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| Wednesday, October 18 Let's do the Time Warp again By Mike Tirico Special to ESPN.com | |||||
| The clock's running and it's four-down territory. Here we go.
First Down Welcome to the Time Warp. . . Did we wake up in the '80s with Clemson, Oklahoma and Miami in the top five. What is the common thread? Other than all coming back from NCAA suspension hits -- all three schools are winning with dynamic passing games. Sure Miami did that in their best days but Clemson and Oklahoma did not, just serving as another reminder that we are in the passing era of college football.
When to say when? Virginia will announce an exit strategy for George Welsh at season's end. Going thru West Virginia last week there were those questioning if it is time for Don Nehlen to leave Morgantown as well. These might be legitimate questions down the line, but the treatment those two coaches have received over the last two seasons has been unfair. Football fans are quick to forget where their team/school came from. Sure glory days of undefeated seasons ('88 and '93 for the Mountaineers) and beating No. 1 Florida State (for the Cavs) come too infrequently for the fans -- but Welsh and Nehlen took dormant programs to levels previously unrealized and perhaps not thought attainable. The only thing both coaches are guilty of is creating a bar even they can only hit once every three or four years. Telling someone they are too old for the job and it's time to move on is not an exact science, but giving them the benefit of the doubt in their closing years is something that should be happening this year in Charlottesville and Morgantown. Third Down In researching our West Virginia/Virginia Tech broadcast last week, West Virginia's exceptional sports information director, Shelly Poe, pointed out that West Virignia has the longest run of major coaches in Division I-A. Football coach Nehlen and basketball coach Gale Catlett have been at the school since the late '70's; thus West Virginia is the only school to have no changes in the basketball and football head coaching job in the decade of the '80s and '90s. It got us wondering who is next on the list. Only two other schools have had the biggest coaching offices on campus occupied by the same men the entire decade of the '90s: Arizona's Lute Olson/Dick Tomey combo and Utah, with Ron McBride and Rick Majerus. Does it point out anything? Not really but it does say something that one coach in each group has not taken his team to a national title game -- Catlett, Tomey and McBride have not taken their teams to the title. But the schools have enjoyed competitive teams and stayed NCAA violation free. Fourth Down Our business is just that -- a business. But I was surprised to see that CBS selected Notre Dame at West Virginia instead of Syracuse at Virginia Tech for its game of the week. Now as an employee here, I think it's great for us -- Michael Vick on ESPN in prime time is great. For CBS, putting Notre Dame on the network has been a no-brainer for television programmers since college football became a Saturday network stable. And, with NBC owning the rights to Notre Dame's home games, most anyone would jump at the chance to get the Irish. But this is not just inside baseball talk, it speaks to what do fans want. Without boring you with the contractual information, which to be honest I don't even know, the question is simple -- what would you rather watch Notre Dame or Michael Vick? Personally, with apologies to our friends in South Bend, I would rather watch Michael Vick. I think he is the most dynamic player in the sport now and maybe in the last five years. If given the choice of the two on television at the same time, I would pick Vick. But I asked ten other people this week, people who were not involved in television or college football as a profession. All ten said give me Vick. What does it prove, not much. CBS will do a great rating with Notre Dame and ESPN will do a good rating with Michael Vick up against game one of the World Series. But I am curious how many of you would be in the same column as myself, saying Vick over the Domers. Having seen Virginia Tech in person last week, my Vick feeling is he can use one more year in school to become a more polished passer. If the Bengals keep losing and earn the top pick in the 2001 draft, that would also influence my decision. It will be an interesting call if Vick comes out and an NFL team has the top choice do they invest it on someone who is not ready to be an NFL starter right out of school this year. Tirico's Top Ten 1. Nebraska 2. Virginia Tech 3. Oklahoma 4. Clemson 5. Miami, FL 6. Florida State 7. Florida 8. Washington 9. TCU 10. Kansas State | ALSO SEE Wojciechowski: Movers and Shakers What you might have missed | ||||
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