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He'd get a longer leash at Florida, it's been a minute since ten win seasons were the norm. The money also doesn't dictate to Scott Stricklin. I think if Lane or whomever gets hired, all we would want to see is progression. The one positive Napier left behind was a great collection of talent, and a more serious investment in football. He helped get the facilities up to snuff, created connections back to the high schools in State, and got Florida to pay for a large support staff. At LSU and Penn State they will expect playoffs by year two. There's also meddling up and down their leadership.

Norvell is a DMW, but this is a bad year to be in the coaching sweepstakes. There are clearly three better jobs open, and not enough sure fire dudes available. FSU isn't getting the sure fire guy, if there is even one of those. The buyout will decrease by ten million next year. The issue is recruits and assistants likely know Norvell is a DMW. They run the risk of stretching out their timeline for a rebuild, just like Florida did with Napier. If Florida had fired Napier last year, they'd be wrapping up year one with whoever the next guy would be. I would prefer Fisch, but most want Kiffin, and he would've taken the job with no hesitancy last year. Now Florida is going to have to pay him a considerably higher guaranteed contract to get him. Arkansas likely would've had Golesh finishing his first year, instead they are going to be competing with Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Michigan State for whoever they want. FSU is likely going to be in that tier as well imo. But you don't have to get the biggest name, or the biggest list of accomplishments. It won't take long either, but you need the right guy. Vanderbilt, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Indiana, and Cincy have all proven that. Get some guy who brings a culture, and give him some resources. It doesn't even have to be top ten resources, just allocate your full allotment the revenue sharing model allows you.

Apparently Penn State is looking at a name nobody was talking about two weeks ago. That name? Brian Hartline. I guess the old saying "If you can't beat them, just take as much as possible from them". Well that isn't exactly the phrase, but you know what I mean. I would personally think Stein is the safer candidate, but the trend to hire young dudes in their thirties that recruit really well, is the new trend. Dillingham, Lanning, Freeman, Day, and Riley being the trailblazers. I will say Penn State will get awesome receivers for the first time in my lifetime, if they make that hire. This might be good for Oregon. They get to keep Stein, and he won't be an in conference for that could take any recruits with him. I don't think Stein leaves unless it's a job with resources close to what Oregon offers. Kind of like Kirby. Florida and LSU are looking elsewhere, and those are the only current options that fit that bill. Now if Michigan State , Auburn or Florida State came open, that might be a different story.

I would call this "Finebaum's Nightmare" " Imagine a world where Florida, Auburn, and LSU are in a landfill of mediocrity. When out of the sky a program with 700 losses is beating Alabama and Georgia to win a third straight championship for the B1G. Coming this Winter, Curt Cignetti presents Finebaum's New Nightmare!!!

Not sure Oregon needs the fuel to kick the bricks off Iowa, as a second loss would cost Oregon a home playoff game. It would also take them out of B1G Title contention. But if you want a reason to dislike Iowa, because what's there to really dislike about them otherwise. They play hard, and have been pretty clean off the field. Their DC Phil Parker was asked about the strengths of the Ducks offense, and he threw out the "Well Funded" line that Mike Gundy seemed fixated on. Why you gonna do that Phil? The Ducks were probably going to sleepwalk on Saturday. But now after that ugly Wisconsin game, and now this. They are about to put your feet to the fire.

Those guys could gain a great perspective if they read Jon's articles. I'd love for Finebaum to have a conversation with Jon as well. But most in Dixieland still think the SEC should have all the top ten teams.

I wasn't saying the conference games were easy, just that I wouldn't label any of those games as on par with what you would call a great win. Winning at Oregon was a great game. I've been saying all along that the SEC isn't as great those on ESPN do. Look at the post season results. Alabama lost to a terrible ACC team, but rolled along against what is perceived as top ten teams that haven't beaten a top ten team outside of the conference which got over ranked with South Carolina and Florida both being top fifteen. Both were given the SEC boost. Oklahoma beat a fringe top 25 Michigan. Texas A&M won at Notre Dame. That's what the SEC has done out of league. But you have to look South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma and give them credit for at least scheduling P4 opponents or Notre Dame. Indiana plays absolutely nobody outside of their required conference slate. Oregon has played Georgia in the Lanning era, that's something I've always enjoyed about the Ducks. They've gone to Michigan and Ohio State before they were in the B1G. They earned their flowers and stretched their wings. Indiana has one great win, they looked great in it. They've looked great in dismantling above average B1G teams like Illinois by fifty. But I can't say Curt Cignetti has proven himself to be in the Ryan Day conversation. I can't put him in the Dan Lanning conversation either. Dan Lanning has a B1G title. Ryan Day has a couple B1G titles and a National title. I give them incredible weight. Curt Cignetti has been called by some in this hyperbolic time frame as the greatest coach in college football. To that I quote Lee Corso "Not so fast my friend." To be considered in that elite class and not some plucky underdog with so so expectations, you have to have more than one great win. A great win isn't just winning against conference opponents. If that were the case, James Franklin would still have a job.

People at Penn State compare the Franklin firing to Georgia, the funny thing is Kirby still has only beaten Alabama once in his tenure. Of course that was the 2022 National Championship game, but Alabama still owns a place in Athens. Kirby has those two National Titles, but I don't think he's going to have a dynasty like Saban. It's hard to win titles, much tougher in today's era. I don't think you have to be at a traditional power to contend every year. What the heck is a traditional power anyway? The prerequisites change depending on who you ask. Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, and Ohio State think you have to have titles in the 40's. Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Miami, FSU, Tennessee, Nebraska, and Penn State think you have to have at least two titles. So is Minnesota, Army, Michigan State, Colgate, Navy, University of Chicago, and Harvard considered blue bloods? Truth is Indiana, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, BYU, Oregon, Houston, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, and a G05 program is going to make a run. Imagine a world where Vanderbilt and Indiana meet in the playoff. Imagine a world where Ole Miss is playing memorable games that have actual meaning while Florida , Penn State, and LSU are waiting to talk to their head coach because they have nothing else to look forward to. Penn State is playing at Ohio State this week. Guess where College Game day is headed? Not Columbus for the millionth time. They are going to be in Utah, the first Big 12 game in over three years. A Cincy game is more important and high profile than an Ohio State game. In November!! The nuts in Ohio are going to explode if they discover that. Scott Frost made some waves preseason when he said he regretted taking the Nebraska job. He said he felt pressured to go home and save the big brand, he said he never felt at home back "home", and he discovered UCF is truly where he felt comfortable.. " Sometimes home isn't where you grew up, or even where you played. Sometimes home is where you feel like you can just be you with no pressure. It's not even where all your family and childhood friends reside. You grow up and realize home is where you make it. You get married, have kids. Make new friends, and you find out that you don't have to go any special place to go back home. Sometimes that special place is where you already are, and you discover you've been home all along"

While I agree with the fact that Cignetti and Lanning are special, I think the programs investment and backing help them be special. Indiana didn't give any of their previous head coaches the financial backing they gave Curt, and while what he's done is impressive. He really only has one great win to his name thus far. Indiana has played nobody outside of their forced conference games and their playoff game. Oregon has been a wagon since the Belotti days. Outside of Mark Helfrich who won a playoff game btw, there hasn't been a head coach dismissed due to on field performance in my lifetime I believe. Guys leave Oregon and get fired, but that's because those places don't have the alignment imo. FSU hasn't had a guy the program and fans both loved since Bobby Bowden. Jimbo Fisher left because he didn't get what he wanted, and he failed at Texas A&M with all the things he could ever want except 100 percent alignment. You have more money than agreement out there. Boosters, oil tycoons, and alumni all have different opinions of how to "Gig Em". The only thing they agree on is their hatred for Texas. Mike Elko seems like a guy who might be the one to unite the forces, he has a systematic approach to recruiting and using the portal in lockstep. I never heard of Mike Elko before his Duke team upset Clemson three years ago. I'm certain there is going to be a discussion in four years where we are talking about at least two new names that are going to be considered A list hires.

Look at how he abandoned his Cincy squad the day after they finished their best ever season in 2009. He just left without even talking to his team the day after they came within a Texas extra special bonus second from going to the BCS Title game. Florida trashed that Bearcat squad in the Sugar Bowl, but it felt like Brian Kelly couldn't even do what the notoriously less than motivated Scott Frost did when he finished out the season at UCF even after taking the Nebraska job. UCF almost beat the same LSU squad that would go on and become that 2019 legendary wagon. People don't ever talk about that because Cincy isn't a huge brand. But the signs of Kelly being a pretty classless guy goes back almost twenty years now. He fired the LSU strength and conditioning coach that had been there since the Les Miles days. He destroyed what made LSU special. If I were Wisconsin, or any other program that might give him another shot, I would think twice. He'd dump them for a second if he started winning.

There's not enough fresh talent until there is. Twenty years ago Urban Meyer wasn't a known commodity. Two years ago Curt Cignetti was a guy in his 60's that never had any high league experience. Four years ago Oregon lost Super Mario and hired a guy in his thirties that had no ties to the West Coast. His first game didn't go that well, that guy is still there I think. Six years ago people were asking why Ohio State would hire some unknown dude from the NFL instead trying to poach Brian Kelly. Who thought Notre Dame would promote a linebackers coach in his thirties to head coach? FSU isn't getting anybody from anywhere. Virginia Tech might get James Franklin, but they aren't getting a P4 coach currently employed. Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Auburn, UCLA, maybe they get some of these retreads like Kelly, Jimbo, Orgeron? Why is it that programs like LSU, Florida, FSU, Miami, Michigan, USC, Texas, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Texas A&M would cycle through coach after coach, while Oregon has only fired one coach in thirty years? Wisconsin had a record like that until they fired Chryst four years ago and hired an outsider who wanted to change the way they play. Nebraska fell into that same trap when they hired Callahan after the 2004 season. Has Ohio State fired a coach for on field results in your lifetime? I'm on the train of thought that you gotta have the right system in place before you can consistently win. Oregon has the facilities, alignment up and down the booster and athletic director tracks. When you hire a guy, you have total support in place and he just has to do his job. I don't think Lanning or Cignetti would ever leave because they have everything and anything they will ever need to succeed. At Penn State, Florida, Texas, USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, there are about fifty million different levels of people you have to appease. It's not easy. That's one reason why Lane Kiffin or Eli Drinkowitz could choose to stay where they are. They won't face the same pressure and they'll both be paid just as much without the pressure to be Joe Paterno or Steve Spurrier.

I should've put some money on the under in this game.

If Deion wasn't the father of the Shedeur, nobody outside of Cleveland would be clamoring for who is always the most popular player on any struggling team, the backup QB. It's obvious the Browns preferred Dillon, it's why they drafted him in the third round. The coach is coaching for his job, and the GM is likely tied to this years results as well. They have tied their futures to the guy they think can win. Sanders will likely find his way bouncing from team to team because each year that he doesn't become a star, it's going to become harder and harder as each new batch of young QBs enter the league. This upcoming draft isn't likely to have the best QBs, you'll likely have Mendoza, Moore, Sellers, Simpson,Allar, and likely a late riser like maybe Chambliss or Brown. But it's going to be a pretty weak draft, so maybe Gabriel gets another year.. But with how quickly even first rounders are discarded, I wouldn't be buying a long term property if I were him.

If Ryan Day lost a second time to Oregon, would he have been fired last year? If you were Clemson, what would it take to put Dabo on the hot seat? Jim Harbaugh was forced to take a pay cut after the 2020 season. Three years later Michigan was prepared to make him the highest paid coach in history. I don't think coaches get considerably better five years on the job. Jim Harbaugh, Ryan Day, and Dabo Sweeney were all in their 6 plus years when they won their first title. Sometimes it's having the right alignment, roster experience, and coaching assistants. The greats like Saban could win with freshman QBs, different assistant coaches, and a changing play style. It looks like Ryan Day might be trending in that direction, they lost 18 guys to the NFL. They lost their DC and OC, they have a freshman QB. But they have that dude wearing the whistle. Kirby Smart and Dabo Sweeney have two titles, but there was continuity on their staffs and they had either a multiple year starter, or they had a phenom behind center. I've seen Georgia, I don't think they are going to make it with that defense. I think Cignetti will out scheme them with three stars. If you put it to me, I would say my favorites are Ohio State and Alabama. Oregon and Indiana are right below them with Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas A&M and Miami. These teams have been dominant,or have the components to be dominant. My sleepers would be Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, BYU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. These are the teams that are in the chase and have had some real good outings. My over the moon shots would be Virginia, Cincy, USF, Iowa, and Texas. These are the teams that could shock the world if they win out. Virginia is undefeated so maybe they should be a sleeper. Iowa and Texas would have to beat some favorites like Georgia, Texas A&M and Oregon to do so, but those are not out of the realm imo. Cincy is a real dark horse that has put up over 450 yards a game thus far. They took a relatively healthy and undefeated Iowa State to the woodshed before the Cyclones got some desperation points. The Bearcats run the ball well and pass it equally as well with an Indiana QB and Ohio State RB transfer at both positions. Nobody watches the Big 12 outside of ASU, Texas Tech, Utah, and BYU. But Cincy is dangerous. We all know about what USF did earlier this year. I'll only thank them for helping get us a new coach. They score a lot of points and have a coach that will probably be at Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, or maybe Washington, Ole Miss, or Missouri depending on the coaching carousel. I don't think he'd take a step down and go to FSU or Oregon State😂 Sorry to any John Canzano readers.

Miami and Los Angeles don't have fans. They have occasional spectators who show up for only the glitzy matchups. Schedule Notre Dame , Michigan, or Ohio State and it will be packed. That could also be due to several alumni living in those cities. All you have to do is go compare the Super Bowl celebrations. When the Rams won in 2022 it wasn't packed. When the Chiefs, Bucs, and Eagles won you had packed streets or boats in Tampa. Terrible fan-bases. USC and Miami are also private schools with many snobs. They wouldn't sully their hands mingling with us common folk.