4. Mississippi State made a great hire in Scott Stricklin:
You’d have to say that things are pretty stable at Mississippi State
with Dan Mullen as head football coach and Rick Stansbury as the men’s
basketball coach. So continuity is what Mississippi State needed when
athletics director Greg Byrne, an Arizona State grad, announced that he
was returning home to be the AD at Arizona. The Bulldogs made a very
good move in hiring Scott Stricklin, Byrne’s top assistant. Strickland,
40, will bring the same kind of energy to the job. He’s a Mississippi
State grad who will be in that seat for a while. He was instrumental in
hiring Mullen, and the excitement surrounding the Mississippi State
football program is just huge. He was involved in making sure Stansbury
stayed in place when Clemson came courting earlier this year.</p>
Another good candidate at Mississippi State could have been Joe Dean,
Jr., who is now the AD at Birmingham Southern. Dean is a Mississippi
State grad and one of the bright minds in college athletics. Somebody
needs to take a look at that guy.</p>
