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Which Hollywood movie star would play each SEC coach in a movie?

No, I haven't watched the Oscars in many years either, but they're airing on Sunday. With that in mind, and since we all love lists and tenuous pop culture tie-ins to college football, here is a list of which Hollywood movie star would play each SEC football coach in a movie.

Meyer-zane_medium

Coach: Urban Meyer, Florida
Hollywood Movie Star: Billy Zane

Billy Zane played snooty rich passenger Cal Hockley in James Cameron's 2005 drama Titanic. Hockley never passed up a chance to twist the knife in those less privileged than himself. He made Leonardo DiCaprio downright likable by comparison, a stunning feat of theatrics. Likewise, Urban Meyer has united the rest of the SEC in their hatred of him by being wormy and never passing up a chance to run up the score on teams with lesser rosters.

Richt-harmon_medium

Coach: Mark Richt, Georgia
Hollywood Movie Star: Mark Harmon

They're both named Mark, and they look enough alike with matching butt cuts, sloping foreheads, and laid-back demeanors. If you saw Harmon playing Freddy Shoop in Carl Reiner's 1987 comedy Summer School, you'd know they both started out with big plans that had to be cancelled on account of a group of underachieving misfits. Shoop dreamed of a tropical vacation with his girlfriend, and Coach Richt had hoped for an appearance in the national championship game last season. Both plans ended in disappointment.

(find out who would play the rest of the coaches after the jump)

Star-divide

Spurrier-guttenberg_medium

Coach: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Hollywood Movie Star: Steve Guttenberg

Both are named Steve. Both have anger management problems. Both remember when they were at the top of their respective professions, and it seems so long ago.

Johnson-martin_medium

Coach: Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt
Hollywood Movie Star: Steve Martin

Much as Steve Martin has been stuck with lousy scripts and supporting casts for his recent run of films, Bobby Johnson also has been stuck with lousy schedules and the inherit recruiting limitations at Vanderbilt. And they look alike.

Kiffin-eckhart_medium

Coach: Lane Kiffin, Tennessee
Hollywood Movie Star: Aaron Eckhart

Eckhart looks the part of Kiffin, and played an offensive coordinator in Oliver Stone's 1999 football flick Any Given Sunday. Perhaps more prescient, his turn as Nick Taylor in Jason Reitman's 2005 dark comedy Thank You For Smoking bears a striking resemblance to Kiffin's personality. Taylor, an unapologetic tobacco lobbyist, was an arrogant sleazeball hated by everyone except for the tobacco industry, his family, and a small group of outcast lobbyists. Likewise, Kiffin is perceived as a sleazy jerk by everyone except for Tennessee fans and maybe his family. Eckhart played Two-Face in The Dark Knight, which is nominated for several Oscars this year.

Brooks-eastwood_medium

Coach: Rich Brooks, Kentucky
Hollywood Movie Star: Clint Eastwood

In his most recent film Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood stars as an old dude who actually says "get off my lawn." I frequently imagine Brooks saying that when he's not talking about bull[Fulmerized]. Eastwood was snubbed by the Academy this season. Brooks was snubbed by every defensive coordinator in the league on the way to a 106th place finish in total offense out of 119 teams in 2008.

Saban-pacino_medium

Coach: Nick Saban, Alabama
Hollywood Movie Star: Al Pacino

Both are short with dark hair. Both wear expensive suits. Pacino played a football coach in Any Given Sunday (as a foil to Aaron Eckhart/Lane Kiffin no less!) and Satan in Taylor Hackford's 1999 film Devil's Advocate, so he has plenty of practice for the role already.

Nutt-rourke_medium

Coach: Houston Nutt, Ole Miss
Hollywood Movie Star: Mickey Rourke

Two seasons ago, Houston Nutt "resigned" as Arkansas coach soon after beating the top-ranked team in the country. Razorback fans went all Woodward and Bernstein on him, obtaining his cell phone records through Open Records Requests, revealing some embarrassing text messages to boosters and a relationship with a female newscaster. Mickey Rourke was charged with DUI while riding a scooter in 2007 and earned an Oscar nomination for his role in The Wrestler in 2008. To the extent that a pea brain like mine is capable of understanding such matters, I believe them to be operating on the same wavelength.

Miles-fierstein_medium

Coach: Les Miles, LSU
Hollywood Movie Star: Harvey Fierstein

It's possible Les Miles is really just one of Houston Nutt's multiple personalities. The ideal situation would be to make a film where Miles and Nutt played each other in the style of the 1988 Judge Reinhold-Fred Savage vehicle Vice Versa. Unfortunately, for this exercise we need an actual movie star, so for Les Miles I'm going with Harvey Fierstein. My logic? The only way for a mere actor to capture the whirlwind of teeth, fists and Aqua Velva that is Les Miles is to make a casting decision that Les Miles would make: counterintuitive, strategically unsound, and undeniably entertaining.

Chizik-roberts_medium

Coach: Gene Chizik, Auburn
Hollywood Movie Star: Eric Roberts

Eric Roberts is the guy you hire for your movie when no one else is available or you don't have the budget leftover for someone good. Do I need to spell this one out? There are also Oscar and interlist tie-ins here, as Roberts played mobster Salvatore Maroni in The Dark Knight alongside Lane Kiffin/Harvey Dent/Two-Face.

Mullen-howard_medium

Coach: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Hollywood Movie Star: Clint Howard

Much as Clint Howard has built a modest movie career with help from his more famous brother Ron, Dan Mullen has built a modest coaching career taking credit for Urban Meyer's success. Now he's landed the big role as a mission control radio guy in Apollo 13/Mississippi State head coach!

Petrino-caruso_medium

Coach: Bobby Petrino, Arkansas
Hollywood Movie Star: David Caruso

You remember David Caruso, right? He was on the fasttrack to stardom after one season on the television show NYPD Blue, only to overplay his hand and leave four episodes into the second season to pursue a career as a Hollywood leading man. This led to a pair of forgettable films, Kiss of Death and Jade, and his career seemed to die quietly. Years later, Caruso has risen from the dead on the hit television show CSI Miami. Bobby Petrino's career has followed a similar arch, starting with a promising stint with the Louisville Cardinals only to make a hasty exit and bomb miserably with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. Now he is trying to put his career back together with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Poll
Which actor would give the most accurate portrayal of the SEC coach he was playing?
Billy Zane as Urban Meyer
31 votes
Mark Harmon as Mark Richt
76 votes
Steve Guttenberg as Steve Spurrier
6 votes
Steve Martin as Bobby Johnson
48 votes
Aaron Eckhart as Lane Kiffin
32 votes
Clint Eastwood as Rich Brooks
12 votes
Al Pacino as Nick Saban
87 votes
Mickey Rourke as Houston Nutt
4 votes
Harvey Fierstein as Les Miles
11 votes
Eric Roberts as Gene Chizik
4 votes
Clint Howard as Dan Mullen
3 votes
David Caruso as Bobby Petrino
9 votes

323 votes | Poll has closed

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Comment 17 comments  |  1 recs  | 

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Billy Zane as Urban Meyer??

Not seeing it. Urban Meyer is not a good looking dude by any stretch of the imagination.
Many of the others were very good, though.

by kidbourbon on Feb 19, 2009 10:15 AM EST reply actions  

I might not be the best to judge this "beauty" contest

But I don’t think Billy Zane is a good-looking guy either.

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Feb 19, 2009 10:37 AM EST up reply actions  

Great choices

on Harmon and Eckhart. You know, Richt himself is a little bit of a movie star, if you count Facing The Giants. My favorite part of that one is when he gives this little mini-speech about what it feels like the night before you coach in the championship game. You know, cause he’s won national championships at Georgia, right?

by Will Shelton on Feb 19, 2009 10:46 AM EST reply actions   1 recs

lol

+1 for “You know, cause he’s won national championships at Georgia, right?”

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Feb 19, 2009 10:49 AM EST up reply actions  

Nice work!

I added a page break to make things a little more manageable on the front page, but didn’t change a word, natch.

BTW, I’d have pegged Sean Astin for Lane Kiffin, but I don’t know if he’s actually started aging yet.

by David Hooper on Feb 19, 2009 10:55 AM EST reply actions  

I can see that

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Feb 19, 2009 11:04 AM EST up reply actions  

Sean Astin - Lane Kiffin

Good call on the Sean Astin – Kiffin comparison.

“I don’t know if he’s actually started aging yet” – who? CLK or Sean Astin? I kid, I kid

now with less meyton panning.

by Pride of the Southland on Feb 19, 2009 11:05 AM EST up reply actions  

We could start an over/under

On how many days before CLK/Sean Astin starts shaving.

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Feb 19, 2009 11:08 AM EST up reply actions  

I don't know

but I’m kinda glad he cut this off.

now with less meyton panning.

by Pride of the Southland on Feb 19, 2009 11:43 AM EST up reply actions  

agree

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Feb 19, 2009 11:47 AM EST up reply actions  

I don't know....

….I just get too many Hobbit vibes from Astin….

by sddbaker on Feb 19, 2009 2:09 PM EST up reply actions  

Yeah

Too bad Corso’s movie career hasn’t taken off yet. He did make a cameo in The Waterboy though.

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Feb 19, 2009 11:30 AM EST up reply actions  

This is awesome

Simply awesome

When you are an Alabama fan you are expected to hate Auburn, I hate Tennessee because I want to.

by bammer on Feb 20, 2009 12:22 PM EST reply actions  

Huh?

You know, cause he’s won national championships at Georgia, right?

Wait, so Mark Richt gives a speech in a movie about “coaching” in a championship game and that’s somehow translated into him not knowing what he’s talking about or is not “qualified” because he hasn’t won a MNC at Georgia. He’s coached in 3 MNC with FSU, winning 2, and coached in 3 SECCG at UGA, agian winning 2, but he somehow has no idea about what he’s talking about because he hasn’t won a MNC as a head coach at UGA. You might want to put a little more thought into those verbal jabs before you throw’em. Although if it makes you feel better about yourself or your head coach or program or whatever to throw sarcastic comments at a man who lives by the bible and serves the lord because he hasn’t had the breaks to win a MNC then by all means continue.

Other than the asinine comments it’s a great post. I thought all the comparisons were well done.

by deanpat92 on Feb 20, 2009 2:37 PM EST reply actions  

This is priceless......

Very funny guys, but Eastwood for Brooks is a stretch, and Fierstein for the mad hatter is just to good, can’t you just see that gay scratchy voice and the hat. Just too Funny!!!!!

Well, are you gonna pull them pistols, or whistle dixie?

by jtCRIMSON on Feb 21, 2009 9:44 AM EST reply actions  

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