KIRK BOHLS ON BAYLOR’S NEW FOOTBALL COACH
Rhule doesn’t know state’s recruiting, so he’ll need staffers with connections.
While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:
1. Baylor hired the hot, new coach who isn’t Tom Herman and has to hope that Matt Rhule translates into big success in a region where he’s never worked. Is he that good or just the hot, new coach in a very shallow pool of them? It’s a roll of the dice since the almost 42-year-old Rhule has been a head coach for only four seasons at Temple and never coached farther south or west than Western Carolina. Best advice for Rhule when addressing Texas recruits? Just tell ’em you coached at Temple and let ’em think high school. Hey, it worked for Sterlin Gilbert. Baylor Athletic Director Mack Rhoades tells me Rhule is “a CEO, a transformational leader of people who builds team and relates to all people and is a ball coach. He knows both sides of the ball and will resonate with Texas high school football coaches. They will want their players to play for him. He will make great football players and better men.” Lord knows Baylor needs a lot of that. Rhule had better hire several staffers with in-state connections to the high schools.
2. Jerritt Elliott has his plate full with his Texas volleyball team set to host an NCAA regional round, starting with a semifinal match against BYU at Gregory Gym on Friday afternoon, but he still has time to fix the sport he coaches and loves. Of all the Texas sports, the volleyball program and Eddie Reese’s swimming and diving programs are by far the most consistently excellent on campus. Elliott is overjoyed to be hosting after the Horns swept UT-Rio Grande Valley and SMU, but he’d prefer a more entertaining and fair scenario that would ensure sellouts. “I’d like to see us play two out of three in the Sweet 16 and two out of three in the Elite Eight, but keep the Final Four the same as one-anddone,” said Elliott, whose fourth-seeded Longhorns will compete in their 11th straight Sweet 16. “This has to change. We’re trying to grow the sport. That’s the only way to make enough money, and this is one of the steps.” Plus, Elliott is railing against all four regionals being played in the same time zone, forcing bizarre starting times. Nebraska, for instance, plays seven-time NCAA champion Penn State at 11 a.m. Friday, meaning its warm-up will start at 7:30, “which is ridiculous. I don’t know how many people will be watching a morning match,” Elliott said. The Cornhuskers and Nittany Lions have won eight of the past 10 national championships. “We need a day in between matches and go to a Thursday-Saturday or Friday-Sunday format to get better fan attendance and better television ratings. It’s a no-brainer. A couple of other coaches are with me, but we need to think more businesslike. There is a business side to sports, and it deals with financials. With this format we can double our attendance and become a tier 1 sport. This would allow us to seed all 64 teams and continue to grow our game.”
3. Penn State clearly got the shaft from the College Football Playoff selection committee. The Nittany Lions are hot (nine wins in a row), a conference champion (of the best conference, the Big Ten) and beat a top-four CFP team head to head (Ohio State). Yet none of that mattered to the selection committee, which should read its own mandate. And I firmly believe if the situations were reversed and, say, a twoloss Buckeyes team had beaten the Nittany Lions head to head and then beaten anybody in the Big Ten championship game, Ohio State would have not only been in the Final Four but would have been a strong No. 2 behind Alabama. You know it, and I know it. Very hypocritical of the committee.
4. For all those interested in expanding the four-team playoff to six or eight teams, the integrity of the regular season should never be sacrificed because the regular season matters only in college football and the NFL. But I think growing the postseason to eight would be fine because there are five Power 5 conferences and there will always be at least three deserving at-large candidates. If it was an eightteam playoff this year, I’d make the case, in order, for Alabama, Penn State, Clemson, Washington, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC and Michigan.
5. Heard an interesting rumor that Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh was in Austin during Thanksgiving week, played golf with Texas bigwigs and said he’d come coach the Longhorns for $8 million a year. But my best source at Texas insists that didn’t happen. Sure juicy, though.
6. Did you catch the end of Dallas’ 17-15 win over Minnesota when no flag was thrown on the Cowboys for hitting quarterback Sam Bradford’s facemask on his overthrown 2-point conversion attempt with 25 seconds left? Vikings defensive end Brian Robison, a former Longhorn, let off steam, saying, “I’m sick and tired of the reffing in this league right now. You’ve got holding calls all over the place that people don’t want to call . ... At some point, it’s got to get better.” Conferences and leagues should never fine players or coaches for going off angry when they are correct on officiating errors like that noncall. I’m not sure full-time officials are the solution. Maybe the league should have a weekly ranking of referees to make them publicly accountable. Yeah, it would bring more fanatics out, but it might be worth a try.
7. I’m all in with Ron Rivera, who disciplined Cam Newton for violating the Panthers’ dress code by not wearing a dress shirt and necktie, although Newton was benched for just one offensive play. Standards are standards. Even Newton didn’t bark.
8. Have the Houston Texans waived Brock Osweiler yet? Matt Stafford’s in the mix for MVP. The Jets should fire Todd Bowles after that pitiful Monday night performance.
9. I liked the creative, cerebral approach about aliens in “Arrival.” A little slow-moving, but makes you think. Gave it seven ducks.
Crazy prediction: Texas will win the NIT next spring.