Navy Accepts Invitation To Play In The Meineke Car Care Bowl

Colleges & Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
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<p>*2. Paul Johnson is the best head coach in college football. Period. *
Boston College should've killed Navy. Talk all you want about the distractions from Tom O'Brien leaving for NC State, but that shouldn't have made up for the talent gap. There are few Midshipmen who'd make the Eagle two deep, yet it was a battle right up until Reggie Campbell put the ball on the turf for BC's miraculous win. The Eagles had a month to prepare for the option and still couldn't handle it. More amazingly, the Navy defense held its own up until the final drive. Wake Forest's Jim Grobe is the coach of the year, and there were great jobs done up and down the board this season, but no one does more with less on a consistent basis than Johnson. I'd like to see what June Jones and Mike Leach could do with five-star talent, but I'd much rather see what Johnson's option would do with a slew of top recruits. Which leads me to...</p>

<p>1. Bowl games are about the coaches
In the grind of the season, coaches have to prepare on the fly and get into a groove when it comes to preparation, but it's on the players to keep focused through school, girlfriends, and the daily routine. It's different when it comes to the bowls.</p>

<p>The matchups, by design, are supposed to be nearly even, and with weeks upon weeks to prepare, and all the extra practices, it's up to the coaches to use that time to scope out every trend and tendency possible and get the team ready. Sometimes during the season a team can be flat, tired, and beaten up; there's almost nothing most coaches can do if the team just doesn't have it. There's no excuse for bowl games.</p>

<p>Nine times out of ten, the losing team, or the heavy favorite that got pushed to the wall, like Texas and Boston College, got outcoached. Outside of Navy's Paul Johnson and Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, and maybe Tulsa's Steve Kragthorpe, name the coach of a losing bowl team that you'd rather have over the winner.</p>