What’s the Smart Move for Kirby?

I think by now all Tide fans have accepted the inevitable fact that we will be losing our beloved defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to a head coaching job. While we certainly will miss his contributions, he has earned the opportunity to run his own program. Alabama fans now need to simply say thank you, wish him well and hope that he stays through the bowl game. We can at least have some fun with it though, so why not try and handicap the possible destinations?

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Ole Miss.  This is simply a dumpster fire of a program right now. There is no leadership at the chancellor or athletic director level, and the job of finding a new coach has been turned over to Archie Manning. No offense to Manning, but this move makes no sense and would be like Alabama putting Joe Namath and Kenny Stabler in charge of its next (hopefully years away) coaching search. The only pros I can think of for Ole Miss are hot coeds, good restaurants and the fact that it is one of only fourteen SEC schools. The bottom line is that Ole Miss is just not good enough for a coach of Smart’s caliber, and he should hold out for a better option.

UCLA.  A Nick Saban disciple could be just the man to end USC’s domination of this rivalry, and the southern California recruiting wars. Plus, it would be fun to watch Kirby shut down Lane Kiffin’s offenses. This job makes sense to those of us that like to think there’s a master plan in place for Coach Smart to get some head coaching experience, and to get himself ready to take over at Alabama when Coach Saban retires in six or seven years. Opening up recruiting doors in California certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing. The UCLA job does have some downsides for a southern boy like Kirby though; besides the oppressively high taxes, SoCal doesn’t have sweet tea or Chick-Fil-A. That could be a dealbreaker.

Illinois.  Admit it, Tide fans. I can’t be the only one who thinks that Smart taking a B1G job just to mess with Urban Meyer is kind of funny. The first time Braxton Miller has a jump pass intercepted might cause Meyer’s health problems to suddenly flare up again.

Arizona State.  This is another destination where Coach Smart could have success. The PAC-12 is an offense-heavy conference, so a team that plays stifling defense could do very well. He could also hone his recruiting skills by working in the Phoenix, Vegas and LA markets. For some reason though, ASU seems to be a coaching graveyard. I’ve never been to Tempe, but from what I’ve heard about ASU’s campus and student body, holding the attention of 18-22 football players could be a challenge there.

Texas A&M.  If Coach Smart wants an SEC job, then A&M makes a lot more sense than Ole Miss or possibly Kentucky. The Longhorns are still a shell of their former selves and A&M now has a Florida Gator-like advantage of being able to sell recruits on being the only SEC program in the state. The Aggies seem to be focused on Houston’s coach, but I must be missing the logic in wanting to bring in a pass-heavy coach when you are going to face the secondaries of Alabama and LSU every year. That seems like a very Aggie thing to do.

Penn State.  Please Kirby, we beg you. Don’t walk into this buzzsaw. Not only would you be following a legend, but you’d have to deal with the quagmire of problems Penn State has brought upon itself over the past decades. This is not a destination for a young coach to get his first experience as head man.

UNC.  This is the job that makes the most sense for Coach Smart in my opinion. As a resident of the state of North Carolina, I can say that it has some of the finest universities in the country. I work with graduates of UNC, Duke and Wake Forest every day and the overwhelming majority of them are extremely bright people. The rumors floating around the state however, are that the Tar Heels are hot for Gus Malzahn. This is a move that would make me call into question the intelligence of the UNC brass. Why on Earth would anyone hire a coach who’s offensive system consists of posterboard and trick plays that only really work when a once-in-a-generation quarterback is running it? The Heels play in the ACC, which is typically a defense-challenged league, so wouldn’t the better move be to bring in a coach who learned both defense and recruiting under Nick Saban? The rosters of many SEC schools are peppered with players from North Carolina, and the Charlotte area alone is a gold mine of high school talent.  Kirby Smart could keep the best players in the Carolinas and install his brand of suffocating defense. As long as he hired a decent offensive coordinator he could dominate the ACC for years. We will soon see which way UNC wants to go.

In conclusion, thanks again to Coach Smart for your years in Tuscaloosa. Tide Nation will miss you, but we wish you nothing but success at wherever you start your well deserved head coaching career. Roll Tide.