DEAR OLE MISS: HIRE BLAKE ANDERSON

Every program in the SEC has a specific historical weakness when it comes to hiring a new coach. Georgia can’t resist a chill dude with an accent; Florida can’t stop hiring the exact opposite of whatever their last coach was. South Carolina has a thing for other programs’ leftovers and refuses to feel shame about it. Alabama usually hires by lineage and lineage alone, which is why their program ends up inbred until they bring in new blood to improve the genetic diversity. When Nick Saban retires they will hire two or three disappointing assistants of his in a row, and now you already know why they will do this.

This is unlike anything else in the South, ever, how dare you make the comparison.

Ole Miss’s thing is making contradictory hires with contradictory results. John Vaught, the most successful coach in school history and the only one to win a conference title, had no experience as a head coach when he took over. David Cutcliffe had no head head coaching experience when he was hired, led the Rebels to a 10-3 season in 2003, and was fired after one losing season because [GIANT HOWLING VOID OF VARIOUS REASONS NO ONE HAS EVER REALLY EXPLAINED].

Ole Miss hired Houston Nutt, the most contradictory hire of all because:

• A lot of people thought it was a bad idea!
• It went well (9-4 his first two seasons, which at Ole Miss is really good)!
• It then went badly
• His firing led to his successor’s hiring which led to his successor’s firing regarding the lack of Houston Nutt’s successive hirings

SO: it may be contradictory to suggest Ole Miss do the exact same thing they did when the hired Hugh Freeze, but that would be tradition. And if we can encourage Ole Miss to embrace a non-harmful tradition, oh boy then we’re going to do it.

Ole Miss should hire Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson.

Is he good? Very good, in fact, going 20-4 in the Sun Belt, winning one outright conference title and a share of another one. His teams play the kind of hyperaggressive, offensive-minded football the Rebels are already accustomed to and are built for by roster. He’s only 48, has the right accent, and coached at Southern Miss, meaning he has some experience in the state, which is always a capital-T Thing to consider when working in a state with a unique recruiting footprint, rivals on every side, and a sizable juco system to work.

Does he fit culturally? That’s never a guarantee before the meet-and-greets, sure. This is also pending what will be a new and extremely thorough background check. However, Anderson’s Twitter bio is very, very promising in that regard.

Believer in Christ, Husband to Wendy, Father to Coleton, Callie, & Cason.

The kids’ names alone might seal the deal, frankly.

Does he call trick plays? Yes, which is really the unconcealed reason we want him in the conference, a conference populated by so few coaches that do anything interesting at all. He’s aggressive, his teams are fun, and most importantly, HE CALLED THIS PLAY, BROTHER.

Are they going to do this? No. Ole Miss is probably going to hire Les Miles, and go the SEC West retread route for a second time in a decade. But still: we had to try and sell them on staying on Team Freak Flag.