Ole Miss : Troy Johnson responds to questions & comments.

I sent Troy Johnson an email with some comments and questions regarding his "Ranking the SEC Coaches" . I just received a response.

Here is my e-mail:

Mr. Johnson,
I have a few comments and questions for you regarding your :Ranking the SEC coaches article.
12Ed Orgeron, Ole MissWins and losses: 3. Ole Miss fired David Cutcliffe, but it's tough to envision Orgeron as an upgrade. He's 7-16 after two seasons and has beaten just one team with a winning record (Memphis in 2005).

You fail to mention that a possible reason for going 7-16 is because of our lack of talent due to Cutcliffe's recruiting. Here are Ole Miss' recruiting rankings by Rivals for the three years prior to Cutcliffe's firing : 2002 : 33 / 2003 : 38 / 2004: 30.
Recruiting: 8. Named the national recruiter of the year while at USC in 2004. He's been an active presence all over the Southeast, but it's always been tough for Ole Miss to consistently draw top-tier talent.

If it is tough to "consistently draw top-tier talent" then Coach O is doing an outstanding job. His rankings so far : 2005 : 30 / 2006 : 16 / 2007: 27 / and those are after four losing seasons. His ranking so far for 2008 is : 17

Discipline: 6. No major problems with the program, but Orgeron has acquired a reputation for being a loose cannon.

Based on what? In the past three years at Ole Miss how has he been a loose cannon?
Smooth sailing: 3. Orgeron didn't take over an especially stable or accomplished program. Ole Miss may come to regret cutting Cutcliffe loose.

If Coach O didn't take over a stable or accomplished program then why should we regret losing Cutcliffe?)
Career body of work: 5. Deserves credit for his contributions as an assistant at Miami and USC, but he might ultimately be better suited for that role.

How can you say this when he has had three seasons? He needs a bit more time to get his players in. If he still hasn't won more than 4 games in two years then this is a valid point.

Thanks for your time.

Here is his response:

I don't dislike Coach O. If anything, he's one of the more passionate coaches in the league. I'll go ahead and address the perception of Coach O as a loose cannon. He hasn't done anything to put Ole Miss on the NCAA's radar and I don't presume to say that he will. But he does have a history of coming unwound, dating back to his time at Miami. He was ordered by Dade County court to enroll in a 26-week domestic violence counseling program and was arrested and charged with second-degree battery after a bar fight (charges were later dropped). Between that and some of his ''hits'' on YouTube, the man may be in need of an image makeover.As for Cutcliffe, the man’s record was 44-29. He took the Rebs to four bowls in six seasons. They went 10-3 in 2003 and, sorry to say it, Ole Miss isn’t thought of as a 10-win kind of program.He tanked in 2004, but it's tough to find an SEC program that hasn't suffered through a season like that once in a while. Plus, Tennessee improved significantly after bringing Cutcliffe back.Coach O will have a chance to prove me wrong, of course.How would you have ranked the league's coaches?

Ole Miss : Another name on my list

I recently came across an article entitled "Ranking the SEC coaches" by Troy Johnson of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. In this article he ranks the SEC coaches on a 1-10 scale in 10 categories.

I was expecting Coach O to be near the bottom of the list. He was. He was ranked 12th. Croom was ranked 11th. I've pasted his comments about Coach O and my thoughts in parenthesis.

12
Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss
Wins and losses: 3. Ole Miss fired David Cutcliffe, but it's tough to envision Orgeron as an upgrade. He's 7-16 after two seasons and has beaten just one team with a winning record (Memphis in 2005). (He fails to mention that a possible reason for going 7-16 is because of our lack of talent due to Cutcliffe's recruiting, or lack there of. Here are Ole Miss' recruiting rankings by Rivals for the three years prior to Cutcliffe's firing : 2002 : 33 / 2003 : 38 / 2004: 30. )

Ingenuity: 5. Orgeron developed some pretty fierce defensive fronts as an assistant to Pete Carroll at USC, but he's still finding his way as a head coach.

Recruiting: 8. Named the national recruiter of the year while at USC in 2004. He's been an active presence all over the Southeast, but it's always been tough for Ole Miss to consistently draw top-tier talent. (If it is tough to "consistently draw top-tier talent" then Coach O is doing an outstanding job. His rankings so far : 2005 : 30 / 2006 : 16 / 2007: 27 / and those are after four losing seasons. His ranking so far for 2008 is : 17)

Discipline: 6. No major problems with the program, but Orgeron has acquired a reputation for being a loose cannon. (Based on what? In the past three years at Ole Miss how has he been a loose cannon? I will e-mail Mr. Johnson to see what information he has to back this up.)

Staff construction: 6. O-line coach Art Kehoe and offensive coordinator Dan Werner experienced success at Miami.
What have you done lately?: 3. Hey, at least the Rebels moved up instead of down -- from 3-8 to 4-8.

Chicken dinner factor: 5. Think "Foooobaaaw!" and "Brent Schaeffaaaaw!" The Internet popularity of "The Coach O Song" may not play well with trustees, but you have to appreciate the guy's energy and entertainment value. (Anyone who mentions the "Coach O Song" in a sports article to rank a coach cannot be taken seriously)

Smooth sailing: 3. Orgeron didn't take over an especially stable or accomplished program. Ole Miss may come to regret cutting Cutcliffe loose. (If Coach O didn't take over a stable or accomplished program then why should we regret losing Cutcliffe?)

Long haul: 3. He's not in an ideal situation, but it's hard to imagine his as the face of a football renaissance.

Career body of work: 5. Deserves credit for his contributions as an assistant at Miami and USC, but he might ultimately be better suited for that role. (How can you say this when he has had three seasons? He needs a bit more time to get his players in. If he still hasn't won more than 4 games in two years then this is a valid point).
Extra credit: Nada.
Grand total: 47

I would love to hear other's thoughts on this article. For your enjoyment, I've pasted his part on Croom below.

Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State
Wins and losses: 3. Granted, he inherited a seemingly insurmountable task, but there's been little sign of progress. He's 9-25 since becoming the first African-American coach in SEC history in 2004.
Ingenuity: 6. The Bulldogs' schemes have been fine, but there's little in the way of quality depth.
Recruiting: 6. His 2007 class, which was ranked 27th nationally, stirs an ounce of hope -- but not for this year.
Discipline: 8. He comes across as stern, confident and in control of his program.
Staff construction: 7. Lots of experience with the likes of Rockey Felker, Charlie Harbison, Pat Washington and Woody McCorvey onboard.
What have you done lately?: 3. He's beaten three teams with winning records and, in the process, created a new slang term for SEC insiders. When a coach loses to Mississippi State, he stands a good chance of losing his job. Just ask Ron Zook and Mike Shula. Getting the boot after getting beaten by the Bulldogs is now referred to as "getting Croomed."
Chicken dinner factor: 5. Fits the description of a Bear Bryant trainee. Not especially glib, but certainly not artificial.
Smooth sailing: 3. Even if Mississippi State improves by leaps and bounds, it will be hard to finish better higher than fifth in a brutal division.
Long haul: 5. Athletic director Larry Templeton and university president Robert Foglesong have not yet wavered in their support for Croom.
Career body of work: 6. He helped develop such talents as Derrick Thomas and Cornelius Bennett as an 11-year Alabama assistant before moving to the NFL as an assistant coach. He developed a solid reputation while working in Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, San Diego, Detroit and Green Bay.
Extra credit: No points, but plenty of sympathy.
Grand total: 52

Ole Miss: I'm keeping a list.

Ole Miss is a favorite this year. An easy favorite for last in the SEC west among sports writers around the country. (and some of our own fans) Many have us picked to only win one SEC game. Not sure if that game is Vandy or State.

What many fail to remember is that we were a few points away from beating some very good teams last year. A few points from going to a Bowl.

Now, don't get me wrong. I believe we are a few more recruiting seasons away from being a Solid Top 25 team. However, I do believe we might surprise a few folks.

With this in mind. I've decided to keep a list of those who are down on us Rebs.

First on the list : Darren Epps (E-mail) of Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Epps picks Ole Miss dead last in the SEC west. He predicts we will only win one game in the SEC. Here is what he says "The Rebels, on one magical day, will put all that young talent together and stun someone. It was nearly LSU at Tiger Stadium last year. I'm predicting a win at Auburn. And when it doesn't happen, send a message to the e-mail below and address it to "Moron." " ...."Here’s a prediction we can all agree on: That won’t happen. The Bulldogs will upset Kentucky and defeat Ole Miss at home in the Egg Bowl (presented by Ambien ?), which could determine which team finishes with an egg in the SEC win column. "

I'll give Epps credit. He did remember that we almost upset LSU at Tiger Stadium.

I hope this list will turn out to be an invitation to a nice crow dinner.

If you would like a name on the list, let me know.

Ole Miss v. Missouri- What are the Mizzou fans saying?

What do the Mizzou fans think of our upcoming game? I posted a few questions on both the Mizzou Scout and Rivals site. Here is what they are saying:



Question:


What are your thoughts on our game in Sept?

• "I think most of us know this will be a tougher game than some may expect. Playing in your house will not make things easy on us, but I think most of us still expect a win. "



• "Can't wait for that game,on the road in the SEC,should be a great game."



• "This game worries me, we could be walking into an ambush down there. I think our boys will have their dander up and will play well, but so will the Rebs in front of their home crowd."
  

Question:


How many are planning to visit Oxford?

• "I cannot attend this game, I am having surgery on my foot and will likely not be recovered by then. Otherwise I wouldnt miss it. I have almost memorable southern breakfast in Oxford several years ago. I forgot the name of the place. Anyway it seems an awful lot of Tiger fans are making the trip. "



• "We've got a group of 6 to 12 that will be strolling through the Grove pre-game and hoping to see an MU road win, which has never been a gimme in the last 20 years or so. "

Question:

What are your strengths/weaknesses this year?

• "Strengths;Basically our O is going to be tough to stop for anybody.QB,WR,TB,TE is solid.OL should get the job done as well.A Special Teams;Always a ? but should be better than average.Defense;Our interior line will be tough,the question is our end play.True LBs are now in place and should be good.One corner spot is solid,looking for a player to step up on the other side.Safeties will be deep."



• "We will have their dander up and will play well, but so will the Rebs in front of their home crowd. I think our offense will be hard to stop. Ole Miss is breaking in quite a few new guys, you will have a different QB than we saw last year in Columbia."



• "Strength is def. our offense. Touting probably a top 5 Nationally rated offense led by Chase Daniel and our 1-2 TE punch, there is also a VERY deep WR core and an experienced OL. If Temple continues to run like he did in the Sun Bowl this offense might give a few DC's nightmares.



• Weakness: I think most would say defense but I think our Defense will be alright. My concern is special teams. We were horrible on punting and allowed other teams to have premium field position to start from. This problem needs to get fixed, as well as our return game. We have not run one back since... what, the 80's? hah. The highlight to our Specialist however, is our kicker. Semi-finalist for the Groza award last year, Jeff Wolfert was 100% on PAT's and only missed two field goals all year (99 pts total). Oh and I met his older sister, she's a hottie. But I digress..."



• "Missouri returns one of the upper-echelon offenses in the country this year, returning a 3,000 yard passer and a 1,000 yard rusher, and a pretty good set of receivers, led by our tight end tandem of Martin Rucker and Chase Coffman. Will Franklin would be our best WR at this point. Mizzou is also pretty solid up front too, returning four starters and another few that started at least one game last season.



• Mizzou should be better on defense. We might not have an overall upgrade in talent, but we have guys that are more natural players at their positions, especially at linebacker. The only seriously troublesome spot on the defense is at DE, and maybe a second CB on the other side of Darnell Terrell. Have to see who steps up. LB's will be pretty green, but I honestly think we're talented enough there to compete."

Question:


Do you think the game will be a blow out again this year or do you think it might be closer?

• "I can't honestly say if this game will be very close or not."



• "Overall, I see this being a closer game, since we'll be playing on the road at an SEC school, but given the fact that Ole Miss lost two above-avg. LB's after last season, and some other key players on defense, I tend to think we should probably win by 14-17 points. The only guy on OM's offense that would make me lose sleep is Green-Ellis, but I can see MU stacking the box with 8-9 guys to stop him."



• "Not looking for a blow out on the road.35-24 sounds about right."
  

To join in the discussion go to :

The Mizzou Rivals site

The Mizzou Scout site

Ole Miss v. Texas in football?

The message boards are filled with rumors of a two game Ole Miss v. Texas series in the future. The dates have ranged from 2009-2012.

I've done some research and cannot find any news articles that discuss the possibility of the game. This is not surprising as the universities will probably keep this secret.

I posted a message on the Texas Rivals site to see if any of their fans have heard anything. It seems the UT v. Ole Miss rumors are circulating there as well. Check it out the Texas Rivals site.

There is also a thread on the Texas Scout site. This thread is dominated by a Oklahoma fan from Mississippi who hates Ole Miss.

If anyone has any information, please post a comment or e-mail me.

I think this would be a great opportunity to showcase Ole Miss. If the first game is in 2009 then it should be a good match up if Orgeron's recruiting continues strong. Also, it would match Snead with his former university. Therefore, depending on how well Snead does, it will have a large TV appeal.