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SDS Mailbag: Who Florida should hire, dream SEC Thanksgiving guests and the best Christmas song

Adam Spencer

By Adam Spencer

Published:


I hope y’all had a great Thanksgiving!

I’m definitely thankful for all the great college basketball that has been on this week. And, I’m excited for the weekend’s slate of college football rivalries.

Thanks to all of you readers out there, too. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Now, let’s dive into your questions for this week’s Mailbag:

@SChinni12:

Who would you have at the top of your wish list if you were Florida?

I’m on the record as a huge Lane Kiffin fan. If I’m LSU or Florida, he’s my first option. But, beyond that, if I’m the Gators, I’m looking at Jamey Chadwell, the current Coastal Carolina coach.

He’s done a great job making the Chanticleers a relevant FBS program. He also has a hybrid triple-option passing offense that is highly entertaining to watch and puts up big numbers.

I think he could recruit well, as he’s young and energetic. He’d get a lot better athletes at Florida than he does at Coastal Carolina, so it’d be exciting to see what he could build in Gainesville.

I know this won’t be a popular answer with a lot of Florida fans in the comments section, but I think it would be a home run for the Gators. Plus, the pool of top candidates is quickly drying up, with Luke Fickell, James Franklin, Hugh Freeze, Mel Tucker and others staying put. Bob Stoops also said he’s not interested this week.

If Kiffin won’t come to Gainesville, go get Chadwell. Simple as that.

(It sounds like Billy Napier is a hot name in the Florida coaching search. He’s a heck of a coach and I think he’d be a solid hire, but I think he’d fare better at LSU than at Florida. Just my opinion.)

Robert:

You get to invite 4 SEC legends, past or present, to Thanksgiving dinner. Who are you choosing?

Only 4, huh? That’s going to force me to make some tough choices. I have 3 absolute must-have guests:

  • Steve Spurrier
  • Peyton Manning
  • Charles Barkley

Can you imagine those 3 around the same Thanksgiving table? I don’t know if I’d be able to eat. I’d be too busy laughing. (OK, I’d definitely find time to eat.)

The last spot is tough. I’d love to pick the brains of Nick Saban, Mike Leach, Pat Summitt, Dawn Staley, Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow, Paul Finebaum and any number of other SEC legends. Of course, I’d love to have Drew Lock there, too, as a big Mizzou homer.

But, I’m going to throw a bit of a curveball here and say Bart Starr. He played at Alabama, but I’m more interested in his time with my favorite NFL team, the Green Bay Packers. I’d ask him about the Ice Bowl, playing for Vince Lombardi and, of course, about his time at Alabama, too.

Spurrier, Manning, Barkley and Starr sounds like a great Thanksgiving guest list to me!

Ed:

Any chance that USC and Lane Kiffin would try again to make it work? He’s SoCal, it was his dream job at one time, he’s matured since the first go round, and he’s building a reputation as a winner. Or is it a former marriage irretrievably broken?

You never want to say never in this business, so I won’t completely rule it out. In fact, I think Kiffin would be a heck of a hire for the Trojans this time around.

This time, he wouldn’t take over a program under an NCAA cloud. That really hurt him during his first tenure. But, I do think Kiffin will have much better options, should he decide to leave Ole Miss. LSU makes the most sense, to me, if the Tigers want to go that route.

But, if I were a gambling man (and I am), I’m guessing at this point that, in Week 1 of the 2021 season, Kiffin is the head coach of … the Ole Miss Rebels. I think he’s building a good thing there in Oxford.

Now, if he’s still having success in a few years if/when Nick Saban finally retires, I think he’d take the Alabama job in approximately 1.5 seconds after being offered the job. We’ll see what the future holds for Kiffin, but it’s certainly much brighter than it was when he was left on the tarmac by USC a few years ago!

@Dobbe8:

What’s the best Christmas song?

I appreciate you waiting until the Mailbag that comes out the day after Thanksgiving to ask me this question. It’s now officially Christmas season!

The correct answer to this question is “Sleigh Ride.” I love that song. It’s light, it moves and the lyrics are festive, not weird. If we’re talking strictly classical Christmas songs, I like “Silent Night,” too.

Other than “Silent Night,” though, I don’t like too many slow Christmas songs. To me, Christmas is festive and exciting. I like my music to have that same tone. Keeps me in the spirit.

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 14 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.

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