College Weekly Report
by Brent Beaird
December 26, 2010
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FLORIDA: Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com has an interesting nugget on his blog last week: "The way I hear it, the board of trustees at Miami told athletic director Kirby Hocutt that he had to replace Randy Shannon with someone with head coaching experience. Hocutt got a feeler from an associate of Will Muschamp, saying the Texas defensive coordinator wanted to know more about the Miami job. Muschamp couldn't even get a phone call from Hocutt. A couple of days later, Urban Meyer resigned at Florida. For Hocutt's sake, Al Golden better win more than Muschamp."
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR NUGGET-Chase Hounshell, who is waiting in the Orlando airport to return home to Ohio from his official visit to UF, had some interesting things to say during his interview with GBN. CWM told Hounshell that though he doesn't have one right now, he plans on naming his new offensive coordinator within the next week. He reiterated his stance that the new OC will run a pro-style offense and have pro (NFL) experience.
Because he has a defensive background, Muschamp said that the new offensive coordinator will have the power to hire his own offensive assistants that fit into his offensive philosophy.
The visitors, along with Muschamp, spent Saturday at Urban Meyer's house. Hounshell said it was like one big happy family. Meyer assured the prospects that he will still be part of the program, at practices, in the weight room. It will be like he's still there, but without the stress. (gatorbait.net)
ADDAZIO HIRED: Steve Addazio has taken the Temple job.
RECRUITING: Hasean Clinton-Dix committed to Alabama in April, but now it appears as if the Florida Gators are making a push for the five-star safety from Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips.
During that visit, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Clinton-Dix met with Florida coach Will Muschamp. And apparently Muschamp, who has been on the job for only a week, made a strong impression, even though Clinton-Dix described their chat as being only "a little conversation but not too much." He has a great personality," Clinton-Dix said. "Laid back, relaxed, calm. He came at me like a normal person. I felt comfortable around him." Clinton-Dix's teammate, tailback Demetrius Hart, a Michigan commit, said he also planned to visit Florida. Because Clinton-Dix and Hart are close friends, Clinton-Dix was asked what he thought the chances were the two would end up playing at the same college. "Eighty-five percent," Clinton-Dix said. (gatorbait.net)
JERNIGAN UPDATE: Despite recently naming a top three, Lake City (FL) defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan played host to a number of programs, according to his coach Craig Howard. "He's narrowed it down to three schools: Florida State, Alabama, and LSU," Howard said. "Last week was a pretty hectic week from a standpoint of a BCS school was either in the home or by the school every day. Coach (Nick) Saban had an in home visit last week. Coach (Teryl) Austin at Florida came before Urban Meyer stepped down and then he came again with the new staff. Michigan, who seems to be out of the running, was there with Coach Rod Smith. Mark Stoops from Florida State came by, as well as Ed Orgeron from USC."
The process doesn't appear to be over for Jernigan. "Tim has visited Michigan, USC, and LSU, so he has two visits left, which he'll take in January after he plays in the Army All-American Bowl on the 8th," said Howard. "It's looking like those two visits will be to Alabama and Florida State. He plans on waiting until signing day." (gatorbait.net)
ALABAMA: Injuries along the University of Alabama offensive line to D. J. Fluker and Barrett Jones have prevented the Crimson Tide's first unit from playing a full game together since a 31-6 win over Florida in early October, after which UA was still unbeaten at 5-0. Since then, Alabama has compiled a 4-3 record. Now, the Crimson Tide approaches the Capital One Bowl against Michigan State with the group up front that it began the season with. And it's a benefit not lost on UA coach Nick Saban.
BARRON UPDATE: Junior safety Mark Barron is looking at three or four months of rehab and recovery after having surgery to repair his torn right pectoral muscle in early December.
"This is not an injury that is going to affect his future in any way," Coach Nick Saban said Saturday. "It is one that will require some down time to heal. That would make spring practices an option should the All-American decide to return for his final year of eligibility. However, should he make the early jump to the NFL, Barron would probably at best probably be limited for the NFL Combine set for Feb. 23-March 1, and the injury could make improving his draft stock extremely difficult. Barron led the Tide with 75 tackles to go with three interceptions, two sacks, nine passes defended and two quarterback hurries.
JUCO ADDITIONS: The Crimson Tide received national letters of intent from Aaron Douglas and Jesse Williams from Arizona Western and former Alabama signee Quinton Dial (6-6, 315) from East Mississippi on Friday. Improving the defensive line was an obvious priority of this signing class, with the 6-foot-4, 330-pound Williams targeted for nose tackle. Rivals ranked Williams the top junior-college prospect in the nation, Dial 14th and Douglas 30th.
Williams is a 6-4, 330-pound defensive lineman originally from who hails from Brisbane, Australia. He recorded 30 tackles in seven games with six tackles for loss and two sacks this past season to go with 46 tackles in 11 games with seven tackles for loss and four sacks as a freshman.
Douglas (6-5, 285), who was a freshman All-American left tackle after moving from tight end at Tennessee in 2009, committed to Alabama earlier this week. During his only season at Western Arizona he earned second-team NJCAA All-America honors. Douglas was also arrested for DUI during Christmas week. All three will enroll in January and participate in both the offseason conditioning program and spring workouts.
UPSHAW RETURNING: Junior Jack linebacker Courtney Upshaw left no doubt that he won't be entering the NFL Draft a year early."I'm planning on coming back to school," he said. Upshaw, who was limited by an ankle injury this season, isn't even submitting a request with the NFL Underclassmen Advisory Committee, which studies them on film and provides a draft-round projection. (bol.com)
SPARTAN INJURY: When Michigan State takes the field for their New Year's Day bowl game, they'll do so without the services of their top wide receiver. The school announced in a press release that B.J. Cunningham has a broken foot and will be unavailable for the Capital One Bowl matchup against Alabama. Cunningham broke the foot during practice this past Saturday, and underwent what the school described as successful surgery the following day.
GEORGIA: According to Georgia247sports.com, UGA athletic director Greg McGarity has confirmed that initial discussions between Georgia and Big Ten schools Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan about doing a possible home-and-home series have taken place. McGarity also confirmed that Georgia has been in contact with Notre Dame. Currently, the Bulldogs have a series with Clemson that is set to expire in 2014, so given the nature of scheduling, it appears nothing will take place before that point and, according to McGarity, a home-and-home of that magnitude might even occur "way down the road." Regardless of when it happens, a home-and-home series with any of the aforementioned schools would be the first time any of them have ever visited Sanford Stadium. Georgia has already added notoriety to its non-conference schedule next year, playing in the 2011 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic against Boise State
Two independent sources have told UGASports that running back Caleb King, appears to be academically ineligible for the Liberty Bowl....There is apparently a second player in the same boat, but not able to confirm who as of yet. A decision to have Shaun Chapas undergo season-ending ankle surgery has opened the door for tight end Bruce Figgins to add another position to his resume - fullback. Coach Mark Richt announced that the Columbus junior has begun taking snaps at the position where he will battle for reps with Fred Munzenmaier, Alexander Ogletree and Dustin Royston. The decision to undergo surgery was made jointly between Bulldogs coaches, trainers and Chapas, who originally suffered the injury in Week 2 against South Carolina. Chapas appeared in 11 games for the Bulldogs this fall, with nine starts rushing 15 times for 44 yards and two touchdowns. The St. Augustine native and team overall captain, also had two catches for 29 yards and scored twice. He underwent surgery Friday. (ugasports.com)
TENNESSEE: Tennessee coach Derek Dooley could be facing two difficult tasks today: preparing the Vols to face North Carolina Dec. 30 in the Music City Bowl and finding a way to keep Justin Wilcox as his defensive coordinator. Wilcox, who was introduced as the final major piece of Dooley's inaugural staff in February, is at the very least a viable candidate of interest, VolQuest.com has confirmed from at least three sources, to succeed Will Muschamp on Mack Brown's Texas staff in the same capacity. Wilcox was given a three-year deal worth a total of $1.875 million when Dooley hired the former Oregon defensive back and son of NFL Hall of Famer Dave Wilcox away from Boise State. (volquest.com)
SECONDARY VIOLATION: According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley was slapped with a secondary violation when he inadvertently posted a message on four-star high school tight end Nick O'Leary's Facebook wall. O'Leary, the grandson of golfing great Jack Nicklaus, is one of the highest-rated players at his position in the country. He had been considering UT, but has reportedly dropped them from consideration.
The Facebook "incident" occurred back in early June, and came to light after documents were obtained by the News Sentinel. Those documents reveal that Dooley's wall posting violated NCAA bylaw 13.4.1.2, which states that "electronically transmitted correspondence that may be sent to a prospective student-athlete (or the prospective student-athlete's parents or legal guardians) is limited to electronic mail and facsimiles. (mrsec.com)
AUBURN: Safety Aairon Savage suffered a broken bone in his ankle and missed the remainder of the regular season plus the SEC title game. There was some hope that he would be able to return for Auburn's bowl game, especially now given the late date (Jan. 10) of the national title. Alas, that does not appear to be the case. The sixth-year senior had started the first seven games of the 2010 season before suffering the injury against Arkansas. (auburnsports.com)
Oregon is a plus-13 in turnover margin, seventh nationally. They have 35 takeaways. Give some credit to players such as Rowe, defensive tackle Brandon Bair, linebacker Casey Matthews, and defensive backs Cliff Harris and John Boyett. (aol.com)
MISSISSIPPI STATE: Mississippi State's home opener against LSU next season has been moved to a Thursday night and will be televised by ESPN. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 15 at Scott Field. It will be the Bulldogs' third game of the season, but first at home after road games against Memphis and Auburn. It's the second straight year Mississippi State has hosted a Thursday night ESPN game. The Bulldogs lost to Auburn 17-14 earlier this season, the SEC opener for both teams. (espn.com)
LSU: : The Tigers' leading rusher is academically ineligible and he will not be permitted to play in the Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M. Les Miles did not specify what Ridley's problems are, but he did say an appeal to the NCAA is planned. Miles said Ridley's issue is a "one-time nothing.""If Ridley can't go, the Tigers' next leading rusher at the tailback spot is freshman Michael Ford. Ford carried the ball 41 times for 235 yards this season.
ACC FOOTBALL
FSU: Island Coast (Cape Coral, Fla.) defensive end Aaron Lynch's high school career is over. With his college paperwork signed, the 6-foot-6, 255-pound defensive end will turn his attention to starting classes at Florida State in January. During the regular season, the nation's No. 7 ranked strong-side end racked up 16 sacks, had over 65 tackles, and an astounding 29 tackles for loss. In a year or so from now, Lynch will be joined by current Island Coast teammate RB Mario Pender, who has already committed to the Seminoles for the recruiting class of 2012.
MORE RECRUITING: Miami Central High rode Devonta Freeman's 308 rushing yards and two touchdowns to a state title win. Freeman is an early enrollee in January to FSU. (orlandosentinel.com)
WAISOME UPDATE: Florida lost their second four-star commitment in a four day period when Groveland (Fla.) South Lake cornerback Nick Waisome decided to decommit from UF and commit instead to Florida State. During his interview yesterday with GBN, as was posted here on the Alley Waisome sounded as though he hadn't shut the door on FSU. He made it official by decommitting from the Gators and will sign with the Seminoles
MIAMI: With Randy Shannon gone, two big-time recruits - Miami Northwestern quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and wide receiver Eli Rogers have committed to Louisville.
JAMES MOURNING: The mother of running back Mike James passed away in a fatal car accident Monday morning. Also injured in the crash were James' sister and nephew, who are currently hospitalized. James left the school to be with his family, and the football program canceled all afternoon activities.
Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, linebackers coach Michael Barrow and receivers coach Aubrey Hill will be part of new UM head coach Al Golden's new Hurricanes coaching staff. (miamiherald.com)
MARYLAND: Ralph Friedgen is out as Maryland's head coach. Per the release, the final year of Friedgen's contract will be bought out by the school, athletic director Kevin Anderson announced Monday afternoon. The buyout is effective January 2nd, 2011, and will cover all of the approximately $2 million in guaranteed compensation and benefits owed to Friedgen through January 2nd, 2012.
With rumors coming fast and furious that Ralph Friedgen has been told he would not be back in 2011, and that Mike Leach will become the Terrapins' next head coach, the Baltimore Sun is reporting that the current head coach has yet to agree with the school's "suggestion" that he retire. Friedgen, we've been told, will likely not retire and will instead force the school to buy him out the final year of his contract.
MORE GENERAL RECRUITING
TONY STEWARD: This is the type of news I certainly despise having to report, but Warchant.com has learned that Menendez LB and five-star prospect Tony Steward has been diagnosed with a torn ACL. Just to let you know, there is no cartilage damage on the knee and Tony had surgery this past Friday. The surgery was perfect and Tony is in good spirits. Also, just to let you know Tony will be able to participate in all the events for the US Army game except obviously not playing in the game. He will fly in that Thursday leading up to the game and still get to experience what it's like to be a US Army All-American. Tony is in a knee cast and the doctors say because he is such a tremendous athlete they have indicated that he is already ahead of schedule with his rehab and is currently doing physical therapy. (warchant.com)
CLOWNEY UDPATE: On Saturday at the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., we learned two new things about the nation's No. 1 prospect, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney from Rock Hill (S.C.) South Pointe. First, apparently Clowney doesn't need any practice to be a dominant force in a game. And second, he also doesn't need to be 100-percent healthy. Despite missing all but one practice during the week and playing with a bum shoulder, Clowney showed everyone why he is the top prospect in the country and could be the top high school football player in decades. Clowney's stat line from a 42-10 South Carolina Sandlapper drubbing of the North Carolina Tar Heel team - 5 tackles (2 solo, 3 assists), 3 sacks for a loss of 15 yards, 2 tackles for a loss of 17 yards and 2 quarterback hurries - doesn't exactly tell the entire story.
HART UPDATE: Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday night in the Class 6A State Championship, falling 42-27 to Miami (Fla.) Central. Four-star all-purpose back Demetrius Hart was kept in check by the Central defense, racking up just 39 yards on 20 rushes. He was able to bust off a 60-yard kick return. On the evening, he had 144 all-purpose yards.
Back in early October, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior committed to Michigan. Despite rumors of a decommitment, Hart remains committed to the Wolverines. "Florida's head coach (Will Muschamp) came down to see me at practice yesterday and he called me last night," Hart said. "I have been talking to a little bit of everybody, Coach (Rick) Trickett (from Florida State)."
Previously, Hart has taken an official visit to Michigan, Alabama, and Auburn. He said that his one pending trip will be his final one. Hart still intends to enroll at the school of his choice next month. "I leave January 21st," Hart said. (rivals.com)
DRUG TESTING: Clemson, Ole Miss, Purdue and UCLA are the only universities among the nation's automatic-qualifying Bowl Championship Series conference schools that do not require a member of its football team to miss any playing time after two positive drug tests, a FanHouse investigative study discovered. However, six universities - Baylor, Cincinnati, Georgia, Kentucky, Miami and Virginia Tech -- have a much stricter policy, suspending its players at least one game for a first positive drug test.
FanHouse's study only concerns street or recreational drugs. Eight other programs - Florida State, Louisville, Nebraska, Oregon, Oregon State, Texas, Texas A&M and Virginia - did not specify how many games, if any, a student-athlete misses for a second-positive test, with some of those schools leaving the decision up to the head coach and/or athletic director.
At Florida, Illinois, Purdue and UCLA, student-athletes at those respective schools may have up to five positive drug tests before being dismissed. Those are easily the nation's most lenient policies, at least as far as allowing a student-athlete the most chances.
Utah, which moves from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 Conference next year, has one of the nation's toughest policies. The Utes are the nation's only school that suspends a student-athlete for one year after a second positive test.
Besides Utah, the universities with the harshest penalties for a second positive test are Auburn, Duke, Kentucky, Mississippi State and North Carolina. Those schools suspend a student-athlete 50 percent of their games for a second positive test.
Utah, Auburn, Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina also are among the nation's 31 BCS schools that dismiss a student-athlete after a third positive test. Of the six automatic-qualifying BCS conferences, at least half of the schools in each of the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences allow more than three positive tests before dismissing a player.
SOUTHEASTERN
- Alabama: (1) none; (2) 15 percent of games; (3) one year; (4) dismissal.
- Arkansas: (1) none; (2) 10 percent of games; (3) 50 percent of games; (4) dismissal.
- Auburn: (1) none; (2) 50 percent of games; (3) dismissal.
- Florida: (1) none; (2) 10 percent of games; (3) 20 percent of games; (4) 50 percent of games; (5) dismissal.
- Georgia: (1) 10 percent of games; (2) 50 percent of games; (3) dismissal.
- Kentucky: (1) 10 percent of games; (2) 50 percent of games; (3) dismissal.
- LSU: (1) none; (2) 15 percent of games; (3) one year.
- Ole Miss: (1) none; (2) none; (3) three games.
- Mississippi State: (1) none; (2) 50 percent of games; (3) one year; (4) dismissal.
- South Carolina: (1) none; (2) 25 percent of games; (3) dismissal.
- Tennessee: (1) none; (2) 10 percent of games; (3) dismissal.
ATLANTIC COAST
- Boston College: (1) none; (2) two weeks; (3) one year.
- Clemson: (1) none; (2) none; (3) dismissal. Note: Clemson policy indicates athlete must perform 15-30 hours of community service for a first positive and a minimum of 30 hours for a second positive.
- Duke: (1) none; (2) 50 percent of games; (3) dismissal.
- Florida State: (1) none; (2) unspecified suspension; (3) dismissal. Note: length of suspension for second positive determined by the school's substance abuse committee and "influenced by the length of the season."
- Georgia Tech: (1) none; (2) 10 percent of games; (3) one year; (4) dismissal.
- Maryland: (1) none; (2) two weeks; (3) one year.
- Miami: (1) one game; (2) two games; (3) dismissal.
- North Carolina: (1) none; (2) 50 percent of games; (3) dismissal.
- N.C. State: (1) none; (2) 20 percent of games; (3) dismissal.
- Virginia: (1) none; (2) suspension determined by head coach; (3) indefinite suspension.
- Virginia Tech: (1) 10 percent of games; (2) 33 percent of games; (3) one year; (4) dismissal.
BRENT BEAIRD IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR MYCLAYSUN IN ORANGE PARK, FLA. HE ALSO WRITES FOR RIVALS.COM, SAMSPORTSLINE.COM AND GATOR BAIT MAGAZINE. HE CAN BE HEARD ON SPORTS RADIO 1010 XL.
E-MAIL BRENT AT brentbeaird@aol.com
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