More Foolishness From SEC Coaches
posted by Scott Hood, Friday, July 20, 2007
It appears 11 of the 12 SEC head coaches disagree.
Just five different Gamecock players were voted to the pre-season All-SEC team released Thursday by the conference coaches. Kicker Ryan Succop was voted to the Second Team All-SEC Special Teams twice as both the placekicker and punter.
LSU and Arkansas led the way with 12 players each, while Auburn had eight.
Only one USC player – middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley – made First-Team All-SEC. He should have, since he had 107 tackles in 2007 and is regarded by most scouts as the top returning linebacker in the SEC.
Somehow the coaches were able to figure that one out.
Cory Boyd, who led USC in rushing last season with 823 yards, was named to the Third-Team All-SEC at running back.
Andy Boyd earned second team honors at tight end. Casper Brinkley was named to the third team at defensive end.
Any all-league team voted on by the SEC coaches must be taken with a large grain of salt. This is the same group that failed to vote defensive end Eric Norwood onto the All-Freshman SEC team last season despite recording seven sacks and 30 tackles in his maiden voyage.
Fortunately, some of the good folks in the national media were intelligent enough to figure things out when it came to recognition of Norwood’s accomplishments. The Sporting News named him a First-Team Freshman All-American, while Rivals.com showered him with Second-Team Freshman All-American accolades.
So, Norwood was impressive enough to earn Freshman All-America honors from two major media organizations but didn’t even make the All-Freshman team within his own league. Got that?
Some of us in the media aren’t as dumb as we look.
In my opinion, the omissions of Jamon Meredith, Blake Mitchell, Kenny McKinley and Norwood from the All-SEC teams are inexcusable.
You mean to tell me the coaches believe there are 12 offensive linemen better than Meredith? No way.
No offense to Vanderbilt’s Chris Nickson, the third team QB, but Blake Mitchell is a better quarterback. Obviously, the coaches didn’t read up on Mitchell’s stratospheric numbers over the final 4-1/2 games after regaining his job from Syvelle Newton.
The silliness reaches a crescendo with the exclusion of wide receiver Kenny McKinley from the honor roll. He had 51 receptions and five touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter of the Liberty Bowl, in 2006. He’s definitely one of the top six wide receivers in the SEC going into this season.
But his name is nowhere to be found.
The oversights of defensive tackle Marque Hall and safety Brandon Isaac are understandable based on the fact both players barely played last season. Isaac, in fact, missed the entire season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Hall suffered a season-ending knee injury against Georgia in the second game.
As I’ve said before, Steve Spurrier is not culpable for this foolishness since head coaches are not allowed to vote for players on their own team.
Frankly, coaches should stick to what they do best – coaching football for their respective schools - and refrain from voting for pre-season all-league honors.
All it does is make them look foolish.
These guys are paid millions of dollars to coach, not to curry favor from opposing coaches with their bogus pre-season selections.
It’s bad enough the coaches supposedly vote in a weekly poll during the season.
How much do you think LSU’s Les Miles, Alabama’s Nick Saban, Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville or Ed Orgeron of Ole Miss know about the Gamecocks in the middle of July? Or, should I dare say, their Sports Information Directors?
Here’s a hint: Zero.
But still they vote.
God help us.
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Phil Steele, publisher of the one of the most respected college football annual preview magazines, claims South Carolina may have the most talent of any team in the SEC’s Eastern Division.
It appears 11 of the 12 SEC head coaches disagree.
Just five different Gamecock players were voted to the pre-season All-SEC team released Thursday by the conference coaches. Kicker Ryan Succop was voted to the Second Team All-SEC Special Teams twice as both the placekicker and punter.
LSU and Arkansas led the way with 12 players each, while Auburn had eight.
Only one USC player – middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley – made First-Team All-SEC. He should have, since he had 107 tackles in 2007 and is regarded by most scouts as the top returning linebacker in the SEC.
Somehow the coaches were able to figure that one out.
Cory Boyd, who led USC in rushing last season with 823 yards, was named to the Third-Team All-SEC at running back.
Andy Boyd earned second team honors at tight end. Casper Brinkley was named to the third team at defensive end.
Any all-league team voted on by the SEC coaches must be taken with a large grain of salt. This is the same group that failed to vote defensive end Eric Norwood onto the All-Freshman SEC team last season despite recording seven sacks and 30 tackles in his maiden voyage.
Fortunately, some of the good folks in the national media were intelligent enough to figure things out when it came to recognition of Norwood’s accomplishments. The Sporting News named him a First-Team Freshman All-American, while Rivals.com showered him with Second-Team Freshman All-American accolades.
So, Norwood was impressive enough to earn Freshman All-America honors from two major media organizations but didn’t even make the All-Freshman team within his own league. Got that?
Some of us in the media aren’t as dumb as we look.
In my opinion, the omissions of Jamon Meredith, Blake Mitchell, Kenny McKinley and Norwood from the All-SEC teams are inexcusable.
You mean to tell me the coaches believe there are 12 offensive linemen better than Meredith? No way.
No offense to Vanderbilt’s Chris Nickson, the third team QB, but Blake Mitchell is a better quarterback. Obviously, the coaches didn’t read up on Mitchell’s stratospheric numbers over the final 4-1/2 games after regaining his job from Syvelle Newton.
The silliness reaches a crescendo with the exclusion of wide receiver Kenny McKinley from the honor roll. He had 51 receptions and five touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter of the Liberty Bowl, in 2006. He’s definitely one of the top six wide receivers in the SEC going into this season.
But his name is nowhere to be found.
The oversights of defensive tackle Marque Hall and safety Brandon Isaac are understandable based on the fact both players barely played last season. Isaac, in fact, missed the entire season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Hall suffered a season-ending knee injury against Georgia in the second game.
As I’ve said before, Steve Spurrier is not culpable for this foolishness since head coaches are not allowed to vote for players on their own team.
Frankly, coaches should stick to what they do best – coaching football for their respective schools - and refrain from voting for pre-season all-league honors.
All it does is make them look foolish.
These guys are paid millions of dollars to coach, not to curry favor from opposing coaches with their bogus pre-season selections.
It’s bad enough the coaches supposedly vote in a weekly poll during the season.
How much do you think LSU’s Les Miles, Alabama’s Nick Saban, Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville or Ed Orgeron of Ole Miss know about the Gamecocks in the middle of July? Or, should I dare say, their Sports Information Directors?
Here’s a hint: Zero.
But still they vote.
God help us.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.