*Sorry for 2 sports posts in a row, Robin.
When Ted Miller wrote a column for the Seattle P-I, he was appropriately focused on the Huskies. When I heard he was moving to ESPN.com to cover the Pac-10, I thought that that his analysis would be tinged with a purple haze, but he is turning out to be really fair (read: he gives credence to the Oregon teams).
This week Ted posted his Pac-10 coaches rankings. That doesn’t mean the coaches ranked themselves, it was Ted doing the ranking.
#1 isn’t a surprise:
- Pete Carroll (USC) – LA doesn’t have an NFL team ‘officially’, but Pete Carroll and SIX years of monumental success with the Boys of Troy would say otherwise.
- Dennis Erickson (ASU) – Again, no surprise. Dennis the Men
aces’ fans are just as fanatical as his critics. Local boy (and current St. Louis Ram) Roy Schuening (R – The Boy with Roy in 2005) tells the story that Coach Erickson wears his 1989 National Championship ring (Miami) and uses it to encourage the fire in the belly of his players. When he was talking to the Beavers about what they are playing for, all he did was hold up his ring finger. They finished 2001 at #3 in the nation… OH SO CLOSE! I will NOT be surprised to see the Sun Devils rise to the top in the next couple years. - Mike Bellotti (’effin *ucks) – The guy is an ass! He coaches with EGO and the boys get hurt because of it. There was NO reason for Dennis Dixon to have still been in the Arizona game last fall. If not for Bellotti’s desire to run up the score against a weaker foe, Dixon just might have won the Heisman.
- Jeff Tedford (Cal) – The man presides over a premiere program. He just needs to do a better job of teaching his QB the intricacies of clock management. I’m hoping to be at the Cal game at Reser on November 14th.
- Mike Riley (OSU) – Coach has this terrible personality flaw… he too nice. Players who were holdovers from the Erickson era saw Riley come in as a ‘players coach’ and thought the guy would be a wuss. If Erickson wasn’t throwing out language that would make a sailor blush, players thought he was ill. More than one player considered transferring (and some did). If Coach weren’t so NICE, the national media would notice him more. My advice… work in a few curse words, drop the F-bomb occasionally, and for effect… throw your clipboard. It will make the highlight reel on SportsCenter and your reputation would rise.
- Rick New-Weasel (UCLA) – The only reason he isn’t at #11 is because he coaches the Bruins. There is a lot to say about the talent pool keeps this program afloat in spite of Ricky’s ineptitude.
- Tyrone Willingham (the Dogs) – Willinghams entire resume is based off a couple good years at Stanford back in the late 90’s which lead to him coaching the Irish through a couple good years. If he doesn’t have the national scouting pool (Stanford & Notre Dame) or the legendary reputation (ND), he just isn’t that good. The Boys of Montlake have an 11-25 record with Willingham.
- Jim Harbaugh (Stanford) – The guys stock is moving up! He beat USC last year as a 41-point underdog AND beat Cal in The Big Game. The Beavs are playing the Cards at Loma Linda in 18 days. Beavs by 2 TD’s.
- Mike Stoops (Arizona) – Bad team, bad sideline attitude, weak recruiting.
- Paul Wullf (WAZZU) – Coaching the big boys for the first time after doing a decent job at Eastern Washington U. The folks up in the Palouse see big things in Wullf’s future.
Other than the screw up with #3 & #5, Millers evaluation is pretty good. I’ll keep reading his stuff… for now.
