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Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with the next 10 best coaches in college football, the best OL recruiting for 2019 so far and what Larry Fedora was trying to say.
1. Let's keep ranking 'em: Top coaches from Nos. 11-20
I named my top 10 college football coaches on Tuesday and found it much tougher than I did last year with Chip Kelly back and Kirby Smart and others emerging. Today we look at 11-20, which was almost even tougher.
11. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State – Another one of my underrated coaches, Dantonio gets the in-state nod over a guy named Harbaugh heading into this season. Will that change? Time will tell.
12. David Shaw, Stanford – And yet another one of my underrated coaches, Shaw has done an amazing job at Stanford over the years and has them as one of the most consistent programs in the country despite academic restrictions that hinder recruiting.
13. Bill Snyder, Kansas State – Snyder is well respected for the job he’s done at Kansas State and is a great coach as we saw when he stepped down and the program fell back to mediocrity. His record there is amazing.
14. Mark Richt, Miami – I had Richt on my overrated list but that doesn’t mean he’s not a very good coach. He’s been a winner at Georgia and Miami and now looks like he might take the ‘Canes back to the Promised Land.
15. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame – He’s had some wins negated which hurts his overall record, but he’s done a very good job at Notre Dame and has had them in the hunt for national prominence more years than not.
16. Dan Mullen, Florida – The job he did at Mississippi State was beyond impressive and now he has the keys to a Ferrari at Florida, so watch out.
17. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan – The most overrated coach in the country drops from No. 5 on my list last year to No. 17. I’m one of the guys who overrated him. He’s done some good things at Michigan but needs to finish higher than third in his division.
18. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin – No one gives him enough credit but 34-7 and 22-4 in conference is very impressive in his short time at Wisconsin.
19. Gus Malzahn, Auburn – Always on the hot seat and still winning. He’s only had two 10-win seasons but he’s been in a title game and beat the national champ last year.
20. Scott Frost, Nebraska – A tough call here at No. 20 because why Frost and not Tom Herman or Lincoln Riley or a more established coach? What he did last year was amazing, that’s why.
2. Ranking the offensive line classes for 2019
I wrote about the best QB/RB combinations by school so far in 2019 and continued with the WR/TE combinations on Tuesday. Here are the schools doing the best offensive line recruiting so far in 2019.…
1. LSU – With a five-star in Kardell Thomas and two impressive four-stars in Anthony Bradford and Thomas Perry as well as a high three-star in Charles Turner, LSU is leading the way for offensive line recruiting so far.
2. Tennessee – The Vols are killing it as well on the offensive line with five-star Wanya Morris and four-stars Chris Akporoghene and Jackson Lampley. They are a close second to LSU and could make a case for No. 1.
3. Notre Dame – With three four-stars led by Quinn Carroll and a solid three-star in Andrew Kristofic, Notre Dame is keeping its offensive line recruiting momentum going to 2019.
4. Alabama – Amari Kight and Pierce Quick are a nice 1-2 combination and Tanner Bowles has a lot of upside, so ‘Bama checks in here.
5. Ohio State – Harry Miller and Doug Nester are both beasts while Ryan Jacoby is athletic and just shy of a four star so the Buckeyes are doing well.
6. Michigan State – Devontae Dobbs is a beast and Spencer Brown is massive while three stars Damon Kaylor and Nick Samac add nice depth to this class.
7. Georgia – The Dawgs only have two, but both are four stars in Xavier Truss and Warren McClendon. That’s a nice duo.
3. Revisiting Fedora's remarks, and the points he made
UNC coach Larry Fedora caught a lot of flak at ACC media day for his comments about football and CTE. And while I don’t agree when he said, "We don’t really know yet” if there is a connection between football and CTE, because there is obviously proof to the contrary, I get what he’s trying to say. He’s worried that the game we love, violence and all, will turn into two-hand touch or flag football in a decade if we keep making changes.
Should we make changes to make the game safer? Of course. But where do you draw the line? While Fedora made the CTE issue an issue about the downfall of our country, military and whatever else, what he really means is that he’s worried the game that molds so much character from young men and teaches toughness will change into something that fails to accomplish either goal.
I call it the “wussification” of America and the overreaction of many to violence in sport. Everyone who suits up to play football knows the risk. The game should continue to strive to be safer, but the bottom line is there is a risk/reward aspect to football as there is to many things. If you don’t want to ruin your liver, don’t drink. Like your lungs? Don’t smoke. Does that mean we can’t still sell alcohol and cigarettes? No it doesn’t, but warnings are a very good thing. Here’s a warning, if you play football you might get a brain injury and might end up with CTE.
Let’s not change the culture and meaning of the sport we love too much for all of our sakes to avoid such things. Football is a great game the way it is and changing it too much, as Fedora fears, would be a massive blow to our national morale. We already have targeting now, which is so subjective it’s ridiculous and we’ve seen so many players get ejected for hits that clearly don’t meet the criteria, and now there has been a proposal at the NFL level to eliminate kickoffs. The proposal was shot down, but many changes have been made to kickoffs for the upcoming NFL season that it’s clear it will be a thing of the past very soon and college will follow suit.
These are the things Fedora is talking about and he worries that additional changes will lead to more drastic ones down the line. And I'm with him on those concerns.