Fact or Fiction: Elias Ricks will head to Ohio State
In today’s Fact or Fiction national columnist Mike Farrell looks at three big recent topics in college football and decides whether each statement is indeed FACT or if it’s FICTION.
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1. Florida is the best job available.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. In fact, the Gators job isn’t even the second-best job opening as we have three of the top 10 open. USC is still the best available job due to recruiting advantages, the ease of the Pac-12 and changing times in regards to Name, Image and Likeness. After that I have LSU with its in-state recruiting advantage, and then Florida. It’s a great job in Gainesville, don’t get me wrong, but there are a couple better ones out there with distinct recruiting advantages.
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2. Eli Drinkwitz was right to troll Dan Mullen out the door.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Remember last year when an odd Dan Mullen donned Darth Vader gear at the press conference after a win over Missouri? This past weekend the Missouri coach flipped his hoodie over his head, grabbed a lightsaber and said, “May the force be with you” after a surprising win against Florida. Sweet revenge, and Drinkwitz recently said on radio that “if you sow kindness you reap kindness and if you sow jackass you reap jackass” in reference to his troll.
Mullen, as we know, was fired on Sunday after a 5-6 start to this season. Drinkwitz's antics were a smidge dorky, but I’m all for it and absolutely love coaches getting irked at each other. This is likely the last we'll hear of this rivalry between the two coaches, but it was a cool ending.
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3. Elias Ricks will head to Ohio State.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Remember last summer when I broke the story that cornerback Elias Ricks intended to leave LSU and was headed to Ohio State? The Tigers did a great job convincing him to stay, and his mom put her foot down and wasn’t about to uproot from Louisiana.
But now, a season later and with Ed Orgeron out the door, Ricks is ready to leave again, and this time he’ll end up with the Buckeyes. Keep an eye out for the next coach at USC making a run at him, and, as always, Alabama and Georgia. But this time he’s gone.