CFB -- With Bowls Done, Let's Look Ahead

Well, that was quite a bowl season wasn’t it? In what can only be called a “shocking development,” or, if you’re my wife, a “disgusting” development, I intentionally watched an extended amount of all 34 bowl games this season.

 

Sure, it was  big sacrifice -- no lawn work, no handyman activities, no “honey do” list -- but I was willing to make it to see what it felt like to have some knowledge of every game played this bowl season.

 

Now it’s done and the off-season, such as it may be these days, is upon us. After taking a bit of a break to enjoy some vacation time and bask in the glow of a grey, raining Oregon winter, I’ve returned.

 

Let’s take a look at some of the issues that have popped up between the end of the bowl season and this point right here. Ready? Let’s see what’s happening.

 

In the fast Lane … again:

The arrival of Lane Kiffin at USC should be cause for joy, excitement and hosannas on high -- if you’re Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Arizona and the rest of the Pac-10.

 

Let’s face it, Kiffin has a coaching pedigree (Thanks, Monte) and must be one helluva interview, but there appears little else to recommend this guy as a difference-maker at any level. If you look at it honestly, the best thing he’s ever done is get a job on Pete Carroll’s USC team and ride that wave for all it was worth. Kiffin was a disaster, even by Oakland Raider standards, in the pro game, talked his way into the Tennessee head job, where he promptly pissed off his coaching brethren, tweaked nearly a half-dozen NCAA rules and erroneously accused some fellow coaches of recruiting improprieties. Then, he went 7-6 with the Vols in his only season before running back to SoCal.

 

If you’re the Ducks, Beavers, Huskies of Wildcats, you don’t hold this guy in awe and respect the way you did with Pete Carroll. Truthfully, Kiffin is a huge (and I mean huge) question mark as a head coach right now and certainly no Pete Carroll at this point. USC will have its usual compliment of incredibly talented players on offense and defense, but that gap has been closed in the last three years and was more than evident in 2009.

 

Kiffin will now be tasked with trying to get this program back up to the bar Carroll established, while fending off a conference the increasingly doesn’t fear the Trojans.

It was interesting to me that Steve Sarkisian’s name didn’t crop up more fervently in this coaching search, but perhaps that tells us more about what Sark knows about the possible NCAA sanctions against USC and potential at Washington.

 

Let’s face it, when your dominant resume item is as assistant coach under Pete Carroll during USC’s halcyon run in the mid-2000’s, you really don’t have much to recommend you to the job but the memories of successes past. His past two coaching stops have left his employers embarrassed, angry and less than satisfied with the product on the field.

Get used to that, my friends.

 

Healthy and back on the field:

Great to see that Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich has completed treatment for Ewings Sarcoma and is back on the practice field leading off-season drills.

 

Herzlich was the Golden Eagles top defensive player heading into 2009, but discovery of the cancer ended his season before it began. His battle through the treatment and apparent recovery are a testament to his character, strength and modern medicine. He’s a guy that should be very motivated in 2010 and I like his chances to be an IDP tackling machine next season.

 

Oh, a sleeper gets away

Looking through the 53 players who were given the OK by the NFL as early entrants to this year’s NFL draft, one name stopped me in my tracks.

 

One thing the bowl game orgy I experienced gave me a chance to do was get the old eyeballs on some guys who could be big-time for fantasy owners in 2010. One of those guys I’d targeted -- and I believe mentioned in an earlier bowl game recap column -- was SMU running back Shawnbrey McNeil. In the pass-happy offense of coach June Jones, McNeil had a pretty darn impressive season with nearly 1,200 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns, with a couple more through the air thrown in.

 

After watching him get more than 100 total yards and three touchdowns in the bowl game beat down of Nevada, I realized what a quality back this guy was and had been ready to quietly slip him into the sack as a “sleeper” for 2010. Now, that joy is gone as he heads to the NFL draft, where he is projected as a fourth or fifth rounder.

 

Truthfully, this one crushed me. I couldn’t wait to recommend him to fantasy owners this summer as a guy who was worthy of a draft choice. Now the NFL gets that opportunity.  Too bad.

 

Luck of the Irish

I had to kind of chuckle when I read a bit about new Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly asking his players to “buy in” to his program unconditionally -- like that’s something different.

 

Look, every coach talks about the players “buying in” to the new program and the need to separate those who want to “buy in” from those who may want to simply “sell out.” I don’t begrudge Kelly running out on his Cincinnati team well before the bowl game or the usual Notre Dame coaching rhetoric that has emanated from the home of the golden dome since, but anyone who’s been around coaches -- successful and otherwise -- for any length of time realizes something pretty profound…it’s far easier to present the illusion that the players have bought in when you win.

 

Good players who are well coaches and in a scheme that plays to their strengths usually produces good results. With his quarterback and best receiver gone, as well as many other holes to fill and the mystique of the program in post-Christmas wrapping tatters, buying in is a nice off-season phrase to toss out, but the Irish need talent more than anything else.

 

Come the fall, coaching clichés will not be what determines the success of Brian Kelly’s start in South Bend -- wins and losses will. That’s the only thing that will determine how extensive the “buy in” has been at Notre Dame.

 

Holy Unga, that’s good news

Great to hear that BYU running back Harvey Unga decided to return for his senior season. With Max Hall heading out, 2010 could be a season of plenty for Unga and the running game and fantasy owners could reap the benefits.

 

Unga was a bit of a disappointment in 2009 after a huge 2008 campaign, but still became the first Cougar running back to go over 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. Here’s betting that he’s going to be much better, much healthier and much more fantasy friendly in 2010 -- and will make it three straight 1,000 yard seasons.

 

Here’s a quickie prediction for Unga in 2010 -- 1,350 yards, 14 touchdowns. Hey, I’m just spit-balling here.

 

Things are Sonny at La. Tech

Besides the Kiffin disaster brewing at USC, one of the more intriguing hires of the off-season (at least to me) is Sonny Dykes to Louisiana Tech. Dykes is the son of former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes and comes to LT with a penchant for the spread offense.

A week into the job, Dykes is waffling on whether he’ll implement the spread attack at LTU, instead saying all the requisite things about analyzing the personnel before deciding on a mode of offensive attack. Louisiana Tech loses workhorse running back Daniel Porter, but returns quarterback Ross Jenkins (2,095-17-5) and a couple of nice receivers (Phillip Livas, Cruz Williams, etc.) and some other nice pieces.

 

It will be interesting to see what Dykes does and if he’ll go to battle with an offense he knows and the pieces that were in place in 2009 -- or, like June Jones in 2008, put the offense in the hands of a freshman quarterback and let the learning begin?

 

Here’s a name to keep in mind in 2010 -- freshman running back Tyrone Duplessis, a shifty, lightning quick back that spelled Porter and had three games with 65 or more yards. Just a hint for the future.

 

What next at Stanford

While I loved Toby Gerhart this season and rode him to titles in two leagues, I wasn’t disappointed to see him head to the NFL. With his departure, however, things will change mightily for the Cardinal in 2010.

 

And with that, perhaps it’s a good time to remind everyone that Jim Harbaugh’s offense will now revolve around quarterback Andrew Luck in 2010. That should bode well for receivers Ryan Whalen and Chris Owosu, who showed flashes in 2009, but must be much more productive to offset the likely downturn in rushing production with Gerhart gone.

 

Stanford’s offense will be much different in 2010 and it will be interesting to see if Luck takes a big step forward. He showed some promising flashes of brilliance in 2009, but had the battering ram of a running game to take the pressure off. That luxury, to say the least, is gone.

 

Brown returns for more

Over the first six weeks of the season, one of my most productive fantasy receivers was Vincent Brown of San Diego State. He was well over the 700 yard mark with six scores and plenty of catches in the Aztec’s new spread offensive set-up.

 

All was rosy and golden -- then he got hurt and was out for the season. Well, with the announcement that he’s returning to SDSU, as well as quarterback Ryan Lindley, this offense could be one of those “out of the way” sleeper groups that makes big numbers from humble origins.

 

Don’t sleep on Brown in 2010 as surgery on his thumb was successful and he should be 100 percent this fall. It will be interesting to see how the fantasy landscape views Vincent Brown in the fall, but I’m just offering a heads-up now -- don’t sleep on this guy this fall.

 

John Baker is the senior college football writer for World Fantasy Games.

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