Tag: Coaches

Ranking SEC head coaches heading into 2020 CFB season

We ranked all the SEC head coaches, from Georgia football’s Kirby Smart, to Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, to Florida’s Dan Mullen.

The SEC is loaded with head coaching talent as we head into the 2020 college football season.

You have your usuals – Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Gus Malzahn, Ed Orgeron, etc.

But then you have your familiar, or in some cases not-so-familiar, yet new faces: Lane Kiffin, Mike Leach, Sam Pittman, Eli Drinkwitz.

Ranking the SEC head coaches heading into the 2020 season is as hard as it’s ever been, and that’s because of all these new hirings. But it’s also because Jeremy Pruitt waited until October to start winning games in Tennessee last year. It’s because Ed Orgeron took a loaded roster and won a national title. Because Gus Malzahn and Auburn always have the talent but can’t seem to win the big ones. Or because, despite a 4-8 season, Will Muschamp was able to knock off Kirby Smart and Georgia.

Related: 2020 Georgia schedule with game-by-game score predictions

With all of this taken into consideration, here’s our SEC head coaching power rankings for the 2020 college football season:

14. Sam Pittman, Arkansas

I would have loved to get Pittman into a higher spot on this list, but what is there to go off of? His last head coaching job came in 1992 and 1993 when he led Hutchinson Community College to an 11–9–1 record over two seasons.

I am 100% rooting for Pittman to succeed in his first season as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. It won’t be easy, and this is a team that will likely finish with at least five losses for the first few years, but that’s not necessarily a terrible thing as long as they play hard.

Arkansas may not field the most talented teams in the SEC, but if there’s one thing I’m certain of it’s that the former UGA O-Line coach will make sure his guys fight harder than anybody.

13. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri

Drinkwitz gets the No. 13 spot because of what he was able to do at App State last year. In his first season as a head coach, he led the Mountaineers to a 12-1 record and a Sun Belt championship.

But that’s not the SEC. It’s going to be a rocky road ahead for Drinkwitz, as Mizzou will definitely not be one of the more talented teams in the league for a few years.

12. Derek Mason, Vanderbilt

I often find myself rooting for Vanderbilt and Mason.

He took over at Vandy when James Franklin left for Penn State, and though it’s been tough at times, you get the feeling that Commodore fans actually look forward to their seasons.

11. Will Muschamp, South Carolina

If Muschamp had not beaten Georgia last year, he maybe would not even be on this list at all.

But he won and that probably saved his job. He coaches up a good defense, but South Carolina will need to crank up its recruiting efforts if it wants to start contending in the SEC East. Another season with no bowl game may put an end to Muschamp’s head coaching career with the Gamecocks.

10. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Kiffin is a good football coach, there’s no denying that. No. 10 is pretty low for an offensive genius like him. But this conference is simply loaded.

Kiffin did a great job at Florida Atlantic, but I still need to see him win consistently at a Power 5 school.

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Top five coaches Texas will face in 2020

Who are the top five opposing coaches on the Longhorns 2020 football schedule?

Regardless of the sport, coaching plays a crucial role in player development. Continue reading “Top five coaches Texas will face in 2020”

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Vic Fangio ranked No. 22 among NFL coaches by Patrick Daugherty

Where should Vic Fangio rank among the NFL’s best head coaches?

Each offseason, Rotoworld’s Patrick Dougherty ranks all 32 head coaches in the NFL. This year, Broncos coach Vic Fangio is ranked No. 22.

“Fangio’s tenure will hinge on whether he can move past his offensive inertia,” Dougherty wrote. “The Broncos’ weapons-focused draft suggests Fangio and GM John Elway understand the stakes.”

Denver went 7-9 last year and finished second in the AFC West.

Fangio is the lowest-ranked coach in the division, behind the Chiefs’ Andy Reid (No. 2), the Chargers’ Anthony Lynn (No. 18) and the Raiders’ Jon Gruden (No. 19). Given that Fangio has a limited sample size to judge from, Dougherty’s ranking seems to be fairly reasonable.

If the Broncos return to the playoffs this year, Fangio will undoubtedly shoot up the rankings in 2021.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is ranked No. 1 on the list. Jaguars coach Doug Marrone has the lowest ranking (No. 27). Dougherty did not rank the five coaches entering their first year with a new team.

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Texans’ Bill O’Brien ranks No. 17 on NFL coaches list

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien ranks in the middle of the pack in a recent listing of all 32 NFL coaches.

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien isn’t finding himself highly ranked on any NFL coaches lists this offseason.

Patrick Daugherty from Rotoworld released his ranking of all 32 coaches, and somehow O’Brien, who won the AFC South and a playoff game after being ranked No. 14 in Daugherty’s rankings a year ago, dropped three places.

For his six-year career, O’Brien boasts a .542 winning percentage but has outscored his opponents by only 23 points across 96 games. Things grow stranger in the front office, where O’Brien keeps winning power struggles and rewarding himself with promotions. He actually did not intend for that to be the case in 2019, but when his clumsy pursuit of Patriots executive Nick Caserio turned out to be obvious tampering, he was forced to back away. With no one to check his power this offseason, BOB formally named himself general manager before making one of the worst trades in NFL history. O’Brien didn’t even shop star wideout DeAndre Hopkins, a fact made clear by the fact that other GMs were forced to answer for his inexplicable acquisition of David Johnson. It is easy to believe O’Brien would have long ago been out of a job without Deshaun Watson, though that discounts the fact that he’s won divisions with Brock Osweiler and Brian Hoyer as his primary quarterbacks. Nothing about the man or his football team makes sense. I am not expecting that to change in 2020.

Among playoff-winning coaches, O’Brien’s No. 17 ranking is the fourth-lowest. The lowest playoff-winning coach was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Doug Marrone at No. 27.

O’Brien ranks third among AFC South coaches. The Tennessee Titans’ Mike Vrabel was No. 12 on the list with the Indianapolis Colts’ Frank Reich at 13th overall. Of course, Vrabel gets deserved credit for back-dooring the Titans into the AFC Championship Game. Reich remains a favorite for leading the Colts to a 7-9 record despite having no quarterback and injuries hitting the roster. Imagine if Reich had delivered back-to-back division titles with no quarterback and injuries to the roster.

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Texas regents set to approve four football coaches contracts

Texas regents are set to approve raises for three Texas football coaches, while finalizing new associate head coach Mark Hagen’s contract.

Texas football is still moving right ahead amid the COVID-19 outbreak that has hindered many operations. Continue reading “Texas regents set to approve four football coaches contracts”

Stunner – Muffet McGraw to Retire

Legendary women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw announced her retirement on Wednesday. Find out all the news on this shocking story here.

Shocking news out of South Bend on Wednesday afternoon as legendary women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw is retiring.  McGraw has not only coached the Notre Dame women’s team since the 1987-88 season but turned them into one of the top programs in collegiate sports.

McGraw released the following statement on Wednesday:

McGraw led the Fighting Irish to 24 straight NCAA Tournament appearances beginning in 1996, a streak that would have ended this past year had the tournament been played.  In that stretch she won a pair of national championships while reaching the final five more times and the Final Four three more times.

McGraw retires with the seventh most coaching wins in the history of women’s basketball, compiling 936 wins between her five years at Lehigh before her 33 seasons at Notre Dame.  McGraw finishes with a career mark of 848-251 at Notre Dame and went 425-97 in Big East and ACC play.

McGraw was elected to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.  She was also awarded 10 different coach of the year awards in her time with the Fighting Irish.

Former Notre Dame player and McGraw assitant Niele Ivey will be the next head coach.  She takes the post after working most recently as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.

More on the story as it comes but an absolute stunner to see a legend like McGraw, who would perhaps be on the Mt. Rushmore of Women’s Basketball coaches all-time, retires.

Lions announce suspended travel for coaches and personnel staff

The Detroit Lions are being proactive and have announced that they are suspending travel for coaches and personnel staff.

With mounting global concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the Detroit Lions are being proactive and have announced that they are suspending travel for coaches and personnel staff.

Typically this time of year, members of the Lions front office, coaching staff and scouting staff are spread out across the country attending college Pro Days — they were at Clemson’s today — but everyone is being asked to work remotely at this time.

Here is the Lions full statement:

“The Detroit Lions have been closely monitoring the global events surrounding the spread of COVID-19 and fully support the precautions being taken in response. Our organization has been in direct contact with the NFL, leading health administrators and city officials throughout this process.

“Over the past week we have asked employees to participate in a variety of proactive measures to reduce the risk of transmission at both Ford Field and the team’s training facility in Allen Park. At this time our organization has suspended travel for coaches and player personnel staff. Additionally, we have encouraged all employees, except operationally critical staff, to work remotely until further notice beginning Friday, March 13, 2020. It is imperative that we remain diligent in our responsibility to keep our players, coaches, staff members and their families safe and help slow the spread of the virus.”

Several other teams from around the league have taken a similar approach with their staff in the name of safety. NFL owner’s meetings have also been canceled and it’s fair to speculate if the opening of the league new year — set to take place next Wednesday — will also be postponed as it coincides with the NFL Free Agency period, which also requires travel for contracts, medical checks, etcetera.

Stay tuned to Lions Wire as this situation unfolds further.

Jets suspend travel as concerns over coronavirus grow

The Jets are among the NFL teams who pulled their scouts off the road amid the spread of the coronavirus.

Jets scouts and coaches won’t travel for the foreseeable future as the spread of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, continues to rise, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 

This comes less than a day after it was reported the Jets wouldn’t restrict their employees from traveling to draft prospects’ Pro Days. The team has yet to make a decision on amending their Top-30 prospect visit process, though, according to the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta. That would include prospects traveling to the team facilities for evaluation before the draft.

Schefter also reported that teams discussed shutting down training facilities, which would not only influence Top-30 visits but also how the league handles the beginning of the league year on March 18. However, the NFL said it is not currently planning to change the start of the league year.

Every team in the league had discussed safety measures for the coronavirus as early as Wednesday, according to Yahoo Sports. But only the Steelers, Eagles and Saints had limited travel for coaches and scouts until the Redskins, Giants and Jets suspended all travel Thursday.

There has been no word on if other offseason dates will be changed, but the league said in a statement Monday that it wasn’t planning on changing the offseason schedule – which includes April OTAs and the draft on April 23.

Things could easily change, though. Until then, lots of NFL teams will be in stasis as they get more information from the league and health officials.

Report: Saints step away from college pro day circuit, citing coronavirus precautions

The New Orleans Saints are one of two teams to alter travel plans ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft, recalling coaches amid coronavirus concerns.

The New Orleans Saints are one of two teams reportedly recalling coaches from the college pro day circuit ahead of next month’s NFL draft, per Eric Edholm and Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports. The move is considered a precaution against the rising coronavirus pandemic spreading nationally and around the globe; keeping the coaching staff based in New Orleans would limit exposure to potential infections, which could spread rapidly throughout the team facility.

It’s a big departure from the norm. Coaches only really get involved in the pre-draft evaluating process at all-star games like the Senior Bowl and during interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine. These college pro days give coaches an opportunity to work out prospects through specific drills and meet one-on-one afterwards, scheduling future meetings and private visits at the team facility.

However, the Saints won’t be flying blind before April’s draft. Their scouts are expected to remain on the road visiting dozens of college campuses, working remotely as usual and filing daily reports digitally or through conference calls. Their ability to continue working away from the facility should limit potential chances of infection.

The Yahoo Sports adds that every NFL team has held meetings to address health and safety concerns, updating personnel on what they can do to stay safe with the virus still spreading. But the Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles are the only teams to have pulled coaches off the road, at least so far.

It’s unclear how these changes in travel plans will impact draft-day decisions, as well as the weeks of research that factor into them. Teams are allowed to fly as many as 30 prospects into their home cities for private meetings, interviews, and workouts, but they often supplement those official visits with informal meetings surrounding these pro days. It’s certainly a situation to monitor ahead of the April 23 draft in Las Vegas.

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Cassius Winston named first-team All-Big Ten for second straight year

The senior point guard averaged 18.6 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.5 rebounds this season

It may have been a *slight* step back by the numbers, but Cassius Winston proved all year long that he is one of if not the best players in the Big Ten.

Winston has been named first-team All-Big Ten by the conference’s coaches and media for the second consecutive season. Last year he also won conference player of the year, which went to Iowa’s Luka Garza this time around. It’s the third time Winston has been named to an All-Big Ten team; he was third-team his sophomore season.

Winston averaged 18.6 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.5 rebounds this season. He finished the season third in scoring average and fourth in assist average in the Big Ten. Winston also finished the season second in the conference in three-point shooting percentage at 43.2%. All three counting numbers were just slightly below what Winston averaged during his standout junior season.

Winston became Michigan State and the Big Ten’s all-time leading assist getter on January 17 of this year and currently sits at 890 career assists. Winston is 31 points shy of joining the Big Ten’s 2,000 career points list. He is currently fourth all-time in scoring at Michigan State and needs 28 points to pass Kalin Lucas for third.

Winston is the 14th Spartan to be named first-team All-Big Ten in consecutive seasons and the first since Lucas in 2009-2010.

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