We have just two weeks left in the regular season for a relatively small group of teams (those playing conference championship games or in one of a few conferences such as the Sun Belt and the Big 12), and only one week for most FBS programs. We’re not handing out awards here, but we are offering some quick assessments of various coaches throughout the country. This is a time to take stock, and so as you engage in your own evaluation of this football season (you’ll probably talk about it to some degree over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday), here are some points to consider:
*
Art Briles is better than you thought he was.
This is ridiculous(ly good). Baylor’s Jarrett Stidham looked like a freshman against Oklahoma. Against Oklahoma State, he looked like a seasoned veteran, except for one play in which he didn’t step up in a relatively open pocket. When Stidham got injured, though, it seemed the Bears were cooked. They had to go to third-stringer and in-game backup Chris Johnson.
Though few expected it to happen, Johnson proved to be every bit as good as Stidham, throwing a few frozen ropes for big-play touchdowns and sustaining Baylor’s offense in the second half. Briles’s ability to have second and third quarterbacks so fully prepared to play is the mark of great coaching. The man is a sorcerer.
*
James Franklin could be coaching for his job in 2017.
The Penn State head coach was seen as a rising star after his successful stay at Vanderbilt. Full credit to Franklin: He took advantage of the SEC East’s weakness. Yet, let’s realize that Franklin was indeed a product of a weak division. Beating elite teams is something he’s rarely if ever done. Franklin gives the appearance of someone who is out of his league in Happy Valley. His game management track record is poor. His offenses have been nightmares, especially in the red zone. Penn State has a lot invested to him, so there’s no need to think any action is just around the corner. However, if a ho-hum 2016 unfolds, the 2017 season will begin with Franklin sweating profusely. If you kick enough field goals of under 25 yards, you should face the music.
Reminder: Maryland is open and Rutgers soon could be. If those two schools make the right hires, Penn State could have the sixth-best coach in the Big Ten East Division.
*
Gary Patterson won games with TCU by going for two in a do-or-die endgame situation on the road. He did this to win the 2011 Mountain West title in a game at Boise State. He did this to win at West Virginia in 2012. This is consistent from Patterson. It’s who he is, and it’s what the culture of his program is all about.
Yes, I would have kicked the PAT against Oklahoma, but I can’t blame Patterson one bit for doing what he did. He trusts his kids — even inexperienced ones — to make plays. That’s what coaches ought to be courageous enough to do. Trusting players means you feel (as a coach) that you’ve instructed your players well enough during the week. I admire the heck out of that — John Wooden would be proud.
*
Dan Mullen is no longer the worst coach in the SEC West. It’s Gus Malzahn, but that’s a temporary position. The main point is that Mullen, by keeping Mississippi State afloat this year, has turned in another impressive season. This season is simply more quiet than 2014 — that’s the difference.
*
Tommy Tuberville is washed up. This should have been obvious to Cincinnati, which hired a man who finished second with Auburn in 2004 (and was perfectly justified in thinking of his team as national champions — fine by me) and has enjoyed a very successful career. However, this career has been in decline over the past several seasons. Tubs is moving downward on the coaching ladder. His behavior has become more volatile, not less. He’s losing his fastball. If I’m Cincinnati, I think about firing him and acknowledging a mistake, searching instead for a younger coach — Matt Campbell — or a coordinator who wants a head coaching job (Doug Meacham of TCU).
*
Willie Taggart was hired to great acclaim at South Florida. Then he went 2-10. Then he went 4-8. Then he started this season 1-3. That’s an overall record of 7-21, an abysmal level of performance.
Since that point in time, Taggart has gone 6-1. South Florida will go bowling. The Bulls’ one loss in the past seven games occurred against Navy, and USF made the Midshipmen work for every inch in that game. Taggart drifted toward the precipice, but he has brought himself back to a position of not just safety, but considerable respect, in the coaching business.
*
Paul Chryst has been saddled with Joel Stave, so I’m not going to lay this at the Wisconsin coach’s feet. Yet, it remains that Chryst was a .500 coach (more or less) at Pittsburgh. If he can’t improve the Badgers’ offense next season, it will be time to worry about his ability to measure up in Madison.
*
Bobby Petrino’s second stint at Louisville has been marred by injuries, but it’s still noticeable that the Cardinals can’t at least impose a passing attack on an opponent. They also don’t have much of a defense; Pitt trampled them on Saturday.
Petrino needs to have a better season in 2016, so that Louisville can embrace 2017 as an ACC title contender under his leadership. Petrino led Louisville to a one-loss season in 2004 and an Orange Bowl title in 2006. Louisville is in a position to be patient, but Petrino has to move the operation ahead in the next 13 months.
*
Darrell Hazell of Purdue punted from Iowa’s 34. He kicked a 20-yard field goal on fourth and one from the Iowa 3. His team was 2-8, playing a 10-0 team with designs on the College Football Playoff… on the road.
What possible reason is there for a coach of a massive underdog to be that timid and that cautious about wanting to make plays? Coaches continue to give the impression that they’d rather lose by a modest amount than risk getting blown out, just to create a more “reasonable” appearance. Yet, risking a blowout is the best way for a team to pursue an absolute victory, not merely a moral one. If winning really is the priority, risking a larger margin of defeat as a big underdog is part of the deal.
