Cold Morning Takes: Urban Meyer Backs Greg Schiano To Little Surprise
Cold morning takes looking at Urban Meyer backing his defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, and GSU head coach Tim Miles proving himself a true leader of men.
Cold morning takes looking at Urban Meyer backing his defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, and GSU head coach Tim Miles proving himself a true leader of men.
Yesterday, while kvetching about an assignment he was working on, a colleague here at HQ compared the work to “doing laundry.” He knew the article was necessary, and that there were positive, tangible results, but that still didn’t negate the fact that the task was undesirable.
As much as I like to break his balls about, well, everything, he had a good point. The article was a yeoman’s task, but it delivered.
While watching Nick Saban engage in a verbal slap fight with Paul Finebaum yesterday, it struck that Media Days – really, any media session – probably feels like laundry to coaches. They just want to be out on the field drawing up Xs and Os, not talking about their feelings to a bunch of men and women with notepads*. C’est la vie; it’s part of the game within the game.
*Reporters still use notepads, right?
On to the news.
Urban Meyer stands behind Greg Schiano
Quote Meyer on his defensive coordinator: “I’ve known Greg for 20-some years. I have as much respect for Greg Schiano as I do any person – not just any coach, any person. We had the chat and he told me everything that happened. He stands by his statement and we stand by his statement. There’s no issue as far as I am concerned.”
Cold Take: No real surprise here. You’d have to imagine that anyone involved with Penn State football between, oh, 1976 and 2011 gets vetted on this stuff consistently. Meyer was probably sitting on this canned response since the day he hired Schiano.
Speaking of which, Schiano is probably the best, most under-the-radar hiring of the offseason. Guy turned Rutgers into a player on the national scene and was an NFL head coach. Not only did Ohio State replace Chris Ash, they likely upgraded.
Georgia State’s head coach is a true leader of men
News: Georia State head coach Trent Miles has supported players on his team who have engaged in Atlanta’s citywide protests.
So proud of our Panthers! Continue to be safe, smart and socially responsible. #BuildingLeadersComesFirst
— Trent Miles (@CoachTMilesGSU) July 9, 2016
Cold Take: Let’s set politics aside for a second. This is not about Black, Blue or All Lives, rather a coach allowing his players to grow as socially conscious members of society. They feel strongly about an issue and have chosen to protest; their coach has supported their decision to express their views in a responsible manner.
Miles has put the ol’ coaching mantra of “molding lives on and off the field” in full view. His stance is reminiscent of Dean Smith allowing Bill Chamberlain to miss practice in order to protest the wages for university cafeteria workers. Kudos to Miles for supporting the personal growth of his players during this formidable time in their lives.
What the hell is going on at Michigan State?
News: Draymond Green slapped/punched/choked (depending on the source) a Michigan State football player over the weekend. Now that player, Jermaine Edmondson, has requested and been granted a release from the program.
Cold Take: Seriously, what in the hell is going on up in East Lansing. This type of tabloid fodder is very uncharacteristic of an athletic department unaccustomed to back-page news. Though with Green off to the Olympics and Edmondson now away from the football team, things will hopefully settle down.
And as for Green allegedly saying, “I pay for n—as like you scholarships,” if true, what a dick move. Same university and humanity, man. Leave that booshie, fake hard-guy s–t on the hardwood.
SEC commissioner likes four-team playoff system
News: When talking with Campus Insiders at SEC Media Days, Greg Sankey weighed in on the College Football Playoff. The commish believes that four teams is the perfect number and has been pleased with the system to-date.
Cold Take: It’s unsurprising that Sankey likes the system so far – he point-blank told CI that he’s really happy with last year’s results (see: Alabama remaining atop the college football world).
What’s interesting is that Sankey is reticent to expand to an eight-team playoff. The SEC is two-for-two in making the postseason tourney, but for a league so ripe to canibalize itself an expanded tournament would seem much more financially beneficial. Also, with as good as the SEC perceives itself to be, an eight-team field would likely have more than one representative. Then again, when fresh off a natty, why change the wheel.
That’s it for today. Back to the laundry …
MORE: Predicting Final 1-128 College Football Rankings for 2016
