The Mailbag, presented by HillCo Insurance, Edition 245
It's time for The Mailbag, presented by HillCo Insurance, Edition 245.
I asked for your questions. You delivered. I'll get to my answers in a moment, but first, a message from our sponsor, Davey Farris:
First of all, thank you to the people who have reached out. I can write policies in all 50 states for both personal and commercial lines. I can look at almost anyone's home, auto, umbrella, or commercial needs. I have tons of vendors to shop your risks to. I can't win all the time, but at the very least, I can either get you a better policy or confirm that what you are doing the right thing. I pride myself on customer service and always answering the phone.
Now, let's get to the meat of the conversation. How can I motivate you guys to reach out and help me raise tons of money for The Grove Collective? I want this to be huge for our programs. I want to, with all your help, win national championships and get the best players possible. Lane continues to say NIL is the No. 1 need we have. I imagine the other coaches would echo that. Once we get more momentum with our program I will post monthly the amount of money we are giving back to our sports programs.
I have so many different ideas I would like to implement to make this a fun program for all of us. My question to you is what is holding you back from making the change? Let's make something we all hate paying for bring us some joy on the sports field. I am excited to hear from you guys; one of the biggest reasons I did this is to meet more OM fans. I can feel a little isolated out here in Dallas!
Thanks again for any feedback and I am including a link that will allow you to easily send me your policies and take a look at them for you. So, follow the link and let’s get some more 5 stars.
From dawsonreb: Do you see college football moving to a more GM/Coach model than we see in professional sports? I think there is a problem with head coaches spending NIL money. It's obvious Ole Miss has wasted a ton of NIL money (Backup QBs, Judkins, Trigg, 2 basketball players who probably won't be eligible) With this, do coaching salaries come down (MLB coaches barely make $1 million a year)? Finally, do you think NIL donors will start to demand more transparency when they believe the donated money is being wasted?
It's kind of already there. We just don't talk about it because it's sort of clandestine. Do I see a scenario where a general manager assembles the roster and the coach coaches it, like is the case in professional sports? No. College football coaches are treated like gods, if we're being honest, and they run their programs like paranoid dictators. So, no, we're not close to that. Look, the system is stupid right now. It has no regulations and no controls, so of course, it's chaos.
And yes, I'm shocked -- no offense to you guys -- that people just blindly donate to the Grove Collective, as an example, and not demand to know where their money goes. I'd want to know, specifically, where my money went when I had to explain to my wife why I gave thousands to a 20-year-old kid I don't know instead of the 20-year-old kid I've raised and love. Yes, you should demand transparency. The system is counting on your love of alma mater being so powerful that you just contribute blindly. It's idiotic, but so far, it's working.
From larryjoe1979: My wife wants us to get a cat. I said ok if I get to name it. Please rate (1-5) these names for the cat. Some are long and I will include nicknames; also it will be a boy cat. A: Colonel Kitty Von Cattington(nickname The Colonel)B: Wally WhiskersC: Meow Maximus IV(Max or Maxy)D: Purrrcy Pringles(Percy)E: Felix Furmonster(Felix)
1. Felix
2. Max
3. Percy
4. Wally
5. Colonel
From Levi275: Lane Kiffin’s best record as a head coach is 11-3 and Ole Miss has never won more than 10 games in season (118 years of football). What do you believe is Kiffin’s ceiling as a head coach? What do you believe is Ole Miss’ ceiling as a program?If Kiffin had been able to land FSU, Florida, Texas, etc. would he be able to reach his ceiling (assuming you believe it’s better than the 11-3 threshold he has achieved to this point in his career)?
I think Kiffin is still growing as a coach. I think he came to Ole Miss thinking he'd be gone quickly. Throw in Covid and the portal and he focused on team rather than program, I believe. He appears to be shifting to a more stable model, but there will be turbulence, and I'm not sure he likes turbulence.
His ceiling and Ole Miss' ceiling is making the CFP 12-team playoff. Once you're in the playoff, it's about matchups, luck, health, etc. He has a high ceiling. The program has a high ceiling.
From robert90: To me the Ole Miss season starts now. They have lost their first game of the year. Kiffin said today that the last two seasons have gone in different directions after the Alabama loss. My question is in your opinion do you think Kiffin can keep the team together and motivated like 2021. Or will it all crash hard like 2022. (My opinion is if Kiffin can keep the team together, they can finish with 7 or 8 wins. If it all falls apart they could end up with 5 wins).
I don't think we can compare the Alabama losses of 2021 and 2022. One came early and was followed by two heart-stopping, narrow victories. Go to an alternate universe where KJ Jefferson scores on that two-point conversion and/or Hendon Hooker's pass into the end zone is six inches lower and think of the chaos that would've ensued. Margins are thin. Last season was about the title dreams being shot and -- maybe -- the Auburn rumors distracting the team.
I think Saturday is huge. A loss and the title dreams are shot before the calendar turns to October. On a team full of portal guys, I think that's a recipe for disaster. A win and they can keep plugging away and improving and hope Alabama gets knocked off a couple of times.
From Gjg23: What would you have done if the Ole Miss SID had asked you to ask “the question”last week? Or any sort of similar situation?Does that kind of thing happen often in journalism in general?
I'd have declined. I would've wanted to know why I was asking that. Also, keeping it real, you only say yes if there's a quid pro quo. With Kiffin, that doesn't exist.
I'd never seen that stuff happen until I got here, and here, it happens quite frequently. I'll stop there.
From randle4: Are you excited about the Ryder Cup this weekend?Friday 1230am-11am, Saturday 1230am-11am, Sunday 430am-Noon
I can't wait. I've got my Justin Thomas sweatshirt out and my USA Golf blanket ready. I won't miss a single shot. Who are we playing? Italy? Australia? Poland? Regardless, I'm jacked. It's going to be all golf, all the time in my house this weekend. Let's go Tiger!
From ccrebs1: If you were told today that Ole Miss goes on to win the SEC west this season, what would be the first thought that pops in your head?
"Wow, there was a lot of chaos. Alabama lost three times. I really got the LSU thing wrong. Texas A&M is firing Jimbo, huh? Ole Miss got a lot better up front."
From KentuckyReb: In no particular order, what are your seven favorite helmets in college football. Feel free to add honorable mentions if you’d like
Just off the top of my head:
Texas, LSU, Tulane, Iowa, USC, Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss' Sugar Bowl one, Western Michigan, Arkansas, Arizona State, Michigan State and SMU.
From $WithARebelYell$: I have to say this before I ask this question. I do not think Derrick Nix is a bad coach he's been great with the running backs and I think we all know how important he's been in instate recruiting over the years. That being said he has never been a WRs coach and it seems like WR development has really fallen off since he changed to the WR's coach. Do you think its been more misses on evaluation for HS players or development? If it is development do you think Kiffin could be misusing Derricks strengths? Hot potato question I know...
It's a fair question. I don't think it's evaluation because they've signed guys with tons of offers. I don't know enough about development to go there. My guess is the offense is difficult to master and Kiffin is known for sticking to guys who are ready. I think it's a program issue and not an assistant coach issue.
From LRReb: This may be a question more suited for the McCready/Sisley pod, so answer wherever. Who was the one, under the radar, recruit that shocked coaches when arriving or taking snaps in spring / fall camp. Maybe a Plan B or C guy that shocked the coaches. The one that made people say “we stole one”. Mike Hilton had to be a surprise, but not sure if he showed it early on as a freshman.
I'll get Tyler to answer this. The two names that came to mind for me were Hilton and Evan Engram. When I was covering Auburn back in the day, I remember coaches being shocked at how college-ready Ben Obamanu and Devin Aromashodu were as true freshman wide receivers.
From Arsqldba: You mention the social media stuff with Sam Pittman on the pod this morning. Surely, Ole Miss coaches these kids on social media usage and consumption but it appears there’s no way to get around the toxicity that is X.Maybe some kind of question for Lane about balancing social media positives and the negatives it can have with players. Extra points if you can get into his brain and help him stay off X after a game.
I don't think it can be controlled. Kids live on their phones. People are vicious on social media. Just last night, I watched social media just crush Seiya Suzuki after he lost the fly ball in the lights. I mean, they killed the guy and he carried the Cubs the last two months. He seems like a really nice guy and I suspect he sat in his hotel room in Atlanta reading it. He's a grown man; imagine the damage that would do to a 19-year-old.
From TX via TN Rebel: Do recruits ever fire out some slang that you have to google to know what they were talking about?
One of the "journalistic dilemmas" I have sometimes -- internally, mind you; no one cares -- is what to do with their responses. Do I clean them up grammatically or do I quote them verbatim? They usually respond in writing via social media, and often, there is slang and more often there are a multitude of grammatical errors. I clean them up for public consumption, but I often wonder what my old editors would say about that.
From rebelpsychologist: I know this is an imperfect analogy but wanted to get your thoughts. The portal and the overuse of it reminds me of an NFL team whose Super Bowl window is closing and they sign older players hoping to plug them in place and keep their window open. This can be a detriment if you neglect your scouting and drafting portion of your organization. For a college team, this translates to neglecting high school recruiting and player development in favor of finding plug and play guys that you hope will fix your deficiencies. To be fair this can work when you add a player like Chance Campbell or Troy Brown, but after multiple seasons of the portal I see more misses than success.
There's no question. I firmly believe the portal, if used as a crutch, is not the way to build a successful program. I think it should be used like free agency, adding a player to fill a hole. Campbell filled a hole. So did Brown. But I think a lot of programs are using it far too extensively, and I think their program culture is lacking because of it. Also, the portal is getting very expensive.
From chattreb: Buy or sell? In 5 years SMU is a player in the ACC football power hierarchy?
Buy. One hundred percent buy.
From cctrey5: Is it now fair to say that the “Ole Miss’s defense is terrible” take was an overreaction to one play?
You'd have to take that up with Tyler. He said it. I didn't. I'm still not ready to render a verdict. I kind of want to see what this weekend looks like first. But look, his opinion got a lot of reaction, and at least he put something out there that wasn't boring.
From CubbieAuz: Which one is more likely to happen between now and February 12, 2024: Taylor Swift wins a Grammy or Travis Kelce wins a Super Bowl MVP?
Kelce will have a hard time winning MVP because he'd be catching passes from Patrick Mahomes, who would likely get the lion's share of the credit. I don't know when the Grammys are or if she has any new stuff out, but I'll still bet she wins a Grammy before he gets MVP. Their relationship, by the way, feels really contrived to influence young people. I hope I'm wrong.
From johnnyk71: I have a gut feeling and I want to know if I'm alone. Do you think Lane Kiffin is in an all-or-nothing spot at OM, regarding the future? Either 1.) he starts right now, building a 5+-year team at OM. Or, 2.) he tires of the task of building for the future in the NIL morass, and bails after next season (negotiated buyout or some such).All of this is assuming no breakout SEC/National championship in the next two years, and that fans and the AD feel there's a lack of progress. my gut feeling is that he tires of the limitations with NIL and the SEC, and finds a way out. Leopards, spots, etc.
I just don't know him, so I can't answer that. Ole Miss is a "work" job. To win big here, I believe, you have to just dive in and constantly swim in the deep end. I think the system is broken and it's going to wear out a lot of coaches. My question is does Kiffin have the patience to take a step back to take a step forward and, along those lines, does the fan base have the patience to do the same? I highly doubt he voluntarily leaves a lot of money on the table, by the way. I mean, why would he or anyone do that? I don't know where he goes. The Venn diagram of programs willing to really pay and programs willing to make him the whole program feels really small.
From JohnInOxford: Outside of Trigg who are the remaining locker room cancers on the football team?
You know I can't answer that. I mean, we all hear stuff, and I certainly have contacts that have shared internal stuff, but I could find that on any team. That said, I've covered a few really unified teams, and I'm starting to believe that can't be achieved relying heavily on the portal. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong.
