It's time for The Mailbag, presented by Whitney McNutt of Tommy Morgan Inc. Realtors, Edition 154.
I asked for your questions. You delivered. So here we go...
From bhamreb25: New guy on the board thanks to all of the drama from last week, but have listened and appreciated the pod for a while. Thanks for all you and Chase do. At what point does a number 2 guy on the depth chart play better than the number 1 guy due to the number of snaps number the latter has played?
Lane Kiffin and Co. are certainly hoping that happens. He's openly worried about depth all season, dating back to SEC Media Days in July. It's a major concern. Young guys are getting chances. They just have to claim them.
From North Tampa Rebel: Am I crazy for thinking the plan to close half the stadium for two seasons is Ludacris? This would also be during the peak of Arch Manning's career and he would be playing in front of half a stadium?
Luda! Ole Miss needs to bring Ludacris to The Vaught, let him play on a stage where the west side of the stadium used to be while the games are going on. Half game, half party.
Look, I don't know how it all works, but if you're going to rebuild a stadium, you have to rebuild a stadium. That means growing pains and inconvenience.
Also, you're making an assumption here on Arch Manning that I wouldn't be comfortable making at this moment in time.
But I'm all in on Luda.
From Rebel901: Can Lane win here like he wants to without Ole Miss getting serious about NIL? And could Ole Miss get serious about NIL even if it wanted to?
1. No. If you injected him with truth serum, I think he'd tell you it's his biggest concern.
2. I really don't know enough about the university to answer that. That's not a cop-out. I just don't know. That's not my area of strength. I actually know very little about the institution other than athletics.
From TenorJohn: How would you grade the first year SEC coaches mid way through the season?
Josh Heupel -- B
Shane Beamer -- B
Clark Lea -- C
Brian Harsin -- A-
From pcrebel: The football gods came down and gave you a magic wand to fix any two college and one NFL issues you see that need to be addressed. The magic wand cannot be used for any other purpose. What would you fix?
Can I use all three on the college game? I think the NFL product is really, really good.
I'd use an NFL-style clock and shorten the games. Four and a half hours is too long, allows for too many plays and, frankly, leads to more injuries.
I'd eliminate the buy games. Yes, I know that would hurt a lot of schools, but I think it would, overall, strengthen the product for the consumer.
I would take some of those revenues and invest into officiating. That's fast becoming a major detriment to the college game. When you watch a lot of NFL, you see how much better the officiating is at that level. The college game needs to close that gap somewhat.
From jlittle67: Maybe this would be better discussed with Pete on the pregame show but would love your insight as well. It's pretty clear at this point the offensive staff have realized to maximize this offense they're going to have to use Matt's legs a lot. What can/will defenses do to take that away and what, if anything does it open up elsewhere? I get the short answer is load the box and it opens up the passing game but if he could get into more specifics that would be awesome.
You're right. That's a question for Pete. However, loading the box opens up the passing game, assuming Ole Miss can win one-on-one matchups. I'll ask Pete about how he'd prepare for Matt this week when we do our preview.
From Bkdaniels75: I was at the game Saturday and think the video board operator triggered the crowd by only showing one, inconclusive, angle of the 4th and 24 play. They did this over and over all while having another angle that more clearly showed the location of the ball. The crowd was obviously already on edge. Should this practice of only showing the crowd the most favorable angles for the home team be reviewed or is it acceptable?
You're asking the wrong guy, I suspect. I hate homers. I don't even like homer announcers, homer public address announcers, homer anythings. So in my opinion, what he/she did was irresponsible. Look, officiating is bad, but they got that spot exactly right.
From hamslam12: Where do you think the biggest area(s) of need are for 2022? Are there any big name, front 7 position recruits that we're in the mix for besides Oatis?
Needs:
Quarterback, wide receiver, offensive line, defensive line, linebackers, cornerbacks. There are tons of needs.
As for the other part of that, I'll defer to @zachberry and also encourage you to read last Friday's War Room.
From Rebel901: Let’s say Jimbo stays put and Mel Tucker goes 2-3 down the stretch…losing to Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. Do you think LSU still hires him? Still 9-3 but no good wins.
Yes and no. I think he has to finish strong to build momentum there from a fan standpoint, but it's more complicated than that, I suspect. I do believe they're flying trial balloons at this point. But yes, a poor finish by Michigan State makes Tucker a tougher sell to the LSU fans. There's no doubt about that.
From rebinbrooklyn: What gets VHS sold out more consistently?Current attendance is pretty disheartening.ETA: Lane’s comments Monday about home field seem to indicate he’s disappointed as well. And fairly so.
I think the stadium is too big. It's expensive to come here. The pandemic changed habits. I don't know the answer. I really don't. I know the administration is frustrated. I know there's concern regarding filling the stadium and the correlation to being able to keep Kiffin. I mean, the team is 5-1 and ranked 12th nationally. The quarterback has a legitimate shot at winning the Heisman and being the first pick in the draft. It's going to be 75 degrees and sunny. Eli Manning will be there. If that doesn't fill a stadium, maybe it can't be done.
From SigReb: What kind of coach do you think LSU ends up with? Normally they would definitely get a red coach, but with the ongoing Title IX issues I wonder if they’ll have to settle for a mauve or even periwinkle coach.
I'm thinking burnt Sienna.
From napuckett14: Do you think a 2 loss team gets into the playoff this year?
No, I really don't. Georgia will be unbeaten, and there will be two one-loss teams and Cincinnati.
From wildreb20: Do you think Lane is searching for a new DC?
I really don't. I think he likes Durkin and Partridge and believes they're doing a good job.
From RebYell: I trust your football knowledge over mine but dang Neal, that was a heck of a lot of "injuries" on the field Saturday night? Do you think most of them were legit? If so, then how does the game survive this much constant interruption going forward?
I asked Chance Campbell about this on Monday. I would encourage you to watch that and listen to his answer. I'd never thought about it like that. Now, some are clearly fake, but I also think there's a degree of protestation, for lack of a better word, by defensive players. I'm not sure the game was designed for the tempo, and there is an adjustment that is occurring.
From walnutreb: Who is more likely to be an SEC head coach in 3 years Leach or Lebby?
Lebby.
From Jasper AL Reb: To add to a question already asked,if somehow Kiffin does end up at LSU, is Lebby ready to be a head coach at the SEC level? Also, if he became head coach, any chance he could bring Kendall Briles over because of the family connection?
I hear nothing but rave reviews about Jeff Lebby. I'm told he's a rising star in the profession and will be an excellent head coach one day. We don't get access to assistants, so I just don't know him. The day he was made available this year, I was moving my daughter into her dorm at Arkansas.
As for Briles, I simply don't know enough to answer that question. I know they're super close, but I don't know details of Briles' contract at Arkansas. I do know Briles is very happy working for Sam Pittman.
If there comes a reason to dive into that, I will. As of this moment, that would be remarkably premature to the point of ridiculous.
From um98rebl: ’m of the opinion that a warning and then a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty would’ve eventually stopped the fans from throwing things Saturday in Knoxville, do you agree?
I don't know. There were thousands of fans throwing stuff. It looked out of control. A penalty may have just caused more stuff to be thrown.
From rebel_rx: Do you believe that Carter Hawkins, new GM for the Cubs, is the right man for he job?
I think Carlos Correa being signed to a longterm deal as the Cubs' shortstop, followed by signing Nick Castellanos to a four-year deal is the right move for the Cubs. If he does that, then sure, super. If not, I'm beginning to get pissed at ownership.
From bechance: Maybe this is a question for the NBA junkie Carson but am I crazy to think that the Kings make the playoffs for the first time in over a decade? Kings odds right now to make the playoffs is +425 and I kind of want to throw some money at it. I just really like their guards with Fox, Haliburton, Hield, TD and Mitchell. Granted I only started watching NBA games to keep up with TD so my knowledge is limited. I liked your pick of Haliburton as the 6th man of the year but I think he is going to be a starter this year and replace Buddy in the lineup. I think Buddy Hield could win though if he doesn't get traded before season end. Side note: Kermit Davis would love a Davion Mitchell on his team. Dude can play him some defense.
I think the Kings are a playoff team. I love Haliburton and Fox. And yes, you're right about Davion Mitchell. He's older, so a lot of teams passed on him, but he's a dog of a defender, and on a team that already has guys who can get buckets, he's going to be set loose on elite scorers.
From theangus2k: Do you believe Pete Rose belongs in the HoF? I’m probably biased because he and Ted Williams are my fav all time players.You probably know more about the Dowd report than I do so correct me if I’m wrong but did the report not say that it found no evidence of Rose betting against his own team? I know there are other variables that goes into that but it just seems all the garbage that’s gone on since has been worse.
No. Walk into any Major League Baseball clubhouse, and the rule is right there in bold print. Don't bet on baseball. Rose did. It impacted how he managed games. I don't care which side he took. He violated a sacred rule.
He was a great hitter, a great player. But what he did was unforgivable.
Then, given every opportunity to come clean, he lied.
From LARebel83: Is Dan Mullen just an above-average coach?
No, he's a very good coach. The league is brutal, and his defense isn't very good. It's tough to be a consistent winner in the SEC, and Mullen has basically been that.
Now, he might not be an elite coach and it's possible Florida has a Network issue as well.
From BigDogSaint23: Will we be seeing more of Jake Crain and the Jboy show? Liked his content from Monday’s conversation…
I hope so. He's informed and entertaining. I enjoyed talking to him and I know he has relationships with a lot of heavy hitters.
From pinntrust: Do you and Chase have reserved seats in the home press box? Is it like church where you always sit in the same seats? Do you get upset if some young buck doesn’t show proper respect?
We do, though this year we just requested two seats and Walker Bailey has one of those. The pandemic changed how we do our jobs. People want a postgame show, and it's impossible to be at the stadium and in the presser and do a postgame show. So Walker handles that for us and sends it to me while we start the show.
But yes, there are assigned seats and if someone sits in your seat, they're asking for an ass-kicking.
