Bowl game overreactions: Favorites for the playoff, Heisman contenders and the importance of edible mascots
The college football postseason is nearly over, and you know what that means. It’s time to get ahead of ourselves and start thinking about next season. Which teams are doomed, and which teams are poised to take advantage of the new, expanded playoff format? Who should we expect to win the Heisman? Does bowl season stink now, or will it be better next year than it’s ever been before?
Let’s overreact.
Ole Miss will challenge for a spot in the expanded CFP
The Lane Train is rolling into 2024 as Ole Miss will have legitimate aspirations to make its first-ever CFP appearance. Even before the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the Rebels were having a very good December, as arguably no team had been a bigger winner in adding transfers and keeping top players. The Rebels added notable intra-SEC transfers like Texas A&M defensive lineman Walter Nolen, Tennessee edge Tyler Baron, Florida edge Princely Umanmielen, Mississippi State cornerback Decamerion Richardson and South Carolina wide receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells.
Ole Miss then thrashed Penn State 38-25 in Atlanta, holding a double-digit lead for most of the second half. Quarterback Jaxson Dart, who will return to Ole Miss this coming season, lit up the nation’s No. 1 defense for 379 pass yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Caden Prieskorn and wide receiver Tre Harris, who also are both coming back to Lane Kiffin’s offense, combined for 17 receptions and 270 receiving yards. The Rebels suffered a blow Thursday when star running back Quinshon Judkins announced he would enter the portal, but the overall personnel picture is good. Coach Kiffin’s addition of defensive coordinator Pete Golding has been essential both on the field and in recruiting. After a year where Kiffin quieted some chatter about his inability to win the biggest games, he will enter a season with his most talented and experienced team, and a chance to make history. — Adam Rittenberg
The Buckeyes need to keep hitting the portal
Ohio State lost 14-3 against Missouri in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and were held to 106 yards passing and 97 yards rushing. The Buckeyes did that without quarterback Kyle McCord, who transferred to Syracuse, star receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who opted out of the game as he makes his way to the NFL, and a handful of others.
The Ohio State staff saw safeties Cameron Martinez and Kye Stokes enter the transfer portal, as well as corner Jyaire Brown. It’s easy to say the game only went the way it did because Ohio State didn’t have its top options at quarterback and receiver, but the Cotton Bowl was a glimpse at what the roster will look like in 2024 if no changes are made.
Freshman quarterback Lincoln Kienholz completed 6 of 17 passes for 86 yards and no touchdowns, while Devin Brown completed 4 of 6 for 20 yards before getting hurt. The staff has ESPN 300 quarterback Air Noland coming in with the 2024 recruiting class, but it will be his first season on campus.
Noland very likely could end up being a star in Ryan Day’s offense, but it might not be realistic to expect him to break out in Year 1. The staff got a transfer commitment from Kansas State quarterback transfer Will Howard on Thursday. Adding Howard allows Noland to develop while giving Ohio State a capable quarterback who has already proven he can be efficient and successful at this level.
The staff has lost 12 players to the transfer portal and is yet to add any to the roster. The offense loses McCord, Harrison, Julian Fleming, and could lose receiver Emeka Egbuka and running back TreVeyon Henderson to the NFL.
That is a lot of production to replace in one offseason and without any portal additions. Howard is a big get for the staff, but adding in more up front along the offensive line would help get the team to where it needs to be in 2024. — Tom VanHaaren
Every bowl mascot should be edible
There was a lot of criticism of bowl season this year due to the dozens of high profile opt-outs, hundreds of players in the portal, and marquee matchups that didn’t deliver because only a shell of a team showed up to play. But one thing bowls still get right is the ridiculousness of it all — the pageantry, the humor, the fun and, of course, the giant toasters.
No bowl game outside the playoff generated more enthusiasm than the Pop-Tarts Bowl, not because of anything to do with the teams involved, but because of the sheer absurdity of seeing a giant anthropomorphic Pop-Tart frolicking in the background of every camera shot, all while waiting to be eaten by the winning team. Add that to the delight of the Dukes Mayo Bowl’s mayo pour, the creepiness of Cheez-It king lording over his bowl or the Tax Act Texas Bowl having both starting QBs file their 1040 EZ during halftime (OK, that didn’t happen — but it should!). If we’re losing the on-field gravitas of bowls, let’s lean in on all the off-field zaniness and capering. If GoBowling.com is sponsoring a bowl, the winning coach should get bowled into a champagne celebration. The Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl should let the winning team go swimming in a giant cereal bowl. The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl ought to give all fans in attendance one opportunity per year to order a No. 2 meal on a Sunday. — David Hale
There aren’t too many bowls
To Hale’s point, the members of the “too many bowls” industrial complex seized on the Orange Bowl as an example of all that is Very Bad. And that was a very bad game. But starting next year, in a 12-team field, nearly the entire Top 25 will be playing in a meaningful postseason game. That leaves the smaller bowls that will still be meaningful to those teams, with history on the line.
Western Kentucky star quarterback Austin Reed opted out of the Famous Toastery Bowl and the Hilltoppers trailed 28-0 until freshman Caden Veltkamp threw for 383 yards and rallied them for the fourth-biggest bowl comeback of all time in a 38-35 OT win over Old Dominion. Players threw toast in the air in celebration.
Jacksonville State got a waiver to play in the New Orleans Bowl because it was the program’s first season in FBS, and then beat Louisiana in overtime for the Gamecocks’ first-ever FBS bowl win. Coach Rich Rodriguez gave his players an extra night to celebrate in New Orleans.
There were one-score games in the Quick Lane (Minnesota 30, Bowling Green 24), Camellia (Northern Illinois 21, Arkansas State 19) and Arizona (Wyoming 16, Toledo 15) Bowls, with Wyoming sending retiring coach Craig Bohl out a winner. Texas State won its first bowl game in history with a win over Rice in the First Responder Bowl and drank the stadium dry in the process, then stormed the field. At a bowl game.
It’s not just for the little guys, either. Kentucky and Clemson combined for 42 points in the fourth quarter of the Gator Bowl, including the Tigers scoring a game-winning touchdown with 17 seconds left. What else would you rather be doing on a Friday morning on Dec. 29?
The small bowls may not mean anything to you, but they do to the players and coaches who get one last chance to play together. And for fans: Who hates extra football every day of the week when you’d be talking to your in-laws instead? Who hates fun? Who hates edible mascots and a flood of memes afterward? Who hates trophies? Who hates making snow angels in toast? — Dave Wilson
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Western Kentucky comes back from down 28 to win the Famous Toastery Bowl
WKU completes an improbable comeback to overcome a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit and win the Famous Toastery Bowl in overtime.
There should be a playoff for the Group of 5
Let’s not talk problems. Let’s talk solutions. As the playoff expands and devalues the rest of the bowls to a certain extent, it’s baffling that we haven’t had a serious discussion about a playoff for teams from the Group of 5. In this era, there is a bigger gulf between Group of 5 schools and Power 5 — Power 4? — schools than ever, so we should stop pretending they should be considered the same division of college football. Based on what we saw in the Fiesta Bowl, Liberty would have lost to Oregon approximately 100 times out of 100. That’s not a team that would have belonged in a 12-team playoff. It makes no sense that teams in every tier of football now — NFL, Power 5, FCS, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, various enrollment levels in high school, etc — can aspire to a playoff against their peers except FBS Group of 5 teams.
There are obviously financial implications in play here that might be tough to sort out, but from a competitive standpoint, this feels like a no-brainer. There can be a provision that allows a Group of 5 team to opt into the playoff with the bigger schools if it’s ranked high enough, but, again, let’s not get held up by small details.
In addition to Liberty, the three other Group of 5 champions that played a Power 5 team in their bowl game also lost: SMU lost to Boston College (3-5 in ACC); Troy lost to Duke (4-4 in ACC); Boise State lost to UCLA (4-5 in Pac-12). Miami (Ohio), which won the MAC, lost to Appalachian State. A playoff would be more meaningful for the players, has the potential to generate more revenue and, most importantly, would be the result of the application of common sense. — Kyle Bonagura
Miller Moss will be considered for USC’s starting QB job
Does Lincoln Riley now have Caleb Williams’ successor in-house with redshirt sophomore Miller Moss? Moss deserves a long, hard look after throwing for 372 passing yards and a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdown passes in the 42-28 victory over Louisville. With Malachi Nelson (No. 1 overall in the 2023 ESPN 300) in the transfer portal, a need to overhaul the defense and the program moving to the Big Ten, USC has plenty to do before opening the 2024 season against LSU in Las Vegas. One spectacular start in San Diego for the inexperienced Moss (914 passing yards and nine TD passes in eight career games over three seasons) could very well lead to the long-term answer USC needs at the game’s most important position. — Blake Baumgartner
Carson Beck will be a contender for the 2024 Heisman
The Heisman Trophy campaigns for the 2024 season are already being planned. There will be more than a few SEC quarterbacks in the conversation, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Texas’ Quinn Ewers (assuming he returns for next season), Missouri’s Brady Cook and even Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava, who would give Vols’ fans a reason to pay attention to the “Heistman” again.
But the SEC player best positioned to win the Heisman next season is the same guy who should have received more consideration this season: Georgia quarterback Carson Beck.
Beck carved apart Florida State on 13-of-18 passing for 203 yards and two touchdowns in just one half after the Bulldogs built a 42-3 halftime lead in their 63-3 demolition of the Seminoles in the Orange Bowl.
This was Beck’s first season as the Dawgs’ starter, and he only got better and more effective as the year progressed. The rising fifth-year senior completed 72.4% of his passes for 3,941 yards, 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions. In Year 2, he will go from one of college football’s breakout stars to one of the nation’s biggest stars. He’s as good at reading defenses as he is at making pinpoint throws on third down and scrambling when he needs to.
By the way, the last Georgia player to win the Heisman Trophy was a guy by the name of Herschel Walker. — Chris Low
Notre Dame will return to the CFP
Without the need to go undefeated to make the 12-team playoff, Notre Dame will earn its chance to compete for a national title again with the help of Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard. With opt-outs that included Sam Hartman, Notre Dame’s depth was on display in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, when it manhandled a depleted Oregon State team 40-8 even while starting backup quarterback Steve Angeli.
With Leonard and LSU offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock incoming, though, the offense will be in experienced hands — as long as the Irish can find some reliable receivers. Former Clemson receiver Beaux Collins and former FIU receiver Kris Mitchell both committed to Notre Dame after entering the transfer portal. Notre Dame lacrosse player Jordan Faison also had 115 receiving yards and a touchdown against Oregon State.
After leading the Irish to a 10-win season, coach Marcus Freeman enters his third year with a manageable schedule he can both win and impress the CFP selection committee with. The Irish open with a road trip against a Texas A&M team in transition and get Louisville and Florida State at home in 2024. — Heather Dinich
Arizona will compete for the Big 12 title
With a move to a new conference coming in 2024, Jedd Fisch’s team went into the Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma and capped off an impressive year with a statement victory. Against a program that’s been the crown jewel of the conference in recent years, the Wildcats dominated on defense — forcing six turnovers — and on offense, with freshman quarterback Noah Fifita leading his team to 38 points.
It was a fitting finish for Arizona given the way they surprised the Pac-12 this season and became the conference’s third-best team behind Washington and Oregon. Fisch took over the program in 2020 and proceeded to go 1-11 in his first season. In 2022, there was some improvement as the Wildcats jumped to 5-7, but the leap to a 10-3 record in 2023 was shocking.
Arizona became one of the most exciting teams to watch this season, putting the program back on the map at just the right time. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty that Arizona has to improve on — their running game was abysmal in the Alamo Bowl and the defense needs to make a leap of its own — but as Texas and Oklahoma depart for the SEC, the floor is open for an up-and-coming team to cement its place at the top of the new Big 12. — Paolo Uggetti
Penn State will again be good, not great
Penn State is used to going 0-2 against Ohio State and Michigan, but this season, Michigan didn’t even have suspended head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline when it beat the Nittany Lions on their home turf. PSU coach James Franklin is now 1-14 against Ohio State and Michigan teams ranked in the top 10.
After flirting briefly with staff stability, there were changes again at the coordinator position, with defensive coordinator Manny Diaz leaving to become head coach at Duke, and Franklin hiring Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas, which should be an upgrade. How much of rookie quarterback Drew Allar‘s struggles were a result of not having dependable receivers? How much did they have to do with his lack of accuracy? How much had to do with coaching? Probably a combination of it all.
Penn State has had enough trouble with Ohio State and Michigan, and now it has to worry about Washington, USC and UCLA. For most of Franklin’s decade leading the program, PSU has settled for being the league’s third-best team. With the Big Ten growing to 18 teams in 2024, even that could be a challenge. Penn State doesn’t only have to worry about beating the incoming Pac-12 powers, though. It should also be concerned about its season-opener at West Virginia — which beat North Carolina soundly in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. — Dinich
The Hokies will have a resurgent season
What Virginia Tech did in a 41-20 victory over Tulane in the Military Bowl sent a clear message to those paying attention to both the rise and fall of this program: The Hokies will be ACC title contenders in 2024.
Once a shoo-in to play in ACC championship and BCS games under Frank Beamer, it is no secret Virginia Tech has fallen on hard times over the last decade. Though a 7-6 record is not quite to the standard Beamer set, the growth Virginia Tech showed in Year 2 under Brent Pry simply cannot be ignored. Nor can the optimism after the Hokies won their first bowl game since 2016.
Virginia Tech finally has a reliable quarterback, star-in-the-making Kyron Drones — who rushed for a career-high 176 yards, threw for 91 and scored three total touchdowns in miserable conditions in Annapolis. The Hokies finally have a talented back in Bhayshul Tuten, who rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the win and an offensive line that can move people and set up big plays.
When Virginia Tech has been elite, it has typically had a strong dual-threat quarterback and powerful run game. That is what the Hokies have headed into 2024. Drones and Tuten will return. So will the entire offensive line, and their top four receivers. Defensively, top pass-rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland (14.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks) will also return, along with top corner Dorian Strong. Virginia Tech has also added veteran Duke defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles, who will give the Hokies a strong interior presence.
Virginia Tech has not played for an ACC championship since 2016. For a fan base eager to see the Hokies’ return to prominence, eight years is a long time to wait. But for the first time in a long time, there is positive energy surrounding the program, and the bowl game showed exactly why. — Andrea Adelson
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Bradford Doolittle
Just as baseball’s postseason chase has entered the stretch run, those vying for individual honors are running out of time to make their cases.
This is our fourth and final Awards Watch of the regular season, and with that in mind, we’ve changed up our usual format to narrow the focus of each race to the leading contenders in each category.
What races are all but decided? Which ones remain very much up in the air? Let’s dig in.
Most Valuable Player
American League
Leading contenders: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (153 AXE) vs. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (144)
Next eight: 3. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (142); 4. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians (135); 5. Julio Rodriguez, Mariners (132); 6. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays (131); 7. Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (130); 8. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers (129); 9. (tie) Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros, Cody Bellinger, Yankees, Maikel Garcia, Royals (128)
ESPN BET top two: Judge (-350, 78% chance of winning), Raleigh (+200)
Sizing up the race: This race is closer than AXE and the odds suggest. In fact, it would not surprise me if they are wrong altogether. Either way, the chase isn’t over.
It shouldn’t be controversial to suggest that Judge has had the better offensive season despite Raleigh’s historic home run pace and league-leading RBI total. His percentages are decidedly better across the board, and even if you contextualize for playing venue, Judge has a 40-point edge in OPS+ and, at FanGraphs, a 37-point bulge in wRC+. Raleigh has played in more games, but Judge has still created 31 more runs while using 68 fewer outs. Judge also leads AL hitters in both win probability added and championship probability added. Raleigh ranks fifth in both stats, which are folded into the AXE calculations.
After that, a number of factors tilt toward Raleigh. As a catcher, Raleigh plays a more valuable defensive position and has played it very well. FanGraphs ranks him as the fourth-most valuable defender in the AL. Of course, a chunk of that is due to pitch-framing metrics, which are measured differently at Baseball Reference, which is why Judge has a more commanding lead in that site’s version of WAR.
Then we come to factors of narrative. Raleigh might be having the best season a catcher has ever had. He already has crushed the single-season record for home runs by a backstop and is on the cusp of passing the record for switch-hitters set 64 years ago by Mickey-freaking-Mantle. If that happens, and if Raleigh gets to 60 homers — as a catcher — and does so on a playoff team, how does he not win MVP?
How it can flip: Raleigh has hit .208 since the All-Star break, and as his season average slips downward, soon to drop under .240, you do wonder if he’s vulnerable to an end-of-season crash. He is a catcher after all, and as much as the Mariners try to give him DH days to take the load off, he might be wearing down. If he flails from here and the Mariners miss the playoffs, a typical finish from Judge might be enough to convince voters their heads should never have turned toward Raleigh in the first place.
Prediction: Raleigh breaks Mantle’s record, doesn’t reach 60 homers, but keeps his numbers just strong enough to fend off Judge at the finish line.
National League
Leading contenders: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (152 AXE) vs. Juan Soto, New York Mets (140)
Next eight: 3. Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies (138); 4. (tie) Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs, Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres, Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona Diamondbacks (135); 7. (tie) Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks, Francisco Lindor, Mets (132); 9. Kyle Tucker, Cubs (131); 10. (tie) Will Smith, Dodgers, Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks, Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers, Nico Hoerner, Cubs, Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (127)
ESPN BET top two: Ohtani (-25000, 99.6% chance of winning), Schwarber (+2500)
Sizing up the race: Ohtani seems to have a stranglehold on this one, especially since the betting markets favor Schwarber as his leading challenger. Nothing against Schwarber, who is having an epic season, but the metrics don’t support that at all.
Although the leaderboard happily stretches down to Schwarber’s spot because of ties, you can see that it’s basically Ohtani and everybody else. He combines Schwarber’s power in the slugging and homer categories with virtually all of Soto’s on-base mastery. Soto is having a shockingly prolific season in the steals category, but given that Ohtani has lapped the field in runs scored, he still wins the baserunning part of the race. And, oh yeah, Ohtani tacks on 36 innings of excellent pitching (2.17 FIP), giving him plenty of defensive value as opposed to the negative fielding metrics of both Soto and Schwarber, primarily a DH.
On the contextual side, Ohtani leads the NL in win probability added and championship probability added. Soto is second in both categories, and Schwarber is out of the top 10. Again: Advantage Shohei.
How it can flip: Ohtani appears to have his fourth MVP trophy — and third straight — all but in the bag. Only Barry Bonds (seven) has won more often. And only Bonds, who won each season from 2001 to 2004, has won three seasons in a row. As for the others, of all the names on the leaderboard, Turner had been the hottest of late, but his quest to land at No. 2 by season’s end has been quashed by his hamstring injury.
Prediction: Ohtani in a landslide.
Cy Young
American League
Leading contenders: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (146 AXE) vs. Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox (139)
Next eight: 3. Hunter Brown, Astros (135); 4. Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers (128); 5. Trevor Rogers, Baltimore Orioles (127); 6. (tie) Framber Valdez, Astros, Joe Ryan, Twins (125); 8. (tie) Max Fried, Yankees, Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox (123); 10. (tie) Michael Wacha, Royals, Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay Rays (122)
ESPN BET top two: Skubal (-4000, 97.6% chance of winning), Crochet (+1600)
Sizing up the race: This race remains alive, according to AXE, though Skubal has the edge in all of the bottom-line metrics. The betting markets are a little more emphatic, and those reflect an anticipation of how things will play out from here.
Both ace lefties have seemingly picked up momentum as the season has progressed. Over the past month, Crochet is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a ridiculous K-to-BB ratio of 40-to-2 over 33 innings. And yet he has gained no ground on Skubal, who is 2-1 with a 1.04 ERA over the same time frame with a more human 35-to-7 ratio.
The two leading versions of WAR can be maddeningly inconsistent on the pitching side, but both systems give Skubal more than a full-win advantage over Crochet. Crochet does hold a narrow advantage in win probability added, but Skubal tops the AL in championship probability added.
How it can flip: The race is clearly Skubal’s to lose, but he needs to keep doing what he’s doing, because the margins are close enough for Crochet to overtake him. For both hurlers, every start from here on out is crucial.
Prediction: Skubal should hold on, if only because he has shown zero evidence of slowing down his epic pace. Unless Skubal struggles, there seems to be no opening for Crochet to squeeze through, no matter how well he pitches.
National League
Leading contenders: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates (142 AXE) vs. Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies (142)
Next eight: 3. Zack Wheeler, Phillies (131); 4. (tie) Freddy Peralta, Brewers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers (129); 6. (tie) Nick Pivetta, Padres, Ranger Suarez, Phillies (128); 8. Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds (126); 9. Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants (125); 10. (tie) Jesus Luzardo, Phillies, Nick Lodolo, Reds (123)
ESPN BET top two: Skenes (-20000, 99.5% chance of winning), Sanchez (+1600)
Sizing up the race: The betting markets see Skenes as having an almost Ohtani-like grip on this race. The metrics see it as a dead heat. I tend to think the latter is closer to true than the former, but the markets are typically a reliable indicator.
Both versions of WAR give Skenes a narrow edge over Sanchez. However, the systems are really confusing when stacked up against each other, with both favorites showing around a full win more value at Baseball Reference than at FanGraphs. That’s nothing to Peralta, the hottest pitcher on the list when compared with our past Awards Watch, whose Baseball Reference WAR is two wins higher than at FanGraphs. This is a prime example of how frustrating the disparities between the systems can be when, after all, they profess to measure the same thing, using the same framework, under precisely the same “wins above replacement” label.
Skenes has an edge in win probability added over Sanchez, who ranks third (San Diego reliever Adrian Morejon is second). But since Skenes toils for a last-place team, Sanchez’s league-leading championship probability added total leaves Skenes (ranked 51st in the NL) in the dust.
It isn’t Skenes’ fault that his team stinks, but it’s precisely why I included championship probability in the calculation. It’s designed to be more of a tiebreaker than anything. If the overall value produced by two players is similar, it seems logical to consider the contexts in which they put up that value.
So, are the overall performances close? Yes, very. Skenes’ sub-2.00 ERA is eye-catching and is likely the number that tags him as the favorite. But his edge in FIP (2.42 to 2.59) is narrow, which explains why he and Sanchez are close in WAR. Their volumes are similar.
How it can flip: It’s a tough call, and if both pitchers should falter down the stretch, Peralta still has a chance to sneak in. But they’d have to struggle because volume (i.e., innings pitched) is a huge factor in today’s pitching environment. Skenes and Sanchez have separated themselves in terms of combining quantity and quality.
Prediction: We probably shouldn’t overthink it. Skenes is the NL’s best pitcher, which isn’t always the same thing as “most deserving Cy Young candidate,” but in this case the two descriptions line up well. The Pirates haven’t backed Skenes off his usual workload, so if he makes the rest of his starts and keeps that ERA under 2.00, Sanchez faces an uphill battle.
Rookie of the Year
American League
Leading contenders: Nick Kurtz, Athletics (127 AXE) vs. Roman Anthony, Red Sox (117)
Next eight: 3. Jacob Wilson, Athletics (116); 4. (tie) Noah Cameron, Royals, Carlos Narvaez, Red Sox (113); 6. Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox (111); 7. Kyle Teel, White Sox (109); 8. Luke Keaschall, Twins (108); 9. Mike Vasil, White Sox (107); 10. (tie) Jack Leiter, Rangers, Will Warren, Yankees, Shane Smith, White Sox
ESPN BET top two: Kurtz (-50000, 99.8% chance of winning), Anthony (+4000)
Sizing up the race: Anthony is listed above as a leading contender for display purposes only, because this race is over. Kurtz was a heavy favorite already, but the oblique injury that is expected to sideline Anthony for the rest of the regular season sealed the deal. As Klingon Commander Kor said to Captain James T. Kirk, “It would have been glorious.”
You can’t really win a season award in baseball because of one game. But in Kurtz’s case, his four-homer game against Houston on July 25, in which he had six hits, scored six runs and tied the single-game total base record, comes pretty close. At the very least, it puts his name at the forefront in the minds of voters looking at this season’s rookie class.
At this point, Kurtz’s race is against history. His 1.021 OPS ranks as the fifth best among AL or NL rookies since 1900. The list is topped by Judge’s 1.049 in 2017. Kurtz would have to get blistering hot from here, but it’s not impossible. In terms of OPS+, Kurtz’s 177 currently tops them all, with Jose Abreu‘s 173 in 2014 the current end-of-season mark.
You can do this all day, but just a little more: Kurtz’s per-162-game line is currently .301/.397/.624 with 47 homers, 118 RBIs and 123 runs. The dude is 22 years old.
How it can flip: The universe is a complex, unpredictable thing, but at the moment, it’s hard to see any scenario that doesn’t end with Kurtz becoming the Athletics’ ninth Rookie of the Year and first since Andrew Bailey in 2009.
Prediction: Kurtz in a unanimous vote.
National League
Leading contenders: Isaac Collins, Brewers (115 AXE) vs. Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves (113)
Next eight: 3. Caleb Durbin, Brewers (111); 4. (tie) Cade Horton, Cubs, Jakob Marsee, Miami Marlins (110); 6. Chad Patrick, Brewers (109); 7. (tie) Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates, Matt Shaw, Cubs, Jack Dreyer, Dodgers (107); 10. (tie) Hurston Waldrep, Braves, Nolan McLean, Mets (106)
ESPN BET top three: Horton (-115, 54% chance of winning), Baldwin (+125), Collins (+600)
Sizing up the race: The markets recently bumped Horton up into favorite’s status but don’t seem to be very convicted about it. The markets aren’t wrong; this race has been a hodgepodge all season. Last time, I drolly suggested the award just go to the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s not entirely a joke. I track team WAR from rookies using a consensus between Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. Here’s the leaderboard:
1. White Sox (11.55 rookie WAR)
2. Brewers (7.61)
3. Red Sox (5.65)
4. Athletics (5.50)
5. Braves (4.11)
The White Sox have wisely gone all-in with deploying rookies in this rebuilding season, but the Brewers are the best team in baseball. Three Brewers rookies are in the above top 10, and the electric Jacob Misiorowski isn’t far off the pace. (Incidentally, on a recent trip to Milwaukee, I learned that Misiorowski’s family dog is named after Kevin Bacon, which merits extra credit.)
All of this is to avoid the topic at hand, because I really don’t know who should win this race. But I do think that Collins, as the leading representative of the NL’s top rookie class, is deserving for now. But now is a fleeting concept, and Horton is the hottest two-times-through-the-order pitcher on the planet.
Also, you’ll notice that McLean’s 4-1, 1.42 ERA start to his career has already pushed him into the top 10. He probably can’t win?
How it can flip: The markets have picked up on how hot Horton is, and if all current trends continue (which they of course will not), he’ll probably win. Over his past nine outings, Horton is 6-1 with a 0.77 ERA.
Prediction: Horton has allowed less than a run every other start since the All-Star break. If he maintains anything close to that pace, he’ll win. Otherwise, give it to a Brewer.
Manager of the Year
American League
Leading contenders: A.J. Hinch, Tigers (108.3 EARL) vs. John Schneider, Blue Jays (107.8)
Next three: 3. Joe Espada, Astros (107.0); 4. Ray Montgomery/Ron Washington, Los Angeles Angels (106.3); 5. Stephen Vogt, Guardians (105.2)
Sizing up the race: ESPN BET doesn’t help us with the manager races, but these standings make sense. It truly feels like a coin flip between Hinch and Schneider at this point.
How it can flip: EARL gives Hinch the razor-thin edge, but it probably comes down to which team lands the top overall seed in the AL bracket. Thus, the end of the season will determine this race. For what it’s worth, Hinch’s club has a hammerlock on the AL Central title, while Schneider’s Blue Jays have plenty of work to do in holding off the Yankees and Red Sox.
Prediction: Hinch’s Tigers will land that top seed and give him the leg up in the awards balloting. It would be his first Manager of the Year Award after five previous top-five finishes in the balloting.
National League
Leading contenders: Pat Murphy, Brewers (113.7 EARL) vs. Clayton McCullough, Marlins (106.9)
Next three: 3. Oliver Marmol, St. Louis Cardinals (106.1); 4. Rob Thomson, Phillies (103.9); 5. Craig Counsell, Cubs (103.4)
Sizing up the race: Murphy is going to win his second straight NL Manager of the Year Award. Everything works in his favor. The Brewers have thumped their preseason projections and are likely to enter the playoffs as the top overall seed. They are 26-17 in one-run games. They have all those rookies. And they play a team-oriented style built on contributions from a number of unsung role players.
Among the others, Counsell is most likely to finish second. McCullough has a tiny edge by EARL, but the Marlins’ recent pitching collapse has his trajectory arrow pointed downward.
How it can flip: The only way for this outlook to change is a Brewers collapse paired with an epic Cubs finish that allows Chicago to overcome its huge NL Central deficit and win the division. Otherwise, Murphy will once again outshine the guy he coached at Notre Dame and with whom he later worked as the bench coach in Milwaukee.
Prediction: A Murph runaway.
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Bradford Doolittle
Just as baseball’s postseason chase has entered the stretch run, those vying for individual honors are running out of time to make their cases.
This is our fourth and final Awards Watch of the regular season, and with that in mind, we’ve changed up our usual format to narrow the focus of each race to the leading contenders in each category.
What races are all but decided? Which ones remain very much up in the air? Let’s dig in.
Most Valuable Player
American League
Leading contenders: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (153 AXE) vs. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (144)
Next eight: 3. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (142); 4. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians (135); 5. Julio Rodriguez, Mariners (132); 6. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays (131); 7. Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (130); 8. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers (129); 9. (tie) Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros, Cody Bellinger, Yankees, Maikel Garcia, Royals (128)
ESPN BET top two: Judge (-350, 78% chance of winning), Raleigh (+200)
Sizing up the race: This race is closer than AXE and the odds suggest. In fact, it would not surprise me if they are wrong altogether. Either way, the chase isn’t over.
It shouldn’t be controversial to suggest that Judge has had the better offensive season despite Raleigh’s historic home run pace and league-leading RBI total. His percentages are decidedly better across the board, and even if you contextualize for playing venue, Judge has a 40-point edge in OPS+ and, at FanGraphs, a 37-point bulge in wRC+. Raleigh has played in more games, but Judge has still created 31 more runs while using 68 fewer outs. Judge also leads AL hitters in both win probability added and championship probability added. Raleigh ranks fifth in both stats, which are folded into the AXE calculations.
After that, a number of factors tilt toward Raleigh. As a catcher, Raleigh plays a more valuable defensive position and has played it very well. FanGraphs ranks him as the fourth-most valuable defender in the AL. Of course, a chunk of that is due to pitch-framing metrics, which are measured differently at Baseball Reference, which is why Judge has a more commanding lead in that site’s version of WAR.
Then we come to factors of narrative. Raleigh might be having the best season a catcher has ever had. He already has crushed the single-season record for home runs by a backstop and is on the cusp of passing the record for switch-hitters set 64 years ago by Mickey-freaking-Mantle. If that happens, and if Raleigh gets to 60 homers — as a catcher — and does so on a playoff team, how does he not win MVP?
How it can flip: Raleigh has hit .208 since the All-Star break, and as his season average slips downward, soon to drop under .240, you do wonder if he’s vulnerable to an end-of-season crash. He is a catcher after all, and as much as the Mariners try to give him DH days to take the load off, he might be wearing down. If he flails from here and the Mariners miss the playoffs, a typical finish from Judge might be enough to convince voters their heads should never have turned toward Raleigh in the first place.
Prediction: Raleigh breaks Mantle’s record, doesn’t reach 60 homers, but keeps his numbers just strong enough to fend off Judge at the finish line.
National League
Leading contenders: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (152 AXE) vs. Juan Soto, New York Mets (140)
Next eight: 3. Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies (138); 4. (tie) Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs, Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres, Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona Diamondbacks (135); 7. (tie) Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks, Francisco Lindor, Mets (132); 9. Kyle Tucker, Cubs (131); 10. (tie) Will Smith, Dodgers, Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks, Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers, Nico Hoerner, Cubs, Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (127)
ESPN BET top two: Ohtani (-25000, 99.6% chance of winning), Schwarber (+2500)
Sizing up the race: Ohtani seems to have a stranglehold on this one, especially since the betting markets favor Schwarber as his leading challenger. Nothing against Schwarber, who is having an epic season, but the metrics don’t support that at all.
Although the leaderboard happily stretches down to Schwarber’s spot because of ties, you can see that it’s basically Ohtani and everybody else. He combines Schwarber’s power in the slugging and homer categories with virtually all of Soto’s on-base mastery. Soto is having a shockingly prolific season in the steals category, but given that Ohtani has lapped the field in runs scored, he still wins the baserunning part of the race. And, oh yeah, Ohtani tacks on 36 innings of excellent pitching (2.17 FIP), giving him plenty of defensive value as opposed to the negative fielding metrics of both Soto and Schwarber, primarily a DH.
On the contextual side, Ohtani leads the NL in win probability added and championship probability added. Soto is second in both categories, and Schwarber is out of the top 10. Again: Advantage Shohei.
How it can flip: Ohtani appears to have his fourth MVP trophy — and third straight — all but in the bag. Only Barry Bonds (seven) has won more often. And only Bonds, who won each season from 2001 to 2004, has won three seasons in a row. As for the others, of all the names on the leaderboard, Turner had been the hottest of late, but his quest to land at No. 2 by season’s end has been quashed by his hamstring injury.
Prediction: Ohtani in a landslide.
Cy Young
American League
Leading contenders: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (146 AXE) vs. Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox (139)
Next eight: 3. Hunter Brown, Astros (135); 4. Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers (128); 5. Trevor Rogers, Baltimore Orioles (127); 6. (tie) Framber Valdez, Astros, Joe Ryan, Twins (125); 8. (tie) Max Fried, Yankees, Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox (123); 10. (tie) Michael Wacha, Royals, Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay Rays (122)
ESPN BET top two: Skubal (-4000, 97.6% chance of winning), Crochet (+1600)
Sizing up the race: This race remains alive, according to AXE, though Skubal has the edge in all of the bottom-line metrics. The betting markets are a little more emphatic, and those reflect an anticipation of how things will play out from here.
Both ace lefties have seemingly picked up momentum as the season has progressed. Over the past month, Crochet is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a ridiculous K-to-BB ratio of 40-to-2 over 33 innings. And yet he has gained no ground on Skubal, who is 2-1 with a 1.04 ERA over the same time frame with a more human 35-to-7 ratio.
The two leading versions of WAR can be maddeningly inconsistent on the pitching side, but both systems give Skubal more than a full-win advantage over Crochet. Crochet does hold a narrow advantage in win probability added, but Skubal tops the AL in championship probability added.
How it can flip: The race is clearly Skubal’s to lose, but he needs to keep doing what he’s doing, because the margins are close enough for Crochet to overtake him. For both hurlers, every start from here on out is crucial.
Prediction: Skubal should hold on, if only because he has shown zero evidence of slowing down his epic pace. Unless Skubal struggles, there seems to be no opening for Crochet to squeeze through, no matter how well he pitches.
National League
Leading contenders: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates (142 AXE) vs. Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies (142)
Next eight: 3. Zack Wheeler, Phillies (131); 4. (tie) Freddy Peralta, Brewers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers (129); 6. (tie) Nick Pivetta, Padres, Ranger Suarez, Phillies (128); 8. Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds (126); 9. Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants (125); 10. (tie) Jesus Luzardo, Phillies, Nick Lodolo, Reds (123)
ESPN BET top two: Skenes (-20000, 99.5% chance of winning), Sanchez (+1600)
Sizing up the race: The betting markets see Skenes as having an almost Ohtani-like grip on this race. The metrics see it as a dead heat. I tend to think the latter is closer to true than the former, but the markets are typically a reliable indicator.
Both versions of WAR give Skenes a narrow edge over Sanchez. However, the systems are really confusing when stacked up against each other, with both favorites showing around a full win more value at Baseball Reference than at FanGraphs. That’s nothing to Peralta, the hottest pitcher on the list when compared with our past Awards Watch, whose Baseball Reference WAR is two wins higher than at FanGraphs. This is a prime example of how frustrating the disparities between the systems can be when, after all, they profess to measure the same thing, using the same framework, under precisely the same “wins above replacement” label.
Skenes has an edge in win probability added over Sanchez, who ranks third (San Diego reliever Adrian Morejon is second). But since Skenes toils for a last-place team, Sanchez’s league-leading championship probability added total leaves Skenes (ranked 51st in the NL) in the dust.
It isn’t Skenes’ fault that his team stinks, but it’s precisely why I included championship probability in the calculation. It’s designed to be more of a tiebreaker than anything. If the overall value produced by two players is similar, it seems logical to consider the contexts in which they put up that value.
So, are the overall performances close? Yes, very. Skenes’ sub-2.00 ERA is eye-catching and is likely the number that tags him as the favorite. But his edge in FIP (2.42 to 2.59) is narrow, which explains why he and Sanchez are close in WAR. Their volumes are similar.
How it can flip: It’s a tough call, and if both pitchers should falter down the stretch, Peralta still has a chance to sneak in. But they’d have to struggle because volume (i.e., innings pitched) is a huge factor in today’s pitching environment. Skenes and Sanchez have separated themselves in terms of combining quantity and quality.
Prediction: We probably shouldn’t overthink it. Skenes is the NL’s best pitcher, which isn’t always the same thing as “most deserving Cy Young candidate,” but in this case the two descriptions line up well. The Pirates haven’t backed Skenes off his usual workload, so if he makes the rest of his starts and keeps that ERA under 2.00, Sanchez faces an uphill battle.
Rookie of the Year
American League
Leading contenders: Nick Kurtz, Athletics (127 AXE) vs. Roman Anthony, Red Sox (117)
Next eight: 3. Jacob Wilson, Athletics (116); 4. (tie) Noah Cameron, Royals, Carlos Narvaez, Red Sox (113); 6. Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox (111); 7. Kyle Teel, White Sox (109); 8. Luke Keaschall, Twins (108); 9. Mike Vasil, White Sox (107); 10. (tie) Jack Leiter, Rangers, Will Warren, Yankees, Shane Smith, White Sox
ESPN BET top two: Kurtz (-50000, 99.8% chance of winning), Anthony (+4000)
Sizing up the race: Anthony is listed above as a leading contender for display purposes only, because this race is over. Kurtz was a heavy favorite already, but the oblique injury that is expected to sideline Anthony for the rest of the regular season sealed the deal. As Klingon Commander Kor said to Captain James T. Kirk, “It would have been glorious.”
You can’t really win a season award in baseball because of one game. But in Kurtz’s case, his four-homer game against Houston on July 25, in which he had six hits, scored six runs and tied the single-game total base record, comes pretty close. At the very least, it puts his name at the forefront in the minds of voters looking at this season’s rookie class.
At this point, Kurtz’s race is against history. His 1.021 OPS ranks as the fifth best among AL or NL rookies since 1900. The list is topped by Judge’s 1.049 in 2017. Kurtz would have to get blistering hot from here, but it’s not impossible. In terms of OPS+, Kurtz’s 177 currently tops them all, with Jose Abreu‘s 173 in 2014 the current end-of-season mark.
You can do this all day, but just a little more: Kurtz’s per-162-game line is currently .301/.397/.624 with 47 homers, 118 RBIs and 123 runs. The dude is 22 years old.
How it can flip: The universe is a complex, unpredictable thing, but at the moment, it’s hard to see any scenario that doesn’t end with Kurtz becoming the Athletics’ ninth Rookie of the Year and first since Andrew Bailey in 2009.
Prediction: Kurtz in a unanimous vote.
National League
Leading contenders: Isaac Collins, Brewers (115 AXE) vs. Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves (113)
Next eight: 3. Caleb Durbin, Brewers (111); 4. (tie) Cade Horton, Cubs, Jakob Marsee, Miami Marlins (110); 6. Chad Patrick, Brewers (109); 7. (tie) Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates, Matt Shaw, Cubs, Jack Dreyer, Dodgers (107); 10. (tie) Hurston Waldrep, Braves, Nolan McLean, Mets (106)
ESPN BET top three: Horton (-115, 54% chance of winning), Baldwin (+125), Collins (+600)
Sizing up the race: The markets recently bumped Horton up into favorite’s status but don’t seem to be very convicted about it. The markets aren’t wrong; this race has been a hodgepodge all season. Last time, I drolly suggested the award just go to the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s not entirely a joke. I track team WAR from rookies using a consensus between Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. Here’s the leaderboard:
1. White Sox (11.55 rookie WAR)
2. Brewers (7.61)
3. Red Sox (5.65)
4. Athletics (5.50)
5. Braves (4.11)
The White Sox have wisely gone all-in with deploying rookies in this rebuilding season, but the Brewers are the best team in baseball. Three Brewers rookies are in the above top 10, and the electric Jacob Misiorowski isn’t far off the pace. (Incidentally, on a recent trip to Milwaukee, I learned that Misiorowski’s family dog is named after Kevin Bacon, which merits extra credit.)
All of this is to avoid the topic at hand, because I really don’t know who should win this race. But I do think that Collins, as the leading representative of the NL’s top rookie class, is deserving for now. But now is a fleeting concept, and Horton is the hottest two-times-through-the-order pitcher on the planet.
Also, you’ll notice that McLean’s 4-1, 1.42 ERA start to his career has already pushed him into the top 10. He probably can’t win?
How it can flip: The markets have picked up on how hot Horton is, and if all current trends continue (which they of course will not), he’ll probably win. Over his past nine outings, Horton is 6-1 with a 0.77 ERA.
Prediction: Horton has allowed less than a run every other start since the All-Star break. If he maintains anything close to that pace, he’ll win. Otherwise, give it to a Brewer.
Manager of the Year
American League
Leading contenders: A.J. Hinch, Tigers (108.3 EARL) vs. John Schneider, Blue Jays (107.8)
Next three: 3. Joe Espada, Astros (107.0); 4. Ray Montgomery/Ron Washington, Los Angeles Angels (106.3); 5. Stephen Vogt, Guardians (105.2)
Sizing up the race: ESPN BET doesn’t help us with the manager races, but these standings make sense. It truly feels like a coin flip between Hinch and Schneider at this point.
How it can flip: EARL gives Hinch the razor-thin edge, but it probably comes down to which team lands the top overall seed in the AL bracket. Thus, the end of the season will determine this race. For what it’s worth, Hinch’s club has a hammerlock on the AL Central title, while Schneider’s Blue Jays have plenty of work to do in holding off the Yankees and Red Sox.
Prediction: Hinch’s Tigers will land that top seed and give him the leg up in the awards balloting. It would be his first Manager of the Year Award after five previous top-five finishes in the balloting.
National League
Leading contenders: Pat Murphy, Brewers (113.7 EARL) vs. Clayton McCullough, Marlins (106.9)
Next three: 3. Oliver Marmol, St. Louis Cardinals (106.1); 4. Rob Thomson, Phillies (103.9); 5. Craig Counsell, Cubs (103.4)
Sizing up the race: Murphy is going to win his second straight NL Manager of the Year Award. Everything works in his favor. The Brewers have thumped their preseason projections and are likely to enter the playoffs as the top overall seed. They are 26-17 in one-run games. They have all those rookies. And they play a team-oriented style built on contributions from a number of unsung role players.
Among the others, Counsell is most likely to finish second. McCullough has a tiny edge by EARL, but the Marlins’ recent pitching collapse has his trajectory arrow pointed downward.
How it can flip: The only way for this outlook to change is a Brewers collapse paired with an epic Cubs finish that allows Chicago to overcome its huge NL Central deficit and win the division. Otherwise, Murphy will once again outshine the guy he coached at Notre Dame and with whom he later worked as the bench coach in Milwaukee.
Prediction: A Murph runaway.
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Dan Wetzel
Bill Belichick was presented the game ball Saturday following North Carolina’s 20-3 triumph over Charlotte. It marked his first victory as a collegiate coach after winning 333 games (playoffs included) in the NFL.
As good as the Tar Heels’ bounce-back performance must have felt, it’s certainly possible he enjoyed a different result from the weekend even more: Las Vegas 20, New England 13.
Belichick is an all-time great at two things: winning football games and carrying grudges to the pettiest of levels. One tends to fuel the other. Belichick is often at his best when he has some villain, real or imagined, to prove wrong.
It is why UNC fans should be encouraged that Belichick is still so dripping with anger against his old NFL franchise that he would resort to juvenile antics such as banning Patriots scouts from the Heels’ football building.
“It’s obvious I’m not welcome at their facility,” Belichick said Saturday. “So, they’re not welcome at ours.”
This, to be clear, is comically ridiculous. The easy joke, based on UNC’s 48-10 humiliation against TCU in the season opener, is that if Belichick really wanted to doom the Pats, he would get them to draft a bunch of his guys.
Really, though, it’s just another sign that Belichick has not forgiven New England owner Robert Kraft for their split following a 4-13 campaign in 2023. It’s possible that he blames some of the NFL’s lack of interest in hiring him to Kraft talking him down to fellow owners.
In fact, it is not obvious that Belichick is banned from the Patriots facility.
Current New England coach Mike Vrabel, a former player under Belichick, said Monday that Belichick is always welcome and pointed to Belichick’s presence at a June 2024 ceremony honoring Tom Brady.
“Since his departure as the head coach here, he’s been back,” Vrabel said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
UNC hired Belichick to breathe life into its often decent, but rarely great, program. In doing so, it is getting the full BB experience: the good, the bad, the soap opera. Maybe even a winning team.
There’ll be no dull moments. Carolina should understand this, though, about its new coach. Belichick tends to feed off feuds.
Belichick’s motivation to build the Patriots came, in part, to show he was more than Bill Parcells’ defensive coordinator. Battles with the league office over Spygate and Deflategate sharpened him to help win six Super Bowls.
He has always been about small gestures of defiance, cutting the sleeves off his sweatshirt after the NFL mandated coaches wear Reebok clothing on the sideline, for example. He’s counterculture, even as he became the culture — or unexpected fashion influencer.
His fight with Kraft is just the latest.
Beyond no longer being the Patriots coach, Belichick was often portrayed poorly in a 2024 Apple TV 10-part docuseries “The Dynasty,” the distribution rights of which are owned by Kraft, according to reporting by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. The team has denied any editorial influence over the project.
The response has been classic Belichick.
His autobiography “The Art of Winning” released last summer contained not a single mention of Kraft, his boss of 24 years. He and partner Jordon Hudson have also engaged in a trademark war with the Patriots over certain phrases (“Do Your Job,” for example) that the team currently owns. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, per reporting by ESPN’s Mike Rothstein, has refused Belichick’s requests.
Then there were Belichick’s comments to the Boston Globe about the positives of being a college coach.
“There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son, there’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that,” Belichick said. “But it’s way less of what it was at that level. …
“I’d say when we had our best years in New England, we had fewer people and more of a direct vision. And as that expanded, it became harder to be successful.”
The palace intrigue over the NFL’s greatest dynasty will rage for years, particularly involving the triumvirate of Belichick, Brady and Kraft, the owner who has never been shy about trying to grab some spotlight. It’s always interesting. Blame can shift because of perspective. Credit as well.
Just last week, Kraft, at least publicly, tried to offer an olive branch when he told WBZ-TV that he wanted a Belichick statue outside Gillette Stadium, alongside Brady’s.
“When Bill’s coaching career ends, we look forward to sitting down with him and having a statue made to be right next to Tommy,” Kraft said.
Apparently, Belichick was unmoved.
None of this has any obvious impact on winning the ACC, which is the goal of Belichick’s current job. That said, it doesn’t necessarily hurt the cause.
One of the risks in hiring a 73-year-old as a first-time college coach is that he would view the job as something to occupy his time, work with his kids and have some fun. That has mostly been the case for former NFL coaches landing in the NCAA, and it rarely works.
Belichick’s bitterness toward the Patriots to the extent that their scouts are barred from Chapel Hill is at least a sign of something different. Belichick knows the shots back at Foxborough don’t carry much weight if UNC is losing. Living well, after all, is the best revenge.
Belichick might be relentlessly focused on actually reaching the College Football Playoff … if only to show up Kraft.
Who cares about the motivation? The results are what matter.
And just imagine if, along the way, he learns to hate Duke or Dabo as much.
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