We are officially at the halfway point of Coach Match. Five conferences completed and five conferences remain, starting today with the ACC.
Action Network contacted each of the 133 FBS head coaches and asked the following question: Who is your favorite musical artist or group? Each coach was able to provide only one answer.
Thursday’s ACC Hint
Today’s ACC lineup feature Boston College’s Jeff Hafley, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Duke’s Mike Elko, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm and Miami’s Mario Cristobal.
First hint: Georgia Tech’s Brent Key had no hesitation telling me his favorite artist. He said he’s been a fan of this artist since he was 12 years old and has been to dozens of his concerts. OK, that’s not much of a hint, so I’ll tell you Key’s favorite musician is a solo artist and a Southern Miss grad.
Poor Mike Norvell. When he was coaching Memphis, he told me his favorite artist was Tom Petty. Now Norvell is at Florida State, and this Florida school in Gainesville, which just happens to be where Petty grew up, honors Petty by playing “I Won’t Back Down” after the third quarter of each home game.
Unsurprisingly, Norvell opted for a new favorite. This time he picked a solo artist, who tragically died of cancer at the age of 36.
One last hint: No coach picked the same group.
Tomorrow’s Coach Match (Friday, Aug. 18) — ACC Part 2
NC State’s Dave Doeren, North Carolina’s Mack Brown, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi, Syracuse’s Dino Babers, Virginia’s Tony Elliott, Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry and Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson.
And again, here's the full Coach Match schedule from now through Saturday, Aug. 26:
- Aug. 7-8: AAC
- Aug. 9-10: Mountain West
- Aug. 11-12: Sun Belt
- Aug. 13-14: MAC
- Aug. 15-16: Pac-12
- Aug. 17-18: ACC
- Aug. 19-20: CUSA & Independents
- Aug. 21-22: Big 12
- Aug. 23-24: Big Ten
- Aug. 25-26: SEC
Coach Match Instructions
To guess, click the music artist you think matches each coach from left to right. Some coaches might have the same answer, so you can pick the same artist for multiple coaches. When you have selected an artist for each coach, hit submit. A green box means that artist is correct, a yellow box means that artist was selected by another coach and a gray box means no coach picked this artist.
After completion of Coach Match, click the "share on Twitter" button. One individual daily will be randomly selected for some free Action Network gear if (a) you tweeted your response and (b) you are following @ActionNetworkHQ and @Brett_McMurphy on Twitter.
For each day’s Coach Match, I will provide a hint to hopefully make it a little easier to solve. We will post a new Coach Match daily at 9 a.m. ET, so check back every day.
Guess each coach's favorite artist or band!
