Kirby Smart is Georgia’s new head coach. He’s also still Alabama’s defensive coordinator for the College Football Playoff. He’s recruiting for his new job while also preparing to play games at his old job. This is complicated, and does end up happening this time of year:
UGA’s new head coach is still on Nick Saban’s staff, which means recruiting against his boss
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He'll work out of Athens until Monday or Tuesday recruiting for Georgia, and then return back to Tuscaloosa for bowl preparations. As Smart traverses the southeast and elsewhere for recruits -- one of his first trips was to Washington to visit Jacob Eason -- he'll undoubtedly end up in the homes and schools of players he was previously recruiting to Alabama.
Smart had been one of Saban's best recruiters at Alabama. With Smart making the move to Athens, he talked to Saban about recruiting and his mentor gave him his blessing to keep recruiting the guys he was pursuing.
"Nick was very professional about that," Smart said. "He explained that if there is somebody Georgia was actively recruiting, we will continue to recruit them at the University of Georgia. And they are going to do the same; if they've been recruiting somebody they are going to continue to do it. We mutually agreed upon that."
Picking any bowl games? You’re gonna want to study up on these 40 advanced-stats tales of the tape previews of each bowl game by Bill Connelly. The numbers say Bama should dominate the trenches against Michigan State and Clemson’s going to harass Baker Mayfield, for instance.
Y’all know Pac-12 refs, right? The ones who not only screw up like all refs do, but do it with a frequency, a gusto, a joie de vivre that just sets them apart from all of the other notably bad officials in the sport? Well, they’re going to be calling the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Think of all the possibilities! Inadvertent whistles, mis-recovered fumbles, touchdowns erased from existence or random penalties. It’s all out there for us now, and that’s a brand of chaos that you simply cannot miss.
One Last Smile with The Snake: William Browning’s longform piece offers a poignant look at the final days of one of college and pro football’s true originals, Kenny “The Snake” Stabler.
Speaking of bowl games, Utah and BYU’s “Holy War” rivalry will resume in the Las Vegas Bowl, and Matt Brown is laying out exactly what the entertainment options are for members of the Mormon faith.
There’s also been a push to raise bowl eligibility to 7-5. What would this year’s bowl season look like without 6-6 teams?
The coaching carousel is almost done spinning, and Bud Elliott is breaking down the new head coaches in the Big Ten, where Maryland could have the best new setup. But the ACC seems to be the winner overall thus far, with Miami landing the biggest available name.
Texas is still looking for an offensive coordinator after being turned down by TCU quarterbacks coach/co-coordinator Sonny Cumbie. Next on the list is Tulsa’s co-OC, Sterling Gilbert. Burnt Orange Nation compares and contrasts the two.
BYU might try to attract the aforementioned Holy War rival’s head coach to replace Bronco Mendenhall. The leader for the job seems to be Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo.
And Cal’s Sonny Dykes has agreed to an extension to stay with the Golden Bears through 2019, according to reports. Some think his flirting with positions at Virginia, Maryland and other jobs may have been more to help increase his staff’s compensation as well.
Do you, Big 12. Jason Kirk thinks the conference should just be itself, no matter how many other conferences try to give it advice.
Oh, the things coaches do for recruiting. Penn State’s Herb Hand went target shooting with top target Michal Menet.
A day in the life: Ever wonder how Larry Culpepper does it? Good Bull Hunting has some insight. It’s bleak.
