Look how much success Johnson has had with the triple option at Navy and Georgia Tech. I think when you’re Vandy, you’ve gotta break with convention. Vandy’s not going to win many games playing by everyone else’s rules.

That’s why I think Vandy should interview Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo who runs the identical triple option as Paul Johnson at Ga Tech. Its a great fit.

First, Vandy is a terrific academic school in a great college town setting, that has always had some good recruiting except depth -perfect for KN who knows how to recruit smart kids to Annapolis. Building a system team allows Vandy to target and land some of the high fliers they seem to attract and still be effective without that wall-to-wall depth that’s necessary to compete in the SECe.

Second, there’s room for two triple options in the deep south. Niumatalolo’s current QB Ricky Dobbs shows how dangerous the system is with a dual threat running/passing QB; and add some smart OL and build a defense, and Vandy becomes a very, very tough nut to crack week-in-and-week-out.

Third, it’s clear that Vandy isn’t going to attract one of the top assistants. Malzahn’s cold feet proves GM’s point that fear of being tagged with a losing record is going to scare off a lot of a top assistants. They will think (probably correctly) that Chizik only made it to a top program like Auburn in spite of 5-and-19 record at Iowa State, not because he had good HC experience. As far as I can remember, only Gary DiNardo left Vandy for a better gig - and that was a disastrous run at LSU in the early 1990s.

Fourth, I think its a mistake to turn Vandy over to an assistant, when they need to be looking for a head. Bobby Johnson was a good choice even if he didn’t pan out … from his winning days at Furman, he knew how to be a HC. Even then, he got chewed up by the SEC. Throwing an assistant from below the top ranks isn’t smart in my book. The chance for a coaching flub increases exponentially. Niumatalolo has already proven he can head coach at a top academic school.

Now that Al Golden is at Miami, Niumatalolo is Vandy’s best choice. Maybe we better hope the Vandy administration doesn’t realize that.

Not what I would’ve gone with, but it’ll sound less goofy the more people say it. I predict after a while it will actually sound illustrious.