It's time for The Mailbag, presented by Whitney McNutt of Tommy Morgan Inc. Realtors, Edition 179.
I asked for your questions. You delivered. So here we go...
From nyc-tup: Today is April 18th, 2022. What are the odds that on April 18th, 2023 Ole Miss has new men’s coaches for baseball, basketball and football?
I would bet two of those eventualities are near certainties in that timeframe. Realistically, Ole Miss baseball needs a miracle at this point. I'm not one to bet on miracles. Can it happen? Sure. I guess so. It's baseball. Teams get hot. However, this team is flawed in every area and it's going to -- assuming it makes the NCAA Tournament, which is quite an assumption -- have to climb out of a road regional and then win a road super regional to get to Omaha. Is that going to happen? I'd bet heavily against it.
I told Chase this the other day. I've watched a lot of SEC baseball this year. I've watched every SEC team play at least two or three times. Ole Miss isn't as good as most of those teams. Ole Miss has some good players. So does everyone else. It hits for power but depending on the long ball is flawed strategy. It's subpar defensively. There isn't enough pitching. So, if you were making me bet on Bianco making it to next season, I'd bet against it.
As for basketball, it appears the path next season to the NCAA Tournament is lean heavily on Matthew Murrell and Daeshun Ruffin, hope like hell Jaemyn Brakefield makes the next step, get defense and rebounds from an NAIA transfer and a SWAC transfer, gamble that Robert Allen comes back and does all of the intangible things he's done in the past and hope that Tye Fagan can be put in a role that suits his skills and limitations.
I'm guessing here that James White returns, Murrell stays (and if I were an Ole Miss fan, I'd hold my breath here until May 1) and that an assistant tied to a player in the transfer portal is hired.
Is that enough to make the NCAA Tournament? Personally, I'm skeptical. So if I were betting on Davis getting or not getting to the 2023-24 season, I'd reluctantly bet against it.
And for football, I'd bet Kiffin is still here in a year. UCLA is on my radar, but there are a lot of reasons to think that won't happen. Maybe the NFL, but I think that's more than a year away.
From AJForPres: Realistically, based on current play/record, does CMB make it to the end of the season?
Yes. Look, you don't unceremoniously fire a man who has done so much for your program for 22 years. Now, do you call him in if this weekend against Mississippi State and next weekend at Arkansas go poorly and have a conversation about a graceful exit? I would. He's going to be owed what he's owed. That's elementary. But if the next two weeks bring a 2-4 mark in league play (or worse), yeah, you discuss making an announcement effective at the end of the season, let some of the pressure out of the program and try to turn May from acrimonious to somewhat reflective and celebratory.
But firing him with games left? No, that would be classless.
From M.O.B. Rebel: Hoop scoop: any names for coaches or portals this week? Also, where does Joiner end up?
I heard Davis interviewed an assistant this week for one of the two open spots. I have no idea who that was. Sources have dried up. No one knows much. I would bet Joiner ends up at North Carolina State, by the way. Everything points in that direction.
From bhamreb25: Hey Neal, thanks for all you and Chase do. Y’all have mentioned a couple of times NIL for basketball and baseball being behind other programs. How much of that do you attribute to fans/boosters being fed up with those respective coaches if any? Do you think with an injection of energy via a new coach into either program that NIL picture changes? Thanks again.
I try to steer away from speaking for fans unless it's the Cubs or the Thunder. I don't view it through a fan's lens, so that's difficult for me. I think there's a money issue. Ole Miss is trying to raise a lot of money for different things right now. The economy isn't great. Inflation is outrageous. The immediate future for most businesses is problematic at best. And NIL is, frankly, kind of ridiculous right now.
Would exciting hires change that? Probably. Would an injection of hope and energy motivate some investment? Sure.
I can't speak to the baseball NIL, really. I don't spend a lot of time in that space. However, if Ole Miss is going to get serious about basketball, boosters and fans are going to have to invest in it in a manner commiserate with its SEC rivals. That's just a simple statement of fact.
From REBNUT: Does it seem the media is hoping and praying that Arch Manning doesn't pick Ole Miss? They seem to report that Georgia, Virginia and Texas are in the lead and Ole Miss has fallen off his radar.
No. Listen, I think the overwhelming majority of media don't care where Arch Manning goes to college. They're trying to get it right. And if you spend any time talking to people with connections to this recruiting -- and I do -- you simply can't get past the buzz around Texas, Alabama and Georgia (maybe in that order). There is no buzz from anyone reliable regarding Manning to Ole Miss, including from people close to the Rebels' recruitment of him, so no one talks about Ole Miss.
I honestly don't believe he's going to Ole Miss. I think he knows that and, more importantly, I believe Ole Miss basically knows that, too.
Maybe there is some late sentimental shift. Maybe something happens this fall and he decides Texas is too risky. Maybe he decides he can't gamble on Nick Saban's age after all. Maybe he decides Georgia just isn't the fit regardless of how much he adores Athens. Those are a lot of maybes.
From johnnyk71: Which happens first? NIL rules/issues stabilize to an acceptable tolerable level for most of the schools in the SEC to be on competitive footing. OR Coaches not named Saban or Jimbo (read: Kiffin) say "screw this", and bail to somewhere they can actually have a chance?
Just my opinion: The latter.
Can you call the players employees? How does that work? How can you legally limit what they can make in NIL? Who administers that? Who punishes offenders? It's a terrible look and everyone associated with it is very much worried about appearances.
This isn't me predicting Kiffin's departure. Frankly, the list of schools that could afford him and that are also willing to make him the brand (Ole Miss is paying him $7.5 million per, giving him damn near everything he wants from a staffing standpoint AND making him THE brand) is a very, very small one. At the college level, if I were an Ole Miss fan, I'd probably worry about UCLA a little, but that's about it for now. Does Kiffin want to coach in the NFL again? I wouldn't be surprised, but he has to land one of those jobs first.
But generally, are coaches going to start seeing the still uneven, just-shifting-like-mad playing field and think about bailing? Yes. You bet.
From cctrey5: Say a head coach decides to go elsewhere one year after signing a recruiting class built mostly on transfers. Would those transfer players still have to sit a year if they transfer again, or would they be granted another penalty-free transfer? (I imagine by now you have inferred exactly why I'm asking this question) Thanks
They would have to apply for and receive a waiver to transfer again without penalty. That's the next iteration of the transfer portal, I believe, and it's an area I think the schools will fight back on.
From chattreb: You never know what attracts a prospect to a certain school, but I would like to ask you, Neal a hypothetical question. Let’s just say your son happened to be a 5 star prospect, at no particular position, but he was the talk of the nation, hearing from everybody. Now let’s say your family had no particular school affiliation, and and you just wanted your son to make the best decision for him. My question is, would you in the year 2022 advise him to look hard at the University of Texas? Now just to state a few obvious facts, Texas has been fairly irrelevant over the last 10 years. Austin does not hold the luster as a city like it used to. Most importantly, Steve Sarkisian’s career has been very average at best. Now other than a hell of a lot of money, what could Texas offer your son that about 40 other schools can not?
It's hard for me to do hypotheticals about a son, since I have a real-life son who is the subject of so many of my thoughts, hopes and dreams. We've started talking about college some, from possible majors to whether or not to pursue soccer to the advantages and pitfalls of fraternities to distance from home and all of those things. He's such a wonderful kid and I love him dearly, so it's really difficult to pretend he's something he's not.
But I'll try.
So everyone wants him in today's NIL market? NIL would be a major player. So let's say Texas is offering him a $10 million-plus NIL package to go to Austin. He's going to be the face of the program, in a hip, growing city, playing in front of a powerful, rich fan base. Well, regardless of recent win-loss records and Sarkisian's resume, that's going to be tough to turn away from.
Since we're doing this, let's make Carson a quarterback. It'd be hard to not go to Alabama, which has started churning out NFL quarterbacks in recent years. Clearly, Saban's system works.
Still, I don't know how I could look him in the eye, knowing he is playing a violent sport and tell him not to get the money. Maybe he won't win a title at Texas. He's got the portal in his back pocket if it all goes to hell, too. But he can get life-changing money and contacts at 18 and as his father (some 34 years older than he is), I am not sure how I could tell him to walk away from that.
From Irish Reb: Early thoughts on this Cubs team 10 games into the season?
Through 11 games, I generally like what I'm seeing. They're not a playoff team, as I don't think they have the starting pitching for that, but I love their competitive at-bats, the way they move the baseball, the versatility of the roster, etc. And I don't know that I could be a bigger fan of Seiya Suzuki. He's just been fantastic. He plays the game in such a way that one can't help but be drawn to him. He plays with joy and yet he's disciplined.
I think they're going to remain a .500 club, but my guess is they make some moves for the future in July and fall off late while they take a look at some young guys.
From napucket14: I’ve always meant to ask but is there a story behind 59’ Sound as the intro to Soft Verbal?
I was today years old when I heard of 59' Sound.
I paid Jeffrey Wright to put together an intro. I listened to it, it sounded fine, so I used it.
Other than that, I have no idea.
From JacoTaco1348: Is it reasonable to want Dan McDonnell as our next head coach? Has that ship passed? in your opinion, should we want better options?
Yes, it's reasonable.
No, I don't believe that ship has sailed.
Should you want better options? Again, I can't speak for fans. Are there are other coaches worth exploring? I mean, probably, but if McDonnell wants the job, he'd be a hire that made a ton of sense.
From North Tampa Rebel: Lane has been using the NFL model as something to look for in the world of NIL/Transfers. One problem I see with this argument is that in the NFL the players interests are represented by the NFLPA. If they put in a "salary" cap system for college, the players would have to take whatever rules were handed down. Do you think the coaches who are lobbying for reform would be in favor of the players unionizing or joining the NFLPA while still in college?
Yes, I think the Power-5 coaches (most of them) would be in favor of what you're describing. I suspect most athletics directors and CFOs would look at the potential pitfalls of that system, what with Title IX legislation and all that comes with it, and think it unmanageable. If a football player is an employee, for example, isn't a sprinter or a soccer player or a volleyball player?
From Colonel3491: Can you retell the story of how Lane Kiffin was hired and who should get the credit between Boyce and Carter?
Ole Miss fired Matt Luke on a Sunday. It hired Lane Kiffin on Friday. RebelGrove.com was first to report the hiring (and Luke's firing, for that matter), and for the most part, we got credit. I don't know who gets the credit for actually hiring Kiffin. That's for fans to decide. I remember working really, really hard that week and being relieved when it was over. I wrote in November 2017 Kiffin would be a great fit at Ole Miss. Two years later, I wrote it and said it again. I think time has proven I got one right.
But credit? Beats me. I'm not exactly having cocktails and telling war stories with Carter and Boyce, so I really don't know, and to be 1 million percent honest, I'm not sure I'm all that interested. It doesn't really matter to me. I'm sure both men were involved.
But I'll let you guys fight that out.
From gorverebs18: What’s your take on the Austin Anderson tweet situation?
I don't have much of one. The players are upset. They're young. It's difficult sometimes to disengage on Twitter. Ask me how I know.
In the end, it's another sign, I think, that it's time for something fresh, exciting and unifying for Ole Miss.
People seem to be frustrated, and it's boiled over a time or two.
From kylethehoss: How did you and chase meet and partner up? Was it a party in Amory? The railroad festival?
I had been in Mississippi a year or so and I went to the Frisco Market over there at the Amory Railroad Festival searching for someone to cover Ole Miss baseball. I went to the beauty pageant and all of the contestants kept talking about this former Hatley High School left-hander named Parham. He sounded like a real heartbreaker. We met for a meal at Bill's Hamburgers and after two hours of analytics, I just gave him the job so I could return to Oxford and go fishing out at Houston's Arkansas-themed ranch house. The rest is, as they say, history.
From nyc-tup: Is the transfer portal mad at Kermit for hitting it harder than any program in America? Did Kermit leave a mark?
They just signed the best player from the NAIA since (checks press release to make sure it wasn't a parody) Dennis Rodman. I'm not sure what you're wanting.
From ThePunter87: Is Wall-e the real villain? The folks on the ship are perfectly happy. They want for nothing, don’t have to work and greatly outlive previous human life expectancy. Wall-e just wrecks shit with his damn plant. Thoughts?
Pop culture, man. My weakness. I've never seen it. I'll have to watch. I'm sorry.
From Levi275: With the NFL Draft coming up can you recall some of the players you believed would become star players and some that you believed would be busts? They don't necessarily have to be players that you covered.
I thought Rudy Johnson would be a bust in the NFL. He was better than that. I thought Ben Obomanu would be a bust. He was OK for a bit. I thought Ronnie Brown would be a star. I thought Jason Campbell would be a good quarterback but worried about fit. I think I got that one right.
I believed Jamarcus Russell would bust. That's a conversation I'd love to have with Kiffin. I think he believed something similar.
I feared Dexter McCluster would struggle in the NFL. I thought Mike Hilton would be a very good player in the right system. I thought Jerrell Powe had a chance to be a superstar. I worried about Laquon Treadwell's leg. I was skeptical about Robert Nkemdiche.
But the one I -- and anyone else with eyes -- can take credit for is this. I was on the field before the 2013 season opener, watching offensive line drills. I told Ole Miss officials near me that Laremy Tunsil was going to be the best offensive lineman in the NFL and they should make sure that relationship stayed strong.
So they got him a loaner car and a pasta dinner...
I'm kidding. Too soon. Too soon.
From rushingsp:Who has the most punchable face ?Mike Bianco, Mike Bianco, or Mike Bianco?
Patrick Beverly. Patrick Beverly. Patrick Beverly.
