The post-Week 1 Mailbag is one of my favorites of the entire year, because I get to field everybody’s gross overreactions to the results of one football game. But it seems like with each passing year, I get far fewer “Is my team going to win the national championship now?” than I do “How soon can we fire our coach?”

Gotta ask this while I can. Is it possible LSU with Ed Orgeron ended up with the better head coach than Texas? College football has a long history of hot coordinators who end up not excelling when they move into the head coaching position, so why is everyone so sold on Tom Herman?

John H.

I don’t know why you guys continually keep trying to get me to say something that doesn’t respect one of these two coaches. I’m not going to! SO QUIT ASKING!

(Sorry. I apologize.)

First of all, I was never as down on Orgeron as most of my counterparts. In my January 2017 “grading the hires” column for a previous employer, I gave Texas an A for landing Herman and LSU an A- for promoting Orgeron. Others couldn’t get over either the fact he was LSU’s third choice (behind Herman and Jimbo Fisher) or that he bombed in his first SEC head coaching stint at Ole Miss. But it’s been well-documented how drastically Orgeron changed his approach to coaching after that failed 2005-07 stint in Oxford, leading to impressive interim head coaching stints at USC (6-2 in 2013) and LSU (6-2 in 2016).

On top of that, Coach O is basically Mr. Louisiana. It was a perfect fit. But he lost to Troy in his first season in the permanent job, and people immediately wrote him off as being unqualified for such a high-profile program.

I had low expectations for LSU this season, not because of Orgeron’s coaching ability but because of some holes in the roster created by the Les Miles/Orgeron transition. So color me extremely impressed by the way the Tigers came out against Miami. It sure looks like they’ll boast another dominant defense (though losing LB K’Lavon Chaisson for the season was a big blow), QB Joe Burrow managed the game well and previously unsung RB Nick Brossette showed he can have an impact.

As for Herman … look, I get it. When you’re the head coach at Texas, losing consecutive season openers to Maryland is inexcusable. Especially when the ’Horns looked just as lackluster on offense as they have for the past several years. But I’m puzzled as to just how quickly people have turned on a guy who was THE hot coach in the country less than two years ago.

It’s not like Herman went straight from Ohio State offensive coordinator to one of the most scrutinized coaching jobs in the country. His two years as Houston’s head coach included a 13-1 season with a bowl win over a Playoff team from the year before (Florida State) and wins the next year over highly ranked teams with Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson as their quarterbacks.

The guy was qualified for this job. And I’m not throwing in the towel on him 14 games into his Texas tenure. But the backlash is starting to feel similar to that of predecessor Charlie Strong, who himself came to Austin after a successful tenure at what was then a Big East school, Louisville. Herman needs to start winning games against respected foes — like, say, USC a week from Saturday — to cool down all the heat being directed his way.

I can come up with a dozen ways I can spin Monday night’s Florida State performance into being not horrific, but I can’t think of any way to spin it to be good. On a scale of 1-10, how panicked should I be about Willie Taggart’s debut?

Josh, Orlando

There was absolutely nothing positive about that 24-3 debacle. The only possible spin I can think of is to say, hey, it could be worse. Taggart lost to McNeese State 53-21 in his first game as USF’s head coach in 2013, and after an admittedly brutal first two seasons went on to go 13-3 in conference play in his final two years, winning 10 games in 2016 and producing star QB Quinton Flowers.

Didn’t help? Fair enough.

I’d hit 7 on the panic button, mostly because Monday’s performance confirmed what I’ve been saying for eight months — that Jimbo Fisher’s program had far more problems by the time he left than Deondre Francois getting hurt against Alabama. If Francois’ absence was the sole reason FSU went 7-6 last season, then you would have expected him to come out and light the world on fire against Virginia Tech, not throw three interceptions and get sacked five times.

Taggart’s team seemed unprepared and sloppy. He and his staff made some very questionable decisions (most notably that Cam Akers direct-snap play near the goal line that resulted in a fumble). But it’s time to acknowledge this was never going to be an overnight fix. Some may find that hard to believe given FSU signed top-five recruiting classes near-annually under Fisher, but if recruiting classes always panned out, USC and LSU would make the Playoff every year.

(Joe Rondone / USA TODAY Sports)

FSU’s offensive line is a big, big problem for one, and it has been for several years. The running backs and receivers pass the eye test, but I don’t know that any of them are Dalvin Cook and Kelvin Benjamin. The ’Noles do still appear to be stacked on defense, but even there, Virginia Tech QB Josh Jackson had more success throwing against that secondary than I would have expected.

If you were among those ’Noles fans who thought Taggart would come in and win 10 games in his first season, then yes, absolutely start panicking, because that’s not realistic. But if you’re freaking out that your new coach may be a colossal bust … I’d encourage you to take a few deep breaths. Maybe take a yoga class or do so some meditation. The guy’s coached one game.

I noticed you have Notre Dame No. 8 in your Top 10, but the Irish are not in your projected New Year’s Six field. Is their schedule just too challenging for them to go 10-2?

Robert K.

I fully admit there are some inconsistencies there, most notably with Oklahoma and Ohio State. For the Top 10, I wanted to reward teams for quality Week 1 victories, whereas the projections remain predictions (sure to be mostly wrong) about how the season plays out. For example, LSU’s brutal schedule makes it difficult for me to imagine the Tigers finishing better than 9-3, but if you’re not going to put a team in the Top 10 after crushing Miami, what’s the point of the rankings in the first place?

When it comes to those projections, I really tried to avoid overreacting to Week 1 results. It’s one thing to drop Washington from the Playoff field, because that’s based on the tangible consequences of the Huskies’ Auburn loss. It’s another to say, well, beforehand I thought Notre Dame was going to finish 8-4, but man, they looked really good against Michigan, so Fiesta Bowl here we come.

But man, they did look really good. Brandon Wimbush didn’t finish with an amazing stat line, but he showed improved accuracy and proved extremely resilient against a Michigan defensive front that got in his face all night. If he can build on that performance, Notre Dame could win a lot of games. Because I don’t think there was anything fluky about the Irish’s defensive performance.

The schedule is tough. To get to a New Year’s Six bowl — which likely would mean going at least 9-3 and possibly 10-2 — the Irish probably will have to win two of three road games against Virginia Tech, Northwestern and USC. Or be perfect at home, including against Stanford, which put up 31 points on San Diego State last Friday despite Bryce Love having nearly no impact. Both are possible, but I’m not ready to make that proclamation just yet.

I also realize there are a lot of Notre Dame fans reading this who could care less about New Year’s Six and are indignant that I’m not discussing their Playoff chances. To which I would make the same yoga or meditation recommendations that I gave to the Florida State fans.

Maria Taylor seemed to have hit a nerve with Nick Saban in that postgame interview. Do you think he’s feeling pressure to incorporate Jalen Hurts into his game plan? With Tua looking so good, where does Jalen fit in?

Bo B.

I’ll try to answer this for you, but just know going in that if I get asked to vilify a player and make another one a crown prince publicly, I might not respond to that. …

The whole thing is just bizarre. Saban spent all offseason deflecting quarterback questions, and while he always seemed overly annoyed by the situation, I mostly understood why he didn’t want to address which one would start the season opener. He was hardly the only coach out there to keep his quarterback decision under wraps until the moment his starter trotted onto the field for the first time.

But this was AFTER the game, a game in which Tua not only started but also played six of the first eight series, by which point his team led 34-0. So it’s not exactly a state secret at that point that Tua is going to be the primary quarterback going forward and Jalen will come in for select series. And it’s not like Maria’s question was something to the effect of, “Talk about how awesome Tua was,” she basically gave him an open-ended opportunity to discuss the quarterbacks however he liked.

Reading between the lines, Saban is being extra sensitive about being seen as disparaging of Hurts in any way — because he can’t afford to lose him yet. Alabama only has three scholarship quarterbacks, and one of them, redshirt freshman Mac Jones, is considered an only-in-an-emergency option. Given Hurts’ father’s “free agent” comment this offseason, and given Hurts’ criticism of the way Saban handled questions about his possible transfer at SEC Media Days, perhaps he really wants to be seen as defending Hurts’ honor.

But Hurts has said he’s not going to transfer before he graduates in December. Given the new redshirt rule, I suppose it’s possible he could opt to shut it down for the season after four games to preserve two years of eligibility, which would surely infuriate Saban. But if that were to happen, it wouldn’t be because of what Saban is saying to the media, it would be because Hurts is now a backup who’s unlikely to reclaim the starting job.

This much we know: Very little of what Saban ever says to the media isn’t pre-planned. He’s not one to shoot from the hip. So there’s some strategy behind his aggressive handling of these questions. I just think it’s unnecessary.

Everybody is hyping Scott Frost, but this is now three years in a row he’s had a game canceled due to weather. Why can’t he and his coaching staff get this fixed? I’m worried this speaks to a larger problem within the program. You never see Nick Saban’s games getting canceled.

John W.

Let’s just hope Bruce Feldman doesn’t get assigned to be the sideline reporter for any Nebraska games this season. Between Bruce’s track record with lightning delays and Frost’s history of hurricane cancellations, I don’t even want to imagine what apocalyptic weather event might hit that stadium.

How concerned are you for Michigan State and Penn State? Are there any glaring problems you believe will knock either team out of Big Ten title contention?

Riley O., Milwaukee

I’m not the least bit concerned about Michigan State, because ugly Friday night openers are a Mark Dantonio tradition. Utah State has a decent program, and I’m not going to worry that a closer-than-it-should-have-been 38-31 Michigan State victory signals that a returning 10-win team with one of the most experienced lineups in the country is going to be a massive disappointment.

As for Penn State, it very nearly lost to Appalachian State, so yeah, that’s a bit concerning. Especially since we already had questions about the Nittany Lions after losing so many key defensive players from last season. New Appalachian State QB Zac Thomas went out and led four touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. Even some of Penn State’s veterans like CBs John Reid (who missed all of last season) and Amani Oruwariye (before his game-sealing interception) struggled.

But even there, I’m not ready to abandon ship yet because A) Appalachian State is really good (30-9 over the past three seasons), and Scott Satterfield is going to be a Power 5 head coach sooner than later; B) lots of teams have close calls or even bad losses in the opener and go on to have great seasons; and C) Penn State still has Trace McSorley. The veteran QB saved the day for the Nittany Lions, as he has with so many strong performances over the last three years, and his presence alone is cause to maintain confidence.

If you’re going to forecast the Big Ten East race based only off the first weekend, you might as well just pencil in Ohio State for Indianapolis. Though I’m sure Maryland will give the Buckeyes a good challenge. But yeah, forget about Michigan State, Penn State and Michigan. Pretenders, all of them. Heck, Rutgers had no problem taking care of business against Texas State, so what’s its excuse?

What are your Heisman thoughts after Week 1?

Brison H.

I don’t really have any. Unless we can give it to the Microsoft engineer who designed Mike Leach’s playbook last week.

How big is Texas A&M vs. Clemson for the rest of college football? If Texas A&M wins that game, will there be any way of stopping the SEC West from dominating the Playoff debate for the entire year?

Bret C., Seoul

If Texas A&M beats the No. 2 team in the country a week after Auburn beat then-sixth-ranked Washington, LSU clubbed then-eighth-ranked Miami, Alabama put up 51 points on Louisville and Ole Miss handily beat Texas Tech, we may be in for an even more extreme version of the 2014 season. That year, the first-ever Playoff committee rankings in late October featured three SEC West teams in the top four (Mississippi State, Auburn and Ole Miss) and a fourth (Alabama) in the top six. The Tide ultimately emerged as SEC champ and Playoff representative, but not before I for one declared it the toughest division in the history of the sport.

Right before its teams went 2-5 in bowl season.

Interestingly, though, the domino effect that set that collective over-ranking in motion mostly involved SEC teams beating other SEC teams. First, on the opening Thursday night of the season, Texas A&M clobbered ninth-ranked South Carolina, sending the Aggies soaring up the charts. Then Mississippi State crushed A&M on its way to reaching No. 1 in the country. Ole Miss asserted its credibility by beating Alabama, and then the Tide came soaring back by beating Mississippi State. See how that works?

But in this case, we’re talking about the possibility for three enormous non-conference victories against the preseason favorites in the ACC (Clemson), Pac-12 (Washington) and ACC Coastal (Miami). While still a small sample size, that would be one heck of a credibility boost. And it would set the table for SEC teams to rack up quality wins against one another all season long, starting with the LSU-Auburn winner Sept. 15.

To me, the more interesting ramification of an A&M upset Saturday would be the effect on Clemson and the ACC. Coming on the heels of Miami’s and Florida State’s Week 1 bombs, the conference’s overwhelming favorite going down the very next week would put that league’s Playoff hopes very much in jeopardy, with the Pac-12 already facing much the same predicament to some degree. Who the heck’s going to make the Playoff at that point?

Oh wait, I know. Three SEC teams and Notre Dame.

(Top photo by Matthew Pearce / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)