Tag: Stewart Mandel

What the experts are predicting: Notre Dame at Clemson

What do you think happens?

What once was seen as a game with College Football Playoff implications has been relegated to an early kickoff time. For some, that means lessened interest in Notre Dame visiting Clemson. But the fact that the Irish mostly have had the upper hand on the Tigers over the past few years still makes this matchup intriguing. They really can assert their dominance in the series with a win here.

Let’s see if any experts out there think the Irish’s recent success against the Tigers will continue:

Texas football is disproving another Stewart Mandel prediction

Stewart Mandel had Texas losing Arch Manning or Quinn Ewers by the 2023 season.

Texas football has done what many thought was impossible. The team has retained all three quarterbacks following spring practice. Continue reading “Texas football is disproving another Stewart Mandel prediction”

Stewart Mandel: “Texas could contend for a Big 12 title”

The Athletics’s Stewart Mandel, who had Texas going 4-8 last year, says the Longhorns could contend for the Big 12.

Texas football really appears to have turned a corner. Even one of the program’s most vocal critics appears to be drinking the burnt orange kool aid after an impressive showing in Saturday’s Orange and White game.

Stewart Mandel, the college football editor-in-chief for The Athletic, has higher expectations for the team than he had last season. If you recall, Mandel had the Longhorns going 4-8 in 2022. Apparently he read his crystal ball backwards as Texas finished the regular season with a record of 8-4.

On Wednesday, Mandel responded to a comment posed by an Oklahoma fan who voiced concerns that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has the Longhorns heading in the right direction. The Athletic’s editor had the following to say about Texas.

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“Against my better instincts, I came away from Saturday’s spring game feeling more optimism for the Horns than I expected,” Mandel wrote. “(Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers), who was underwhelming for most of his debut season, looked noticeably more polished than at any time last fall. Texas already had a lot of weapons at receiver even before adding Georgia transfer AD Mitchell, but I was particularly impressed with the running backs post-Bijan/Roschon.”

Mandel went as far as saying Texas could compete for the Big 12 if players up front, like defensive tackles Alfred Collins and Byron Murphy II, live up to expectations. If one of the team’s most vocal doubters views the Longhorns as a contender, perhaps this is the year they break through into meaningful football into late November and beyond.

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Did Jimbo Fisher make The Athletic’s Top 25 College Football Coaches list?

Stewart Mandel of The Athletic lists his Top 25 College Football Coaches, but did Jimbo Fisher make the list this time around?

The 2023 College Football Season is still nearly six months away, but to prepare for what should be a very entertaining season, prognosticators like myself will begin to release an abundance of pre-season rankings, but nothing will top the great Stewart Mandel’s recent Top 25 College Football Coach list, and yes, the great Nick Saban is near the top, just to save you some time.

The real question of course is just how much Texas A&M Head coach Jimbo Fisher is still respected among the sports writers community, especially after his worst season yet with the program after the horrific 2022 season, going 5-7 and 2-6 in the SEC and missing out on bowl eligibility for the first time in 14 seasons.

However, due to Fisher’s recruiting prowess while being one of five active Head coaches with a National Title (2014), you can pretty much guarantee that Jimbo will be coaching somewhere until retirement finally calls his name somewhere down the line. So, where did Jimbo Fisher end up and Mandel Top 25 and list him in the Top 10 just one year ago? No. 23, below the likes of new Auburn Head coach Hugh Freeze (No. 22) and even current Ole Miss Head coach Lane Kiffin (No. 19), so let that sink in. Mandel, proving my point of avoiding complete overreaction with Fisher’s recent debacle, proved why he’s still one of the best Head coaches in the country.

I know folks are going to laugh at this one, but dropping a guy from the top 10 to off the list entirely after one losing season feels like a prisoner-of-the-moment overreaction. A&M finished No. 4 in the country just two years earlier. And he’s still got that national title ring.

But look, if anyone deserves some dirt in their eye to maybe, just maybe motivate them enough to coach like their job depended on it, it’s Jimbo Fisher, because the 2023 season for the Aggies is critical in deciding the direction the program is headed towards under Fisher’s control. Buckle up folks, it’s going to be a wild ride in Aggieland in 2023.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Cameron on Twitter: @CameronOhnysty

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Stewart Mandel’s bold prediction on Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning

Twitter offered some interesting takes on the Texas quarterback room following Arch Manning’s commitment.

Twitter offered some interesting takes on the Texas quarterback room following Arch Manning’s commitment. The source of some of those takes were perhaps more surprising. Continue reading “Stewart Mandel’s bold prediction on Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning”

The Athletic has contrasting views on James Franklin’s ranking among coaches in 2021

James Franklin is still among the top FBS coaches, but two national analysts have different views on where he currently ranks.

Penn State head coach James Franklin is not a coach without his flaws and share of critics. But by and large, you would have a difficult time finding any national analysts who would argue Franklin isn’t a good coach.

But just how good is he compared to his peers in the coaching profession? The Athletic recently shared an updated annual ranking of college football coaches heading into the 2021 season, and there was a bit of a different pulse registered by writers Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman.

Feldman was willing to give Franklin a little more benefit of the doubt in his assessment of Franklin compared to Mandel, who judged Franklin a tad more harshly in his personal ranking.

“A 4-5 record coming off a top-10 season, where Penn State had just gone 11-2, feels like an aberration,” Feldman concluded in his ranking of Franklin (Feldman ranked Franklin fifth overall in his list). “Franklin is still the same guy who took over a program reeling from hefty sanctions, and by Year 3 he led the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten title.”

Mandel wasn’t quite prepared to give Franklin as much backing under the same conditions.

“Notable opt-outs and injuries certainly contributed to Penn State’s 4-5 (0-5 at one point) campaign, but Franklin has seen considerable staff churn as well,” Mandel explained in ranking Franklin 17th overall in his ranking.

Both Mandel and Feldman were in sync with their top four. Alabama’s Nick Saban, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, and Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley are at the top of the list in that order for each. Interestingly, Feldman ranked Franklin higher than LSU head coach Ed Orgeron (who has won a national title) and Ohio State’s Ryan Day. Feldman did knock Franklin down a couple of spots from his 2020 ranking, dropping Penn State’s coach from third to fifth overall. Mandel ranked Franklin seventh overall in his 2000 ranking.

How would you rank Franklin among FBS head coaches in 2021?

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What QBs in the transfer portal could be Penn State targets?

The Athletic names Brian Kelly a top coach, how high does he rank?

And we’re happy to have him

The college football landscape has already made it move on from the 2020-21 season and has turned its head to the ‘21-22 campaign. With the offseason in full swing, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel ranked the top 25 coaching in the sport. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to see where Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly ended up on their individual lists.

Starting with Feldman’s, Kelly was ranked (subscription) behind only Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. A top 3 ranking is lofty but as Feldman explained that Kelly “hasn’t led the Fighting Irish to a national title but he’s produced a bunch of really good teams and elevated the program.”

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That some high praise from a reporter who’s been covering the sport for a very long time.

As for Mandel, he actually agreed with his top three choices, once again Kelly getting ranked (subscription) behind Saban and Swinney. Mandel pointed out that Kelly has led the Irish to 10-plus wins five times over the last six years, something the “Irish did that just twice in the 16 seasons prior to his arrival.”

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There are obvious blemishes on Kelly’s record, most notably the failures in big game situations in the old BCS format and the current College Football Playoff’s. Interestingly enough, Kelly lost to both the coaches ranked ahead of him this past season. If those are his only detractors, then both Feldman and Mandel hit this one right on the head. Brian Kelly is one of the best coaching in all of college football.

Twitter Criticizes Notre Dame Students for Storming Field After Upset

As soon as Notre Dame completed it historic upset of top-ranked Clemson, the celebration was on at Notre Dame Stadium.

As soon as Notre Dame completed it historic upset of top-ranked Clemson, the celebration was on at Notre Dame Stadium. The students in attendance simply had to storm the field, as is typical for home fans whose team has just won a game like this. However, this usually doesn’t happen during a pandemic, and this game did. With the number of COVID-19 cases reaching record highs, people took to Twitter to criticize the apparent lapses in judgment and responsibility:

Stewart Mandel of The Athletic went so far as to wonder what this might mean for the Irish’s next game against Boston College:

I’m not going to say whether or not the students were right to do this or the university should have allowed it, and it’s unfortunate that it had somewhat overshadowed the outcome of this game. I’ll only ask that if you were a college student and your football team just had its biggest win in years, what would you do regardless of the current situation? Hopefully, there will be few or no COVID-19 cases to come of this. That’s all that can be said.

The Athletic predicts LSU would have beaten Texas

The Athletic gave a prediction for the canceled Texas-LSU matchup, saying the Tigers would have beaten the Longhorns by double digits.

COVID-19 has taken away a lot in the sports world, especially in college football. The Big Ten and Pac-12 canceled their seasons, instead opting for a spring season beginning in January.

The ACC, Big 12, and SEC currently have plans in place to play a season. Nonconference matchups are still an option for ACC and Big 12 teams, while the SEC will be playing a 10 game, conference only schedule.

However, if the ACC and Big 12 teams want to play nonconference games, they must be at their home stadium. This left schools with no choice but to play smaller schools that had flexibility on their schedule.

Because of this, marquee matchups such as Alabama–USC, Texas-LSU, and Tennessee–Oklahoma were not only canceled but will possibly never be played.

From the perspective of Texas, losing the return trip to LSU is nearly catastrophic. While the Longhorns lost to the eventual national champions in 2019, the game itself was Texas’ most entertaining of the season.

Add in the electric atmosphere of Death Valley and the Sept. 12 matchup was staged to be the most exciting game of the college football season. Watching Sam Ehlinger lead the Longhorns into Baton Rouge in a marquee nonconference game would have shown where Texas stands on a national level.

This will leave people wondering what could have been from both teams.

Could Texas have declared themselves to be “back” and strive towards a national championship with a win?

Or would have LSU doubled up the Longhorns and proved they deserve to be taken seriously for a back-to-back championship run?

Stewart Mandel of The Athletic gave a prediction, saying LSU would have not only beaten Texas but done it by double digits.

I was at the game last year in Austin, when we first found out that this was not your grandfather’s LSU offense. Joe Burrow stole the show, but Sam Ehlinger wasn’t too shabby himself (461 yards, 5 TDs). I would have expected a better showing from LSU’s defense this time around, while Myles Brennan and Ja’Marr Chase showed that the Tigers, while not as otherworldly as in 2019, can still do some damage. LSU 28, Texas 17

Replacing Heisman trophy winner Joe Burrow is not going to be easy for head coach Ed Orgeron. Myles Brennan is going to take over and having the receiving combination of Ja’Marr Chase and Terrance Marshall is going to help.

However, Texas’ defense is going to improve from last season’s horror show. Chris Ash would improve the pass rush and the Longhorns’ secondary would have an easier time in coverage without Justin Jefferson terrorizing them.

Tom Herman’s squad may not have come out with a victory but another touchdown margin game seems more likely than all 11 point victory for LSU. Especially with Texas only scoring 17 points in Mandel’s prediction.

For a few years, a ‘what if’ question will arise when talking about the trip to Baton Rouge. With no rescheduling of the game insight, we may never find out.

Who knows, Texas could have used that win and started a national championship run. Just as LSU did last season.

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NCAA chief medical officer speaks overnight, gives grim outlook for college football

Speaking on CNN in the early hours of Sunday morning, NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline painted a disturbing picture for sports.

In case you were sleeping like any sane human being would be, NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline appeared on CNN just after midnight on Sunday morning and didn’t provide much optimism about the chances of college football or any college sport for the time being.

I am yet to find any video of his appearance to link to but thanks to the likes of Chris Vannini and Nicole Auerbach on Twitter, we were able to get the most-significant of quotes from Hainline’s appearance.

  • “The pathway to play sports is so exceedingly narrow right now. Everything would have to line up perfectly.”
  • “If testing stays as it is, there’s no way we could go forward with sports.”
  • Added the greater risk is regular students resocializing on campuses. Says that could be “the downfall” if schools can’t handle that.

If you’re hoping college football gets played by the ACC, Big 12 and SEC in less than a month, it’s not the kind of comments you want to wake up to be reading today.

Our colleague Clint Lamb of Roll Tide Wire then made a compelling point about why there being no college football this fall is in the best interest of the NCAA, and it doesn’t necessarily have to do with anyone’s physical health.

As I’ve said all along this is an outcome that is next to impossible to predict.  Some thought the significant amount of positive tests at Clemson, LSU and Alabama months ago meant there was no way we’d even get to now without everything being called off for the fall.

With the rest of students returning to college campuses across the country over the last week and this next one, the real indicator is still to come after we see how quickly this virus does or does not spread over said campuses.