12/23/2023 0 Comments Andy staples alma mater![]() ![]() Oklahoma fans wouldn’t have to change their new nickname for Lincoln Riley when he moved from USC to Texas Tech. Of course, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham might have a better argument than either Sarkisian or Sitake. Would Sarkisian get the BYU job, though? Fellow alum Kelani Sitake has made a pretty good case he deserves it. Steve Sarkisian would have to move on from Texas, but Texas fans likely wouldn’t despair when Kyle Shanahan left the 49ers for Austin. Obviously, Dabo Swinney would replace Saban at Alabama - with either Tony Elliott or Jeff Scott replacing Swinney at Clemson. Plus, his clashes with Sean McVay when the Golden Flashes play Miami (Ohio) would be epic. We can all agree that the biggest winner is Kent State, which has the best coach in the sport’s history coming home - though this would test the limits of my Where-Could-Nick Saban-Win-A-National-Title theory. We’re about to find out how Miami will look under alum Mario Cristobal. Pat Fitzgerald is beloved at Northwestern, as is Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. So it balances out.īut what about a world where the best coach from a particular school must work at their alma mater? We just saw two alums leading their alma maters against one another in the College Football Playoff (Kirby Smart’s Georgia against Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan). That’s because while we remember Bear Bryant, we tend to forget that Mike Shula also is an Alabama alumnus. Our friends at SportSource Analytics will show you numbers that explain that there is no significant difference in record between coaches working at their alma maters and coaches working elsewhere. Would Jedd Fisch lead Florida to the promised land? Does Notre Dame turn back to Charlie Weis? Does Saban turn Kent State into a national power? What schools are ruined? What coaches are frozen out? Obviously, Georgia is at an immediate advantage. What if current coaches were forced to coach their alma maters? I know we have mostly moved past the era of alma mater-loyal coaches (Steve Spurrier, Bear Bryant, etc.), but I think college football is better when the loyalty still existed. Last year you took my “football coaches coaching other sports” idea and ran with it. You want to read about football while you’re watching basketball, and you have questions … ![]()
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