Here’s Todd Monken, returning play action to the rightful place it occupied… under Jim Chaney?
Daily Archives: June 27, 2022
“It has Hollywood mini-series written all over it.”
Well, shit, don’t tell me the world hasn’t been waiting for this.
Is there more to the Nick Saban-Jimbo Fisher feud? Will NIL be what drives Nick Saban from college football?
These are just a couple of the questions that Paul Finebaum intends to answer in an upcoming, yet-to-be titled book on the subject.
The ESPN analyst is stepping away from the mic (figuratively, of course) and dusting off the writing utensils to collaborate with AL.com’s John Talty in an account of the rivalry between Alabama’s head football coach and two of his coaching proteges, Texas A&M’s Fisher and Georgia’s Kirby Smart, in the context of college football supremacy and with new rules that allow amateur athletes to be paid by businesses for use of their name, image and likeness.
I know I’ll be on the edge of my seat as publication day approaches.
Among the topics to be explored is the dynamic between Fisher and Saban but also Saban and Smart.
Finebaum said what transpired between Saban and Smart leading up to the championship game was “genuine,” but he thinks “the relationship with Saban is completely different, though.” He contends Saban views Smart completely different than Fisher.
“I think they are both complicated relationships,” Finebaum said. “To me, the scope of all of this is Shakespearian. You have Saban and his two prime courtiers. One is, at least publicly, playing the game of worship and deference in spite of winning a championship against him. The other has simply broken the cord and has gone scorched Earth. To me, it is a fascinating dichotomy between Saban and these two individuals. I think it screams for more.
Yeah, they’ll be teaching from it in eleventh grade English classes for years to come. And before you ask how much of Finebaum’s audience can read, don’t bother. They’re gonna wait for the movie.
Hollywood has taken notice, one industry insider tells AL.com. The industry is eating up sports content right now…
“I don’t have any doubt the entertainment industry will have an interest in this,” Finebaum said. “Because no one knows about this yet, we haven’t been down that road yet. I’ve heard through some friends of mine in the industry, that Hollywood would look at this very seriously.
“I think it is a made-for-Hollywood story. It’s an incredibly compelling story, involving the greatest college football coach of all time at a critical moment in his career and the two disciples that are challenging him for supremacy.”
Hollywood? Who’s gonna play PAWWWLLL!!! in the movie?
Filed under Nick Saban Rules, PAWWWLLL!!!
Trading places
You know what’s the first thing that came to mind when I watched this?
If you manage an SEC football program, there’s a difference between being committed to winning and being financially committed to winning. Everybody wants to win. The hard part is figuring out how to allocate resources to make sure that happens. And, no, that doesn’t mean spending money like a drunken sailor. (We’re looking at you, Tennessee.) It simply means that if you think your rightful place is among the Alabamas, Floridas and LSUs of the world, you’d better take a hard look at what they’re doing and make sure you’re giving your coaching staff the opportunity to keep up with them.
The difference between Richt’s situation and Napier’s is that NIL has been inserted into the equation. Oh, and that Florida is now looking for a way to join the Alabamas and Georgias of the college football world.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Recruiting
The AL.com Preseason SEC football poll
The AL.com Preseason SEC football poll, which tallies the votes of the SEC’s 14 Sports Information Directors, has reached its 76th edition, and you will be shocked to learn which program tops the conference this go ’round.
(SIDs can’t vote for their own school, in case you were wondering how the math works.)
Sure, it’s hard to pick against ‘Bama, but I do appreciate this bit of honesty about the Dawgs:
Georgia, on the other hand, faces a bit of re-loading job — there’s too much talent in Athens to call it a rebuild — following the departure of a record 15 players to the NFL draft. Still, quarterback Stetson Bennett returns, as does tight end Brock Bowers, offensive tackle Broderick Jones, defensive lineman Jalen Carter and linebacker Nolan Smith, among others.
The Bulldogs have been stacking top-flight recruiting classes since Smart arrived in 2015, so there’s no shortage of emerging standouts. Running back Kenny McIntosh, wide receiver Kearis Jackson, cornerback Kelee Ringo and safety Chris Smith are among those former four- and five-star prospects who will no longer have to share playing time with departed veterans in 2022.
And here’s the way they see the East:
The West came out looking like this:
That one vote for LSU there is a bold strategy, Cotton. Anyway, your thoughts?
Filed under SEC Football
Making friends along the way
I have to admit it takes a special kind of talent to alienate both sides of a commitment. Attorney Michael W. Caspino with Forward Counsel in Newport Beach, Calif. seems to have what it takes in that regard, in spades. He’s got Miami running away from him, even though they were the winners in the Rashada Sweepstakes, but he didn’t stop there.
Shot.
“Florida is the most dysfunctional collective in all of college football,” Caspino said. “I plan on steering my clients away from them. From my standpoint, I never ever want to deal with them again. If it weren’t for the collective that’s completely dysfunctional at Florida, he probably would have been there.”
Chaser.
https://twitter.com/GatorCollective/status/1541238884654321664
I doubt they give a rat’s ass about Rashada’s eligibility, but Florida’s? That’s a different story.
This one’s starting to look like a slam dunk for a school getting turned in to NCAA enforcement. Also, can you issue a show cause to an NIL lawyer? Asking for a friend…
Filed under The NCAA
First rule of NIL Club
You do not talk about NIL Club. Unlike this guy:
Yet, Michael W. Caspino with Forward Counsel in Newport Beach, Calif., said the rumor mill isn’t accurate this time around. Caspino – who has built a reputation as the NIL lawyer representing many top football and basketball prospects – said Rashada took a “considerably lesser NIL deal” by picking the Hurricanes.
“Jaden left millions on the table,” said Caspino, who confirmed he represented Rashada in his NIL negotiations with collectives across the country. “Millions. He did not pick the highest offer. He went there because he loves Miami, the coaches, and the opportunity.”
Brilliant move, genius.
Which is why Miami’s John Ruiz immediately went into “New phone, who dis?” mode.
The second rule of NIL Club is never hire somebody who bills himself as “NIL lawyer”.
Filed under It's Just Bidness
Old dogs and new tricks
Dave Aranda sounds like he’s getting out ahead of college football’s new reality.
… the Baylor coach said that he actually views the current landscape as a giant opportunity for growth for coaches.
“I think it’s good,” Aranda said. “It’s changing for sure. I think the coach that in the past that would take out his frustrations on players, that would take out his anxieties on other coaches, or take out his insecurities on players and then later call that coaching, I think that coach is probably struggling. We’ve all been around them and we’ve all probably been coached by them. I just think there’s an opportunity for that coach to grow and to really kind of transcend, man.”
I don’t know about transcending, but I do think we’ve entered an era when being a control freak isn’t what it once was. For what that’s worth.
“There’s getting out of your comfort zone and what comes of it when you stay in your comfort zone. I think the ability for coaches to have an open mind and to not look at it and say, ‘I’ve got power over players,’ but ‘I’m working with my guys, I’m seeing them as people, I’m pouring into them as people.’ That better person is going to make a better player. I think that’s going to be a view.”
For some, sure. But old habits die hard.
Filed under College Football
Your Daily Gator hits rock bottom.
It took a decade and four head coaches, but Agent Muschamp’s evil plan has come to fruition.
Again, this is for rational and polite discussion, not hate. With that being said, is it possible that the 90s and 00s were just an anomaly and the reality it’s we’re just a mid tear program? I’m too young to remember before this, so is it possible we just have to accept that we’re a team that will just be a 6-10 win team every year that has a nice bowl every couple years? Don’t want to go my whole life expecting to be a championship caliber team and being disappointed.
“mid tear” is such a Freudian slip. Enjoy reality, Gators.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
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