Tony Caridi's Visit With Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel
July 26, 2018 03:33 PM | Football
You can count Yahoo's Pete Thamel among the Big 12's skeptics.
Recently, the national columnist took a lukewarm view of the conference, declaring that its 12-year football national title drought will likely continue when the next one is crowned in 2019.
(You can read Pete's story by clicking here)
He doesn't think Baker Mayfield-less Oklahoma has an experienced and proven quarterback capable of getting the Sooners back to the College Football Playoffs, although he conceded that 34-year-old coach Lincoln Riley could be a budding star in the coaching profession. In his column, he referred to Riley as a "play-calling ninja."
Thamel is not even sold on the Sooners as the clear-cut favorite to win the Big 12 this year, mentioning Texas, TCU and West Virginia as possible spoilers.
All three teams, in Thamel's eyes, have warts though.
Thamel cites inexperience at TCU and youth at Texas as their biggest Achilles heels, while he called the preseason optimism surrounding West Virginia "irrational."
Thamel wrote that the Mountaineers might have a much better chance of ending September with a losing record than competing for the league title in November. He mentioned WVU's deficiencies on defense as its biggest detriment.
"You'd have to squint watching the Mountaineers last year to believe they have the pieces to crack the top 10," Thamel wrote.
The league's marquee player in 2018?
Thamel does give the nod to West Virginia's Will Grier with this caveat, "The optimism should slow down because its defense can't slow anyone, as the Mountaineers gave up 31.5 points and 445 yards per game last year."
Thamel eventually circled back to Riley, who spent this summer visiting with a dozen or so professional coaches to let them pick his brain.
"What's most difficult to quantify," Thamel wrote, "is Riley's most glaring gift, his uncanny ability to call plays. Opposing coaches have marveled at the versatility and fearlessness of Riley's play calling."
Thamel concluded, "In a year when the Big 12 lacks star power, the league's best chance at national relevancy and solving its One True Problem (a play off the league's One True Champion slogan) rests on the sideline in Norman. The most exciting part of the Big 12 in 2018 will be seeing what Riley does for an encore."
Our Tony Caridi caught up with Pete out in Frisco, Texas, last week to get a more detailed explanation from him about his thoughts on Will Grier and West Virginia's chances to win the league.
Is Pete right?
We'll see.
Recently, the national columnist took a lukewarm view of the conference, declaring that its 12-year football national title drought will likely continue when the next one is crowned in 2019.
(You can read Pete's story by clicking here)
He doesn't think Baker Mayfield-less Oklahoma has an experienced and proven quarterback capable of getting the Sooners back to the College Football Playoffs, although he conceded that 34-year-old coach Lincoln Riley could be a budding star in the coaching profession. In his column, he referred to Riley as a "play-calling ninja."
Thamel is not even sold on the Sooners as the clear-cut favorite to win the Big 12 this year, mentioning Texas, TCU and West Virginia as possible spoilers.
All three teams, in Thamel's eyes, have warts though.
Thamel cites inexperience at TCU and youth at Texas as their biggest Achilles heels, while he called the preseason optimism surrounding West Virginia "irrational."
Thamel wrote that the Mountaineers might have a much better chance of ending September with a losing record than competing for the league title in November. He mentioned WVU's deficiencies on defense as its biggest detriment.
"You'd have to squint watching the Mountaineers last year to believe they have the pieces to crack the top 10," Thamel wrote.
The league's marquee player in 2018?
Thamel does give the nod to West Virginia's Will Grier with this caveat, "The optimism should slow down because its defense can't slow anyone, as the Mountaineers gave up 31.5 points and 445 yards per game last year."
Thamel eventually circled back to Riley, who spent this summer visiting with a dozen or so professional coaches to let them pick his brain.
"What's most difficult to quantify," Thamel wrote, "is Riley's most glaring gift, his uncanny ability to call plays. Opposing coaches have marveled at the versatility and fearlessness of Riley's play calling."
Thamel concluded, "In a year when the Big 12 lacks star power, the league's best chance at national relevancy and solving its One True Problem (a play off the league's One True Champion slogan) rests on the sideline in Norman. The most exciting part of the Big 12 in 2018 will be seeing what Riley does for an encore."
Our Tony Caridi caught up with Pete out in Frisco, Texas, last week to get a more detailed explanation from him about his thoughts on Will Grier and West Virginia's chances to win the league.
Is Pete right?
We'll see.
Players Mentioned
QB
/ FootballRich Rodriguez | Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 03
Reid Carrico | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Jeff Weimer | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 29
Saturday, November 29
