Mike Leach might not be the home run Mississippi State expects, and more random notes
Random notes:
▪ I’m tapping the brakes on the Mike Leach enthusiasm. Yes, the former Kentucky assistant coach’s hiring at Mississippi State has generated renewed interest in the Bulldogs. Leach is quirky and interesting an even a media magnet, though he often gets into spats with media members.
But he was also 6-7 last season at Washington State. He was 0-7 against archrival Washington. His tenure at Texas Tech came to a controversial end. And I’m not sure how his Air Raid offense will work against the superior talent at LSU, Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M.
On the flip side, the Egg Bowl with Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss matched against Leach and Mississippi State will be worth watching.
And Leach will return to Lexington every other season to play Kentucky.
▪ I’m assuming it’s a new-and-improved Bobby Petrino who is the new head football coach at Missouri State.
▪ UK football coach Mark Stoops has done a good job replacing departing assistant coaches. That appears to be the case again with Anwar Stewart being named defensive line coach after Derrick LeBlanc left for Arkansas. No. 1, Stewart played at UK, same as Jon Sumrall, who was hired as linebackers coach last season. No. 2, Stewart served as a defensive assistant under Stoops in 2017 and 2018 so the head coach knows what he’s getting.
▪ A.W. Hamilton’s Eastern Kentucky Colonels might be just 6-11, but the Colonels are among the nation’s leaders in one category. According to Ken Pomeroy’s analytics, only three teams play faster than EKU — Houston Baptist, Mississippi Valley State and Alabama. The Colonels, who are 3-1 in the OVC, play host to Belmont on Thursday night.
▪ Kentucky women’s basketball has a big game Thursday night against Texas A&M. Matthew Mitchell’s Wildcats are ranked No. 11 in the latest AP poll. The Aggies are No. 12. Tip-off is 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.
▪ A prescription for improved basketball attendance: An entertaining and winning style of play. Wednesday night’s tilt between Alabama and No. 5 Auburn in Tuscaloosa was a sellout.
▪ I was wrong about Ed Orgeron. I thought LSU was crazy to hire the ex-Ole Miss head coach and ex-Southern Cal interim coach to run the Tigers’ program. Just goes to show that some coaches are just a perfect fit for a job. Coach O proved to be a perfect fit for LSU.
▪ One of the best parts of Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship game was seeing 11 greats — including relatives of those deceased — at midfield on the same podium announced as the 11 greatest college football players in the 150-year history of the sport.
▪ NFL conference championship game predictions: Go with the chalk. Kansas City Chiefs over Tennessee Titans in the AFC. San Francisco 49ers over Green Bay Packers in the NFC.
▪ The Kentucky House Licensing and Occupations Committee advanced a bill that would allow sports betting at racetracks and online. It’s the first step to stopping Kentucky tax dollars go across the river to Indiana and other locations.
▪ Losing the Belk Bowl to Kentucky must not have hurt Virginia Tech Coach Justin Fuente. He’s reportedly among the top candidates to replace Matt Rhule at Baylor. Rhule left Waco to become head coach of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, where he is reportedly hiring LSU co-offensive coordinator and passing game guru Joe Brady as his offensive coordinator.
▪ Kudos to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred for cracking down hard on the Houston Astros for the sign stealing/cheating scandal of 2017. Kudos to Astros owner Jim Crane for quickly firing GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager A.J. Hinch. And kudos to the Boston Red Sox for firing Manager Alex Cora, the bench coach for the Astros in 2017.
▪ Never mind former coaches Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson getting all emotional when they were told live on television over the weekend they were being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, how is Warren Zevon not in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame?
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 4:59 PM.
