ALTOONA, Pa. -- Penn State could be losing another key member of the coaching staff, one who would be leaving for another head coaching job.
According to the report below, Penn State safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter is a top candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Virginia. Poindexter is a legend at UVa, enjoying an All-American career there as a safety and getting inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Virginia coaching search down to two? Bring back Poindexter https://t.co/7EeBVHofbG
— Jerry Ratcliffe (@JerryRatcliffe) December 4, 2021
The story indicated that Virginia has already interviewed Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, and that Poindexter will be interviewed Monday by AD Carla Williams.
The following information, from the story above, offers some interesting dynamics about the Virginia search:
However, there is overwhelming support for UVA to bring Poindexter home. Virginia football alumni are demanding that Poindexter be hired, and Wahoo Nation is strongly behind the idea.
Sources said that Poindexter would like to return, but there is a gap between what he expects in terms of money and what Virginia is willing to pay.
The author, Jerry Ratcliffe, is a longtime Virginia reporter who clearly backs Poindexter for the job, which came open after Bronco Mendenhall surprisingly resigned late last week.
Poindexter began his coaching career at Virginia in 2003 and remained on staff through 2013. He spent the past four seasons at Purdue before joining the Penn State staff this year.
If Poindexter does get the Virginia job -- and we should know in the coming days -- it would mean Penn State would be losing both of its top defensive coaches. Coordinator Brent Pry was named head coach at Virginia Tech this past week, and Poindexter is the co-defensive coordinator in his first season with the Nittany Lions.
BILL O'BRIEN ENJOYS
GREAT NIGHT IN BAMA'S WIN
A week ago, Alabama fans were furious at Bill O'Brien after the team's offense struggled against Auburn. The Tide were shut out in the first half, then needed 10 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime against Auburn. Alabama finally won in four overtimes, 24-22, to avoid its second loss and keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Saturday, O'Brien had a much better day -- after the first quarter, anyway.
Alabama was shut out by Georgia in the opening quarter of the SEC title game, then exploded for 41 points over the final three quarters against the nation's best defense. The Bulldogs had been giving up fewer than seven points per game, but O'Brien and Alabama's offense poured it on with the huge showing in a 41-24 win.
O'Brien turned sensational sophomore quarterback Bryce Young loose -- because the Tide didn't run the ball well -- and Alabama finished with 421 yards passing and 536 yards overall.
O'Brien has such a great weapon in Young -- who almost certainly will win the Heisman -- along with fantastic receivers Jameson Williams and John Metchie III. But Alabama's running game hasn't been dominant this season, and leading rusher Brian Robinson Jr. has been dealing with a leg injury.
During the SEC title game, Metchie suffered a leg injury, and it reportedly was a torn ACL. That would keep him out of the upcoming College Football Playoff.
For Alabama to win it all, O'Brien will have to continue relying on the talented Young to put up huge numbers. That could be more problematic without Metchie, but Bama has to be the considerable favorite now to win it all.
OK, WAS GEORGIA
JUST OVERRATED?
Georgia was actually favored to beat Alabama by 6.5 points, and we kept hearing all season about the Bulldogs' phenomenal defense.
Alabama obliterated that defense -- and made it look easy -- with 41 points over the final three quarters.
It came up during the blowout on social media that Georgia's schedule wasn't exactly all that great, leading many to wonder if the Bulldogs were overrated going into the SEC title tilt.
The Bulldogs opened the season with a 10-3 win over Clemson, which was No. 3 at the time. But we found at as the season went on that Clemson isn't very good this year.
The other ranked teams Georgia played were (at the time) No. 8 Arkansas (37-0 win), No. 18 Auburn (34-10) and No. 11 Kentucky (30-13). Arkansas finished 8-4, Auburn 6-6 and Kentucky 8-4.
It wasn't who Georgia beat, though, but the way it just clobbered everybody. The defense was awesome all season, and the offense used that to its advantage and just kept pouring it on against teams.
Still, Georgia looked so bad at times against Alabama, that it certainly is fair to go back and take a closer look at the Bulldogs this season. Because Alabama had problems of its own against the likes of Florida, Texas A&M (a loss) and Auburn (nearly a loss), and this is by no means a typical Tide juggernaut.
Or, maybe it still could be, and Alabama just figured that out Saturday by destroying its biggest current rival.
MY PICKS FOR
THE PLAYOFF
The seeds will be: 1. Alabama, 2. Georgia, 3. Michigan and 4. Cincinnati.
I think Alabama beats Cincy easily. Georgia and Michigan could be interesting, but the Wolverines don't throw the ball like Alabama does and instead rely on their running game. Georgia can stop the run, so I'll go with the Bulldogs by 10 points.
Would an Alabama-Georgia rematch be closer this time around? You'd think so with Metchie being out for Bama, and with Georgia's defense seeking revenge after getting humbled.
Regardless, I'll still take Alabama to win it all.
WHERE WILL LIONS
GO BOWLING?
We'll find out all the bowl matchups today. I'll go with Penn State heading to the Pinstripe Bowl in New York, and it would be AWESOME if the Lions could play Virginia Tech there because of the cool Pry story line.
The CFP selection show will be at noon today on ESPN, then bowl announcements will be made after that throughout the afternoon.
MOORHEAD TO AKRON
BECOMES OFFICIAL
Former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead was named Akron's head coach on Saturday, after word of that being likely to happen had come out earlier in the week. Moorhead had been offensive coordinator at Oregon, which lost to Utah on Friday night in the Pac-12 title game.
As we've said all week, this is a peculiar job for Moorhead to take, with the Zips going 3-32 in their last 35 games.
"I am humbled and honored to be selected as the next Head Football Coach at The University of Akron," Moorhead in a university release. "I would like to thank President Miller and Charles Guthrie for their incredible professionalism through the process. My family and I are very excited for this opportunity. We can't wait to get back to a region of the country we consider home. Our plan for the future is simple: we'll roll up our sleeves and get to work, diligently building a program of which the school, the City of Akron, and the State of Ohio can be proud. Go Zips!"
JAMES FRANKLIN'S
COACHING TREE GROWING
Poindexter has only been on James Franklin's staff for one season, but if he gets a head coaching job, it still would add a branch to Franklin's coaching tree.
That tree already includes as college head coaches:
• Joe Moorhead (Mississippi State and now Akron)
• Ricky Rahne (Old Dominion)
• Charles Huff (Marshall)
• Brent Pry (Virginia Tech)
So, if Poindexter does get the UVa job, he would be the fifth head coach from the Franklin coaching tree.
Furthermore, Josh Gattis is Michigan's offensive coordinator and will be heading to the College Football Playoff. Gattis was Penn State's wide receivers coach before leaving for a job at Alabama. He could win the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach this year, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him become a head coach before too long.
PODCAST: Penn State nearly beat Michigan, which is in the College Football Playoff, so how close are the Nittany Lions to their goals? We discuss that and the current state of the program in our weekly We Are podcast.