Sports spotlight hits Nashville
January’s college football awards show latest event to bolster city’s profile
Imagine the possibilities. All 128 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches in one place, and a national TV audience.
That’s what we’ll have in Nashville on Jan. 10, the Grand Ole Opry House filled with every program leader in the sport, including the two who played for the national title the night before — meaning Nick Saban should be very ornery, unless he somehow doesn’t end up winning it all and is downgraded to nuclear.
I’m guessing the first American Football Coaches Association awards show (8 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network) won’t be exactly like the Oscars but will have star power (and more than a quarterbillion dollars of annual salary in that room). For example, the best former Alabama offensive coordinator who went on to become head coach at Florida Atlantic will be on hand.
You know, Howard Schnellen- berger, one of several legends who is expected, along with Phillip Fulmer, Gene Stallings and Vince Dooley. But Lane Kiffin, the second-best former Alabama offensive coordinator to take over at FAU, is back in the head coaching game just in time. How about a We Are the Champions duet with Butch Jones?
Perhaps Jim Harbaugh and Saban can lead a Jets vs. Sharks number with the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference coaches. Mike Leach in a pirate uniform, P.J. Fleck rowing the boat, Derek Mason dropping the anchor, the possibilities are endless.
This brainchild of local media executive Greg Hill could be fun — and it will stress local, with exTennessee Titans star and 1995 Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George hosting. Even if it’s not quite as wacky as we’d like, it will count as the latest example of Nashville becoming one of the country’s major sports hubs. Nashville has been a leader in music, entertainment and food, and the sports scene is ascending.
It’s not just that the two pro franchises are trending upward, the Titans the most pleasant surprise in the NFL this season and the Predators an NHL Stanley Cup hopeful despite an uneven start. It’s not just that the area is loaded with quality college men’s and women’s basketball teams.
It’s the Sounds, too, offering a top-notch baseball experience at First Tennessee Park. It’s the St. Jude Rock ’n’ Roll Nashville Marathon, luring 30,000 runners each year.
It’s soccer, with a United Soccer League franchise coming in and an ongoing push for an MLS team. Monday came the announcement that Nissan Stadium would host a 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup doubleheader featuring the U.S. national team.
“An important step,” said Butch Spyridon, president of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. “We’ve had plenty of friendlies, but this is our first truly competitive game that counts.”
The Nashville area boasts the World Series MVP (Ben Zobrist), the American League’s almost- MVP (Mookie Betts) and college football’s national coach of the year (Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre, formerly of Brentwood Academy and Vanderbilt).
Bridgestone Arena is in the third of 12 consecutive years of having the Southeastern Conference men’s or women’s basketball tournament, and it hosted the women’s Final Four in 2014 and is a men’s NCAA first-weekend site in 2018.
This AFCA event is important for the city, George said, citing an expected 6,000 coaches overall who will attend the annual convention Jan. 8-11.
“This will be good for us on every level,” Spyridon said of an event Nashville is working to land on a rotating basis from here. “Having it be a regular occurrence will be even better for us. This further solidifies our bigevent and sports reputation.”
The AFCA awards have been around since 1935 and have always been valued because the folks in the competitive arena do the choosing.
But now with a TV show? How about Bret Bielema handing out awards in a Santa outfit? So many possibilities.