SEC Football (Rivalry Coaches): The Battle for the Golden Boot

Rivalries are a part of what makes sports great. USC-UCLA. White Sox-Cubs. Bird-Magic. Manning-Brady. Already I have offended people by not including their favorite rivalry. As posted in the first article in this series, however, each post will contain some new rivalries in the introduction, so feel free to make a suggestion in the comments or tweet @southbounddown or @jcrichardson12 (still not great with “the twitter”) with your suggestions.

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If you have been following along with this series, you can skip to the voting portion. I have continued to include the following for first-time readers of this series. It is especially important to fans of programs that have not yet been mentioned or are being mentioned for the first time.

Originally I intended for this to be strictly SEC Football rivalries and coaches. Fortunately I realized my folly. If I were to limit this series to only SEC games, some great rivalries would get left out. Additionally, the SEC East would be done a huge disservice.

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Many SEC West teams have the (dis)advantage of having one of their biggest rivals be not only in the same division, but also in-state (Alabama-Auburn, Ole Miss-Mississippi State). Many teams in the SEC East, however, have one of their biggest rivalries with an in-state team that is not a part of the SEC (Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson, Kentucky-Louisville…it counts).

I also thought the wording of the questions was key. “Who would you rather have take over your program right now” eliminates coaches who may not be in the game very much longer. “Who would you rather have for one season” negates recruiting expertise to an extent. So it was settled that the question would be “Who would you rather have for the next 4 years?” That encompasses coaching and recruiting. It implies that the coach cannot retire after one season.

If you have a preference, you already know which way you are going to vote. The introductions and overview here will be kept at a minimum.

So without further ado, let us introduce our fourth contestants for our ‘Rivalry Coaches’ series . . .

The Venue: Battle for the Golden Boot

Les Miles:

*cue announcer voice* Fighting out of the Purple and Gold corner wearing an “eye of the tiger” logo on his trunks and gnawing on a handful of grass…he has a 6-4 record against the Hogs, with his longest win streak being 3 … he has won a National Championship and has outlasted Houston Nutt, Bobby Petrino, and John Smith before his current nemesis Bret Bielema arrived… he has dominated the recruiting in the state of Louisiana…he’ll come out straight ahead and keep swinging at the body while keeping himself as protected as possible…his supporters call him the “mad hatter” while his haters say he has simply gone mad…LLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEESSS “THE GRAAAAAASSSSSSS MAAAAANNN” MIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEESSSSS.

Bret Bielema:

*throat clear, cue announcer voice* Fighting out of the Cardinal and White wearing his signature flip flops and pumping ice water into his veins to maintain his frigid core…he has already beaten Miles once in this game and has a record of 1-1…he runs his program similar to Miles, just with a better manager (quarterback) …while his attack is straight ahead, he had yet to develop the defense of his opponent Miles…he’s won titles in other arenas (conferences), but is still trying to reach .500 in the SEC…His supporters scream “woo” while his haters confuse it with “boo”… BRRRRRRRREEEEETTTT “THE BOSS HOOOOOOGGGGGG” BIEEEEEEEEEEEEELEMMAAAAAAA

Take your pick. Share with friends. Make sure your coach comes out on top. Results for round 2 purposes will be taken a week after the publish date (8/25/2015). The poll will remain open and like LL Cool J said, “Don’t Call it a Comeback”

For more on SEC Rivalries, check out Barrett Sallee’s article: ‘SEC Football: Ranking the Conference’s Best Rivalries’

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