Brian Kelly, Zach Arnett speak the truth about SEC football firings | Toppmeyer
Don’t cry over spilled milk, and don’t shed tears for fired college football coaches.
The big jobs come with big salaries and big buyouts.
With those come big expectations.
Most of those working the industry’s top jobs understand that.
“We're compensated very well in this job . . . and for that, the expectation is that the program is always moving forward,” LSU’s Brian Kelly said Wednesday, offering one of the fairer assessments you’ll hear from a coach.
Texas A&M and Mississippi State weren’t moving forward.
The Aggies spun their tires for years with Jimbo Fisher. Protected by a monstrous buyout, he was fortunate to get six years to try to generate momentum. Finally, they couldn’t stomach any more mediocrity and paid Fisher his failure money.
TEXAS A&M COACHING SEARCH: Who should Aggies hire? A coach who beats Texas. See Kalen DeBoer
Anyone this side of Taylor Swift would feel grateful to be in his position. A $77 million buyout is coming his way. Fisher can kick up his boots, light a cigar and thank the big-oil tycoons.
Any day now (I hope), you’ll pull up to a gas pump and see a sticker of a smiling Fisher pointing to an inflated price per gallon and the ex-coach saying “I did that!” in a speech bubble.
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Zach Arnett doesn’t have it quite so sweet. The nature of how he became Mississippi State's coach — MSU promoted him after the sudden death of Mike Leach — allowed the school to construct a rare contract that's more favorable to the university than the coach.
Arnett’s buyout is peanuts compared to Fisher’s, and unlike Fisher’s, Arnett’s contract came with a duty-to-offset clause. That means that when he is scooped up as the quality defensive coordinator that he is, MSU’s buyout obligation could be reduced to next to nothing.
Still, the 37-year-old will have gotten something out of this. Fisher’s career is sunsetting. Arnett’s is far from finished. His 11 games as coach — he went 5-6, including last season’s bowl victory — don't have to be his only opportunity in the CEO’s chair.
TOPPMEYER: Mississippi State, make this easy. Call Dan Mullen. If he says no, I've got ideas
Who's next on the chopping block? Sam Pittman’s tenure at Arkansas hangs in the balance. If he endures into 2024, he’ll join Florida’s Billy Napier, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer in facing pivotal seasons.
Before the season, I thought we might navigate an SEC season without a coach firing. How foolish. The SEC’s coaching carousel rarely remains still for long.
Nick Saban has seen them come and go, one after another.
“I get to meet a lot of coaches,” Saban said. You could almost hear a hint of a smile in his answer.
“I go to SEC Media Day and we go to SEC meetings, there’s a lot of new guys in the room,” he added. “I enjoy developing relationships with all of them. I hate to see anybody (get fired).”
Coaches know the deal, though.
“If we don’t (win), they’re going to find a new coaching staff,” Arnett told me in June. “That’s the way it works.”
Missouri coach worries about arm injuries after Tigers’ CFP ranking
Missouri’s 36-7 thrashing of Tennessee moved the College Football Playoff selection committee, and the Tigers (8-2, 4-2 SEC) are in position for their first New Year’s Six bowl bid since the 2013 season after shooting up to No. 9 in Tuesday’s rankings.
While several SEC teams will play FCS or Group of Five opponents this week, Missouri will finish against Florida, then Arkansas — and the Gators need one more win to secure bowl eligibility.
“I just told our team and our staff, ‘Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back,’ ” Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “We’ve still got two games left.”
Sound advice, although Missouri’s hard-nosed running back Cody Schrader probably could rush for 100-plus against Florida with two broken arms.
Emails of the week
Rick writes: Exaggerated sense of self-importance, reckless or impulsive decision-making, harboring unrealistic goals and desires – these are just few indicators of sociopathic behavior. Of course, they could also apply to Texas A&M. Don't be an enabler.
My response: Those words describe a long list of universities — and their administrators.
Lew writes: Great column, excellent read, on the mark.
My response: Such flattery. Email anytime.
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Three and out
1. The playoff committee isn’t offering the SEC extra incentive to expand to a nine-game conference schedule. The Ole Miss strength of schedule ranks No. 2 nationally, according to ESPN, but the committee hammered the Rebels (8-2) for their blowout loss to Georgia, dropping them to No. 13. Rankings like these, which largely ignore résumé and schedule strength in favor of the eye test, encourage cupcake scheduling.
2. If No. 8 Alabama beats No. 1-ranked Georgia in the SEC Championship, could the SEC qualify two playoff teams? I think not, but ESPN is desperately stumping for the Crimson Tide and seemed delighted to see Georgia on the No. 1 line this week. In other news, all of the SEC’s games will be televised by Disney/ESPN next season.
3. Please, someone make those Fisher gas-pump stickers and send me one. I need some Christmas stocking stuffers.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
The "Topp Rope" is his twice-weekly SEC football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: You're fired: LSU football Brian Kelly, ex-MSU Zach Arnett spit truth
