College coaches Musical Choice Awards: The good, the bad and the yikes

On Wednesday morning, college football insider Brett McMurphy published an article that listed each FBS coaches’ favorite musical act. The parameters were simple: You could only pick one artist or group. Some answers were good, some were pretty bad and some we’re just downright lies.

So I decided to give out awards for the best and worst answers. Side note, I wish they would have done this when Bill Snyder was still around. Can you imagine? He’d probably say like Patsy Cline or something. (Editor’s note: Patsy Cline is the only thing that would get my youngest daughter to sleep in the car so she’s a legend and this whole article is BS!)

Firstly, I must preface this and say that music is subjective and everyone has their own tastes. I wouldn’t be a fair critic if I didn’t put my own musical tastes out there. I was raised on the the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s and that has stuck with me into my adult life. Play the hits as they say.

Fleetwood Mac is my favorite artist, and my favorite song is Mary Jane’s Last Dance by Tom Petty. At least now you know my baseline for judging music. Despite those being my go to’s I think I have a pretty wide range in musical tastes, so I am going to fire off my opinions whether you like it or not.

Let’s hand out some awards.

Our first category is the Painfully Obvious Award, this award goes to the coaches that named their favorite artist and you thought “of course”. Here are the nominees:

Dabo Swinney, Clemson – Garth Brooks

Ed Orgeron, LSU – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Pat Narduzzi, Pitt – AC/DC

Lane Kiffin, FAU – Bon Jovi

And the winner is....

Ed Orgeron, LSU – Creedence Clearwater Revival

I mean come on. Coach O loving some CCR was the easiest guess on the list. Coach O and CCR go together like shrimp and grits. I wouldn’t be surprised if Coach O’s alarm clock tone is “Born on the Bayou”. He probably wakes up to some CCR and wrestles gators before heading off to football practice. Louisiana sounds awesome.

Our second category of the night is the Biggest Surprise Award, which goes to the coach who completely shocked me with their musical selection. The nominees are:

Dave Clawson, Wake Forest – Talking Heads

Dana Holgorsen, Houston – Prince

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State – Prince

Chip Kelly, UCLA – Mumford & Sons

and the winner is....

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State – Prince

This category was tough, as each one shocked me. I would have never guessed that Dave Clawson was a Talking Heads guy, or that Chip Kelly was a fan of the Stomp & Holler genre. Despite that, I would have NEVER pegged Dana or Gundy as Prince guys. They seem more like Southern Rock guys, more like a Lynyrd Skynyrd or ZZ Top. Maybe it’s just Gundy’s mullet that threw me. All in all though, how could you not be a Prince guy? There aren’t many artists that aren’t more universally loved than Prince. Still, I just don’t see Mike Gundy jamming out to When Doves Cry.

Our third award goes is the I Don’t Believe You/Try Hard Award, which goes to the Coach that probably took this question and thought to use it as a recruiting pitch, or wanted to sound cool. Here are the nominees:

Les Miles, Kansas – 21 Savage

Doc Holliday, Marshall – (doesn’t have a favorite musical act)

Jim Harbaugh, Michigan – Bob Marley

Clay Helton, USC – Ed Sheeran

and the winner is.....

Doc Holliday, Marshall – (doesn’t have a favorite musical act)

Les Miles played it smart. Want kids to come play for a you in Lawrence, Kansas? Relate to them and say one of the hottest artists out right now. Same with Harbaugh who probably just said the first universally loved artist that came to mind. That strategy can backfire though and it did with the other two.

I’m not sure what Clay Helton was thinking by saying Ed Sheeran. Sure he’s good, but NOBODY loves Ed enough to say he’s their favorite artist. That probably put him right back on the hot seat. However, Doc Holliday takes the cake.

Dude... seriously?

You can’t play along and say ONE artist you may happen to like? NOBODY is above liking music. Want a kid to come play for you in Huntington, West Virginia? Then throw out an artist so you don’t look like a grumpy old man who yells at clouds. If Les Miles can do it, so can you.

Our final award goes is the Coach I Want to Have a Beer with Based on their Musical Choice Award, this goes to... I think you get it. The nominees are:

Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State – The Notorious B.I.G.

Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Butch Davis, FIU – Fleetwood Mac

Mike Leach, Washington State – Neil Young

and the winner is.....

Mike Leach, Washington State – Neil Young

To be honest I want to have a beer with each one of these guys based on their selection. Putting some brews back and hanging out with Joe Moorhead is probably a great time. Jamming to RHCP (another one of my favorites) with Lincoln Riley sounds like a ball. Butch gets a nod because he named my favorite artist (suck up), but Mike Leach still reigns supreme.

Look, if I had to choose a coach to have a beer with Mike Leach would be my first answer any day of the week. I can picture it honestly. Sitting in a dive bar booth with Mike Leach discussing conspiracy theories and mascot battles and parallel universes with Neil Young in the background sounds right up my alley. Sign me up.

That wraps up our 2019 College Coaches Music Choice Awards. Thank you for reading, and be sure to share your favorite artists with us. Music is awesome, and despite me giving some coaches a hard time this is a cool list to see. We RARELY get a glimpse of these coaches personalities so its intriguing to see that these guys are in fact human, even if your favorite artist is Phil Vassar (sorry Paul).