The most wonderful time of the year, college football, is upon us. People don't even make it to week 1 to start predicting who will make/win the playoff, so neither will I—except I am basing my bracket on which schools have the strangest coaches.
Semifinals:
#1: Michigan (Jim Harbaugh) vs. #4: LSU (Ed Orgeron)
Harbaugh is the epitome of weird, loud, and possibly just downright crazy. The Toledo, OH native took over the Wolverine football team in 2015. He's had pretty limited success, and people have questioned whether or not he was the right pick for the job as a result. But while he has gotten a lot of media attention for his team's success—or lack thereof—he's gotten almost as much exposure for his antics on the sideline and outside of the football field. Shortly after he took over the job, he gave such uncomfortable, vague answers to interview questions by Colin Cowherd that the former ESPN and current Fox Sports 1 journalist had to abruptly end the interview. Since then, he has been caught picking his nose and eating it, having sleepovers with recruits, and telling his players not to eat chicken, calling it "a nervous bird."
Harbaugh is pitted against LSU's Ed Orgeron. Ed has only been the coach for two years, but he has already made his name known in the SEC and nationally. He's coined a mantra made famous by musical artist Fabian, "Hold that tiger." Known for his thick Louisiana accent, Ed has given closed captioning programs a hard time. One thing's for sure, though: Orgeron believes in himself even when others don't. Look out for LSU this year.
Winner: #1: Michigan (Jim Harbaugh)
#2: Washington State (Mike Leach) vs. #3: Florida Atlantic (Lane Kiffin)
After getting fired from Texas Tech in 2009, Mike Leach took 3 years off of head coaching before being hired by the WSU Cougars in 2012. Since then, he's been an absolute treat to watch in the media. Exhibit A: blowing on his coffee to cool it down while Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio was in the middle of answering a question during a press conference. Exhibit B: in the middle of a press meeting about his football team, a reporter asked him for advice, as he was getting married the following week. In a hilarious rant, Leach offered some hall-of-fame-worthy wisdom, starting with "Well, it's too late to rescue you." Very few in college football are as quotable as Mike Leach.
Lane Kiffin checks in at number three, but don't let the rankings fool you. Kiffin is as weird as the rest of them and could de-throne just about anybody. He started his college head coaching career at Tennessee in 2009 but got fired after one season. After a stint as USC's HC and Alabama's OC, he seems to have finally found a perfect fit in Boca Raton. Kiffin made headlines under Nick Saban when the legendary Crimson Tide coach, referring to a shouting match between the two on the sideline, said, "Those aren't arguments; those are ass-chewings." Lane has his own share of noteworthy quotes, such as "I look at assistant coaches' wives. It tells me if they are good recruiters or not." A little crass, but not completely ridiculous, Lane.
Winner: #3: FAU (Lane Kiffin)
Championship: #1: Michigan (Jim Harbaugh) vs. #3 FAU (Lane Kiffin)
Two of the strangest, most quotable coaches in the FBS are pitted against each other in the championship. There can only be one winner, however. Will it be the guy who said "Ain't that hard being a football player if you are a 'football player,'" or the guy who tweeted a picture of his former boss wearing ripped jeans (a guy, by the way, who would never wear ripped jeans)? There's not really a wrong answer here, but the trophy has to go to Harbaugh. How can I not pick the coach who, in an interview with HBO, said, "I drank a lot of milk, Andrea. A lot of milk. Whole milk, though. Not the candy-ass two percent or skim milk"? I hope Jim accepts my made-up weirdest coach trophy because the way his football team has been looking lately, it might be the only one he gets for a long, long time.
Champion: #1: Michigan (Jim Harbaugh)
