Our weekly #TwitterTuesday file continues this week in which you ask National Recruiting Director MikeFarrell your football questions via social media. Here are several submissions, led by a question about first-year head coaches.
Lincoln Riley has had the best debut season and it’s not that close. I wasn’t thrilled with how he handled Baker Mayfield's antics this weekend , but I like that he isn’t starting Mayfield against West Virginia and stripped his captaincy for the week as well. And the job he has done this season on the field – from the win over Ohio State to throttling TCU and winning some big, close games against Oklahoma State and Texas – has been excellent. The Iowa State loss is the only speed bump and it appears it won’t hurt the Sooners bad enough to keep them out of the College Football Playoff if they continue to win. Riley, for being so young, has done an amazing job with a talented team.
I’m going to give Jim Harbaugh a B grade. Not a B-plus and not a B-minus, and certainly nothing in the A or C range. He inherited a Michigan program that had talent but no confidence, and his player development has been excellent. Harbaugh hasn’t beaten Ohio State yet, has a losing record to Michigan State and hasn’t won the division yet, but with what he inherited and what he lost this past year to the NFL, I think 8-3 this season is good. Harbaugh won’t climb past a B grade for me until he wins the division and won’t hit an A-plus grade until he makes the College Football Playoff, but those things will happen under Harbaugh in Ann Arbor.
Auburn gets in as a two-loss team after upsetting Alabama and beating Georgia in Atlanta. Clemson gets in with a win over Miami. Oklahoma will run the table to earn a berth as well. Finally, Wisconsin finishes the regular season undefeated and gets in.
The seeding would be the tricky thing. In the scenario I described, Clemson would be No. 1, Auburn No. 2, Oklahoma No. 3 and Wisconsin No. 4.
If that ended up being the field, it would shake out with Clemson beating Oklahoma in the title game and repeating as national champions.
Dabo Swinney. Clemson fans won’t want to hear this but Alabama is his alma mater, he’s a great coach and would be the perfect choice to follow Nick Saban and keep Alabama rolling. The big question is – will he want the job? He might not. Following a legend such as Saban is not always the most attractive career path, especially when you have already become a legend where you are, as Swinney has at Clemson.
This isn't a knock against Rashan Gary, but no one compares to Jadeveon Clowney. Not out of high school and, honestly, not out of college. Clowney somewhat mailed in his third year at South Carolina and was still picked as the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, so maybe Gary can make up some ground next year. Right now, though, there is no comparison and there really wasn’t in high school either despite both being ranked No. 1 in the Rivals100.
Micah Parsons is a freakishly athletic defensive end who could also stand up in college but he’s not the most athletic defensive end I’ve covered. You would think it would be Clowney, but what made Clowney special was not his athleticism but his amazing anticipation.
The guys that come to mind when thinking about freak athleticism are Ronald Powell (Florida) and Donte Moss (North Carolina). Those two guys were off the charts. Both turned out to be busts overall, but they are the two most purely athletic ends I can remember. Parsons is up there, but isn’t in the same class as these two for pure athleticism.
