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Don’t play “The Polar Express”. Sam Pitman’s locker room.
Here’s what’s happening in college football through Saturday…
First-year coach Zach Arnett was fired
Mississippi State fired Arnett yesterday. He led the Bulldogs in his first season after being promoted to head coach for three days following the death of former coach Mike Leach in December. Arnett coached the Bulldogs to a 4-6 record this season, last season in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois.
Arnett’s shooting training is the next spin on the carousel, but it has a different coincidence. Mississippi State lost to Texas A&M 51-10 on Saturday. Both teams have made a dramatic change since Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher on Sunday.
It got me thinking, when have two coaches been fired immediately in an FBS game?
- In 2021, Miami beat Duke 47-10And the schools were divided Manny Diaz And David Cutcliffe, in the next two weeks respectively. However, after the regular-season finale, the Canes poached Mario Cristobal and the Blue Devils were winless in ACC play.
In other training news, San Diego State’s Brady Hoke He announced his retirement yesterday At the end of this season.
With six jobs officially on the market, I brought in Chris Vannini to grade each opening.
Saturday until the job market
How good are six openings?
A key factor in every coaching search is who the competitor is. It can raise the price or eliminate the availability of certain candidates. With six open jobs and more to come, here’s how I rank and rank the open jobs.
1. Texas A&M, A-: Texas A&M has all the resources and talent in the world, but it’s not a job because The Aggies haven’t won a conference championship since 1998. For various reasons, things didn’t work out there.
2. Michigan State, B+: Michigan State is a grade below, but it has a Playoff appearance and three BCS/NY6 appearances In the last decade. The program is now defunct and limited in resources compared to some conference peers, but the potential is clear and it has proven to pay big for a coach.
3. Mississippi State, B: Mississippi State is an SEC job that’s always worth it. But it’s arguably the second-toughest job in the conference behind Vanderbilt and Texas/Oklahoma.
4. Boise State, P-/5. San Diego State, P-: Boise State and San Diego State Two great Group 5 jobs And will attract a lot of interest.
6. Northwestern, C+: Northwestern is a Big Ten job, and Pat Fitzgerald showed that some success is possible. But it’s one of the toughest jobs in the league, and USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are about to make it even tougher as the Big Ten West dissolves. – Vannini
asked from the platform
Weird Harbaugh rants are back
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh called his Wolverines “America’s team” in his first news conference yesterday.
Harbaugh said he was “five inches from the TV” to watch Sharon Moore’s emotional post-game interview After Michigan beat Penn State on Saturday.
Of course, there were other quotes (tangents) that we’ll emoji rank off the wall👀 Please look away.
- Harbaugh said he will attend a hearing Friday that would allow him to be sidelined again, but he’s not sure if he’ll testify: “That’s not my dance floor. … I’ve seen a lot of shows. I have seen ‘Judge Judy’ a lot. Cue Harbox “Judge Judy” cameo. Rank: 👀 👀
- Harbaugh’s voice was hoarse, but he said he wasn’t sick: “I am the iron wall Viruses attack and destroy. … There’s something going on there, but I’ll fix it, work it out of my system. Do some more pushups, eat an apple. Rank: 👀
- In dealing with his emotions, Harbaugh said he uses his work and his flock of chickens as an outlet: “These chickens are low maintenance and high production. An egg is laid every 26 to 27 hours. They need water and food. I also play with them. I let them run around the yard. They are happy to see me.” Rank: 👀 👀 👀
The Heisman race is shrinking
A tight race at the top
AthleticThe Heisman straw poll narrowed to five candidates this week, with the top three leading the way Michael Benix Jr, Jayden Daniels And Marvin Harrison Jr The race for No. 1 is tight, with just three points separating No. 1 from No. 3.
- Harrison is the only non-QB on the roster. Ohio State writer Cameron Teague made the wide receiver case after Robinson became Harrison First player in Buckeyes history to have two 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
- He was followed by Daniels with eight first-place votes Passed for 372 yards and three TDs And Rushed for 234 yards and two scores vs. Florida.
As our candidate pool narrowed this week, no player was left out as Player of the Week. Instead, I brought Catherine Briley Athletic Freelancer and resident LSU expert, No. To outline Daniels’ case for 1:
“The Heisman Trophy goes to the greatest player in college football, and that’s Daniels. He leads the nation in total yards and is a top 30 rusher (far from the QB with the most rushing yards). If Daniels continues on his current path, he will approach 5,000 combined yards.
“He raises the game of those around him: his Broads lead the nation Inside Receiving yards (Malik Nabars) And Receiving Touchdowns (Brian Thomas Jr.). He plays fearless, joyous football at the highest level and is arguably the best player in college football.
Quick photos
On the podcast until SaturdayMax Olson and Sam Kahn Jr. Share their thoughts on training moves And unravel the complicated Big 12 race.
Northwestern State Warriors The loss of their teammate who was killed and a season cut short. Chris Kamrani, David Uben and Justin Williams share their story.
Stewart Mandel and Scott Docterman update their bowl predictions: Playoff Four (Georgia, Michigan, State of Florida And Oregon) will remain the same.
Chris Vannini ranks every college football team 1-133 after Week 11 Georgia returns to No. 1.
Could Washington OC Ryan Grubb take over? San Diego State? What about Lance Leibold? Mississippi State? Bruce Feldman reports on coaching candidates for SDSU and Mississippi State.
State of Arizona Athletic Director Ray Anderson resigned yesterday. Anderson January 2014 AD.
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(Top photo by Zach Arnett: Michael Chang/Getty Images)
