Why don't you wait to see what happens before calling him FOS. Right now he says he likes them and why.
We were playing big OOC games when it could just as easily could have cost us a chance for the CFP, when a single loss eliminated us. Smart didn't dodge them then, he sought them out. It's actually better with the 12 team CFP where you can lose a tough OOC and still get in, and SOS will matter.
Look at our OOC schedule in the future ... we have some years where we have 2 big OOC games:
2026 - Louisville, UCLA
2027 - FSU, Louisville
2028 - Texas, FSU (Texas game will be dropped obviously)
2029 - Texas, Clemson (Texas game will be dropped obviously)
2030 - Clemson, TOSU
2031 - tOSU, OU (OU game will be dropped)
2033 - Clemson, NCState
So with 8 IC games, we most often scheduled two tough OOC. Does that strike you as a coach that is scared of competition?
I am sure we will move some of them around because (1) we now have gaps in 28, 29, and 31, and (2) with a 9 game IC schedule no way were a going to play two tough OOC games, plus Tech. We might even have to cancel some for the same reason.
I am going to be real interested in seeing what your new schedule is going to look like with 16/20 teams. The SEC is going balls to the wall with our 9 game IC, 3-6-6 format. Will be interesting to see if your conference does the same.
When your team actually schedule 1 tough OOC then you can bitch.