It’s only January, but so far it looks like the two recurring themes of off-season Mailbag submissions will be NIL and the transfer portal. Both make me miss the realignment.
But we’re starting something fun and off topic this week.
If you could put together the ideal coaching staff, who would it be? All current coaches (head coaches could be coordinators) as well as through the ages? (Head coach from the 2000s, with coordinators at their peak from other decades). —Patrick, Aiken, SC
Oooh, that looks fun. I’ll limit it to the 2000s, if that’s okay. Trying to mix 70s triangle trainers with 2020s Air Raid trainers would be pretty unwieldy.
Head Coach: Nick Saban
Offensive Coordinator: Mike Leach
Defensive Coordinator: Kirby Smart
Quarterbacks: Lincoln Riley
Running back: Tony Alford
Wide Receivers: Dennis Simmons
Offensive line: Kirk Ferentz
Defensive line: Ed Orgeron
Linebackers: Bud Foster
Defensive back: Corey Raymond
Special Teams: Bill Snyder
In addition to the first-round automatic Saban, I also considered Smart, Ferentz, and Orgeron a no-brainer, given how synonymous they are with those positions. For OC, I first wrote Oregon-era Chip Kelly, but Leach had longer-lasting success and spawned dozens of offspring.
Riley edged out Ryan Day for the QB coach because he’s been doing it a little longer. Alford at Ohio State has starred Ezekiel Elliott, Mike Weber, JK Dobbins, Trey Sermon and now TreVeyon Henderson.