Brad Hubbard College Football, Football

Choices and Patience

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard | 11.29.2016

After the 2012 college football season, some fairly big jobs opened up. Two of the coaches looking to move up to a Power 5 school were Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones and San Jose State head coach Mike MacIntyre. Jones was doing the proverbial tour. He interviewed at Purdue and Colorado before taking the Tennessee job. MacIntyre was lower on the tier and Colorado ‘settled’ for him. Fast forward four years and MacIntyre’s Buffaloes are playing for a Pac-12 title and Tennessee is again 8-4 and not playing for a conference title. So which one was right?

Butch JonesUnder Butch Jones, Tennessee has shown continual improvement in his first three years going from 5-7 to 7-6 to 9-4. With sky high expectations this year, the Vols were never able to put together a complete game. While they did beat Florida, Georgia, and Virginia Tech they also lost to two teams they should have beaten handily in South Carolina and Vanderbilt not to mention being blown out by Alabama. The 8-4 regular season record still qualifies Tennessee for a quality bowl game but the season is seen as failure in the eyes of many.

Mike MacIntyreOut west Mike MacIntyre has not shown continual improvement in Colorado’s record. Going 4-8, 2-10 and 4-9 in his first three seasons in Boulder, only the hardcore football fan could see light at the end of the tunnel. The improvement was incremental but it wasn’t reflected in the record. This season MacIntyre put it all together and turned the 2016 season into a PAC-12 South divisional title.

The Buffaloes got off to a fast start by dominating their in state rivals Colorado State in the season opener. The Buffs built off of that and were able to rattle off some impressive wins even with a backup quarterback under center for three games. Tennessee meanwhile needed overtime and a whole lot of luck to beat a quality Appalachian State team. Both openers were a precursor of things to come.

Both coaches were hired at the same time. While Jones teams showed more promise early on, MacIntyre’s didn’t. Credit to Colorado for giving MacIntyre time to build the program back from the oil spill it was under previous regimes. While he started off on a ‘lukewarm seat’ this season, MacIntyre quickly erased any doubts about his job status as his team rattled off impressive win after impressive win. Jones will need some of that patience from Tennessee as he searches for answers going into year five.

Jones went from being the second coming in Knoxville to ‘is this guy any better than a 8 or 9 win coach?’ His job status will be questioned over the next several months not only because Tennessee didn’t live up to expectations this year with a senior quarterback and highly thought of defense but also because he will have a new boss come summer as current athletic director Dave Hart steps down.

Was Jones the right choice for Tennessee? At the time yes. They needed someone to put out the dumpster fire that Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley left behind. MacIntyre was the right choice at Colorado too. He has built a program with NFL quality talent and a belief that they can compete with and beat the best teams in the country.

While both are right for their jobs, it’s clear that both coaches are at the same crossroad. Both need to go to the next level but momentum seems to only be on Colorado’s side.

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Brad Hubbard College Football, Football

What’s Happening Out West?

Compiled by Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard | 10.10.2016

For those that may have been asleep, there is a tectonic shift happening in the PAC-12. As Fox Sports Stewart Mandel points out, the Oregon Ducks and Stanford Cardinal have won the past seven PAC-12 titles. No USC, UCLA, or Washington in site. Now, the Ducks are losers of four in a row and Stanford has been manhandled in two consecutive conference loses. So the question is, what happened?

First, the Washington Huskies are pretty good. The #5 Huskies have defeated the Cardinal and the Ducks in back-to-back weeks by a combined score of 114-27. Impressive yes but it’s how they beat these two that makes you stand back and take notice. They overpowered the Cardinal recording 8 sacks along the way and bullying the perennial bully. They then went into Autzen Stadium and hung 70 on the Ducks. A team they had not beaten in a dozen years.

Stanford didn’t recover losing the Washington State at home on Saturday night. It was another game where the offensive line was beaten up, although this time they only gave up four sacks.

The Ducks meanwhile have become the an oil spill. The once high powered offense is unable to make up for a defense that cannot stop a nose bleed since the second half of last years Alamo Bowl. Changes were made including a change in defensive coordinators and scheme.

After back-to-back seasons with a graduate transfer named the opening day quarterback, the Ducks have now turned to freshman Justin Herbert. Herbert may turn out to be a fine quarterback but it makes you wonder why head coach Mark Helfrich was unable to recruit a starting quarterback since he became head coach?

Helfrich has developed quarterbacks throughout his career. From Andrew Walter at Arizona State to Marcus Mariota at Oregon. This is his fourth season as head coach and he has yet to recruit and develop a quarterback.

Stanford head coach David Shaw has another problem. How does a team that has flat out overpowered teams over the last decade all of sudden forget how to do it? Add to that that his star player, Christian McCaffery, has been stuffed by opposing defenses and is now dinged up to the point that he may not play Saturday against Notre Dame.

In both cases you have to look at the head coaches. Did these coaches and their staffs identify the right players in the recruiting process and sign them? Are their players not responding to coaching? More often than not, when programs that have had as much success as Stanford and Oregon have over the last decade, players have a tendency to become complacent. They almost feel like it should be handed to them and they don’t have to work for it anymore.

Helfrich and Shaw have some tough mountains to climb. Neither thought that they would be in this place at this point in the season. While Helfrich and the Ducks have an off week to like their wounds and regroup, Shaw must find an answer this week in South Bend. The other fact is that while the media will always fawn over USC and UCLA, the Huskies are the team to beat out west.

Brad Hubbard Innovation, Media

Diary of a Sports Cord Cutter: Competition In OTT

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard | 9.28.2016

Competition In OTT

When I first decided to cut the cord I really only had one option if I wanted to see any kind of sports and that was Sling TV. Over the last few months a new competitor has emerged and that is Sony’s PlayStation Vue. From the outside looking in, there are some benefits but also some drawbacks.

PlayStation VuePlayStation Vue is an application that runs on just about every OTT device except for Apple TV and of course XBOX. When I first heard of Vue, I presumed that I had to have a PS4 or something to use it but I was wrong. While not being on Apple TV hurts it’s distribution, it seems like only a matter of time before it will be available and that will expand the app’s reach.

As far as channels that are available, you pretty much get the same stuff but there are some differences. With the Sling TV Sports Extra package, you get all of the PAC-12 channels and Campus Insiders. These are not available on Vue but to that point, Vue has the Big Ten Network, Fox College Sports, and One World Sports which are not available on Sling TV. So here it really depends on what is more important to you. Are you a PAC-12 person or a Big Ten person.

The price of NFL RedZone is the game changer here. On Sling TV it is included in the Sports Extra package which is $10 a month. On Vue, it is $39.99 for the season which breaks down to about $10 a month for the NFL season. There some other stipulations with NFL RedZone on Vue too as you can see below. You have to have a certain level of package in order to get it and if you downgrade, you won’t be refunded.

Restrictions

The price for the two services is a little different too. While both applications can vary on price, if you max out the sports options, you are looking at $50 a month on Sling TV and that includes NFL RedZone. If you want a similar package on Vue, you are looking at $75 a month but that is only for the four months of the NFL regular season. So for a year, Sling would cost you around $600 a year and Vue would cost you around $580.

As a Sling TV user I can confirm that ESPN3 is available but I cannot confirm that with Vue as of right now. This could be a deal breaker if you are like me and want to watch CFL games during the summer.

It really comes down to your own personal variables. If your OTT device an XBOX or Apple TV then you are going to Sling TV but if you have an Amazon Fire or Roku you can go with Vue. The choice is yours. So far, I have chosen Sling TV.

 

Brad Hubbard Innovation, Media

The Twitter Streaming Plan

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

PAC 12By the looks of it Twitter is trying to become the ultimate mobile live streaming sports platform. They surprised everybody by getting the rights to stream the NFL’s Thursday night games this fall. Now they have grabbed the rights to the PAC-12.

It’s not all wine and roses however. The deal is apparently mainly focused on Olympic sports like swimming, volleyball, baseball, etc. The football and basketball games are apparently off limits with their current deals.

TWITTERIt is still a nice step to see and one of only a couple of deals that Twitter is working on. They recently signed on CBSN and Bloomberg but Tuner, MLS and MLB could be right around the corner.

It would be a major coup for Twitter to bag multiple sports league and be a huge benefit to the cord cutters like myself. While Twitter doesn’t give you the ’10-ft experience’, providing live game content on the computer or mobile device might just be good enough. It also really helps them corner the market on the younger sports demo.

Time will tell how this all shakes out and if Twitter even has the infrastructure to support such moves. The speed at which they are moving is a great sign that they may have this figured out. It would be even better if the PAC-12 just went ahead and streamed all of their content but at this point let’s take what we can get.

Brad Hubbard Basketball, College Basketball

Trippin Out

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

What is going in Salt Lake City? First BYU’s Nick Emery punches Utah’s Brandon Taylor during a game and now Oregon State’s Jarmal Reid blatantly trips a ref during a game.

Emery was only suspended for one game by the Mountain West Conference (MWC) and BYU took no additional action. I felt that was very weak by BYU and the MWC. THe PAC-12 and Oregon State should make a statement and suspend Reid for a couple of games and have him attend counseling or something. What Emery did was terrible and what Reid did was flat out uncalled for.

Another question is, ‘what’s going on in Salt Lake?’

Is there something in the water? Is Utah really that frustrating of a basketball team to play against? Is it the elevation?

Regardless, Utah home basketball games need to be added to the ‘must watch’ list for the rest of the season.

Brad Hubbard College Football, Football, Innovation

Setting The Standard

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Stanford Head Coach David Shaw may be the most respected man in football. He has had success on the field, he is a Stanford graduate, been an assistant in the NFL and is even an advisor/ investor in a virtual reality company. He is doing it all and then some.

Recently Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports sat down with him. They touched on a lot of things but the main thing was the use of Oculus Rift for quarterback Kevin Hogan. He improved dramatically in the last three games of the season in part because of the device.

 

It’s not just the fact that Shaw has embraced virtual reality (VR) but that he has tried other things like GoPro’s in the past. It’s this embracing of technology, this embracing of the Silicon Valley mentality. Hell, the man has given a Ted Talk.

 

 

While in the end he will be judged on wins and losses he, and other coaches, have to do than just win football games. They have to have this long term view of things. From identifying talent at an early age to adapting to how to relate to players as society changes not to mention taking on new football philosophies.

Shaw does this and does it at Stanford, one of the toughest academic schools in the world in one of the best football conferences in the country. It’s not an easy gig and no one would blame him or his staff for sticking with the classic football ideals. He doesn’t. He is taking on new ideas that could help him win, not just next season, but in the years to come.

Shaw is what a college coach should be. Good, tough, smart, and willing to take on new ideas. If college teaches us anything it’s that we should be more like him.

Brad Hubbard Basketball, CFL, College Football, Football, Hockey, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL, Soccer, UFC

What To Watch Thurs. 11/20 – Sun. 11/23

All times are PST

Thursday November 20th

Kansas St at West Virginia – 4pm FS1: K-ST and WVU may not get into the College Football Playoff but this should still be one heck of a game.

LA Clippers at Miami Heat – 5pm TNT: Still a fun game even without LeBron.

Friday November 21st

Chicago Bulls at Portland TrailBlazers – 7:30pm ESPN: Battle of two of the top teams in NBA.

Saturday November 22nd

Minnesota at Nebraska – 9am ESPN: Key game in the Big Ten West. Both teams coming off of embarrassing losses last weekend.

Arsenal vs Manchester United – 9:30am NBC: The game may not decide the Premier League but it’s still a lot of bad blood between the two.

Yale at Harvard – 9:30am NBCSN: It’s one of the longest running rivalries in College Football. This year the winner walks away with the Ivy League title. It’s also signifies the beginning of the end of the College Football season.

Ole Miss at Arkansas – 12:30pm CBS: Arkansas finally broke through and got their first SEC win in what seems like forever. Now they welcome Ole Miss to town in a must win for both but for different reasons.

Arizona at Utah – 12:30 ESPN: Think the SEC West is tough? Try the Pac 12 South.

Stanford at Cal – 1pm FS1: THE BIG GAME! Winner goes bowling. Cal QB Goff has 4 INT’s all year.

Louisville at Notre Dame – 12:30pm NBC: Notre Dame is reeling and Louisville is no joke.

Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins – 4pm NHLN: An original 6 match up for your Saturday night.

Missouri at Tennessee – 4:30pm ESPN: Mizzou is looking to wrap up their second straight SEC East title. Tennessee needs to win one of the next two to go bowling.

USC at UCLA – 5pm ABC: Battle of LA.

Frankie Edgar vs Cub Swanson – 9pm(ish) FS1: This is a heck of a fight in the Featherweight Division.

Sunday November 23rd

Detroit Lions at New England Patriots – 10am FOX: Can anyone stop the Pats?

Montreal Alouettes at Hamilton Tiger-Cats – 10am ESPN: Eastern Conference Final.

NY Red Bulls vs NE Revolution – 10:30pm NBC: Can the Red Bulls get Thierry Henry to an MLS Cup before he retires?

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks – 1pm FOX: This could decide the NFC West.

Edmonton Eskimos at Calgary Stampeders – 1:30pm ESPN3: Western Conference Final, a chance to get to the Grey Cup and the battle of Alberta all wrapped into one.

LA Galaxy vs Seattle Sounders – 2pm ESPN: Game 1 of two in the Western Conference Final.

Brad Hubbard College Football, Football, NFL

Pacific Leaders

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

The NFL Playoffs are quickly winding down. While the AFC title games features veteran NFL head coaches, the NFC title game on the other hand features two of the three former PAC 12 coaches in the NFL Playoffs.

Carroll and Harbaugh

Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll and the San Francisco 49ers Jim Harbaugh are complete opposites as ESPN’s Rick Reilly pointed out in his column on ESPN.com. One of the things that they do have in common is their success at their previous coaching jobs in the PAC 12 (Carroll at USC and Harbaugh at Stanford).

In this years playoffs, three of the twelve head coaches previous job was at a PAC 12 school (Philadelphia Head Coach Chip Kelly being the third). Another playoff team, the Indianapolis Colts, first year offensive coordinator (Pep Hamilton) comes from the PAC 12 as well.

While Carroll and Harbaugh will gain most of the headlines because of their success on the professional level, the Eagles Kelly is no one to discount. He took the Eagles to the playoffs in his first season and did it while changing QB’s.

The SEC gets most of the headlines when it comes to college football but the PAC 12 has a better rep when it comes to sending coaches to the NFL.

Previous examples of PAC 12 coaches who have had success in the NFL include; Bill Walsh, Dennis Green, John Robinson and Dick Vermeil among others. Not to mention that two of the hottest head coaching names that seem to be on everyones list come from the PAC 12 too (UCLA’s Jim Mora and Stanford’s David Shaw).

Is there something different about the PAC 12? Probably. Historically speaking most of the offenses were more of a “pro-style” but psychologically the coaches are possibly more prepared.

When you think of the Pacific or the West you think opportunity, innovation, and entertainment. More over a willingness to take chances. Calculated risks. This mentality seems to translate better into the NFL.

In any event, the NFC title game on Sunday features a great coaching rivalry against two coaches who just seem to win. Both have taken calculated risks on young QB’s and both worked out. Now we get to see which coach gets a trip to the Super Bowl.

Brad Hubbard College Football, Football

A Not So Silly Season

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Over the last two years this time of year has been a proverbial revolving door when it comes to head coaches in college football. This year, not so much. The main reason is that nearly all of the major college football programs have hired a new coach within the last three years.

Look at the major college football conferences: ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and Sec. After the 2012 and 2013 seasons there was a total of 24 coaching changes. Between those five conferences this year there will be three coaching changes (give or take).

This is the first time since 2006 that the SEC isn’t changing out a coach. The man who changed that in 2007, Nick Saban at Alabama.

Most people felt back in September that the two biggest job openings this year would be USC and Texas. USC has already been opened and filled. Lane Kiffin was fired (not surprisingly) by USC back at the end of September. He’s been replaced by Washington Head Coach and former USC assistant Steve Sarkisian.

Steve Sarkisian

The Texas job, as of this post, will open possibly by the end of the week if the reports are correct. This will be the biggest job out there by far with all of the resources, money and pressure one could want.

Next year could bring a back the typical ‘silly season’ but let’s hope, for the coaches and the fans, that it comes around as often as the World Cup because it can drive people, well, silly.

Brad Hubbard College Football, Football

The Shifting Tide

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

It may go down as the most amazing end to a College Football game in history and it may also signify the end to SEC dominance. Auburn beat Alabama on the last second of the game in the most improbably way, a missed field goal returned 100 yards for a touchdown. It will probably end Alabama’s chances for a third straight National Title and also end the SEC run of National Championships at seven. It could also mean the rise of the PAC-12.

PAC 12

The SEC has had a lot going for it. It has some of the best coaches in the country, some of the best players and generally speaking the most money. Like all dynasties it has to end sometime. If the beginning of the end is on the horizon its first significant step wasn’t Saturday but when the then PAC-10 hired Larry Scott to be it’s commissioner.

Since his hiring the conference has increased to 12 schools, signed new TV deals with ESPN & FOX (totaling some $3 billion) and created it’s own network.

The network is the key part. It’s 100% owned by the conference unlike the Big Ten Network (51% Big Ten and 49% FOX) or the SEC (wholly owned by ESPN). When you own 100% of the network you take on 100% of the problems but also get 100% of the revenue.

The PAC-12 title game is still in it’s infancy. It is not yet the spectacle that the SEC Title game is. Partially because the location changes every year to the best conference record. That means you don’t know where it is going to be, officially, until the week before. Once the league decides on a place to put the game on the regular basis then the event level status should be raised.

To those who claim the SEC is still better. You’re right but the PAC-12 plays nine conference games a year vs the eight played by the SEC. A point that even Nick Saban has pointed out at this past years SEC Spring Meeting. This creates more meaningful games vs the non conference cupcakes most schools schedule.

The tide is also shifting in the quality of its teams. Three notable SEC schools are home this bowl season (Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas). Call it coaching or injuries or what not but those teams with all of their money and all of their fans are at home this postseason. That’s a shot to the belly for the SEC.

Georgia didn’t live up to expectations and Florida’s collapse has been nothing short of spectacular. While Auburn and Missouri’s turnarounds have been nothing short of amazing the turnarounds at USC, Arizona State, and Washington State are not something to laugh at.

The SEC will not go quietly into the night nor would anyone expect them to. However, the level of play in the PAC-12, the number of NFL prospects in the next three drafts and their TV deal could spell a whole lot of trouble for the folks down south.

 

Simply put, the SEC can not stay on top forever. The country is too big and other conferences have too much going for them.