ESPN asked every FBS college football coach about their tastes in music. Namely, ESPN asked every coach who their favorite musician is, and shocker! A lot of college football coaches aren’t exactly hip.
As Brett McMurphy wrote, the top vote getters broke down thusly:
- 5 votes: Kenny Chesney, Eagles, George Strait
- 4 votes: Garth Brooks
- 3 votes: AC/DC, Toby Keith, Dave Matthews Band, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, The Temptations, Led Zeppelin
Nothing here is really surprising, save for maybe the fact that Springsteen isn’t more popular because everyone assumes that coaches and sportswriters love Springsteen. There were, however, several wonderful tidbits in here, including …
1. Dana Holgorsen is one of the coaches who enjoys Prince
More than anything in my life, I want to listen to Prince and drink Red Bull with Dana Holgorsen. In fairness, I’d do essentially anything that involves drinking Red Bull with Dana Holgorsen – reshingle a roof, go whitewater rafting, etc. – but listening to Prince seems like extra fun. The other coaches who are Prince stans are Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Kent State’s Paul Haynes, but they are not as delightful as Holgo.
2. Bill Snyder enjoys Foreigner …
… and keeps a Foreigner CD in his car. He didn’t pick Foreigner as his favorite act – that honor went to Frank Sinatra – but he did say it came in second. Imagine Bill Snyder in a car scream singing “I Want to Know What Love Is” after the Wildcats win a game in which they accrue 172 yards of total offense. That has very possibly happened before!
3. Jim Harbaugh apparently likes Bob Marley
4. David Cutcliffe picked John Mellencamp
This is cool because Mellencamp’s son, Hud, walked on at Duke. The thought of Cutcliffe losing his mind on Hud’s recruiting trip because he got to dap up his favorite musician makes me laugh, because I am an idiot.
5. Three coaches declined to answer
Stanford’s David Shaw, Marshall’s Doc Holliday, and Minnesota’s Tracy Claeys all didn’t get back to ESPN. I’m not in the business of speculating what music people like, but both Holliday and Michael W. Smith are 59 years old and from West Virginia, so I’m gonna go with that.
6. Urban Meyer picked Sister Hazel
This probably happened because Sister Hazel is from Gainesville and Meyer coached at Florida. But still, this is the best answer any coach gave. If there is a video of Urban Meyer singing “All for You” at karaoke, I will pay you $50,000 for it.*
* – NOTE: I will not do this.
