Mountaintop View 9-1-21. 43 coaches to watch, Lobo tradition, MWC rankings, Underrated Team, XC rankings.

Welcome to the first day of September. With September comes college football, and the Mountain West will be on display Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. As always, the links press on. Check out what is coming your way today as the links press on.

43 coaches to watch.

This Athletic article takes a look at 43 different head coaches or assistants worth keeping an eye on this season because they are likely to be targeted for more high-profile jobs this coming offseason. Nevada’s Jay Norvell checks in at #5 (who could sell high if he has a strong season and will likely lose the core of his offense), while Brent Brennan is #11 (like last year, he should be a name to come up in any vacancy on the west cost). Sadly, no MWC assistants are mentioned.

Lobos will honor past with retired numbers.

But not in the way you think, it’s actually pretty cool. Numbers 42 (Bobby Santiago) and 44 (Brian Urlacher) have been retired for quite awhile but are being brought back out as a way to honor the past. Head Coach Danny Gonzales wants to start a new tradition where two players are chosen each year to wear the numbers to highlight specific parts of Lobo history and celebrate them. 44 will be given to one defensive player that best exemplifies how Urlacher played on the field, while 42 will represent a local player to exemplify the homegrown players on the team.

Chris Murray’s MWC rankings.

Murray may be biased sometimes but he’s one of the best beat writers in the confernce. He releases his initial rankings and makes a case for three teams to be at the top and calls them all equal, before settling on the Wolf Pack as the #1 team. However, it’s more interesting to see how he ranks the rest of the conference as the season is set to start.

Three MWC players make the All-Underrated Team.

Sites are trying to squeeze in the last of the offseason content before the season officially kicks off this week. PFF makes an all-underrated team based on their grading system. Elijah Cooks, Jack Snyder, and Jake Stetz all make the team from the Mountain West.

Aggies make history with XC Ranking.

On the horizon:

• Later today: Peak Perspective: Reviewing the 1st Year of the Mountain West Media Deal
• Later today: Week 0 Bowl Predictions.
• Later today: Boise State preview
• Thursday: Peak Perspective: The Avalos era is very similar to the Harsin era... so far.
• Thursday: Previews from Air Force, SJSU, and more.
• Friday: More game previews coming your way.