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The top ten list of the largest most rotund coaches past or present from the NFL and college.
Number 10 Butterball – Mike Holmgren
Number 9 Blimp – Phil Fulmer
Number 8 Potbelly – Art Shell
Number 7 Chunk – Bill Parcells
Number 6 Plump – Romeo Crennel
Number 5 Lard – Andy Reid
Number 4 Gargantuan – Charlie Weis
Number 3 Roly-poly – Tom Amstutz
Number 2 Jabba the Hut – Ralph Friedgen
Number 1 Whale – Mark Mangino
The Big East went through a tough season last year to say the least, but let’s not forget this conference won consecutive BCS games the three previous years. The glaring issue right now is West Virginia isn’t the annual national title contender they were for so many years under Rich Rodriguez and no other Big East team seems ready to step up. That being said, almost every team in the conference this year truly feels they have a chance to win the Big East and cash in on the large BCS payout.
Cincinnati would love to repeat as champions, but they lost a crippling 10 defensive starters from last year’s Orange Bowl team. Quarterback Tony Pike leads a high profile offense under head coach Brian Kelly, but I’m not so sure they can recover from their defensive issues. Rutgers has had great success under coach Schiano in recent years even if they haven’t made the most impressive bowl games. Rutgers has a workable schedule with Pittsburgh, South Florida and West Virginia coming to town so keep an eye on the Scarlet Knights.
South Florida has made big strides in recent years and in 2009 might be the year they put it all together. Star quarterback Matt Grothe is in his senior year and the defense is quite talented as usual. UConn under Randy Edsall continues to focus on getting the best quality of player they can sign and then coach them up to a whole new level. Four players were drafted on the first of the NFL Draft last year which is very impressive for a school that just a few years ago stunk up the football field. Connecticut will still be solid on the defensive side of the ball and you can rest assured they will continue to focus on the rushing game.
Pittsburgh has been picked by many to win the Big East this year based on a fantastic defense along with a good special teams. The big question is how do the Panthers recover from the loss of RB LeSean McCoy in order to generate some semblance of an offense. If they can score a reasonable amount of points then they can win the Big East.
Syracuse and Louisville are the two teams who aren’t in contention this year. There isn’t really much more to say about either team other than the fact Syracuse has former Duke basketball point guard vying for the starting position at quarterback.
Below is a short list of players to keep your eyes on this year in the Big East
LB Reed Williams, Sr. West Virginia
DE George Selvie, Sr. South Florida
WR Mardy Gilyard, Sr. Cincinnati
DE Greg Romeus, Jr. Pittsburgh
QB Matt Grothe, Sr. South Florida
DT Arthur Jones, Sr. Syracuse
RB Noel Devine, Jr. West Virginia
LB Scott Lutrus, Jr. Connecticut
RB Victor Anderson, Soph. Louisville
LB Ryan D’Imperio, Sr. Rutgers
Suprise Team
South Florida – The Bulls have become a more prominent team in recent years, but this could be the one when they get over the hump. A lot of the pressure will ride on the arm and legs of Matt Grothe because you can count on their defense being solid.
Disappointing Team
West Virginia – Mr. Everything quarterback Pat White is long gone and coach Bill Stewart pales in comparison to former head coach Rich Rodriguez. Take these two factors in conjunction with an offensive line overhaul and you have a recipe for disaster.
Game of the Year
South Florida at Pittsburgh. This year is really wide open in the Big East, but this game could be the deciding factor in who wins the conference crown. Look for this game to be a defensive brawl and don’t forget the 26-21 victory Pittsburgh pulled out last year in South Florida
The first college football games are now just 24 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes away so you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that Beano Cook has awaken from his 8 month slumber.
No he hasn’t already called a Notre Dame player to win the Heisman Trophy nor has he picked Penn State or Pitt to win the BCS Championship, but what he has done is get out of bed (or coffin) so now the whole world is back on track.
Just the fact you can here his voice and then Beano provides a few quips and that can only mean it’s close to the best time of the year and the yearning for football is coming to a peak.
If this doesn’t get you going then remember these immortal words of Beano Cook to get your football jones kicking.
“You only have to bat a thousand at two things; flying and heart transplants. Everything else you can go 4 for 5”
24 days, 5 hours, 45 minutes till kick off….
Let me get this straight. At the end of the last college bowl season we had a Mountain West team playing in the Sugar Bowl against an SEC legend in Alabama. Could I have been dreaming? Oh, and by the way Utah won 31-17 to end the season undefeated.
Like My Cousin Vinnie once said, the 2 Utes look very good and could become the first team ever to go undefeated in back to back years, but of course they still would not play for a National Championship. There will be early bumps on their road to possible destiny since they travel to Oregon this year on the 19th of September and then Louisville comes to town the very next week.
BYU senior quarterback Max Hall was named Preseason MWC Offensive Player of the Year, while TCU senior defensive end Jerry Hughes was selected Defensive Player of the Year.
Horned Frogs junior kick returner Jeremy Kerley was chosen Special Teams Player of the Year and TCU running back Ed Wesley was tabbed as Freshman of the Year for the preseason.
Hall, a first-team all Mountain West Conference honoree in 2008, after passing for league-highs of 3,957 yards and 35 touchdowns last fall. Hall led the Mountain West in these two categories for an impressive second year. Hall’s passing and overall total yardage slightly above 4,000 yards broke conference records and ranked him in the top 10 nationally. Jerry Hughes was a consensus All-American last year plus the MWC Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-MWC selection. Hughes tied for the lead nationally with six forced fumbles and led the nation with 15 sacks which set a MWC record.
Below is a short list of players to keep your eyes on this year in the Mountain West Conference.
DE Jerry Hughes, Sr. TCU
QB Max Hall, Sr. BYU
WR Dion Morton, Sr. Colorado State
RB Harvey Unga, Jr. BYU
TE Dennis Pitta, Sr. BYU
RB Matt Asiata, Sr. Utah
LB Daryl Washington, Sr. TCU
WR Ryan Wolfe, Sr. UNLV
DT John Fletcher, Sr. Wyoming
DB Chris Thomas, Sr. Air Force
DL Koa Misi, Sr. Utah
DB Rafael Priest, Sr. TCU
Surprise Team
TCU – My Sleeper is TCU to win the very tough Mountain West Conference. If the Horned Frogs can get wins at Virginia in the season opener and then two weeks later at Clemson things will get off in nice fashion. They have a real tough game at BYU in October, but after a win the Frogs will not only win the Mountain West Conference they will go unbeaten because they beat Utah at home in November.
Disappointing Team
Utah – The Utes will still be playing a high level, but they have road games at BYU, TCU, Colorado State, Oregon and San Jose State and even Utah can’t survive such a brutal schedule.
Game of the Year
TCU at BYU in late October will be the game that decides who wins the Mountain West Conference title.
Next week. WAC and Big East
Starting tomorrow I will be taking on all the BCS eligible conferences and breaking down the top and bottom teams plus giving you my take on the sleepers as well as the best and worst against the spread.
Friday August 7th – Mountain West Conference