Extra Points: It's not the way anybody wanted, but Steve Sarkisian has an opportunity to rewrite his story, too
Each week, CFB Insider Matt Hayes tackles the most important topics ahead of Saturday’s college football action.
The big winner should Alabama and Georgia play as scheduled on Saturday night: Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
The former USC coach has been flying under the radar as an analyst at Alabama and eventually the OC beginning last season. Sarkisian has had a very public battle with alcohol (including a failed lawsuit vs. USC for illegal termination) and has been trying to rehabilitate his image with Tide coach Nick Saban.
Saban tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon, and Sarkisian has taken over head coaching responsibilities on the field while Saban is quarantined (but still coaching via Zoom).
Saban said Sarkisian will coach the team on Saturday, but “the autonomy part hasn’t been decided yet.”
Saban said Wednesday afternoon that he is asymptomatic, but his age (68) makes him a higher risk for COVID complications.
Should Sarkisian coach the team and Alabama win, it would go a long way in strengthening Sarkisian’s case to return as a head coach – in either college football or the NFL.
“Steve’s measurables have always been there,” one NFL scout told me. “He clearly knows offense and is a terrific play-caller. Let’s not forget that Al Davis initially wanted to hire Sark (with the Raiders), but settled for Lane (Kiffin) when Sark turned him down. I’m all for giving guys a second chance, and he has earned it. But it’s more than football. He has to prove he can be a trusted face of a franchise or college program. This type of opportunity could be critical in his rehabilitation.” …
A Playoff guarantee in 2020: It’s going to be messy
The postponement of the LSU-Florida game this weekend has underscored the inevitable: If Power 5 conferences can’t complete seasons without cancelations, potential protocols to award conference championships will add more uncertainty to the 2020 season.
Without equal games played, division champions and championship game participants will be awarded by winning percentage or the College Football Playoff poll. One industry source told me the five P5 conferences “would like to use the same process” to eliminate any idea of controversy, but “we’ve seen what has happened when we all tried to get on the same page.”
Earlier this summer, the Power 5 conferences tried to set up nonconference games between the conferences before the Big Ten pulled out, with 3 separate sources telling me Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren told the other commissioners on a conference call that the Big Ten needed to “lead” on the issue.
A month later, the Big Ten tried to lead on canceling the fall football season – and 5 weeks later rejoined the fall season while boxing itself into a 9-game schedule with no open dates.
Any cancelation – nearly 10 percent of FBS games already have been postponed or canceled – will force the Big Ten and Pac-12 (which also doesn’t have an open date on a 7-game schedule) to use another way to determine division champions.
Those 2 choices, in lieu of head-to-head games, are winning percentage or the CFP ranking.
“It’ll be a minor miracle if any of us finish the season without a cancelation,” one P5 athletic director told me.
Another P5 athletic director told me without head-to-head games, the option must be winning percentage. Using the CFP rankings to determine division champions will “seem too much like a BCS season. We’ve been down that road before, and it’s not pretty.” …
B1G reaction to Nick Saban
I reached out to a Big Ten athletic director after the news broke Wednesday afternoon that Alabama coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19, and there were no regrets about returning to play.
“The path of least resistance is to not play at all,” the Big Ten AD said. “We felt, and still feel, we have a plan in place that gives us the best chance to safely succeed. Are we nervous? Hell yes. Well, maybe cautiously optimistic is the best way to say it. This thing can turn instantly. But we can’t overreact to every positive test. Overreacting can lead to more problems.”
The SEC has 2 game postponed this weekend, including Vanderbilt at Missouri. The Oklahoma State at Baylor Big 12 game scheduled for this weekend was also postponed.
The ACC has 2 games postponed, pending later dates in December: Virginia at Virginia Tech and Notre Dame at Wake Forest.
“The thing that’s concerning to me is Alabama has been testing every day,” the Big Ten AD said. “That should make it very clear that no one has this thing figured out. The best thing we can do is mitigate the impact to protect the health and welfare of our student athletes.” …
Texas has a Big (12) problem
Four games into the season, and Texas is chasing in the Big 12 race again. And that’s a bad sign for coach Tom Herman.
The numbers since 2010 are as staggering as they are sobering:
- 3-9 vs. Oklahoma
- 3-7 vs. Oklahoma State
- 2-7 vs. TCU
- 4-4 vs. West Virginia
- 5-5 vs. Baylor
- 5-5 vs. Kansas State
Since 2010, Oklahoma has won 6 Big 12 titles, and shared another, Oklahoma State has won 1, Baylor has won 1 and shared another, and TCU and Kansas State have each shared a Big 12 title.
Texas hasn’t won a title, and is on its 3rd coach in the decade. Herman followed Mack Brown (30-21 from 2010-2013) and Charlie Strong (16-21 from 2014-16), and there isn’t a significant won-loss difference from 2010 to now.
The Texas facilities have been upgraded, and the recruiting has improved. The results have been impressive at times (Sugar Bowl win over Georgia), and horrifying in other spots.
In the last 3 games (2 losses), Texas had 19 missed tackles (Texas Tech), 14 missed tackles (TCU) and 16 missed tackles (Oklahoma).
With 2 Big 12 losses, Texas already is chasing wins in the conference race.
“Everyone always asks me what’s the problem at Texas?” one NFL scout told me this week. “They don’t have dudes. They’ll have one or two or three guys that can play at this level, but they’re not developing those guys like they used to. Player development is a big, big deal.”
It will be a huge opportunity for Sark. If the team performs well with him at the Helm it would increase teams interest in him for sure.
*
As a Georgia fan, Saban contracting Covid had to be the worst news I could hope for. Terrible. For the simple reason that no matter what the result, it’s a lose-lose situation for Georgia:
Win – And the victory is diminished as we didn’t actually beat Saban
Lose – And the defeat is enhanced as we couldn’t even beat Bama without him.
Sure, the stakes are still huge and the game’s gonna be epic (IF it gets played, which I’m hopefully optimistic about). But the timing couldn’t be worse.
Regardless, just happy that we have a meaningful college football game at all this weekend. Although I have no love for Florida or LSU, it must be terrible to be a fan of either team right now. You just came off devastating losses and then aren’t even given a chance for redemption. You have to wait in purgatory for another week (at least).
If UGA had lost to Tennessee, and then UGA v. Bama got canceled, it would be pure agony. An extra week of listlessness and pain.
Much aloha from Hawaii….
Remember the quote from the film “Patton”:
“If you defeated Rommel’s plan, then you defeated Rommel.”
Some of you Dawg fans are kvetching far too much over this. A win is a win. If you get one, enjoy it!
That was a sycophant aide trying to flatter Patton.
Nice, Snob. That’s a reference I wasn’t expecting when I logged on. I am impressed. More importantly, I agree. I honestly couldn’t care less if Saban is not on the sidelines. The season is about winning the SEC and playing for a natty. Besides, if UGA beats Bama, and can get past the Gators (no disrespect intended for the other teams), then it will get another shot at Saban anyway.
Not to diminish the golden opportunity for Sark but IF…and a big hopeful IF…Saban remains asymptomatic, does anyone here have any doubt that he won’t be self-isolating and hanging out in one of those really nice corporate boxes they have at BD stadium, with a headset in direct contact with Sark?
Vegas odds are 5 to 1 for, any takers?
Not only do I doubt it, I know it won’t happen. I don’t know why some people here keep saying it. IT’S NOT HAPPENING.
I’ll put a Benjamin on that. Where do I collect!
Pretty sure that would be a violation of NCAA rules in addition to SEC and university protocol. So that’s a hard no for me.
Wrong answer. The NCAA Covid protocol “Guidelines” prohibit positives from coach, player and on-field interface. I can’t speak for Bama policy mandated in their NCAA directed Covid19 Action Plan but there is absolutely no violation of NCAA or SEC rules for Saban to be alone (self quarantining) with assistants (I mean caregivers!) in one of the boxes.
Unless I’m mistaken the NCAA has pretty defined rules about who can and cannot wear headsets among coaching staffs.
AU tville.. Saban is isolated due to Covid protocols so he won’t be in the stadium. All this nonsense of him being in the press box or in some bubble is just that, nonsense… The rule that will stop him from
Being involved during the game is below..
“Rule 1-4-11-b is very specific and allows only voice communications between the press box and the team area, therefore in (a) the coach could not call into the press box or the sideline for anything related to coaching purposes,” read an NCAA rules interpretation regarding coaches in COVID-19 related isolation written by Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of football officials.”
It’s 90minutes before and after the game..
Bama Time cites the rule;
“Rule 1-4-11-b is very specific and allows only voice communications between the press box and the team area. Sooo, if Saban is in a luxury box the press box rule is not a factor. He is NOT in the press box. AND he would only be having voice communications, not direct contact (within the holy grail of 6ft). I’m not a lawyer but I did drive past a Holiday Inn last night.
57939 I think you misread the rule. Voice communications are only allowed between the press box and the sideline. Meaning no one outside the press box or not on sideline can be a part of the communications. That was the intent of my headset rules comment.
Correct again AU tville.. Saban would have to be in the press box with the other coaches.. That’s not going to happen with Covid protocols…
Well there ya go JTG, where do I get Vegas to send the $500? :(
But it sure did make for a lively debate with minimal snarkiness or namecalling…
Vegas needs to make it’s money back, so…
Not to diminish the golden opportunity for Sark but IF…and a big hopeful IF…Saban remains asymptomatic, does anyone here have any doubt that he won’t be self-isolating and hanging out in one of those really sweet comfortable looking luxury boxes they have at BD stadium, with a BURNER CELL PHONE with unlimited texting…in direct contact with Sark?
Vegas odds are 6 to 1 for, any takers? (:
I don’t think Vegas is exempt from COVID.
How are they going to get him into the stadium? Disguise him as a child? All jokes aside like I said yesterday best wishes to the man.
Meet Bob Kuykendall, the dedicated Nick Saban stand-in or body double for the GOAT in the AFLAC commercials..
Vegas insiders rumor he is already hanging around Nick’s mansion to throw off the gameday press…
Agree, all jokes and jesting aside, I too hope he gets thru this with no issues…none better or more respected than Nicholas Lou Saban the Jr
You had mentioned at Bob Kuykendall. Nicely done.
You had me at*
AUTville, you and others are correct. I re-read the rule. Thanks for correcting me. Now, about one of those really sweet comfortable looking luxury boxes they have at BD stadium.” The Saban’s have their own luxury box. It’s where you’ll see Miss Terry every home game. And, yes, quarantining does not mean you can’t be with your family. But burner phone? Coach Sark would have to have a discreet hearing aid to get that past the referees. Wait! They couldn’t even see a KY TD or Bo spiking the ball backwards!
“The best thing we can do is mitigate the impact to protect the health and welfare of our student athletes.”
Not really.
Seasonal flu is more of a threat to college-age people than Covid-19, which is to say, almost none at all.
Yeah, we need to protect old fogies like Saban, but saying even pretending that Covid-19 is a threat to the players is ignorant at best, disingenuous at worst.
Why can’t we just be honest about things as they really are instead of constantly signaling virtue?
Because that guy’s not dumb enough to step outside the allowed rhetoric. This entire year has been fueled by an army of Pharisees poised to riot over anything they can twist into controversey, right or left.
seasonal flu is not more of a threat, but your sentiment overall, is correct. The vast majority of players who contract COVID will be fine and the coaches are far more of a concern.
Perhaps we can get Coach Saban an airtight suit with a respirator – like a Darth Vader suit if you will. I would love see him patrolling the sidelines in a Darth Vader suit.
In all seriousness, get well soon Coach Saban. I hope we can play this game this weekend.
He would probably fit in the dark helmet suit from Spaceballs.
LOL! So you’re saying he’s short.
Nothing gets by you man. ;-)
I guess it is okay to print an email from a friend of mine. He lives about 1 1/2 mile away from me on the same country lane.
“As regards the pandemic, I choose to be afraid if you don’t mind. Guess I’m a sissy but this disease has killed 1.1 million people, 222,000 of those our fellow Americans, so I figure being scared of it is, as they say, ‘erring on the side o caution.’ And I’d posit that all of us should be scared, very scared.
The Chinese released all the data they had on the virus January 10, alerting all to the outbreak and sharing all they had learned about the virus.
The entire world has been working to combat this pandemic for nine months, with varying degrees of success. But, on October 14, the world saw over 374,000 new cases, the most ever in a day. The U.S. has been averaging at least 40,000 new cases daily for the last two months, hitting 57,000 new cases that same day.
Now we are heading into flu season and CV cases are already trending up again, so wouldn’t you admit that’s a little worrisome? .
Still not concerned? Here’s a factoid for you to gnaw on: the global and U.S. cases and deaths per million have gone up EVERY SINGLE DAY for the last six months. Yes for 182 days straight.
For example, five months ago the U.S. had 4,132 cases per million, now we are well past 24,000 cases/Million.
Our deaths/million have risen from 262-659 over that same span, does that bother you? No? Then let’s move to some really frightening numbers, the dollars.
Conventional wisdom holds that only 20% of positive CV cases require hospitalization. Thus, our 40,000 new case daily average means 8,000 new admissions for treatment.
How much does it cost to treat a CV patient? One recent study said $30,000, another $34,000 and there are plenty of other figures given when you visit Google-land. Lets go with $30,000 for the sake of this article. That’s $240,000,000 in new hospital billings every day, about seven and a half BILLION dollars a month.
Who is paying for all of this? Insurance companies? What about people without insurance? Are the hospitals and their insurors writing off these ever-growing losses? How long can this situation continue before the entire framework collapses?
The loss of millions of jobs, in many cases, permanently, is horrifying as is the lack of government financial support to those most needy. The emotional toll this virus has taken on the American psyche cannot be measured.
Nor can America’s standing in the eyes of the world be determined, but it’s a safe bet that they are not looking admiringly at us as has been the case for almost our entire history.
So yes, I’m scared of the Corona Virus, very much so and I would suggest that any sane person should be and thus take the simple precautions prescribed: wear a mask, keep your distance and wash your hands often. Can we please all do these things together and save the lives of thousands of our fellow Americans?”
Kinda makes Nick Saban being home on Saturday not so much of a big deal. The way the numbers are trending every one of us is eventually going to be positive if we haven’t already been so.