Tag: sec coaches

Report: Thursday’s SEC coaches call became contentious

Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel reported that at least 5 SEC coaches have shown frustration with the league about new schedule. Details here

According to Yahoo Sports college football reporter Pete Thamel, at least five SEC coaches are frustrated with how the SEC chose the two additional opponents added to each team’s conference-only schedule released last week.

So much so, that in a call between the SEC and coaches on Thursday, sources stated the conversation became contentious.

The SEC’s revised 2020 schedule included two additional SEC opponents  added to each team’s schedule and some programs seemed to benefit more than others.

For example, Georgia added Arkansas and Mississippi State from the West, while Missouri added LSU and Alabama.

Missouri, new coach and all, will have to face two of the top-five programs in the country on top of eight more league games.

The rest of the schedules – besides maybe Arkansas who added Georgia and Florida from the East – are mostly balanced, so It will be interesting to see if reports of contention between the league and its coaches escalate or if things are stifled right before play starts in September.

 

Vanderbilt Keeping Mason Good News for Notre Dame

What it means for Notre Dame is that defensive coordinator Clark Lea won’t be leaving to take that head coaching vacancy that many feared he would.

Derek Mason is returning to Vanderbilt for a seventh year, Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports reported today which means good things for the Notre Dame football program.

You may be asking or saying to yourself “How the heck does it matter, they play Vandy once every 20 years or so, if that, so it’s not like an easy win is coming anytime soon for the Irish…”

Not that the last two times the two met were any walks-in-the-park for Old Notre Dame.

What it means for Notre Dame is that defensive coordinator Clark Lea won’t be leaving to take that head coaching vacancy that many feared he would.

Lea walked onto the football team at Vanderbilt after spending time early in college playing baseball at a couple of smaller schools. He wound up at Notre Dame as linebackers coach in 2017 before taking over the defensive coordinator position a year later.

With the success Lea’s defenses have had at Notre Dame the link to him taking a next step and becoming a head coach, specifically at his alma mater is obvious.

Right now the Notre Dame defense ranks in the top-20 nationally in fewest points per game, fewest yards per play, third down conversion percentage, passing yards per game, completion percentage and yards per pass-attempt.

As frustrating as the run defense was at times this year, you can’t argue the unit overall has produced yet again.

This isn’t an athletic director giving out a “yeah, we love him, he’s our coach” type of line, it’s an actual report that Mason will be back at Vanderbilt, who currently sits 2-8.

Which means Lea should in all-likelihood be back at Notre Dame in 2020, a great thing for the program.