Mullen and after one year people are already talking about the Gators being a contender in the Eastern Conference. NO body is talking that way about USC-South. It wasn’t that long ago that the Ole Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier, was leading the Gamecocks to heights they’ve never seen before. This might be the best example of the “Peter Principle” anyone has ever seen. Don’t know what the Peter Principle is? Look it up. Muschamp is a great Assistant coach but just can’t cut it as the head man.

Willie Taggart, Florida State – How can a coach with only one year under his belt be considered for the Hot Seat? Simple, his first year was horrible, and he was at Florida State. We’re not talking about, “Oh, dear, that was not FSU’s best”;- no, we’re saying it was SO bad that fans had no idea what happened to their team. The Seminoles were disorganized, uncoordinated, confused and all around out- played, out-coached, and out-hustled in every game, sort of like Alabama was by Clemson last January. Let’s don’t dwell on that. We’re talking about Willie Taggart here. In short, it was an embarrassing. Chalking up a 5-7 record is unacceptable in Tallahassee. Seminole Nation is a bit spoiled. Under Bobby Bowden, they were national contenders every year, even HC Jimbo Fisher brought home a National Championship. So when Taggart led the team to not be bowl eligible for the first time is eons, like 1981, this was like the Hindenburg bursting out in flames all over again. When HC Taggart was at South Florida his team started off bad, 2-10. The next year, they doubled that win category, third year was 8-5, and then year four, 10-2. A complete reversal was achieved. He spent one year at Oregon and bailed. But this is the big leagues, sort-of, I mean, it ain’t the SEC, or even the BIG 14 than can only add to ten, but it is the ACC, and the ACC has been known to play some ball sometimes. If Coach Taggart doesn’t show that he is capable of achieving a turnaround in the very weak ACC (except for Clemson), he might want to start packing his bags. They’re not going to give him four years of grace.

Matt Luke, Ole Miss – HC Luke is a down-home, good ole boy from Mississippi. He is one of the people. He played his college football at Ole Miss, he started his coaching career at Oxford, and now he has achieved his ultimate dream job of becoming the head coach of the school he loves. Everyone loves his story, he is such a nice guy. Not only that, but he took over a mess of a football program and he never complained. The NCAA slapped the University with post bowl appearances and they lost scholarships. Still, Matt never questioned his commitment. There is one big problem, though. The Rebels play in the SEC West, the toughest division, of the toughest conference, in the nation. Even though Hugh Freeze messed a few things up, he still beat Alabama! Twice! And he did it two years in a row, at home and away! Not only that, but they were in contention of finally winning the SEC West and going to Atlanta for the very first time, except Arkansas made one of the most unbelievable fourth down plays a person has ever seen to ruin it and send Alabama on the way to another Conference title and another National Championship. This will be Luke’s third year. In his two years, he has led the Rebs to four conference wins. Four…in two years. His overall record is 11-13, winning 6 games in his first year and 5 the next. But he’s such a nice guy, and he deserves a break. Nope, sorry, this is the SEC. It just means more. Holding down the bottom in the West perennially is unacceptable. CSF is not saying he needs to take the Rebels to the Promised Land this year, Atlanta, and then the Natty will do, but, my Gosh man! Beat someone, have a winning record, go to a bowl, somewhere, anywhere. And get rid of those powder puff blue helmets and jerseys! They look great in the powder room, but way too passive on the gridiron.

Jim Harbaugh, Michigan – Here, at the top of the list, is the third highest paid coach in America! And he’s won…about the same as Coach Boom at USC-South. This will be year five of Harbaugh’s coaching tenure at Michigan, and, honestly, if he can’t win at least the BIG-East, much less the BIG conference, then the University needs to cut ties with their favorite former Quarterback, or accept mediocrity. This is the man that came into the league hailed as the savior! He was going to give the Wolverine fan base the two things they have most desire, 1) beating Ohio State, and, 2) returning to prominence within the college football world. Let me ask a question here:- if Ohio State lost four straight years to Michigan, or Kansas State lost four straight to KU, or the old Nebraska lost four straight to the old Oklahoma, would their Head Coaches be in hot water? Now is Root-Hog-Or Die time. The Great White North conference is down, no question about it. (Is it true that Northwestern is considered a possible contender for the trip to Indianapolis?) Ohio State has a new head coach, an unproven QB, I mean, how much better does Harbaugh need it to be? The last time Michigan was a Champion was when they split the National Title with Nebraska. That was in 1997, 21 years ago, and the Wolverines haven’t even come close to reaching that pinnacle again. For some, mainly, the press corps, they want UM to be relevant, to be the revenant, return from the dead, so to speak. Many writers believe the world is better off when the Wolverines are considered top tier, so they will do all they can to help this team out. If Harbaugh cannot beat OSU, and win the conference this year, then what’s the point of keeping him? (to be completely honest, CSF doesn’t even think he’ll win the second game of the season because they play Army, and, well, the Black Knights are more than folks give them credit for. Ask Oklahoma what it was like to play Army, at home, last year).