BIG NOON KICKOFF Discusses College Football Playoff, Coaching Expectations, Heisman Hopefuls and More

BIG NOON KICKOFF Discusses College Football Playoff, Coaching Expectations, Heisman Hopefuls and More

12/05/2020

On today’s edition of BIG NOON KICKOFF, host Rob Stone, analysts Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Urban Meyer, reporter Bruce Feldman and lead game analyst Joel Klatt talk about the College Football Playoff, criteria for the Big Ten Championship Game, Heisman hopefuls, coaching strategy and more.

Meyer talks about the importance of the competitive spirit on this week’s edition of Urban’s Playbook:
“The edge is where average stops and elite begins.”

Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez addresses the Big Ten Championship Game eligibility requirements:
“If they [Ohio State] have a game cancelled, I think we would have to, as athletic directors, revisit if they should be involved [in the Big Ten Championship Game] if they don’t play six games. I think that’s something we would have to talk about.”

FOX lead college football game analyst Joel Klatt on how the College Football Committee will evaluate Ohio State:
“The number of games, the number of opportunities to evaluate this team – right now, they just need more of those. But the other thing they’re looking at, and this is in direct conflict of trying to get more games in, is the style in which they win or play. Today, they’re just trying to play. Why? To get this minimum number of games that was arbitrarily set by the conference in order to play for the conference championship. But, in order to do so, their style is going to be decimated. They’re playing at a capacity in which they’ve never played a football game with all those offensive linemen out. Can they dominate? I’m not sure, and yet the committee is going to be looking for some style points.

“Those two things – trying to play the requisite number of games and also the style in which they’re playing – are in direct conflict with one another. But at the end of the day, I really believe the committee, as they’ve done in years past, is going to take the past of least resistance. If Ohio State is undefeated, whether they play in the conference championship game or not, is arguably one of the four best teams in the country, and I believe they’ll put them in the playoff. Because remember, as opposed to the Big Ten, the playoff committee does not have a minimum number of games, and that’s the out they’ll use to put the Buckeyes in if they’re undefeated.”

Leinart and Bush have the latest VIP list a few weeks before the lights go up at Club Heisman:

Meyer says the job description for a head coach at a major college football program is unrealistic:
“I say this with great respect that the elite programs – there’s a handful of them out there – the fan bases are completely out of their minds. They’ve lost all sense of reality. Now, I say that with respect because I would always tell our players, wait a minute – you did not have to come to Ohio State or Florida. You chose to come here, so don’t be surprised if you struggle a bit – same thing with the coaching staff. It wears on you a little bit when you go 13-1 and people say well, what happened?

“Here’s the job description: win every game you play; never lose to your rival; get every top recruit; no off-field issues, graduate every player; and all players drafted in the first or second rounds.”

Quinn says television contracts have leveled the playing field across college football:
“The field has been leveled. There’s more equal competition in my mind. With TV comes money, and that’s where coaches now get paid the contracts they get paid, and rightfully so. But, with high-paid contracts come big expectations.

“I think when Phillip Fulmer, I believe he was the first head coach in college football to sign that million-dollar deal, that’s created a waterfall effect. With big paid contracts to coaches now, there are big expectations and they’ve got to win sooner rather than later. That’s been one of the issues I think we’ve seen with some of the blue bloods the last 10 years.”

Bush says college football has a lot of coaches, but not enough leaders:
“There’s a clear-cut difference between a coach and a leader. We have a lot of coaches, but can you be a leader? Because leaders inspire you to work when nobody’s watching. Leaders inspire you to get a couple extra reps in after practice when nobody’s out there, or maybe in the weight room in the offseason. But there’s a clear-cut difference between those two.

“I think we’ve seen a lot more coaches focused on stats; focused on scoring as many points as they can; and we haven’t seen as many coaches looking to inspire their kids.

“I think there’s just a clear-cut difference between those two, and we’re seeing more and more coaches and maybe less and less leaders.”

Feldman reports that a season like any other has given opportunities to Group of 5 teams:
“If there has been a silver lining to this chaotic 2020 of pauses, postponements and cancellations, it’s been that a handful of Group of 5 programs that had long been left out in the margins of the sport, have shined when the spotlight has tilted their way this fall.”

Quinn says Notre Dame is a virtual lock to make the College Football Playoff:
I do think they’re a lock now for the playoff, even with the loss in the ACC Championship Game, for this reason: look at North Carolina in the rankings. They lost to Notre Dame. They got shut out in the second half. They’re the only team in the top 25 with three losses. They moved up two spots. What does that tell you, about how the committee looks at Notre Dame? They actually gave UNC brownie points for being able to keep it close in the first half versus this team. So, I think they’re a virtual lock in this playoff.”

Leinart says the Big 12 is still in the race for a Playoff spot:
“The Big 12 is going to make a case to be in that top four when it’s all said and done. If some dominoes fall in front of them, I get that, but Iowa State moving up four spots this week, talk about respect from the committee.”

Meyer shares the advice he would give to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee:
“I would teach the committee how to watch video tape … I would take the nine segments of a team – offensive line, defensive line, quarterbacks, receivers – and I would simply go through with the video clicker. This is important and it’s going to take a lot of time, but I would rank them by offensive line, defensive line, the nine position groups.

“But, you are dealing with 13 people, two of them have probably ever done that. You have two former players, but that was a while ago, so what are they really watching? That is what I would say – the nine segments, rank them, and that’s your best team in the look test.”

Meyer selects Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly as his Coach of the Year:
“There have been so many incredible coaching jobs this year with all the disruptions. It came down to Luke Fickell, who I love to death and I know him very well, and Brian Kelly. Brian Kelly – I went with him because he has Notre Dame poised to make a run at the whole thing.”

Related Articles

FOX NFL SUNDAY Airs Special Two-Hour Show Live From Naval Base San Diego in Honor of Veterans Day
Friday, November 8, 2024 FOX NFL SUNDAY Airs Special Two-Hour Show Live From Naval Base San Diego in Honor of Veterans Day
FOX SPORTS CAPS A POSTSEASON FOR THE AGES AS WORLD SERIES GAME 5 DELIVERS 18.6 MILLION VIEWERS
MLB Friday, November 1, 2024 FOX SPORTS CAPS A POSTSEASON FOR THE AGES AS WORLD SERIES GAME 5 DELIVERS 18.6 MILLION VIEWERS
FOX Sports Posts MONSTER Viewership for World Series-Clinching Game 5
MLB Friday, November 1, 2024 FOX Sports Posts MONSTER Viewership for World Series-Clinching Game 5
Load More