We'll lead off this week's mailbag talking about the best coaching jobs:
From Harry in Baltimore: I hate Nick Saban but I have to give it to him, he has done a great job this season. Is he a lock to win Coach of the Year honors?
Feldman: No doubt, he has done an amazing job in Year II. He has changed the mindset there with that team. They are the most physical team in the SEC, which probably means they're the most physical team in the country. He's developed a very tough defense that is still very young with a lot of new parts that have had to come together fast. Having said that, I think there are a few other guys that also have to be considered for having done the best coaching job of the season:
Boise State's Chris Petersen has taken a team loaded with redshirt freshmen and sophomores and got them in position to go to a BCS bowl; Minnesota's Tim Brewster has taken a 1-11 team, added in some very athletic JC transfers, made a shrewd hire bringing in defensive coordinator Ted Roof and has the Gophers looking at a nice bowl game. Cincy's Brian Kelly has had to play like 11 different QBs and he still might get them into a BCS bowl. Oregon State's Mike Riley lost almost his entire defense and has been relying on a pair of brothers from Texas who are about 5-6; they not only beat USC but might get to the Rose Bowl. And the last guy I'd put in there is FIU's Mario Cristobal, who has taken what was probably the worst program in the country and in complete disarray and put them in position for a bowl game. That's incredible.
From Gripp in Rochester, NY: They should drop all non BCS schools to 1-AA since none of them have a chance to win the national championship. Give every 1-A school an even chance or just use the BCS conferences as your 1-A teams.
Feldman: Realistically, you're probably right. The system isn't set up for non-BCS programs to get a shot at the title. Teams like a Ball State or a Utah or Boise can go undefeated and the best they can hope for is a BCS bowl. They can rise up in the polls to maybe eight but then they get capped there and start backsliding when the big league teams start beating each other in conference play.
From Jenn in Atlanta: Is A.J. Green the best freshmen receiver in the country?
Feldman: Green is one of them, but I'm not ready to say he's the best. I suspect this group will go down as one of the greatest receiver classes of all time. You have some huge guys with amazing talent in Green and Alabama's Julio Jones, who was great last week at LSU. Southern Miss' DeAndre Brown is even bigger than both of them and is putting up crazy first-year stats (on pace for over 1,100 yards and 13 TDs). Notre Dame's Michael Floyd has been outstanding. I maintain he'll go down as the best offensive player the Irish has produced since the Lou Holtz Era. Miami has a group of dynamic freshmen in Travis Benjamin, LaRon Byrd and Aldrarius Johnson. Three more to watch: Pitt's Jonathan Baldwin, Texas A&M's Jeff Fuller and FIU's T.Y. Hilton.
Cristobal, who played and coached at Miami, says Hilton, a 5-foot-9, 170-pounder is the best freshmen offensive player he's ever been around. That's really saying something when you think of Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne and a bunch of others at UM. "Florida offered him, West Virginia offered him, but he knows what we're doing and he wants to leave his foot prints here," said Cristobal, who predicts Hilton will be the school's first first-round pick.
From Lance in Houston: Do the coaches and reporters who vote in the polls have no memory, no integrity, or no brains. First: Texas played four top 11 teams in a row and missed winning all four by one play. Two: They beat
Oklahoma on a neutral site. Lost to Tech at Tech after coming from way behind. Three: Oklahoma gets Tech at home after a week off and playing no one for weeks and being dominated by Texas in the second half of their game. Four: Everyone says if Oklahoma beats Tech they will pass Texas. So which is the answer to my original question?
Feldman: Their memories aren't so good. And your points are well taken.
From Sylvain in Calgary: Don't know if you heard yet but Joe McKnight's grandmother has past away this week. I really enjoyed how you had opened up Joe's upbringing throught the story but didn't make it the primary focus..anyways you made it sound as if she had a very important influence on Joe..What was it like talking to her about Joe through his recruitment with Ole Miss??
Feldman: Yeah, I talked to him after the Cal game and he told me that his cousin texted him the morning of the game telling him that she had passed away. It was actually his grandmother on his father's side, not the grandmother who Frank Wilson, the Ole Miss recruiter had developed a good relationship with. Joe said it was really sad to hear she had passed. She had been battling Alzheimer's for a while, he said. I know being that far away from home has been very tough on him, but he's grown closer to a lot of people out at USC, which has definitely helped his transition.
From Jay in Atlanta: I just came across your Penn St. vs. Utah column. If you feel that the Big-10 vs. MWC is worth bringing up then I'd love to hear your take on the SEC vs. the MWC. It's fairly obvious this year that the Big Ten is deeper than the SEC, so I think that would be an interesting topic.
Feldman: I have to disagree. I think there are three teams in the SEC (Alabama, Florida and Georgia) that are better than the best team in the Big Ten (Penn State). And after Ohio State, I'm not sure that MSU or Iowa are better than LSU, South Carolina or Ole Miss. Minnesota and Northwestern are nice stories. I think both would lose to LSU by at least two touchdowns.
From John in Seattle: I agree about Taylor Mays. He's been mostly hype for his career at 'SC, but now he's a player. I think Rey Maualuga is similar. There's no denying he's a fantastic athlete and makes big plays, but for some reason he doesn't impress me all that much. He's got a lot to prove in the NFL, and I'm not sue he's not another Chris Claiborne or Willie McGinest -- good enough (at least McGinest), but in the end maybe you'd be better off saving that high draft pick.
Feldman: Mays has been phenomenal in the last month. He's really become an enforcer for that defense and picked up on the leadership since Kevin Ellison has been sidelined. I'll also take this opportunity to shill about the Mays-Ellison feature I did for the next issue of ESPN Magazine.
RANDOM STUFF
• Nice win for Miami against a solid Virginia Tech team. We saw a very young UM team take another step forward and I think you're seeing a pretty green defensive line maturing fast. That's a big reason behind UM's five-game winning streak. When Miami was 2-3, their defense just couldn't get off the field, while opponents converting at 55 percent on third down. Since then it's gone down to 23 percent. Last night, Tech was just 2-for-11. Keep in mind this is a Miami D that is playing without its best two defenders (DE Eric Moncur and LB Colin McCarthy) who are sidelined for the season due to injury. True freshman DE Marcus Robinson looked like a young Dwight Freeney last night, making three sacks and a team-high seven tackles. I talked to a coach down there who said Robinson is one of those rare guys who is actually faster than he's been hyped to be in the recruiting process. (He ran a 4.56 when UM timed its team prior to the season. That's lightning for a D-lineman.) He also is very strong for his size and plays with great leverage.
• Interesting Vandy stat from the AJC's Tony Barnhart: Since 1982 the Commodores are 0-17 in games where a win could have made them bowl eligible. In that stretch of four losses this season Vanderbilt has lost close games to Mississippi State (17-14), Georgia (24-14) and Duke (10-7).
• Congrats to Buffalo and Turner Gill for winning last night and becoming bowl eligible. That's pretty amazing for that program to get to that level.
• Good connection between Michigan and Northwestern as Adam Rittenberg points out: "Rich Rodriguez is the Kevin Bacon of spread offenses."
What does that make Mike Leach, the Harvey Keitel?
• Tim Tebow might have be wavering on going Colt McCoy with his Heisman vote, writes Phil Kegler.
"I don't know, there's a chance," Tebow said on whether he would vote for himself. "The last few weeks have been good. We'll see how we can finish the season and everything."
Bruce Feldman
