By: Tre Bailey
SKSergioKosco Blogger
By: Tre Bailey
Breaking
News
What a week it has been in the college football world
and its only Tuesday. Coaches stepping down, getting fired, and players being
suspended. Let’s dive right in.
Starting on the East coast, University of South Carolina’s
head coach Steve Spurrier decided to resign from his position after Saturday’s
loss to LSU. A decision that came from Coach Spurrier after an abysmal 2-4 (0-4
SEC) start by the Gamecocks. In an interview; Spurrier said "My answer has always been the same: If it starts going south, starts
going bad, then I need to get out. ... It's time for me to get out of the way
and give somebody else a go at it." Spurrier felt that his time at
USC has come to an end and that he should have left the program after last year’s
bowl game. Now we have all seen coaches fired midway through a season due to
lack of performance, and failure to meet program expectations. In this case,
Spurrier felt as if it was best for the program if he departed, even after
signing new defensive coordinator Jon Hoke in the offseason, in his mind
nothing seemed to work out. Although he says this isn’t his retirement, he doesn’t
believe he’ll be returning to any head coaching position at any program across
the nation. At 70 years old; Spurrier is the second most winningest coach in
SEC history behind the legend Bear Bryant. This may come as shock to some but
as far as Spurrier’s concern, he’s leaving before the program forces him out.
In the meantime Co-Offensive coordinator, and offensive line coach Shawn Elliot
will serve as the interim coach until the Gamecocks can come up with a more
permanent answer, or unless Elliot has an amazing rest of the season and scores
the Head coaching job. While I don’t think Elliot will be the guy in the long
run here are my top candidates and potential takers of the position
1) Lane Kiffin- OC at Alabama while he was run out of town at
USC I believe South Carolina provides a better environment for rebuilding than
Southern California did. Especially with so SEC confidence under his belt I believe
Kiffin would be a solid fit.
2) Shawn Elliot- While he is currently the interim head coach, sometimes
these things can become a little more permanent. All he has to do is Win and
the job could be his, considering the circumstances, and probably some
animosity from other coaches that could be his largest set back. I guess we
will see how he rallies the troops for the remainder of the Season.
3) John Chavis- DC at Texas A&M. while Chavis has no head
coaching experience, he does have a remarkable resume. He left LSU for A&M
and has completely changed their defense around. Chavis is probably one of the
best defensive Coaches in the NCAA, and Carolina looking to rebuild their
defense Chavis could be a popular option for the job.
4) Kyle Whittingham- HC at Utah, while he is having a remarkable
season at Utah this could be an opportunity to prove that he can hang in the
toughest power conference in the NCAA. He has been able to find success without
high caliber recruits. Imagine if he had the recruiting caliber that the SEC
has to offer.
5) Chip Kelly- Eagles Head Coach while this may be a longshot,
consider this. If the eagles continue to struggle Kelly could find himself out
of the NFL looking for work. South Carolina would be a great place for Kelly to
be. While it is not the NFL, if he was able to resurrect the Gamecock’s
program, he could most likely find himself right back in the NFL.
Staying with the topic of the head
coach topic. University of Southern California coach Steve Sarkisian has found
himself being asked to excuse himself from the program to enter himself in
rehab for “undisclosed reasons”, so if you keep up with USC football and know
anything about Coach Sarkisian you’d know he’s an alcoholic. He had problems
before the season at the kickoff banquet when he gave a speech absolutely
hammered, not being able to construct a sentence properly, and dropping a copious
amount of F Bombs in a room full of alumni, donors, and boosters for the
program. Shortly after being put on leave the university felt it was best to
part ways with the troubled coach. Clay Helton the offensive coordinator will
be the permanent interim coach for the time being, meaning that as of now this
is his job to lose. It’s sad to see this once strong program slowly becoming a
one stop shop for coaches. This will be the Programs 5th coaching
change since 2013. With this has come some de-commitments, coaching changes
within the program. We will see how the Trojans bounce back this weekend against
Notre Dame.
Lastly some stressful news has passed
through the University of Florida. Starting QB will Grier has been suspended
from the program for a year after testing positive for PED’s. While he claims
that it was an over the counter drug, you are still responsible for knowing the
list of drugs that the NCAA allows. To me this is just an instance of
immaturity if he is telling the truth. As a starting QB for a nationally
recognized program, you must realize that there are always eyes on you. This
goes for any NCAA athlete. All of these kids are under microscopes, and the
NCAA would look for any reason to take away eligibility from any one of them. While
I don’t think whatever it is he took contributed to the success that he has on
the field he must realize that players will now look at him differently. He is
going to have to win back the trust of his teammates, coaches, and friends.
Hopefully his poor lapse of judgement doesn’t cost his team the season.
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