The CFB Degenerate's Newsletter: The Barbarians are at the Gate
The coaching carousel... continues; CFB needs a commish ASAP; Two Group of Five programs on the ascent; Hawaii kicks off CFB's first spring game.
A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.
- Will Durant, historian
Picture this: it’s an early spring afternoon in Athens when a brand new Lamborghini Aventador pulls up outside the University of Georgia (UGA) athletics facility—Push it to the Limit by Paul Engemann is playing at maximum volume.
Just then, a gentleman with a gorgeous head of slick-daddy slicked back hair pops out of the suicide doors, rocking a pair of delicately worn neon Oakleys. A pack of Cuban cigars are just barely visible, hanging outside the back of his pant pocket.
He’s wearing all white—linen. The ethos only a South Florida gentleman can pull off. He slips you a 20 every time he shakes your hand, accompanied by a cheeky wink. “We’re going to have some fun tonight” he says to literally everyone he greets.
He doesn’t even know what ‘NIL’ is. If you ask him how he feels about players getting paid now, he’ll just look at you like you’re stupid.
“Who’s that?” you whisper to an off-field support staff member.
“Oh, they call him the King of South Florida, but his real name is James Coley” She replies.
You follow up: “He’s like a big-time coach, or what?”
“No, he can’t call plays worth a damn. But he is an excellent recruiter. Remember Pickens? That was Coley. George is the last five star WR to sign with UGA”.
Your jaw—now on the floor, your brain—short circuiting: “five star… WR… UGA… How did he do that?”
“He’s James fucking Coley, that’s how. And Pickens isn’t even from South Florida.”
The Coaching Carousel Continues
Georgia Football hires two new coaches — UGA, if it wasn’t clear by the above passage, has hired a new WRs coach in James Coley, by way of South Carolina, formerly of Texas A&M, UGA, FSU and others. His predecessor Bryan ‘BMAC’ McClendon accepted a position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.
Coley is famously known for having a pipeline into his hometown of Miami, and both of UGA’s natty winning rosters from the 2020s had his fingerprints all over them (he was an assistant at UGA from 2016-2019). He’s also built up a bit of an infamous reputation as a lousy play caller. The good news being that he won’t be involved on that end (as far as I know).
The other opening was the RBs coach. Long time UGA assistant and ace recruiter Dell McGee accepted the head coaching position at Georgia State, where he will replace Shawn Elliot, who accepted a position as TEs coach at South Carolina earlier this Winter. See how everything comes full circle? He will be replaced by Georgia Tech WRs coach Josh Crawford.
Georgia State’s new staff — This will be McGee’s first time being a HC, and he’s never been in a play-calling role before either, so he’s a bit of a mystery when it comes to the College Fantasy Football (CFF) implications. Notably, his son recently accepted a scholarship to play at Georgia State. I’m sure that had something to do with McGee’s decision.
McGee’s OC will be Jim Chaney, known from his time spent as OC at UGA from 2016 to 2018. Previously he was with Texas A&M as an offensive analyst in 2023. He spent the prior two seasons in the same role with Georgia Tech, and the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. He was also the OC of Tennessee in 2019 and 2020.
Chaney’s time at UGA yielded three straight 1000-yard rushing seasons, with two runners doing it in 2018 (Elijah Holyfield & DeAndre Swift) and 2017 (Nick Chubb & Sony Michel). Nick Chubb in 2016 and 2017 is the only one of those runners to see more than 200 carries though. That’s sort of Chaney’s MO—he likes to run the ball a lot, but he tends to cycle RBs in and out at a brisk pace. Personally, I am mildly intrigued by Georgia State’s backfield now.
Does the NFL have a problem? Eric Bienemy to UCLA — Sure, I’m being tongue and cheek in the headline here, but it isn’t every day that you see an NFL OC opt to take the same role in CFB under his own free will. Bienemy, most famously known from his time at Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes, has been trying to get out of Andy Reid’s shadow ever since. He was unsuccessful at Washington (NFL), and now appears to be trying his hand in the man’s game— CFB, that is.
On the surface, it is an odd move. On closer inspection, Bienemy did spend time as the OC of Colorado in the early 2010s, and also as the RBs coach for UCLA in the early/mid 2000s. So I suppose the concept of CFB coaching will not be entirely alien to him. The recruiting at UCLA can really only go one direction after Chip Kelly’s flaccid operation left the program in shambles. Notably, Bienemy was himself a multi-year 1000 yard rusher for the Buffs when he played in college, and was part of their 1990 national championship winning squad. He actually came third in Heisman voting that season.
As a play caller, it’s hard to take patterns from the NFL side and apply them to College. It’s just a different ball game. That being said, I should point out that during his time with the Chiefs, he had zero 1000-yard rushers, and none of his backs hit 200 carries. That’s in 16/17 game seasons, mind you. Ditto for his one year with the Washington Commanders. He didn’t have one either when he called plays at Colorado (2011-12). Something to keep in mind for those interested in TJ Harden this season.
The Los Angeles Rams are hiring Iowa State offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase — Scheelhaase was promoted to OC for the ISU Cyclones in 2023, prior to that he was the RGC and WRs coach. He is replaced by the TEs coach Taylor Mouser, who has no prior experience as a play caller. He’s been with ISU since 2016.
Boise State lands its next OC — Former BSU OC and longtime NFL assistant Dirk Koetter was announced as the program’s next offensive play caller on Tuesday. Koetter leaned on George Holani quite a bit in the second half of the 2022 season (once he took over as interim OC from analyst), and at the very least, is not a major strike for the RB position, so rest assured if you’re a Jeanty shareholder, things still look good for 2024. They look pretty fucking fantastic actually.
UMass to the MAC — Not coaching carousel news, but carousel news nonetheless. The Mid American Conference became even more of a gauntlet on Monday when the board voted UMass in as a full member, effective starting in the 2025-26 season. Maybe now UMass can stop scheduling UGA, Mississippi State and Missouri in the same season. Seriously, UMass, you’re not an SEC school—WTF is that schedule this year?!
The Barbarians are at the Gate
CFP expansion… again? — Early last week it was announced that the CFP powers that be discussed the possibility of a 14-team playoff at the last meeting. I found this to be quite amusing given that the entire conversation of expansion over the last five years centred around expanding the four team playoff to 12. Now, before that format has even had a chance to establish itself, these same decision makers are discussing further expansion.
For me, it re-emphasized an already uncomfortable truth that is: the decision makers (TV executives) in the realm of CFB really do not care about the health of the sport, nor do they ‘get’ the spirit of it. They are simply interested in squeezing as much juice out of this lemon as they can, before (likely) eventually moving on to the next golden goose that they can ruin.
It also re-emphasized to me that this sport desperately needs a commissioner (preferably one who actually understands what makes the sport special), ASAP. The sport of CFB right now is sort of reminiscent of how Boxing operated for many years. With no (competent) central authority, individual components seeking to maximize their own utility at the expense of the health of the entire ecosystem ultimately led to its demise, or at least, a steep decline from what it once was.
NIL ruling in favour of Tennessee — Speaking of ruining the sport, if you’re a Tennessee Volunteer fan, you were ecstatic at the ruling last week, which went in favour of the Vols, essentially stating that there are no actual NIL rules in place, therefore it’s impossible for Tennessee to have done anything wrong. And sure, if it were my team on the chopping block, I might have reacted similarly. However, I think reasonable minds can agree that this current wild west era of CFB doesn’t end well for the sport.
This ruling, which essentially shows that NIL laws currently have no teeth whatsoever, basically gives carte-blanche to any program bold enough to stretch the boundaries of what’s possible with NIL. I, like most people, have no problem with NIL itself, but rather the way it is used as an inducement in recruiting. Aren’t you glad we have an expanded playoff now to give the little guys a chance?
CFP format changed from 6+6 to 5+7 — 6+6… 5+7…. what is this, math class all over again? No, it’s the latest ruling from the illustrious powers that be in CFB, stating that the current (at least, as of writing this) playoff format of 12 teams will be moving from six auto-qualifier (AQ) spots for the six highest rated conference champions down to five, with now seven remaining spots for the ‘best of the rest’ as it were.
I don’t know about you, but any sport that has one conference including the likes of Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, and Georgia, while another has as its best programs… Kansas State, Utah, and Oklahoma State, probably shouldn’t be treating conference championships equally. That is to say, it doesn’t make any sense to me to have auto-bids for conference champions, especially when one of those conference champions now will be a Group of Five school, which as a division, lost essentially all of its top programs in realignment.
You say: then what is the point of conference championships? To which I will reply: there is no point. With the expanded playoff just get rid of these things. They were detrimental to play in more often than not already in the four-team format. With the 12-team format, we’re literally going to see some teams play each other three times in one season. That doesn’t feel very CFB-y to me—it’s more NFL-like.
An example I could see happening: who’s going to feel like we got a real champion in a year where Texas beats UGA in-season, then again in the SECCG, but loses when UGA sneaks into the 12-team CFP and eventually claims the natty? You put two good teams up against each other enough times and eventually each one is going to get a dub; then it just comes down to timing. BTW, UGA and Texas play in the regular season this year, and are the odds on favourites to be in the SECCG (and the #1 and #3 odds on favourites for the NCG according to many sites).
As an FYI in case you are wondering—no, the new PAC-12 (2) are not eligible for the AQs. In this format as it currently stands, from my perspective it would make sense for Oregon State and Wazzou to simply join the MWC. There is an express lane to the CFP for programs who dominate the G5 now, and ORST and WSU could do that in the short term.
NCAA Video Game → Good for CFF?
Some major news came out last week, when EA confirmed that the NCAA video game was on track to publish this year, and that CFB players could opt in for a $600 lump sum payment and a free copy of the game.
Personally, I know everyone thinks that the game is going to be good for CFF. I would tend to agree, however, when thinking of the specific reasons why, I struggled to come up with a coherent thought.
Most people don’t buy the game for individual players (a fact that a few of these players are probably going to find out for themselves soon). I suppose the other angle is that by playing the game, osmosis will have people learning more about the landscape of CFB, and who the best players are. That could encourage them to explore the game of CFF for themselves.
What do you think?
Two Programs on the Ascent
Inspired by the above tweets, I decided to highlight a few programs that I believe present large alpha opportunities for CFF players. The first being the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes.
Tulsa — The Hurricanes welcomed in a new HC last offseason in Kevin Wilson by way of Ohio State. Wilson served as the OC for several years there, notably overseeing some very productive QBs and WRs. His track record led me to investigate and even invest in some of Tulsa’s assets this past summer in my drafts. For the most part, they disappointed.
Braylon Braxton, who had finished 2022 on a strong note, was knocked out of game one in the first half after throwing two INTs. He would never reclaim his starting spot, as Cardell Williams and then Kirk Francis took over. Braxton moved on, but Williams and Francis remain.
I am willing to get burned once again if necessary, because I am still intrigued in whoever wins the starting role here. There will probably also be a value at WR given this is year two of Wilson’s install into the program.
UTEP — I would agree with Mr. Powers re:UTEP’s hire this offseason. I have an article that has been tucked away in my vault for a little while now on the Miners, and will be releasing it probably in March.
CFB’s First Spring Game
The University of Hawaii kicked things off this spring with CFB’s first spring game. Above are some highlights from the outing, which was more of a live practice than anything. Notably, most of the projected starters sat out from the game.
A few interesting points:
The ever elusive hybrid back Tylan Hines is seen catching a pass out the receiver position. He didn’t live up to the role I had in mind for him last year, but maybe this year he cashes in on those expectations. He was a player who was said to have been receiving slot receiver reps in addition to RB reps. Evidently, it proved to be WR Pofele Ashock who ended up locking down the coveted slot role in UH’s Run-N-Shoot offence.
WR Kayde Mahuka (#88) made multiple plays in the highlight video. The 5’9, 160 pound junior isn’t even in the Fantrax database.
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