Randy Smith: Final Thought On College Football

  • Monday, January 16, 2017
  • Randy Smith
Randy Smith
Randy Smith
I promise this will be my last column on college football for a while. The season ended a week ago tonight when Clemson beat Alabama 34-31 in a rematch of the 2015 classic, won by 'Bama 45-40. The following thoughts are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of anyone else. (Thank goodness)

Believe it or not, I am trying to find tickets to the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta on Labor Day weekend.
I want to see both Tennessee versus Georgia Tech and Alabama versus Florida State in the first-ever games in the sparkling new Mercedes Benz Stadium. 

I was happy to see that former Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs may get a chance to play in the National Football League. He will get looked at as a quarterback but will likely become a receiver, even though he may not get drafted. The really good news is.....Dobbs is so smart he will be able to get a high-paying job in rocket science if things don't work out in the NFL.

I believe that Alabama will be back in the College Football Playoffs in 2017, but Clemson may have to wait a year or two to return. Florida State may be the class of the ACC next fall, and will likely be ranked at or near the top of the pre-season polls later this summer. (By the way, does anyone know where I can get some tickets to the Seminoles' game with Alabama in Atlanta Labor Day weekend?)

I think that Alabama head coach Nick Saban is two more National Titles away from retirement. When he wins those two, he would have one more than "Bear" Bryant, which would also mean he would have more than any other coach.

Clemson's Dabo Swinney is now 1-1 against Saban and a perfect 2-0 against Ohio State's Urban Meyer. In fact, both of Meyer's post-season losses have been to Swinney.

Though Clemson may have to rebuild a year or two before getting back to the College Football Playoffs, the Tigers will still win 10-11 games next fall.  My much too early choices? Alabama, Florida State, Penn State and Southern Cal.

I believe that Ed Orgeron will be successful as LSU's head football coach, but the Bengal Tigers have a long way to go to catch Alabama in the SEC West.

Here's wishing veteran assistant coach Dan Brooks a happy retirement. Brooks was the defensive line coach at Clemson for the past eight years. He also won a national championship ring at Tennessee on Phillip Fulmer's staff in 1998. Brooks is one of the truly nice guys in college football and a great assistant coach. 

Congratulations to former UTC head football coach Donnie Kirkpatrick who was the offensive coordinator at James Madison. JMU won the FCS national title for this past season.

The Heisman Trophy voters really missed it this past season. Louisville's Lamar Jackson is a great college player, but his stats in the first month of the season won the award for him. There is no question in my mind that Clemson's Deshaun Watson should have won. I voted on the Heisman panel for several years and my vote this year would have gone to Watson.

I think that UTC's David Blackburn hit a home run  in hiring a Division three coach to replace Russ Huesman. Tom Arth is an impressive individual and will do a great job as the Mocs' head coach.

Speaking of Blackburn, it surprises me that news out of Knoxville today says that Tennessee has offered the Athletic Director's job to former head football coach Phillip Fulmer. Fulmer still has to accept the job, but if he takes it, I hope that Blackburn will either take a top assistant's job as the next "AD in waiting"  or stay at UTC. I personally believe that Coach Fulmer will do a great job replacing Dave Hart, but David Blackburn is a rising superstar among AD candidates.

I believe that the disparity between the SEC West and the SEC East is narrowing. Georgia, Florida and Tennessee are helping to close the gap a bit, with Kentucky also on the rise. In the SEC West, I see Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas A&M on the decline. Alabama is still the class of the SEC and will likely be the class of the league as long as Nick Saban is in Tuscaloosa.

The 2017 college football season kicks off in just 221 days!

* * *

Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer.  His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for 30 years. He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century. In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.

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