Let’s face it – every day we are routinely bombarded with questions. When you’re an emerging media company in Nashville, people just want to know what your opinions are on everything. It’s only natural. And, since our duty is to serve the people, well, we have no choice but to be present. That’s the SoBro Way. Also, aren’t mailbags just a barrel of laughs anyway? Welcome to the newest weekly recurring feature up in this bitch: The SoBros Mailbag. As always, hit us with those mailbag questions @SoBrosNetwork on Twitter, email ’em to me anonymously at thesobrosnetwork@gmail.com. And, holy shit, I need to update this terrible intro paragraph that I’ve been using literally ever since I started writing this column…
Question, from Will on Facebook:
Who will be the next lsu and usc and tcu head coaches? Where will deion sanders and james franklin and mel tucker land?
Answer:
LIGHT mailbag this week, but I love that this is the question I got because I can sink my teeth into this one. This is going to be a wild coaching carousel this offseason in college football. You have two real marquee jobs open in LSU and USC….I mean, those are heavyweight programs. Those are programs that expect to be contending for National Championships. So, there’s going to be a magnifying glass on those opportunities. But, on the other side of the vacancies, you have the coaching pool. And, I just don’t know who is going to be the hot shot that everyone wants this offseason. That’s complicated by the fact that I don’t believe for a second that Urban Meyer is committed to the Jacksonville Jaguars. So, he might be out there, too.
Let’s start with LSU – there are rumors out there that the Tigers are going to pull out all the stops to try and wrestle Jimbo Fisher away from Texas A&M. Personally, I don’t even know that that’s a lateral move for Fisher given how much he’s helped in getting that Aggies program to playoff contention. But, money talks, and if the money is there, who knows? If they can’t get Fisher, the thinking is they’ll make a strong run at Mel Tucker. Tucker has an incredible, extensive resumé in both the NFL and college football, but his head coaching record in college football is just 15-12, with a 5-7 season at Colorado in 2019 and a 2-5 season at Michigan State in 2020. There’s no doubt that his star is on the rise, but for a program like LSU, I would think they’d want more than one 8-0 start before they pull the trigger on a guy like Tucker. I don’t think it would be a bad hire – don’t get me wrong. I like the job and the experience Tucker has….I just think he needs more time at a premier program before we know exactly what he is as a head coach.
If I’m USC, I think unless I can pull off a surprise steal, like taking Mario Cristobal from Oregon or Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss, I roll the dice on James Franklin. His rah-rah style (whether he’s a good person or not doesn’t matter) would energize that program, and get him the hell out of the Big Ten East. He’s already switched his agent this season, so I expect him to test the waters, and if they make him an offer, I’d be surprised if he WASN’T their guy.
I actually love someone like Billy Napier or Jamey Chadwell for somewhere like TCU (or Texas Tech since they went ahead and fired their coach, too). Both have done great jobs at Louisiana-Lafayette and Coastal Carolina respectively, and taking the leap from the Sun Belt to the Big 12 isn’t quite as drastic as the Sun Belt to the SEC would be (for those clamoring for Napier at LSU).
Finally, if Deion Sanders goes anywhere, it’ll be back to the broadcast booth.
Keep the questions coming – catch y’all next week!
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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