It is that time of year when almost everyone who works in the media tries to be creative with lists: the best coach, the worst coach, the best stadium, the best fans.
Well, any list of best coaches that doesn't have Alabama's Nick Saban as No. 1 is bogus, but that's not the only list of coaches he would lead. How about the SEC coach you would least like to be stranded on a deserted island with?
This is a totally subjective ranking of nonpreferred guests on a deserted island. No poll of other writers was taken because, well, let's just say they are busy making their own lists.
This list of the SEC coaches who you wouldn't wanted to be on a deserted island with starts today, with the worst, and ends Tuesday with who would be the best.
14. Nick Saban. Saban is a winner and leader and all that, but when it came time to gather firewood or cut brush to make a shelter, it seems he would be a lot better at telling someone how to do it, how much of it to do and criticizing why it took so long than he would be at helping. Not that he doesn't work tirelessly. In fact, he probably would lean against the shade tree the entire time you are standing in the water waving at anything that moves. Also, he doesn't seem to be the greatest conversationalist in the SEC or even Alabama, maybe in Tuscaloosa, and even introverts need some inner-action. Finally, can't imagine him without his daily Little Debbie oatmeal cookie.
13. Will Muschamp. The new coach of South Carolina and the old coach of Florida is so defensive-minded he might build a wall around the island so high -- to stay protected -- that any ship or rescue vehicle couldn't see him. Won't really go into his fiery personality, but he's not a guy you would want to be partnered with if you were prone to make the occasional mistake.
12. Kevin Sumlin. If the Texas A&M coach can't get along with talented quarterbacks, being on an island with someone who has only marginal athletic ability could be miserable. Sumlin mostly comes across in media settings as a smart aleck who thinks a lot more of himself than anyone else does. His best two years coaching the Aggies were his first two when he had someone else's players and a guy named Johnny Football, but he doesn't seem to realize that.
11. Butch Jones. The Tennessee coach is reportedly a nice guy if you know him, but he is a walking, talking cliche. He's doing a nice job of rebuilding the Vols, but he might bore you to death, and his talk about next year when you are on a deserted island wouldn't be encouraging.
10. Kirby Smart. Lot of unknowns about a first-year head coach, but he spent nine years under Saban and it may take awhile to wash away all that paranoia. Has not been very accessible in the months since he took over for the likable Mark Richt.
9. Barry Odom. The Missouri head coach might not be in a hurry to leave a deserted island. Back home in Columbia he doesn't have a president, chancellor, athletic director or even an interim athletic director, who bailed out last week. The Tigers have a lot of problems one wouldn't find on a deserted island.
8. Dan Mullen. Despite being on one of the friendliest campuses in the SEC and working for a great athletic director, Mullen seems to carry some of his New England (New Hampshire is his home) aloofness everywhere he goes. He's won a lot of games, but most of them were at home where he's 32-16. But on the road, and a deserted island would always be an away game, he's 19-16.
Tuesday, the final seven.
Sports on 07/31/2016