Anybody else find it odd that Kirby Smart's name hasn't come up?

[OreBama]

No. There are lots of Jedi Masters, but only one Sith Lord.

:

That's the nerdiest thing that I've ever read. I love it, though.

Remember, there are always two: a master and an apprentice.

 

[RTR91]

Many folks say Kirby has a list of schools he would go to be HC. If he indeed does have that list, I'm willing to bet many schools fear they aren't good enough for Kirby.

 

[deliveryman35]

Not this year. See the TAMU, Barn, and OU games. Against top notch competition, our defense was less than stellar this year.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

He probably makes more than 80% of the head coaches in CFB right now. And he is probably happy where he is at, I have guys that have worked for me that were excellent workers and do a fantastic job but for what ever reason they didn't want to be promoted and were very happy with what they did and where they are.

He came within a gnat's eyelash of taking the Auburn job a few years ago, so I doubt this scenario. I think he's just waiting for the right offer. I hear that he just doesn't have the organizational skills which Saban has or which are required for a HC job. Maybe he's realized that and that's the reason he's turned down other HC jobs...

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Not this year. See the TAMU, Barn, and OU games. Against top notch competition, our defense was less than stellar this year.

Well, OU threw a whole new offensive package at us. By halftime, we had it fairly well defended. Most of the problems the last couple of games rested with the offense not being able to keep the defense off the field until they were totally beat...

 

[TideFan in AU]

LOL @ the people that think their isn't a long list of schools that wouldn't hire Kirby if thought he'd come. Anybody paying attention would realize that our defense held AU's offense to less yards and points than anybody in their last and points than anybody in their last 9 games. We ended the ended the season 4th in scoring defense and 5th in total defense. This year's defense is down by our standards, but would be a dream for almost 120 schools in FBS. We have been in top 5 in scoring and total defense every year since 2008 (including 2010, which we considered a terrible year defensively).

The vast majority of Athletic Director's aren't so short-sighted to take the results of 3 games this year to drop Kirby's stock that much. Stoops, Muschamp, Chizik, the other Stoops all got jobs in major conferences with much less credentials than Kirby has as DC.

 

[BAMAfan777]

Saban sure looked very upset at Kirby several times when the camera panned in on them the last two games of the season......that's for sure.

 

[cuda.1973]

At CKS, or the execution on the field?

 

[deliveryman35]

At CKS, or the execution on the field?

I don't know. I DO know that our D performed very differently in the three 'big games'(TAMU, Barn, OU) verses how they performed against Ole Miss, TN, and Ark. Were we just not as good as we thought we were? That's a very good question. Or did 'execution' just stop in the big games? Again, I don't know, but I suspect not. I actually thought our guys were ready for both the barn and OU games. If you cannot get up for those games, I honestly don't know what you are doing playing an organized sport at this level.

I think Kirby is a great coach and he will eventually get a very good hc gig, but deserved or not it is my opinion that his appeal and 'star power' took a little bit of a hit this year when you consider what we surrendered when our D was on the field in our three marquee games.

 

[GrayTide]

I'm sure his name will come up @ Vanderbilt.

If CJF is confirmed for Penn St. tomorrow.

That would be a horrible move for Smart almost as bad as MSU.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

Since we're on the subject of defense and our defensive coordinator ... I'm trying to remember when we have had so much uncertainty about an incoming unit.

No C.J. no HaHA. No Stinson and Pagan and Hubbard. No Blue and questions about Vinnie's knee. Who plays next to Trey? Who takes over on the line and at Jack? And can anybody rush the passer or guard somebody against a top-notch opponent?

Talent? Supposedly. Performance ready? Given the staff's preference to stick with starters, who knows?

Scary/exciting times to be a defensive coordinator at UA.

 

[bamablood6]

How old is Kirby now? Still not very old....so dont call him Bud Foster.

And heck if I was making $1.2 million a year (or whatever with bonuses), and didnt have to deal with the hassles of being a HC, I might just be happy where I was at the moment. He has said several times he loves his job and Tuscaloosa---he might just be telling the truth!

As a head coach he might make $1.5 - $2.5 million or so and have to deal with all the BS.

And on a side note, who DOES have the organizational skills of a Nick Saban?

 

[bamacon]

I think he is just looking for the right fit. He could get a HC tomorrow but does a Coach with high ambition want one the Arky St./WKU type positions? Before you say Gus did realize he wanted out of AU as fast as he could. He saw the train wreck coming which would have slammed his stock 2 years in a row.

 

[RTRCharlotte]

For his own sake, Kirby should look for other opportunities. Yes, he works for the greatest college football in modern sports history, but different experiences with other coaches, systems should only make him better.

 

[AgentAntiOrange]

Well, I have a hunch about it. Kirby Smart will be our next HC, and Saban is grooming him to take the spot, if he will just be patient and learn from the Jedi Master. Smart knows this so he is keeping his powder dry and his mouth shut.

There. That's my stab at it. What say you?

I say.....try naming just 2 "coach in waiting" situations that have actually worked out. Not that I would mind CKS being our HC.....just seems like that rarely comes to fruition.

 

[BamaFlum]

Vandy is officially open.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, so my fat fingers cause misspellings and autocorrect makes my ships into...

 

[tidefanbeezer]

How old is Kirby now? Still not very old....so dont call him Bud Foster.

And heck if I was making $1.2 million a year (or whatever with bonuses), and didnt have to deal with the hassles of being a HC, I might just be happy where I was at the moment. He has said several times he loves his job and Tuscaloosa---he might just be telling the truth!

As a head coach he might make $1.5 - $2.5 million or so and have to deal with all the BS.

And on a side note, who DOES have the organizational skills of a Nick Saban?

The point was not about Bud Foster's current age. The point is Kirby seems to be on a similar career trajectory. Foster was 35 when he became DC at VT. He put together some really stout defenses that helped Beamer make VT a national player. He was (is) highly regarded as a coordinator, yet he's remained a DC (either by choice or some other reason).

Kirby has followed along a similar path as Foster. Young coordinator who has put together some amazing defenses and piled up accolades, yet hasn't landed a HC gig yet (either by choice or for some other reason).

 

[bamacon]

I say.....try naming just 2 "coach in waiting" situations that have actually worked out. Not that I would mind CKS being our HC.....just seems like that rarely comes to fruition.

You can't even name one. FSU "worked" but it was a disaster while it was ongoing and as they forced CBB to the exit. I actually think it set back their return to the bigtime, but they argue it "worked out" because they just won the NC.

 

[TideFan in AU]

Since we're on the subject of defense and our defensive coordinator ... I'm trying to remember when we have had so much uncertainty about an incoming unit.

No C.J. no HaHA. No Stinson and Pagan and Hubbard. No Blue and questions about Vinnie's knee. Who plays next to Trey? Who takes over on the line and at Jack? And can anybody rush the passer or guard somebody against a top-notch opponent?

Talent? Supposedly. Performance ready? Given the staff's preference to stick with starters, who knows?

Scary/exciting times to be a defensive coordinator at UA.

We were way less experienced in 2010 than we will be this year. That year we lost 9 starters including the whole starting D line, all LB's (Anders, Rolando, Williams) and all of the DB's (Javi, Woodall, Marquis Johnson, Kareem Jackson, Robbie Green). Lester, Dre, Dee, came in no experience, and Barron had very little. Dont'a came in slowed from a knee injury.

Not counting anybody incoming this year, we'll have A'Shawn, Ivory, Allen, and Lake coming back, who all played a whole lot, we Trey, Devall, and (hopefully) Dickson coming back at LB, and we have Collins and Jarrick Williams coming back, as well getting Vinny and Nick Perry back from injury. At CB, we have Eddie Jackson, Cy Jones, Geno, and Maurice Smith coming back, as well having Jonathan Cook with a year under his belt. If history is any indication, these guys will be much improved with a year in the system.

There's some definite question marks, but its not as bad as it has been before. If the CB's do improve, and we can get some of the young studs to step up on the D line, I think we'll be pretty good. Allen and A'Shawn we both really good this year, and should be even better with a year in the strength and conditioning program. We'll have to get somebody to step in and play CJ's spot (which is sure to be a drop off), but Trey played really good down the stretch, and as bad as I hate to say it, I was ready to see somebody else at OLB, even if Hubbard hadn't declared (no offense to him).

As far as the incoming players, Pettway (and probably Reed) will play from day 1 and I see Hand, Josh Frazier, Tony Brown, possibly Humphrey (if we get him) contributing a lot this year.

As unsure as some people feel about Pettway, he's going to be difference maker from day 1 and probably an upgrade over whoever he's replacing. I think he's that good and he's already familiar with our system.

 

[BAMAfan777]

I think you meant Eddie Jackson, not Eddie Williams........thank god!