Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Who’s Really the SEC’s Worst?
SEC Media Days start this Wednesday, and there will be media swarming like ants at a picnic, grabbing any precious seconds they can from a who's who list of coaches this year.
Along with the general football questions, though, so many questions, based in the purest mode of attack, have been thrown this past year and will resume again up on the second floor of Birmingham's Wynfrey Hotel.
Last year, Nick Saban was the hero/villain of the show. Sure, Saban got some heat from the fact that he said in public that he wasn't taking the Alabama job, and then promptly took it. Of course, this year, he'll be the local hero and crown prince of the ball. This is Birmingham, after all.
They'll poke at Steve Spurrier for more famous lines and pressure him about winning a SEC crown at South Carolina. They'll throw the heat on Les Miles to repeat at LSU, and at Phil Fulmer to see if Tennessee can break their latest BCS drought, and they'll key on Mark Richt, given the preseason hype for his Georgia Bulldogs. And if you want the safest bet, bet on Richt being one of the most well-liked coaches from the media standpoint.
However, this might all pale to the drama that new Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, as well as former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, who now leads the Ole Miss Rebels.
Chances are, Petrino will take tons of heat. After all, he was ESPN's whipping boy all last winter, to the point where one had to ask if Arthur Blank was the newest owner of the network. Meanwhile, Nutt, who has been given the red carpet treatment in Oxford, will receive a couple of hardballs, but nothing too serious.
I say, with all due respect, it should be the exact opposite.
That's right, I'm defending Petrino. Let's face it, he got into a situation in Atlanta that turned out to be much, much different than what was told to him, so he took a huge pay cut to go back to college football, where he could better direct operations and foster much better relationships with players.
Let's face it ... was anyone really sympathizing with the Atlanta players who blasted Petrino when he moved to Fayetteville?
I wasn't.
These are the same people that consider Michael Vick a great guy. Is anyone really considering the sources here (cough, ESPN, cough)?
Petrino hated Atlanta. His family hated Atlanta. Now he has a chance to coach at a BCS-level school, knowing that conference titles in the SEC will have a much better chance for a shot at the national crown than a title would in the Big East. Don't believe me? Think about this: how many upsets in college football had to happen for West Virginia to get a shot at the title game (only to lose to Pittsburgh)?
As for Houston Nutt, we have a totally different situation.
Here's a coach that told his fan base over and over they would pass the ball. They rarely did, so much so that one season, incomplete passes drew standing ovations.
Here's a coach that told the Arkansas media that playcalling "was overrated," yet tells the Ole Miss media that calling plays is one of the best parts of the game.
Here's a coach who was so intimidated by the intelligence of his new offensive coordinator, fresh from the high school ranks, that, instead of turning him loose and reaping the rewards, turns him away and chases him to Tulsa, who had one of the top-ranked offenses in the nation last year.
Here's a coach that got the national media to attack Arkansas fans for filing requests to check his cell phone records, but never answered some of the questions that came out of those records. Most notably, why were top recruits in the state not being contacted? As for the alleged affair, give Nutt the benefit of the doubt, but ask instead why was he texting someone ... anyone ... minutes before kickoff of a bowl game?
To continue would be to open a huge can of worms, but the point is obviously made.
Bobby Petrino got burned for getting out of a sticky situation, created by the same man who started Home Depot, the head sponsor of ESPN's College GameDay. Houston Nutt runs to Ole Miss, and somehow manages to get people to look the other way on the many bridges he burned.
Mark my words, you won't want to miss the Arkansas/Ole Miss game this year. But I hope the media pulls Petrino out of the fire, and throws a little of it towards more deserving candidates.