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Overreacting to everything I saw.
College Football

10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 4 in the SEC

Chris Wright

By Chris Wright

Published:

Welcome to Coaching Carousel SZN.

At least 1 school already is pondering Who’s Next? At least 1 coach is pondering retirement. Dozens of other fan bases would like to retire their coach. Even one who won Saturday, like Eli Drinkwitz.

Those are among the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 4 in and around the SEC.

10. Why would Lane Kiffin leave Ole Miss for Florida?

I understand why Florida fans would want Lane Kiffin. I vehemently made the case they should have hired him 3 years ago, when they poached Louisiana’s football coach, instead.

Oops.

Now? I can’t think of any reason Kiffin would leave everything he’s building at Ole Miss for Florida.

Kiffin is the King of Oxford, and he hasn’t even gotten to an SEC Championship yet. Imagine what happens when he does. Heck, that might happen this year.

When was the last time Florida fans — or administrators — were happy with merely getting to the SEC Championship? Jim McElwain did that. So did Dan Mullen. Neither saw Year 5.

This is not an indictment of Florida’s fan base. It’s not, as some proclaim, a toxic situation. Pressure-packed like few others in the country? Yes. Too quick to dismiss the 80 years of mediocrity before Spurrier? Of course. Toxic? No.

This is merely stating what should be obvious: Kiffin has every single thing he needs at Ole Miss to accomplish the same goals he would have in Gainesville.

From resources to passionate fans to the growing ability to land just about anybody he wants, he has everything he needs to chase championships. And with the Playoff expanding, Ole Miss no longer has to worry whether it’s brand would be big enough to, say, hold off Ohio State or Notre Dame if it came down to a battle for a 4th and final spot. You know, if you believe such things mattered to the selection committee.

Florida has some history. Great. History doesn’t block or tackle. It has Heisman winners. Those guys haven’t made a play for Florida in 16 years. It has national championship banners. So does Nebraska. And Miami. And Notre Dame. And Florida State. Want me to keep going? Penn State. And USC. And Oklahoma … etc., etc.

What matters most is now.

And now? Florida isn’t a top-5 destination job in the SEC. It’s indisputably behind Alabama, Georgia, Texas, LSU and Tennessee. It might be behind Oklahoma and Ole Miss. There are 8 SEC programs with more overall wins than the Gators.

The only perceived advantage Florida has over Ole Miss is the ability to offer an initial contract longer than 4 years. But that’s irrelevant, too, because Kiffin’s contract automatically extends for 1 year as long as he wins 7 games. Even if he doesn’t win 7, somebody on either side has to agree to not extend.

So, essentially Kiffin will always be under contract for 4 more years as long as he wants to stay at Ole Miss.

There was a time when Kiffin to Florida made sense. Sorry, Gators. That time expired.

Make the call. But don’t expect to get the answer you want.

9. Is it too late for a do-over, Auburn?

Say what you want about Gus Malzahn — and Auburn fans certainly said a bunch — but one thing they can’t say, 4 years later, is that they’re better off without him.

They most certainly are not.

Malzahn never had a losing season on The Plains. Auburn hasn’t had a winning season since cutting the check.

Even worse, Hugh Freeze’s second Tigers team still looks inept on offense — and not just in Saturday’s loss to Arkansas.

Freeze is juggling quarterbacks, and the quarterbacks are juggling the football. Auburn threw 4 more interceptions against Arkansas. They have 8 in 4 games — most in the SEC by an uncomfortable margin. They also lost a fumble. Not surprisingly, they also lead the SEC with 14 turnovers.

Bottom line: 9-4 rarely looked better … or farther away.

8. It’s time to talk about Mack Brown …

To whatever extent North Carolina fans care about college football — it’s not basketball and never will be — it’s time to have a conversation about Mack Brown.

He’s a Hall of Famer and national champion.

He’s also lost at least 4 games in all 5 of the full seasons he’s been back at UNC. The Heels typically lost 5 or more in that stretch. Brown did that, mind you, with NFL quarterbacks in Sam Howell and Drake Maye.

Those guys are gone and Brown now is playing a kid he deemed 3rd on the depth chart after preseason camp.

Saturday, the Tar Heels were embarrassed by James Madison, so much so that Brown reportedly told the team he was retiring. Later, another report said Brown wasn’t retiring and that he typically overreacts to bad losses.

How bad was this loss?

Good line, Reddit. It wasn’t quite that bad, but UNC’s defense remains a mess.

Brown is now 41-28 in his second stint in Chapel Hill.

The best thing Brown has going for him is that he doesn’t coach at NC State.

That fan base has been and always will be far more passionate about football. That’s why State fans fired Dave Doeren — again — midway through a 59-35-beatdown at Clemson.

Make no mistake: Saturday was an equally disastrous day for both programs — but the noise and reaction tells you all you need to know.

State fans want to fire Doeren, who has a better record than Brown over the same 5+ year stretch — including a 3-2 edge against Brown. (Doeren is 7-4 overall vs. UNC.)

UNC fans are looking forward to Tuesday’s release of the basketball schedule and the return of RJ Davis.

These schools are separated by about 30 miles … but their football passion couldn’t be farther apart.

7. Nobody can figure out QB position

No, this isn’t about Florida. (Though it certainly could be.)

This is about Oklahoma, and the very curious situation the Sooners find themselves in.

Remember, OU had Dillon Gabriel and let him walk.

OK, fine. Brent Venables believed in Jackson Arnold … until midway through the Tennessee game, anyway.

There’s no sugarcoating how poorly Arnold played, but there’s also no way in the world a suddenly 1-dimensional offense with a true freshman quarterback was going to outscore Tennessee.

The decision to pull Arnold and go with Michael Hawkins wasn’t bold.

It was a sign of surrender.

And it went about as well as you’d expect it to: Hawkins’ first 4 possessions yielded 3 3-and-outs and a 4th punt.

He eventually led a TD drive in the 4th quarter and had another drive against soft coverage late, but at no point did anyone not wearing Sooners colors truly believe Oklahoma was going win its SEC debut; Tennessee flat-out dominated Josh Heupel’s homecoming game.

So, now what? A full-fledged quarterback controversy? Heck, Kirk Herbstreit declared the competition over and handed Hawkins the job. Talk about overreacting!

The only good news is that Oklahoma gets a get-right game next against Auburn.

6. Call of the Weak of the Week …

SEC refs are the gift that keep giving, so I try not to overreact to their, um, ability, every week.

But sometimes you just gotta call it like you see it. Now how they see it.

https://twitter.com/TheSECScoop/status/1837558493194400184

You can imagine how Florida fans reacted to the call. I’d include some of the responses, but most of them included words only coaches scream at refs, assistants or players.

5. The SEC’s 5 Playoff teams are …

I guess I wasn’t overreacting last week when I put 5 SEC teams in the Playoff field.

A day later, ESPN talking heads weighed in and agreed. Greg McElroy said “at least 5.”

That’s certainly Greg Sankey’s dream scenario.

Here are the 5:

1. Texas, 2. Tennessee, 3. Alabama, 4. Ole Miss, 5. Georgia

4. 4 coaches Florida should consider, you know, if and when …

Two prominent sources told SDS this week that when the time comes, the Gators will approach their next coaching search just like Alabama did in 2007. The Tide went all-in on Nick Saban and it took 38 days — and a couple of famous pressers from Saban saying he wasn’t coming — before the Tide landed their man.

Sources told SDS that Florida’s next head coach will be a proven winner from a Power conference. No more mid-major promotions.

This should be the realistic wish list (i.e., you’re not poaching Kirby or Heupel):

  • 1. Lane Kiffin: It’s his job to turn down.
  • 2. Dan Lanning: You want young, hungry and proven, with just enough bravado to stare down Kirby? Lanning’s your guy.
  • 3. Matt Rhule: Forget the overall record. He’s never stayed anywhere long enough to reap the benefit of what he’s built. He’s a verified change agent. And he would turn Florida. Quickly.
  • 4. Dabo Swinney: The most proven candidate in the country. Hard to imagine him leaving Clemson, though.

3. Mizzou bails out coach, again … Drink

Eli Drinkwitz’s Mizzou tenure has been marked with some strange in-game decisions. No need to rehash the past. That’s why Google exists.

But his latest misstep nearly cost Mizzou a chance to beat … Vanderbilt.

With 8 seconds left in the 2nd quarter, Drinkwitz decided to go for it on 4th-and-short near midfield. Vandy sacked QB Brady Cook, setting up a short field that led to a game-tying, 57-yard field goal.

(I’d mention the kicker’s name, but then you’d also know who missed the potential game-tying field goal that allowed Mizzou to escape with a 30-27 win. The focus here is on Drinkwitz’s brain, not a kicker’s foot.)

To his credit, Drinkwitz admitted his decision was stupid. Others noticed, too.

Mizzou is 4-0 and ranked No. 7 — though it wouldn’t surprise anybody if the Tigers dropped a spot or 2 Sunday. They’ll have a bye next week and, assuming they can keep Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed in check, could be 7-0 when they travel to Alabama in Week 9.

Bygones, if that’s the case. Voters have short memories.

Fans don’t.

2. Is Miami about to go undefeated?

Saturday’s road trip to pesky South Florida had “Miami Meltdown” written all over it.

The Canes entered kickoff ranked No. 8, led by a Heisman candidate in quarterback Cam Ward. So much hype.

Want to know what happened to the previous 3 Miami teams that cracked the top 10, swagger intact?

The 2020 team lost 3 games. The 2018 team lost 6 games. The 2017 team, which rose all the way to No. 2, ended up 10-3.

Hence, the “yeah, but …” caution about this Canes team, and the reason Mario Cristobal circled USF as a statement opportunity to see, exactly, how much the culture had changed.

After a resounding 50-15 win over the same outfit that made Alabama look mortal for 3-plus quarters, suffice it to say, plenty.

Now, the question shifts to: Can anybody beat these Canes?

1. NIL already has jumped the shark …

This didn’t take long …

Just like paying to park and ticket-service fees, once this floodgate opens, there’s no going back.

Chris Wright
Chris Wright

Managing Editor

A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.

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