I got my copy of the 2012 Preview this weekend. I’ll dribble a few things out, but you really should go get your own. 344 pages of small print (“This [use of small type and abbreviations] is done so I can put as much information in this magazine as possible.”) can eat up a lot of the dead time between now and the start of fall camp, you know?
Anyway, for starters, I thought I’d share his ranking of the SEC coaches. It’s a little different. Here’s the order:
- Alabama
- LSU, Auburn (tied)
- Georgia, South Carolina (tied)
- Mississippi State, Missouri (tied)
- Florida, Vanderbilt (tied)
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- Texas A&M, Mississippi (tied)
- Arkansas
I think I’ll throw this one out for general discussion, although Chizik at number two and Phillips ahead of Sumlin certainly raised my eyebrows. What do you guys think?
Get The Picture 
For the most part I’d agree. However I’d move USC above Georgia and Auburn below us. I hate Spurrier but the guy’s got a Natty even if it was backed into and elevated two formerly crappy programs to prominence. Chizik’s title is looking more and more like an anomaly. I think Florida’s too new to rate, lest we forget Saban went 7-6 his first year as well.
LikeLike
How can he justify putting Arkansas at the bottom? John L. is an experienced HC who had a lot of success at Louisville, is familiar with the program as ST coordinator from a year ago and the rest of the staff comes back intact. I don’t see the Hogs missing a beat this year. So Arkansas goes in last on the list? Below UK? Below UT? Below Ole Miss? Steele is all wet with that one.
LikeLike
I’m not prepared to put Chizik above Richt, much less on the same level as Miles, until he proves he can accomplish something without Cam Newton on his roster.
LikeLike
+1. Richt beat Chizik with Joe Cox.
LikeLike
Exactly. Let’s see how Chizik fair without Cam & Gus.
LikeLike
bought mine sunday – was a little puzzled that steele had tav king and marlon brown ranked in his top receivers, but not malcolm mitchell. he mentions in his uga preview that mitchell played corner during spring, but he still lists mitchell as wr.
LikeLike
I still view Marlon Brown as a bit of an enigma… I’d be more willing to rank Chris Conley ahead of him.
But Malcolm’s absence in the rankings may be a bit of an educated guess… Did you see the comments of our 4th WR commit for 2013 in the AJC? Makes it sound like Malcolm’s move may become permanent
LikeLike
Bama, SC, LSU, UGA, Aub (although this could slide down fast without Malzs). What Spurrier did at Florida and continues to do at SC is so above the norm it is something to behold. I mean really, SC is an East contender every year now – look at their history and you’ll see why this is an accomplishment. Plus they have a big in state rival for talent as well, unlike UGA or LSU. Thus the nod over Miles.
LikeLike
I agree Spurdog has worked quite a transformation in Columbia, but I’d caution that any “SC is an East contender every year now” should get the same schedule-related asterisk everyone’s been slapping on the Dawgs lately. I mean, when the Gamecocks won the East in 2010, Tennessee and Georgia both finished with losing records, Vanderbilt was pre-Franklin, and Urban Meyer had one foot out the door at Florida. No doubt they were the best team in the division that season, but if the 2011 Dawgs are going to get backhanded with the “they beat up on a bunch of scrubs” disclaimer, I see no reason why the ’10 Gamecocks shouldn’t as well.
LikeLike
And USCe was only 9-5 , 5-4 in the SEC counting the loss in the SECCG in ’10, the only year the Cocks won the East. Hardly impressive.
LikeLike
Let’s not get carried away here. In eight years, they’ve only won the DIVISION one time, that being with a sterling 5-3 record. I’d call that a case of them sucking less than the rest of the division that season more than I’d call it some sort of accomplishment. Nevermind they’ve never even sniffed a conference title, with their closest shot ending in a 56-17 pasting in Atlanta at the hands of Auburn. Not to mention this “success” coincides with some of the greatest high school players to come out of SC, at least in my time. Lattimore, Clowney, Jeffrey, Gilmore, Taylor, and Matthews among others were all homegrown and played (or will) pro. I guess give credit to Spurrier for getting them to go to USCe, but how much of that was his prowess and how much of that was the lure of living at
The Whitney Hotel? In other words, consider he’s been fending off allegations of unsavory practices most of his time there. Questionable roster mangement practices, Hotel Whitney, Steven Garcia are just a few of the byproducts of his “success” in Columbia. Basically, he’s cutting corners.
LikeLike
+1, let’s stop talking like he’s turned Sahkerlina into some national powerhouse or something. The cocks were the worst Eastern division champ ins the history of the SEC since it went to a division format with an unimpressive 5-3 record. The stars aligned for them with UT, Georgia and Florida all pretty much sucking in the same year. They’ll never do it again.
LikeLike
2010 South Carolina was better than 2011 Georgia.
LikeLike
Not relevant to the job Spurrier has done in Columbia.
LikeLike
I’d be willing to bet I couldn’t fill a thimble with the accurate information you know about the Whitney, and I’d love to hear about these “questionable mangement roster practices”.
LikeLike
It’s not what I know, friend. It’s what the NCAA knows that counts.
“According to the facts of the case, twelve student-athletes lived in local hotel while paying a daily rate of less than $15 per person, an amount that was considerably less than what was available to the general student population. In addition, nine student-athletes received special loan arrangements by deferring rent payments through an agreement with the hotel. In total, the student-athletes received approximately $51,000 in impermissible extra benefits and preferential treatment.”
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2012/april/university+of+south+carolina+cited+for+failure+to+monitor
Spurrier and his cohorts “failed to monitor,” which is a nice way of saying they cut corners by burying their heads in the sand.
As for questionable roster management practices, from one of your own:
http://www.garnetandblackattack.com/2011/7/13/2274087/the-problem-with-oversigning-the-case-of-bryce-sherman
Or retaining Garcia in the face of four suspensions clearly for the fact he was the only capable starter:
Or pulling scholarship offers at the very last minute (nice touch on the fax) from homeless kids committed for almost a year:
http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2011/02/24/shoved-away-due-to-oversigning-lorenzo-mauldin-still-hopes-to-end-up-at-south-carolina/
What else did I leave out?
LikeLike
Is SOS a douchebag? Absolutely. Can he coach? Unfortunately, yes.
LikeLike
Despite Spurrier’s efforts to explain that Garcia never did anything truly bad, “just stupid,” nobody outside of Columbia seems to get it.
Garcia got in trouble while at South Carolina 6 times. The first 3 were all when he was a freshman or redshirt freshman. The final 3 were all between the last game of his junior season and the middle of his senior season.
First time, he got drunk in public. Dumb.
Second time, he keyed a car. Very dumb. Moreover, how dumb do you have to be get caught keying a car? I have never heard of anyone getting caught doing this, except Garcia.
Third time, he drank beers with his brother on campus (during daylight just sitting outside of his dorm with a giant cooler full of beer). DUMB.
fourth time, he missed curfew two nights before the bowl game. To my knowledge, the details of this incident have never been released. Regardless, VERY DUMB.
fifth time, he showed up to an SEC sponsored event where a guest speaker was speaking to the team about leadership and “making good choices after college” and got into an argument with the speaker. Reportedly, he had just come from a birthday party where he had been drinking. VERY DUMB.
sixth time, he drank a beer and failed an alcohol test, resulting in his final dismissal (in order to come back for his senior year, the athletic director made him sign a contract promising not to drink). Possibly the most dumb thing he ever did.
Say what you will about Spurrier being lenient on Garcia, but Garcia’s supposed scandals off the field absolutely pale in comparison to many football players. Garcia was extremely dumb and an alcoholic. Spurrier did not want to kick him off the team for being dumb.
LikeLike
Ranking Chizik ahead of Richt is horseshit.
LikeLike
Prarieshit, iyam.
LikeLike
Phil Steele’s analysis is often like the magazine’s bizzarro layout and abbreviating…best compliment for him (and it) is original. Daffy works too.
LikeLike
This is a rating of the coaching STAFF.
My understanding is that this is weighted heavily by the assistant coaches. I don’t know enough about the asst’s to have an informed opinion.
So to say that this means Chizik >> Richt in a vacuum is a simple, at best.
LikeLike
So…you’re blaming Bobo?
LikeLike
If that’s the case, Auburn’s post-Malzahn position is even less credible, IMO.
And UT turned over seven assistants this year. The Vols should be way lower on that scale.
LikeLike
Yeah, I’m not saying the list makes sense but that’s what Steele is doing.
LikeLike
How is Joker Phillips ahead of ANYONE on this list? He beat Tennessee when the Vols had a terrible team. I just wrote the man’s entire head coaching resume in one sentence.
LikeLike
James Franklin wants Steele to rank the coaches wives … so Vandy can be #1
LikeLike
Vandy wouldn’t be #1 using that criteria either based on the picture of Franklin’s wife I saw on this blog the other day.
LikeLike
Cheetzik is way over his head, and would be at #6. Nothing on his staff changes that, imo. Miles should be dropped after the fiasco with Jefferson last year, especially after the BCS game debacle. I can’t think of a coach who would not have made a change at QB in that game. I would have ranked Miles at the top before 2011.
I would not want another SEC head coach at UGA over Mark Richt, but I think 2nd or 3rd is as high as I could go based on sideline performance alone.
LikeLike
Let me get this straight Mac. You would not trade CMR for Saban straight up?
LikeLike