DALLAS--Oliver Luck is out. Could former Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum replace him on the College Football Playoff selection committee?
Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, who played for Slocum at Texas A&M, says he'd like to see the retired coach be Luck's replacement after the former West Virginia athletic director took a position with the NCAA earlier this month.
"Every region you look at was represented and another coach from this area would balance it out," Bennett said. "With Oliver gone, there's a guy down in College Station, he might not appreciate me plugging him, but I'm going to plug him. He's a guy that would fit in with what they're looking for."
Bennett also said he'd support former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes or former Texas coach Mack Brown earning the Big 12's now-vacant representation on the committee and echoed coach Art Briles' concerns that the Southwest was underrepresented on last year's committee that kept the Bears out of the top four in favor of Ohio State.
Texas A&M is now a member of the SEC, but Slocum won the Aggies' lone Big 12 title in 1998.
"What Art said is true. Nobody from the Southwest was represented. Oliver Luck is not a guy that's going to represent the Southwest," Bennett said. "I'm good friends with and I respect Barry Alvarez, but you've got Barry, you've got Coach (Tom) Osborne, Tyrone Willingham. Who are they going to listen to in that room? They're going to listen to the coaches."
Luck does not have a coaching background, but did earn his law degree from Texas and spent seven years working in professional sports in Houston and played for the Houston Oilers from 1982-86.
Bennett described Alvarez as a "take charge" personality and said committee chairman Jeff Long has "no football knowledge."
"Who do you think was running those meetings?" he said.
Bennett said he was "upset" at Baylor being left out but stressed he didn't want to characterize the committee's decision as "a mistake."
"That job was almost a can't-win. The way it fell down, who would have ever thought Ohio State would beat Wisconsin 59-0?" Bennett said. "I think they did what they thought was best and they worked hard."
He did, however, take issue with the Big 12's insistence on naming co-champions per the league bylaws, despite Baylor's 61-58 win over TCU.
"The head to head deal, if it doesn't mean something, it's stupid," he said. "It's ridiculous. We have to look at that."
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