Just before USC’s heavily-scrutinized 2022 college football season begins, what are some of the more interesting, provocative questions you could ask to a Pac-12 columnist and expert if you had the chance?
We asked Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline a specific question about the Pac-12 Coach of the Year race.
Before passing along Jon’s answer, let’s be clear about one thing: We have already discussed a lot of USC topics to the point of exhaustion. How many wins will USC get? Will USC make the Pac-12 Championship Game? Which bowl game will USC go to? Those topics have largely been talked out. We will still pass along an item when a new outlet or pundit makes a USC prediction, but that’s familiar territory.
We wanted to ask Wilner a fresh question — something new, something different — for Wilner’s latest mailbag column, which is published at the end of every week during the busier times of the year (if not more).
Now, here’s our question and Jon’s answer:
If Arizona wins six this season, Washington wins nine and USC wins 11, who is the Pac-12 Coach of the Year? — @MattZemek
It wouldn’t be Lincoln Riley — you can count on that. USC’s coach only wins the award when there are no other justifiable choices. (Pete Carroll won it outright once and shared it twice.)
In the scenario laid out here, Jedd Fisch probably wins over Kalen DeBoer because of the turnaround orchestrated in Tucson and because everyone recognizes Washington was better than a four-win team last season.
There are always politics involved when coaches vote on anything.
And Fisch, in addition to the merits of his case — if the Wildcats were to win six — would be a comfortable pick for anyone hesitant to prop up a rival.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz8sj88pxak7gd player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=44775]