Matching up MS high school football programs with BCS programs

Great discussion on The Out of Bounds show on ESPN 105.9 The Zone comapring MS high school football teams to BCS programs. Some of these fit better than others….so let the debate begin.

1) Madison Central – All the potential, resources and money you need. More times than not this program underachieves. Texas Longhorns

2) Meridian – Stronger than Garlic on Waffle House sirloin. This crew wins and at times dominates South 6A. Alabama Crimson Tide

3) Petal – New boys in town. Petal might give Meridian a run for their money in the next 5 years. Oregon Ducks

4) Oak Grove – So close a couple of years ago. Can Nevil Barr hoist the big trophy in Jackson one year? See Petal, too. Oklahoma Sooners

5) Olive Branch – Scott Samsel is a damn good coach and Olive Branch is a super program. OB broke through this year – can they reel off another one in the next 2-4 years? Southern Cal

6) Ocean Springs – Do they have the passion? And will they demand excellence from the athletic department? Serious upside. Michigan

7) South Panola – Dominated MS high school football the last 10 years. Will they keep it rolling? One of the most unique programs in the country with the dominance on the field and lack of discipline off of it. Proves two things: SP has had some really good teams, and the other 6A programs in the state should be embarrassed to let one program own 6A. Miami of The 1980s/LSU now

Starkville – What a train wreck the last 10 years. How does this happen? Poor leadership from the administration. Looks like they have it together again. Jamie Mitchell is a good coach. Florida State University

9) Northwest Rankin – The ultimate underachievers in MS high school football. This program has more upside than any other in the state. Georgia

10) West Point – All they do is win out in the middle of nowhere. Tough, country kids who live and breathe football. Virginia Tech

Let the debate continue…..

Bo Bounds is the host of The Out of Bounds show on ESPN 105.9 The Zone in Jackson, MS, and owner of the fast-growing Y’all Lifestyle brand (see YallLifestyle.com).

My top-10 jobs in the state of Mississippi

1. Madison Central – 1 championship in the last 17 years is not enough. But you have the support and the athletes to compete every year. One of the best booster clubs in the state.
2. Meridian – Loaded with talent and you have support. Meridian will be player just about every year
3. Petal – Great area of the state. Big time growth in the Hattiesburg area. Money and players gives a shot to win big.
4. Oak Grove – Same as Petal. Great area of the state. They’ll continue to win.
5. Olive Branch – Samsel is a really good coach. Produced several SEC and Div 1 & 2 players
6. Ocean Springs – Another beautiful area in the state in major growth mode. Good leadership in the CVB and city politics. I look for Ocean Springs to win some big football games over the next 5+ years.
7. South Panola – What a unique story. Tough, poor area of the state. Loaded with athletes. Too many Ups and downs off the field especially in the class room. No offensive identity but they dominate people physically. I look for South Panola to hang around but the days of dominating MS high school football are over.
8. Starkville – Plenty of talent and in a university town. Lost there way for about 10 years. Looks like the Mayor and the school board are starting to understand what it takes to have a good program. The Mayor is a Starkville High school alum and Jamie Mitchell is one of the best coaches in the state.
9. Northwest Rankin – Arguably the most underachieving program in the state the last 20 years. NWR has the $$ and players to win a 6A championship. Will they? Who knows. I think Pete Hurt is doing a great job.
10. West Point – Tough guys like South Panola. Poor area of the state. Play with a chip on their shoulder. They have plenty of players and the community lives and breaths football 24/7.

Close but no cigar: Wayne County, Jackson Prep, Jackson Academy, Mendenhall, Magee, West Jones and more.

Feel free to weigh in.

Bo Bounds is the host of The Out of Bounds Show on ESPN 105.9 The Zone and owner of the Y’all Lifestyle brand (YallLifestyle.com).

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from Yallsports.com!

Enjoy the weekend! Christmas and football….it doesn’t get any better.

Coaching searches: Arizona, Ohio State & UNC the big winners for nows

We’ll see how many of these coaches are employed in 3 to 4 years. The overinflated expecatations in college football tell us 60% will not survive. However, a couple of schools hired outstanding football coaches within the last 30 days.

Arizona: Greg Byrne, cunning/shrewd/smart, got out in front of everybody by dismissing Mike Stoops mid-season and hiring Rich Rod before the regular season was over. Rich Rod will win big (for Arizona standards) Grade – A-

Ohio State: Urban Meyer was a homerun hire that my 6 year old could have pulled off. Still, the Buckeyes needed a spark after Tatoo-gate and they’ll get one with Meyer. He’ll dominate the Midwest. Grade – A+

UNC: I wasn’t sure the Tar Heels had it in them. Especially the way the mishandled the Butch Davis-John Blake disaster. Or should I say John Blake disaster that cost Butch Davis his job? Larry Fedora is a good coach, and in a below average conference like the ACC, he should average 8-9 wins per year with a chance to win 10+ a couple of times. Grade – A-

We’ll see what happens with some of the other coaches that have landed jobs around the country. The hiring of Charlie Weiss at Kansas, once again proves there’s only around 25-30 (maybe) super, sharp athletic directors around the country. Weiss will win more than Turner Gill (awful) but at the end of the day, it will not work.

Congratulations to Garrick McGee, ex-OC at Arakansas, who landed the UAB job. I think McGee can win some games at UAB.

Bo Bounds is the owner of the Y’all Lifestyle brand (www.yalllifestyle.com) and host of the Out of Bounds show on ESPN 105e .9 The Zone in Jackson, MS.

Why has the MS high school football talent failed the Mississippi schools?

Or should we ask….

Why have the universities failed the Mississippi high school football talent?

When you think about it – there’s fault on both sides.
Something has to give.

Ramblings
You guys ready?
Big games this weekend.

Good games, great food and rivalry week. It doesn’t get any better.

And don’t forget to stop by Godfather Cigars and grab a great stick for after the meal.

Who is your coach of the year?

Bill Snyder

Lane Kiffin

Les Miles

Houston Nutt

Bo Bounds is the social chairman for the Y’all Lifestyle brand. See: http://yalllifestyle.com – @YallLifestyle or http://facebook.com/rathersouthern.

Two great articles this week on Yallsports.com! Harbaugh has done an amazing job in the Bay area with Stanford & the 49ers. I though the excerpt below nailed it on Harbaugh.

“In sports as in business, strong men hire strong assistants who help them get the job done, while weak men hire weak assistants because they’re afraid that strong ones would covet their jobs. The first thing Mike Singletary did when he was named head coach was to fire offensive coordinator Mike Martz. After that, no good offensive coordinator would work for him, so he settled for Jimmy Raye, who did what Singletary wanted.”

Peter King wrote a great article on the young quarterbacks in the NFL this week. King asked Mike Leach, Gus Malzahn, Sean Payton and other why the young QBs are having so much success. The answer? 7-on-7 summer leagues. w

Gameday beer of the week: Sam Adams Octoberfest

Bo Bounds is the host of The Out of Bounds show on ESPN 105.9 The Zone & owner of the Y’all Lifestyle (Yalllifestyle.com) brand.

Marcus Lattimore’s injury last Saturday is further proof that college players should be allowed to turn pro after their freshman year. Lattimore, arguably the most gifted tailback in the country, tore up his knee against Mississippi State and is out of the year.

Who knows if Lattimore will ever rehab and work his way back to what he was. The injury to Lattimore will cost him millions either way. Only a handful of players are good enough to go pro after their freshman year. Marcus Lattimore, Trent Richardson and Adrian Peterson are three that come to mind. For those who claim the college game would lose too many starts below is a list of players who were not good enough to turn pro after their freshman year:

1. Peyton Manning

2. Matthew Stafford

3. Tim Tebow (didn’t even start as a freshman)

4. Cam Newton

5. Ryan Mallet

6. Sam Bradford

7. Aaron Rodgers (Rodgers was in Juco)

The knee jerk reaction fan would tell you some guys would make the move without being ready to play in the NFL. I agree with that. Of course, we’ve had enough “top-10″ players fail to reach school because of academics or get kicked off the team the last 10 years to know anything can happen.

Maybe the NFL could grade players and if you don’t receive a certain grade you can’t opt for the draft. Who knows? If we can fly from New York to Moscow in one day, I think somebody could figure out the right evaluation process for the college players.

Bottom line, Lattimore should not having been playing on last Saturday. Lattimore should have been playing on Sunday or Monday night.

Bo Bounds is the host of the Out of Bounds show on ESPN 105.9 The Zone in Jackson, MS. The show is driven by the Y’all Lifestyle: see http://yalllifestyle.com.

Is Spurrier losing it?

Well, the Ol’ ball coach is having a rough week. Spurrier railed on Ron Morris, columnist with The State a South Carolina newspaper, claiming Morris has written fabricated stories on Spurrier and the South Carolina football program.

On top of that, Spurrier and the South Carolina athletic department booted Stephen Garcia this week. Garcia has been given more chances than the late Steve Howe. Sounds like Spurrier is taking out his frustrations on a columnist instead of facing the music on the Garcia debacle.

Here’s to Garcia….

Results matter….you damn right they do!

Cold Beer rocks

Man do they….

So are you buying, selling or holding your Dan Mullen stock? Mississippi State is 2-3 with loses to Auburn, LSU and Georgia. What do you think? Can the Bulldogs rebound and win four of their next seven and go bowling?

The honeymoon is over, but that happens with anything marriage, new job or hooking up with a Southern bunny for a few weeks. So, the Bulldogs need a win this weekend against a bad UAB. One thing we do know, nothing is guaranteed in the world of college football. Believe it or not, this is a big game for Mullen and his staff. We’ll see what happens Saturday morning. I think they’ll take care of business and win by two touchdowns. Man if I’m wrong, the message boards and Starkville, MS, will be in total meltdown mode.

How bout those Ole Miss Rebels? Gotta give Houston Nutt and his staff credit. With all the drama and turmoil surrounding the program for the past 12 months, they won a big road game. I’ll tell you what impressed me.

The players haven’t quit, and they played hard all night after traveling across the country for a non-SEC game. If Nutt can find another win or two and beat Mississippi State Egg Bowl weekend – I think he’ll keep his job. Of course, that game is in Starkville and MSU will be ready to go too. Before all that goes down, after a week off, Ole Miss gets Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn in October. Brutal. Nutt’s a survivor though – don’t count him out yet.

Bo Bounds is the host of The Out of Bounds show on ESPN 105.9 The Zone and owner of the Y’all Lifestyle product line. You can check that out at http://yalllifestyle.com.

FYI, Bo is not a journalist and doesn’t claim to be one, and he wrote this blog in five minutes while sipping on a Dos Equis. If that bothers you – get over it.

Grading Nutt & Mullen after 4 games

Both teams are struggling for completely different reasons. I’ll give Houston Nutt & Dan Mullen grades today on the Out of Bounds show.

LSU & Bama on Nov. 5th is going to be great. Two outstanding teams full of future NFL talent.

I really like what Oklahoma State is doing with their program. Impressive win on the road against Texas A&M.

Good thing Florida State doesn’t play in the SEC. It would be a rude awakening for Seminole nation.

I need to see more of South Carolina. The Gamecocks have all the potential in the world, but I’m not sold, yet.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m looking forward to the Nebraska v. Wisconsin game this weekend.

Will Muschamp is doing a good job in Gainesville, by next year they’ll be ready to roll.

Bo Bounds is the host of the Out of Bounds on ESPN 105.9 The Zone in Jackson, MS. Check out http://yalllifestyle.com while you’re here.