AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > July
July 2008
Auburn’s Tony Franklin breaks down the spread
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Auburn, Ala.-I had a chance on Wednesday to sit down with Tony Franklin, the new offensive coordinator at Auburn. Now when it comes to coaches, Franklin is a little different. When I walked into his office at the Auburn football complex there was classical music playing from his laptop computer. But then he told me his tastes in music run the gamut and that the next song up could be from Amy Winehouse.
“Her early stuff was so much better before she started having (drug) problems,” he said.
The whole state is abuzz over the new spread offense that Franklin, the former OC at Troy, has installed for this season. The spread has been very effective in high schools and at the lower levels of college football. There are questions or not it will be as effective at the SEC level where opponents have so many good athletes on defense.
There are also questions about who will be his quarterback, Kodi Burns or transfer Chris Todd. Todd basically had a dead arm in the spring and nothing will be known until practice starts.
But those were discussions for another day. On this day I wanted a crash course on the basics. I asked Franklin to tell me five things that all of us need to know about Auburn’s new spread offense:
1. The spread is a formation, not an offense: “Some people spread the field to run it, like West Virginia. Others spread the field to pass it, like Texas Tech. It’s what you do after you spread the field that defines your offense. We spread it to figure out what is going to work in any particular game and then we just do that. At Troy we basically ran it half the time and threw it half the time. We just always took what the defense was giving us. (Note: Troy rolled up 488 yards in a 44-34 loss to Georgia last November). Our plan at Auburn is to throw first and run second but if we find a running play that works, we’re going to do that. I’m not hung up on who gets the ball and how we do it. I just want to score points.”
2. Tempo is everything: “A big part of this offense is to dictate the tempo of the game to the defense. We are no huddle all the time and will play at three speeds: Super fast, normal fast, and freeze. At super fast we snap the ball as soon as the official lets us. At normal fast we might snap it with 17 or 18 seconds left on the play clock. At freeze we might wait until there are only two or three seconds left on the clock. But the idea is to make the defense think that you’re going to snap the ball immediately every time you run a play. That way it’s hard for them to get into a rhythm and to make adjustments on the fly.”
3. The goal is to make the defense tired: “In football the defensive linemen are better athletes than the offensive linemen. That’s just the way it is. But you turn it into an even match by running a lot of plays that force the defensive front to run a lot to get to the ball. Early in the game they are feeling frisky and they will chase after everything. Some plays look like they are not working but they are because the defense is running a long way just to make the tackle.
“Most of the big plays in this offense come in the second and fourth quarters after the defense has gotten tired. This works very well in high school and at the Division II and Division I-AA level of college football because at that level teams don’t have the numbers on defense. It’s more difficult at this level because the good teams are so deep in defensive linemen. But in games where I knew we were overmatched physically, I spent the first quarter and third quarter just running plays hoping to get their defense tired. Then if we could just keep it close we might have a chance in the fourth quarter.”
4. The biggest misconception about the spread? “It is that the players who run this offense, particularly the linemen, are not tough. Go look at film of West Virginia’s offensive line or Texas Tech’s. Those guys are tough. People think guys aren’t tough because we’re not lining up in the I-formation and blowing people off the ball. But I’ve seen a lot of tough coaches get fired because they couldn’t score any points. Toughness is an attitude that good coaches teach their players. We have one of the top offensive line coaches in the country (Hugh Nall). Our guys are going to be very tough.”
5. Players love this offense: “This is really simple. If guys are going to invest all this time at practice, when the game comes they want to touch the ball and make plays. All this offense does is put the ball in the hands of guys who can make plays in enough space to where if they make a defender miss, they have a chance to score. We make a lot of changes at the line of scrimmage and so the defense has to change with us. If the defense misses a signal, we might walk in for an easy score. If we miss a signal then we just might have a bad play but we live to run the next play. It puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Offensive players love that.”
Permalink | Comments (96) | Post your comment |
Troy likes to scare—and beat—the Big Boys
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Troy, Ala.-I’m hitting the road for a couple of weeks for a little mini-tour around the SEC and ACC. We’re going to do a series of stories in August called “Faces of the Fall” that we think you’ll enjoy.
Before I made my first stop at Auburn I took a little side trip to Troy University, located about 40 minutes South of Montgomery. You remember Troy as the team that came into Sanford Stadium last season and rolled up 488 yards of total offense against a good Georgia defense.
You remember Troy as the team that ran the spread offense so well with quarterback Omar Haugabook. Since becoming a Division I-A program in 2001, the Trojans have beaten some BCS teams (Missouri, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State) and scared a bunch of them. Troy’s offense was so impressive that Auburn hired their OC, Tony Franklin, to install the spread for the Tigers.
No matter where I go I am reminded of how many great high school players the state of Georgia produces. And Troy is a perfect example.
I was asked by Sports Information Director Ricky Hazel to come to speak to the Troy football team on the day before their first practice. As soon as I got here I saw Georgia players and Georgia stories popping out all over the place. Here are just four:
**—Out of curiosity, I asked how many members of the team were from the state of Georgia. Over 30 hands shot up.
“We’re not going to beat Georgia on a kid that they want. We understand that,” said head coach Larry Blakeney, who is set to begin his 18th season. “But we’ve had some success in South Georgia and some in Atlanta. I think we’ve got a pretty good product to sell.”
A program like Troy identifies good players who may be a couple of inches too short or a half step too slow to sign with the upper echelon of the SEC. But they can flat play.
“We can give them a chance to play Division I football a little closer to home,” Blakeney said. “We also find that these kids are motivated to show what they can do.”
The kids who come here certainly get a chance to prove themselves at the highest level of football. Last season the Trojans played at Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia. In 2006 they played at Florida State, Georgia Tech and Nebraska. This season they are playing at LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma State.
**—Defensive end Brandon Lang was on the same Tucker High School team with Thomas Brown and Asher Allen. All three signed with Georgia. Brown and Allen got into UGA and became stars. Lang struggled academically and had to go to Hargrave Military Academy. Lang tried to get his necessary test score while at Hargrave but just couldn’t get over the hump. So he gave up on the dream of playing at Georgia and enrolled at Troy and paid his own way for a year.
“It hurt,” said Lang about not playing at Georgia. “I had grown up my whole life wanting to play for Georgia and I saw Thomas and Asher go there and do well. But I’m in the right place now.”
Here’s what hurt more. Last season Lang tore his ACL in the third game with Oklahoma State and couldn’t play at Georgia on Nov. 3. Troy gave the Bulldogs a pretty good scare before losing 44-34.
“It broke his heart,” Blakeney said.
Brown has completed his eligibility at Georgia but Lang says he stays in touch with Allen, who should be an All-SEC cornerback this season. “People are really hyping the Bulldogs this season,” Lang said. “Should be an interesting year.”
**—On the cover of the Troy media guide is junior linebacker Boris Lee, a Lombardi Award candidate. Lee (6-0, 231) was a first team All-Sun Belt pick last season and led the team in tackles with 82.
Lee is proud native of Fargo, Ga., and played his high school football at Clinch County. He wanted to be a Florida Gator but when that didn’t work out he started looking around for a place where he could test himself against good competition.
“I just felt comfortable here and I like the fact that we’re not afraid to play anybody,” said Lee. “I’m pretty sure nobody else in the country is playing at Ohio State AND at LSU.”
**—In the Past 10 years Troy has spent over $27 million upgrading its athletics facilities. It’s football stadium, Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium, is a beautiful facility that comfortably seats over 30,000 and has 29 luxury suites. Because of the demand, there are plans to build more.
The man in charge of all his is Steve Dennis, who was Vince Dooley’s defensive captain at Georgia in 1978, and is in his fourth year as athletics director at Troy. Dennis coached at Auburn and Georgia before getting into athletics administration.
There is still a lot of coach left in him. He addressed the team just after I gave my little talk and spoke emotionally about the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for these guys. I haven’t taped my ankles in a long time but I was starting to get fired up just listening to Dennis.
“We like say that if busy people are happy people then we are ecstatic,” said Dennis, a native of Macon.
It was a fun trip that gave me a chance to see another side of football where the stadiums and the recruiting budgets might not be as big, but the kids work just as hard and care just as much. These guys play with a little chip on their shoulder and that’s fun to watch.
Now I’m off to Auburn where I’m hoping to get new OC Tony Franklin to give me a crash course on the spread offense. I’ll report back tomorrow.
Permalink | Comments (49) | Post your comment |
Why the SEC media picked Florida and not Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia is getting a lot of love in the national media to be No. 1, 2 or 3 in the preseason polls. But last week at SEC media days Florida got 36 votes to win the conference championship while Georgia got only 18. So what’s up with that?
My evidence is only anecdotal but, based on some conversations in Birmingham, here is my theory as to why there seems to be a disconnect between the national media and the SEC media when it comes to Georgia.
1. A lot of national media saw Georgia beat Hawaii-and fell in love: Most of the national college football writers and broadcasters came to New Orleans early to get ready for the BCS championship game. So they were in the Superdome and watched the Bulldogs just totally destroy undefeated Hawaii on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl. Now Hawaii wasn’t a very good team by SEC standards and Georgia’s defensive coaches knew going in that the Warriors’ offensive line couldn’t block them. Georgia was very impressive that night and that carried over into the post-spring rankings. Georgia was somebody new with an impressive coach, great talent, and fun to watch.
But….
2. The SEC media knows how tough this league really is: Because they see SEC games week in and week out, they know how hard Georgia’s schedule really is. In my spring rankings I had Florida, Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee in my top 15. Georgia plays all four of those teams in a six-week period and only one of those games (Tennessee) is in Athens. Georgia is good enough to beat all four of those teams on a given week. But playing all four in six weeks, goes the logic, is too much even for the best of teams.
3. The Tebow factor: Quarterback Tim Tebow was such a big part of Florida’s offense last season but he was banged up against the Bulldogs when the two teams met in Jacksonville. I personally think Georgia would have won the game anyway because they were playing at a very high level that day and had a much better defense. But this season Tebow will be surrounded by many more weapons. Bottom line: Florida led the SEC in scoring last season at 42.5 points per game (38.1 in conference games). This offense is significantly better. If Florida’s defense improves just a little bit, teams will have to score at least 40 points to beat the Gators.
4. Florida’s SEC road schedule: Because the Nov. 1 game in Jacksonville is Florida’s away game this season, the Gators have only three true SEC road trips (Tennessee, Arkansas, Vanderbilt). Conversely, Georgia’s four road SEC games are South Carolina, LSU, Kentucky, and Auburn. That’s a huge advantage in this league.
5. Gators will have mental edge: A lot-too much in fact-was made of Georgia’s storming the end zone in last year’s game in Jacksonville. That’s not why Georgia won. The Bulldogs won because they lined up and smacked Florida in the mouth and the Gators aren’t used to getting shoved around like that. So the theory goes that Florida will come up with a little something extra come Nov. 1.
Now how much of this do I buy? I believe No. 2 and No. 4 because of the cumulative impact of playing such a tough schedule. It becomes a physical and mental factor when you get to November. The schedule that a team plays and the sequence of those games is a huge factor in this league.
I don’t buy the mental edge idea for a minute. Georgia has been dominated in this series 15-3 since Steve Spurrier came to Florida in 1990. There will be a lot of unresolved issues when we get to Nov. 1. Motivation won’t be one of them.
Permalink | Comments (306) | Post your comment |
Alabama-Virginia Tech in Georgia Dome could still happen in 2009
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let’s start the week with some (hopefully) tasty leftovers from SEC Media Days:
1: Alabama-Virginia Tech in Atlanta could still happen: Virginia Tech has agreed to play in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff at the Georgia Dome on Aug. 29, 2009. The school put out a release saying that efforts were being made to secure Alabama as the opponent. Alabama plays in this year’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff against Clemson on Aug. 30.
At the time Alabama officials indicated the odds were against the Crimson Tide coming back to Atlanta in 2009. But on Thursday I met briefly with Crimson Tide Nick Saban and he told me that the deal could still get done.
Alabama is scheduled to go to Tulane in 2009 as a part of a contract that called for Tulane to play multiple games in Tuscaloosa in exchange for one game in New Orleans. Saban said if Alabama could move the Tulane game to another season and pick up another home game then he would be willing to come to Atlanta and play the Hokies.
“If we don’t do that then we can’t come (to Atlanta) because then we would have only six home games in 2009,” Saban said.
Don’t be surprised if ESPN/ABC, which will televise the Chick-fil-A Kickoff, gets involved and puts together a deal to make Tulane happy enough to move the game.
2: Saban may be traveling to Baton Rouge alone: Saban knows that when he returns to LSU this season, chances are he will not receive a warm welcome. For reasons I still don’t understand, some LSU fans are miffed that after two years in the NFL Saban returned to college football as the head coach of Alabama.
Because of security concerns, Saban says he will probably travel separately from his team when they go to Baton Rouge on Nov. 7. When I talked to Saban about it, he took a light-hearted approach.
“I was hoping I could get one or two players to ride with me but maybe not,” Saban said. “Looks like I may be going alone.”
LSU coach Les Miles doesn’t believe Saban has anything to worry about.
“We respect Alabama and are looking forward to the competition,” he said.
Yeah, right. Fans in Baton Rouge have been known to shake the buses of teams they DON’T hate. That will be an interesting week.
3: Spurrier still in charge of the offense: Much was made of Steve Spurrier’s announcement in the spring that he would turn a lot of the offense over to his son, Steve, Jr.
“He’s been with me 11 years and he knows it as well as I do,” Spurrier told me last Friday. “I just need to free up some of my time to do some other things.”
But understand that this does not mean that Spurrier is going to give up calling the plays, especially at crunch time. What Spurrier plans to do is put Steve, Jr., in charge of a lot of the preparation during the week. There is a lot of time-consuming detail work in putting together an offensive game plan and getting it on paper. Spurrier found that he was getting bogged down by it and not looking at the big picture of his program. “Bubba,” as he is known in the family, will do that work and still make recommendations from the coach’s booth upstairs during the game.
But when it’s third down at the opponent’s 10-yard line in a tough game, I still believe the guy in the visor will be calling the play.
4: Nutt says he’s in a better location: New Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt told me that he is excited about his new recruiting base compared to his old recruiting territory in Arkansas.
“There were 70 guys in Mississippi who signed Division I scholarships this year,” Nutt said. “We’re closer to Alabama. We’re closer to Georgia. We’ve got to go into Georgia because Mark Richt can’t sign them all. We’re closer to Florida.
“Arkansas was a pretty tough place to recruit because we were far away from things.”
Nutt wasn’t trying to knock Arkansas, just recognize that at Ole Miss he doesn’t have to travel as far to get good players. But this will come up again on Oct. 25 when Nutt takes his team to Fayetteville to play Arkansas.
5: Tuberville is on the DL: Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville always comes to media days early to get in a little golf, do some alumni functions, and spend some time on radio row at the Wynfrey Hotel. But Tuberville just had double hernia surgery and was moving a little slowly when I saw him.
“Yeah, couldn’t get in my golf but I’ll be back at full speed in a few weeks,” he said. “This is something that I needed to take care of.”
While Alabama has been making most of the recruiting headlines in the state, Tuberville said that the decision to install a spread offense for this season has already paid off with prospects.
“We needed to do something to score more points and to give our recruiting a shot in the arm,” Tuberville said. “I think hiring (OC) Tony Franklin and putting in this offense has done both. We’ll find out pretty soon.”
Tuberville said he already has 20 commitments for his 2009 signing classes. “I’ve never had that,” Tuberville said. “Not even when I was an assistant at Miami.”
Permalink | Comments (81) | Post your comment |
It’s time to move SEC Media Days to Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hoover, Ala.-At the beginning of SEC preseason media days on Wednesday, commissioner Mike Slive gave his annual look back at what the conference had accomplished over the past year. Among the highlights were four national championships (LSU football, Tennessee women’s basketball, Georgia women’s gymnastics, and Georgia tennis).
But the thing that makes Slive most proud is the fact that after six years on the job only one sport, Arkansas track, is serving any kind of NCAA probation. Slive, a former judge and attorney, was hired in to reduce some of the excesses that had hurt the reputation of this league. The SEC is far from perfect. No conference is. But by any objective measure, the league is better when it comes to playing by the rules
I had a chance to talk to Slive not long after Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer was hit with a subpoena as he walked into the Wynfrey Hotel. The subpoena called on Fulmer to give a deposition in a lawsuit by a former Alabama booster against the NCAA. It set off a media frenzy that dominated the second day of the meetings, which is what it was designed to do.
To say that the commissioner was miffed would be an understatement. Here’s why:
This is just the kind of knucklehead stuff that Slive has been trying to get rid of in this league since he became commissioner in 2002. There are mechanisms in place to better deal with rules breaking by conference members. There are specific procedures in place when one school thinks another is cheating. This whole episode started years ago because an Alabama booster believed Fulmer was working with the NCAA in its investigation of Alabama. Now a coach can’t do that. There is a chain of command that he has to follow. In fact, it became known as “the Phillip Fulmer rule.”
This episode brings back the mudslinging days that gave the SEC such a bad reputation. And Slive doesn’t like it.
“It’s just not appropriate,” said Slive. “We are here to celebrate the start of another football season. There is a time and a place for everything and this is not the proper time or the proper place for that kind of action.”
I also had a private moment with Fulmer. He was clearly not happy but would not comment any further. In retrospect, Fulmer could have handled this much better. When all the dust had settled it was clear that the lawyers had choreographed the event and given some of the local media the heads up that it was coming. Copies of the subpoena were being passed around radio row at the Wynfrey Hotel just minutes after Fulmer had been served.
He spent the afternoon saying he had not looked at anything and would not comment. Which was accurate. The paper was handed to him, some say dropped in his lap, and Fulmer said he did not look at it. Then after he left Birmingham he conceded that he had received the subpoena but had not read it before he went into the hotel. Then he released a statement. The fact that Fulmer first denied it, and then had to backtrack, just added to the media hype, which reached warp speed.
In fairness maybe any one of us would have done the same thing and not read the document and opened that can of worms until later.
I also spoke with Jeff Hagood, Fulmer’s lawyer, Thursday night. Hagood told me that Fulmer has turned the matter over to him and will have no further comment on the issue.
So what are we to make of this?
Prediction: There will be a legal challenge to the subpoena by Hagood and the Tennessee attorneys who will attempt to get it quashed. There is no way that Fulmer is going to give a deposition on Sept. 25, two days before the Vols play at Auburn.
And here is the bigger question to ponder this morning. This is the second time in four years that the SEC has had to deal with Alabama lawyers threatening to subpoena a coach at football media days. Hagood said that the lawyers “hijacked” one of the SEC’s most popular functions for their own benefit. Hijacked is probably too strong a word but the lawyers certainly used the event and took away from what it is supposed to be.
Is it time to move the SEC’s preseason media days to Atlanta? The SEC football championship game quickly outgrew Birmingham after two years and is now a tremendous success at the Georgia Dome. Given the infrastructure of Atlanta and the growth and popularity of the SEC on a national scale, maybe the time has come to move this event.
This event draws more national media than any preseason event of its kind. And when something like this happens the league gets embarrassed on a national scale. The SEC does not need this kind of silliness. It’s time to move it to Atlanta.
Permalink | Comments (177) | Post your comment |
Florida wants Tebow ready for Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hoover, Ala.-One of the neat things about SEC Media Days is that you finally get a glimpse of what players and coaches actually like about their team and what still concerns them going into preseason practice. Sometimes you have to read between the lines but there are some nuggets of information to be had. Here are a few from Wednesday’s first session.
1. Gators want Tebow healthy for Georgia: It is a fact that in 2007 Florida quarterback Tim Tebow had one of the greatest individual seasons ever (32 touchdowns passing, 23 rushing). But it is also a fact that Florida feels it lost to Georgia (42-30) not because of the motivational lift the Bulldogs got from storming the field, but because Tebow was banged up and nowhere close to 100 percent.
Only time will tell if the Georgia-Florida game on Nov. 1 will be the Top 5 showdown that many anticipate. But this much is certain. The Gators want a rested and healthy Tebow when they get to Jacksonville.
Florida coach Urban Meyer told me that his Heisman Trophy winner won’t have to carry the ball 210 times as he did during the 2007 season. Keeping Tebow healthy and fresh will be a priority in 2008.
“The good news is that we now have some options,” Meyer said. “Tim ran the ball as much as he did last season because that is what gave us the best chance to win.”
Also understand that a lot of Tebow’s carries last season came when he would get impatient in the pocket and just take off. OC Dan Mullen tried to fix that but old habits are hard to break. Tebow told me that he has spent a lot of time working on that in the off-season.
“I’m trying to really concentrate on making my reads and staying in the pocket,” Tebow said. “It’s what I need to do if I’m going to be a better quarterback.”
Here’s a prediction and it’s an easy one: Tebow’s running numbers will be down because, unlike last season, Florida can go four deep with quality running backs (Kestahn Moore, Emmanuel Moody, Chris Rainey, Mon Williams). And that doesn’t count incoming freshman Jeffrey Demps, who has speed to burn.
2. LSU will be ready for Auburn’s spread offense: LSU opens the season with Appalachian State, Troy and North Texas before playing its first SEC game at Auburn on Sept. 20. All three of those schools run some version of the spread offense, which Auburn installed last December before the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
“We like our non-conference schedule because it will give us some good looks at the spread,” Miles said with a slight smile.
Consider this:
Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards probably runs the spread better than anybody in the country. Some say he is better than West Virginia’s Pat White.
Auburn’s new offensive coordinator, Tony Franklin, was in the same position last season at Troy, which will continue to run his offense. LSU will watch game film of Troy to get ready for Auburn and then get to see the same offense live.
Last season North Texas hired Todd Dodge, a Texas High School legend, as their head coach. He installed a spread offense that he used to go 79-1 and win five state championships at Southlake Carroll High School. After going 2-10 last season North Texas is expected to improve dramatically I 2008.
3. LSU’s D-Line will be even better: LSU lost the nation’s best defensive player, tackle Glenn Dorsey, off a defense that won the national championship last season. But LSU coach Les Miles said Wednesday he expects his defensive line will be even better in 2008. Here’s why. Dorsey is gone but he will be replaced by Ricky Jean-Francois, who only played in two games-the SEC championship game and the BCS championship game—last season because of suspension. He was the defensive MVP in both.
“We feel good about Ricky Jean and we feel good because Charles Alexander (6-3, 293) is back,” Miles said. “He has never played a full season.” Alexander started the first three games at tackle in 2008 but was lost for the season with a knee injury.
“I really think we’re going to have one of the better defensive lines out there,” Miles said. “We feel good about it.
Yet another nugget from Miles. He said Wednesday that he is not ruling out the possibility of playing a true freshman at quarterback. Jordan Jefferson was the Louisiana 5A offensive player of the year last season.
“We just think he is something special and we’ve made the commitment to take a strong look at him in camp,” Miles said. “It could be that because of his talent, we will have to find a way to get him on the field.”
Either Andrew Hatch or Jarrett Lee is expected to be the starting quarterback when LSU opens the season against Appalachian State, the three time Division I-AA champions who knocked of Michigan, Miles’ alma mater, in the 2007 opener.
4. Commish says SEC TV network still on the table: SEC Commissioner Mike Slive insists that the idea of the league forming its own television network is not dead. A former attorney, Slive deftly handled the questions about the SEC’s current negotiations with CBS, ESPN, Raycom, and FSN South for the new television deal that will start with the 2009 season.
“Our goal is to have those negotiations completed by this fall,” Slive said. “All options, including and SEC TV network, are still on the table.”
Understand what is going on here. The SEC has a trump card to play in these negotiations in order to get the best possible deal. That card is the possibility of the league forming its own network like the Big Ten and Mountain West have done. If the dollars are right, the card goes back into the SEC’s pocket to be used in a future negotiation. If not, the SEC plays the card. I’m betting that the TV boys come up with the cash. SEC football is just too popular right now.
5. Croom learned a lot in 45-0 loss: Mississippi State started the 2007 season with a 45-0 loss to LSU in Starkville. In that game, Croom said he took some chances he shouldn’t have taken because he didn’t have enough confidence in his team to stop the Tigers. The result was six interceptions and a blowout.
“I told my guys after the game that I didn’t have enough faith in them and that I would not do that again,” Croom said.
From that loss Mississippi State went on to beat Auburn, Kentucky, Alabama, and Ole Miss to finish 8-5. Croom was named the SEC coach of the year.
“I learned something that day that made me a better coach,” Croom said. “If I want my team to believe in me I have to believe in them.”
Some are skeptical that Mississippi State can win eight games for the second year in a row. Croom is not.
“Our defense is better. Our quarterback (Wesley Carroll) was a freshman last season. We have more speed and more guys who can make plays,” Croom said. “I expect us to take a step forward.”
Permalink | Comments (99) | Post your comment |
A look inside SEC Media Days
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hoover, Ala.-After leaving the laid-back shores of Lake Oconee, the site of the ACC kickoff, this morning we are in this Birmingham suburb to begin three of the most intense days in our business-the annual SEC Football Media Days.
This event is not for a media member who just has a passing interest in the sport. It is 12 hours of wall-to-wall, hardcore football talk spread over three days. But to me these meetings mark the official beginning of football season. It’s tiring, but it’s fun.
Let me give you a sense of how this works and to set up the schedule for the rest of the week.
Today’s first session begins at about 1:45 p.m. when SEC commissioner Mike Slive addresses the assembled print media. He stands before a podium in a very large ballroom and gives his introductory remarks and catches us up with any news that is going on in the conference. Then the interviews begin.
Each day we spend about 4-5 hours interviewing players and coaches from four of the 12 SEC schools. Today’s schools are Florida, Mississippi State, LSU, and Vanderbilt Among the players scheduled to meet with the media today are Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner. His teammate, OT Phil Trautwein will also be here. Old Phil might get a little lonely during the interview sessions because most of the writers will want to talk to Tebow. And when they talk to Phil, most of the questions will probably be about his quarterback.
FYI: I am working on a story about Tebow and the incredible travel schedule he has kept since winning the Heisman Trophy. It will be in Thursday’s print section and should be posted on ajc.com sometime tonight. You won’t believe what this guy does in the little free time that he has.
Each player and coach spends just over two hours being interviewed. And during that time they have to make stops in 10 different rooms. They spend 40 minutes in the print/internet room because it is by far the largest and then 10 minutes each in a radio/internet room and three different rooms for local television in the SEC markets. Raycom, SEC-TV (that’s not a network but some shows that are produced for cable outlets like FSN South), CSS, CBS, and ESPN all have their own rooms and get 10 minutes each with each participant.
The coordination of this is very complex. The coaches and players are pulled from room to room through the Wynfrey Hotel like rock stars or presidential candidates in a desperate effort to stay on schedule. The time for every appearance in every room is scripted for all of the players and coaches. If one coach or player lingers too long in one room it can throw off the entire schedule.
For example, here is the schedule for Georgia coach Mark Richt once he arrives here Thursday morning. All times are Central:
8:40-9:20-Print
9:20-9:30—CSS
9:30-9:40-TV1
9:40-9:50-TV2
9:50-10:00—TV3
10:00-10:10-Raycom
10:10-10:20—Radio/Internet
10:20-10:30-SEC-TV
10:30-10:40-CBS
10:40-10:50—ESPN
Two coaches and four players are put through this cycle. Then two more coaches and four more players are brought in and the process starts all over. This goes on for three days. Just telling you about it makes me tired.
But here is the lineup for the week with the players in parentheses:
Today (2:10 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
Florida (Urban Meyer, QB Tim Tebow and OT Phil Trautwein).
Mississippi State (Sylvester Croom, QB Wesley Carroll and LB Jamar Chaney)
LSU (Les Miles, C Brett Helms and DE Tyson Jackson)
Vanderbilt (Bobby Johnson, S Reshard Langford and WR George Smith)
Wednesday (9:40 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Alabama (Nick Saban, OL Antoine Caldwell, S Rashad Johnson)
Georgia (Mark Richt, WR Mohamed Massaquoi, DT Jeff Owns)
Ole Miss (Houston Nutt, DE Peria Jerry and OT Michael Oher)
Tennessee (Phillip Fulmer, DE Robert Ayers and RB Arian Foster)
Friday (9:40 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Auburn (Tommy Tuberville, C Jason Bosley, DE Sen’derrick Marks)
Kentucky (Rich Brooks, DE Jeremy Jarmon and WR Dicky Lyons, Jr.)
Arkansas (Bobby Petrino, LB Elston Forte and C Jonathon Luigs)
South Carolina (Steve Spurrier, LB Jasper Brinkley and WR Kenny McKinley).
Let the fun begin.
Permalink | Comments (63) | Post your comment |
Will this year be it for Bobby Bowden?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greensboro, Ga.-I spent Monday just hanging out with the head coaches at the ACC preseason meetings. Here are some topics for this morning’s discussion.
1. Is this it for Bobby Bowden? There have been rumblings that with his successor, Jimbo Fisher, already in place, this year just might be it for Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who turns 79 in November. Bowden said “no” when pressed on the question by the media.
“I’m still the head football coach and I’m not ready to get out,” said Bowden, who has 373 career victories, one more than Penn State’s Joe Paterno on the all-time list.
Many years ago Bowden told me (and a lot of others) that the only thing that would drive him out of coaching was poor health or losing. He said at the time that he couldn’t stand the idea of losing four or five games in a season. His last two teams have both gone 7-6.
“I’ve had to adjust my thinking of that,” he said.
Bowden concedes that if things don’t go well, or at least get better in 2008, the decision could be made for him. But nobody in Tallahassee, especially president T.K. Wetherell, wants that to happen.
My belief? Bowden believes that after a couple of good recruiting classes, 2008 will be the set-up year for a run at the ACC title in 2009. I can’t tell you how badly Bowden wants to go out with some kind of championship. He does not want to be remembered as limping to the end of his remarkable career.
But first he has to get through 2008 and for that, September is huge. Florida State will play its first three games without 20-plus players who were suspended in the academic cheating scandal. They’ll beat Western Carolina and Chattanooga with no problem. But on Sept. 20 Wake Forest comes to Doak Campbell Stadium, where the Deacons won 30-0 in 2006. Believe me when I tell you that this will be one of the biggest games in Bobby Bowden’s career.
2. Beamer to keep an open mind on quarterbacks: Virginia Tech received 58 of 65 votes from the media to win the ACC Coastal. Coach Frank Beamer was surprised at that margin because there are so many unanswered questions at Virginia Tech—like the quarterback position.
Beamer insists that both of his quarterbacks, Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor, are going to get an equal opportunity to win the starting job before the Hokies open the season on Aug. 30 against East Carolina in Charlotte.
“We needed both of them to win the ACC championship last season but I would like to get it down to one before we play East Carolina,” Beamer said.
You can tell from Beamer’s body language that he’s not really thrilled with the two-quarterback system. He certainly didn’t think it worked in the 24-21 loss to Kansas in the Orange Bowl.
“We just never got into a rhythm,” said Beamer, set to begin his 22nd season in Blacksburg. “It always felt like we were a play behind.”
I don’t know that Beamer will get his wish. If he can only play one quarterback, it would have to be Glennon, who is the most consistent of the two. But Taylor gives Virginia Tech a chance to make big plays. And with All-ACC running back Brandon Ore dismissed from the team, and with the next two backs both recovering from injuries in spring practice, I believe the Hokies will need two quarterbacks again to win the championship.
Keep your eye on this as we go through the season.
3. ACC plans to report on injuries: It’s not a rule so the coaches don’t have to follow it. And if the coaches don’t follow it, there will be no enforcement of it.
But several coaches told me that they have no problem with the new suggested guidelines from the league to report on injuries each Thursday during the season. Here is how it will work:
On Monday the school will announce if there are players who are having surgery and are known to be out for the season. Then there will be no discussion on injuries of any kind until after practice on Thursday, when the school’s medical staff will release information on players and there ability to play in Saturday’s game.
Each player will be listed in one of five categories: Definitely playing, probable, questionable, doubtful, and definitely out for the game.
“It’s not unlike the NFL and that seemed to work,” said Virginia coach Al Groh, the former head coach of the New York Jets.
“The coaches agreed that it would be a good idea to have some consistency in this area,” Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. “We’ll see how it works.
Here is the only problem that I see. Coaches like Grobe who have open practices will see this information get out early. Coaches who close practice will be able to control the information.
4. Tommy Bowden hopes the media is right: As expected, Clemson was the overwhelming pick by the media to win the Atlantic Division and to win the ACC championship. Clemson received 59 of 65 first place votes in the division and 51 votes to go to Tampa and win the championship game.
“The last couple of years ya’ll have picked us to finish second or third and that’s kind of where we have been,” Bowden said to a large group of reporters gathered around his table. “Hopefully ya’ll will be smart again.”
In case you are wondering, the media have picked Clemson to win the ACC championship five times in their preseason poll here at the annual meetings. They were right four of the five times.
What the media wanted to know is how Bowden and his team will handle the pressure of high expectations. He was pressed by reporters to reveal how disappointed he would be if this team, which is his most talented, did not win the conference championship. Bowden insisted that he is not going to apologize if his team wins 10 games but does not capture the ACC championship.
“Look at (Georgia’s) Mark Richt. He didn’t win a championship but I don’t think he was disappointed in his season,” Bowden said.
Then someone pointed out that Georgia, despite not winning the SEC championship, did go to a BCS bowl (Sugar). No ACC team has ever received an at-large bid to the BCS.
Bowden has a new contract with a $4 million buyout. You would think he is totally secure after years of being on the hot seat. This is going to be a very interesting year at Clemson.
5. Randy Shannon says goodbye to Orange Bowl: A big chunk of Randy Shannon’s life was spent at the Orange Bowl as a player and a coach for the University of Miami. But last season was the Hurricanes’ last at the old stadium, where they had played their home games since 1937.
The Orange Bowl, the place where Joe Namath shocked the world and Doug Flutie threw the Hail Mary pass that won him the Heisman Trophy, is no more. It’s gone, demolished last spring.
“I was flying back to Miami and looked out the window and I noticed that it was gone,” said Shannon. “It’s just unbelievable that it’s not there any more.”
Shannon said he will not wax nostalgic about the Orange Bowl. He is already focused on Miami’s new digs at Dolphin Stadium, north of the city. The powers that be have built his team their own locker room facility at the stadium so they don’t have to share with the pro team. They have promised to make the stadium Miami green and orange on Saturdays instead of the Dolphin teal.
“There is so much good about this decision and I feel good about it,” Shannon said. “We are going to make it our home.”
Shannon conceded that the best way to make Dolphin Stadium feel like home for the Hurricanes is to start winning more games. He is absolutely right about that.
Permalink | Comments (47) | Post your comment |
Clemson knows Bama game in Dome will be huge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greensboro, Ga.-A look behind the scenes here at the ACC preseason football meetings at Reynolds Plantation:
1. Alabama has Clemson’s attention: As was the case last season, when Clemson opened at home with Florida State, the Aug. 30 opener with Alabama at the Georgia Dome has the ACC favorites very focused on getting ready for the season.
“We were focused in spring practice. We were focused during summer workouts and we’ll be focused when we get to camp,” senior quarterback Cullen Harper said. “We’re opening with an SEC team on national television. This is a big stage and a whole lot of people are going to be watching. To get where we want to go, we have to get this season off to a good start. This is our chance to do that.”
Clemson will be favored. The Tigers have more players. But it is still Alabama. Alabama wants to win. Clemson HAS to win. Should be interesting.
2. Eagles already miss Matt Ryan: Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan came to this event a year ago and made his presence felt. He was an impressive guy and it was clear from listening to him talk that Ryan was going to have a big year. He did and became the No. 3 pick in the draft by the Falcons. On Sunday Ryan still had a strong presence at these meetings. “I’ve done 10 television interviews and they all started with a question about Matt,” said tight end Ryan Purvis. “It’s hard to replace a guy like that. He was just a vocal leader.” Ryan just wasn’t a vocal leader. He led by example. He made things happen. BC folks will tell you and Ryan has joined Doug Flutie as the best leaders the school has ever had in football. Ryan will be replaced by Chris Craine, a senior from Mechanicsburg, PA. Crane threw four passes, completing two, as Ryan’s backup last season. He has skills but has not been tested. After opening with Kent State in Cleveland, Boston College hosts Georgia Tech on Sept. 6.
3. Miami gets rid of “cancerous” attitudes: It sounds like Miami was not a very fun place to be last season. The Hurricanes were 5-7 overall (2-6 ACC) in their first year under coach Randy Shannon. But Miami didn’t just lose last season, they were embarrassed more than once. The worst moment was a 48-0 loss to Virginia in the last game in the old Orange Bowl. Dozens of former players had come back for the occasion and the Hurricanes went out and laid a goose egg. Things have changed since last season, said offensive tackle Jason Fox, who expects a different level of commitment this season.
“The difference in the attitude of this team and last year’s team is like night and day,” Fox said. “We got rid of a couple of guys who had cancerous attitudes. They only cared about themselves. Now we have a bunch of guys who are focused on becoming a team.”
Fox is part of a new players’ committee at Miami with the power to identify these kinds of problems and take action.
Miami opens its 2008 season on Aug. 28 against Charleston Southern. It will be the Hurricanes’ first game in their new home, Dolphin Stadium. The Orange Bowl Stadium, in case you had not heard, was taken down by the wrecking ball.
4. Florida State’s “identify crisis”: Drew Weatherford, Florida State’s senior quarterback, said the 7-6 records of the past two seasons have been a reality check to the players in the Seminole program.
“I think some of our guys just thought because we had a spear on our helmet we were supposed to go out there and win 10-11 games,” Weatherford said. “I think we had an identity crisis at some point. We forgot what it means to play at Florida State.”
Weatherford, who threw for 2,049 yards and nine touchdowns last season, was brought here to represent Florida State at media days. But I’m hearing that offensive coordinator/head coach in waiting Jimbo Fisher really likes the ability of sophomore Christian Ponder to make plays. Weatherford will also be pushed for playing time by sophomore D’Vontrey Richardson of Leesburg. So Weatherford, who is an impressive individual, is probably going to have to fight to keep his job before this season is over.
5. Wake not satisfied with nine wins: You know that Jim Grobe has changed the culture at Wake Forest when the Deacons say they were not satisfied with last season’s 9-4 record. The season before Wake Forest won 11 games and their first ACC championship since 1970.
“We were very disappointed with the way we finished last season,” said Aaron Curry, who set an NCAA record for linebackers when he returned three interceptions for touchdowns. “We set a standard the year before and we don’t want to go back.”
Wake Forest started 0-2 last season and then won nine of its last 11 games. One of the losses was by one point (17-16) to Virginia on the road. In that game Sam Swank, one of the best kickers in college football, missed a 47-yard field goal with two seconds left.
And keep this in mind. Clemson will be picked to win the Atlantic Division by the media at this event. Clemson should win the division and the championship game. But if the Tigers stumble, don’t be surprised if Wake Forest jumps up and wins the division again. Clemson goes to Wake Forest on Oct. 9, a Thursday night.
Here’s a bonus note that is not ACC related:
Georgia State coaches go to work: There should be announcement pretty soon but Georgia State’s first three assistant coaches-offensive coordinator John Bond, defensive coordinator John Thompson, and George Pugh-are scheduled to be in their new offices today. Georgia State will begin playing a limited schedule in football in 2010.
Permalink | Comments (69) | Post your comment |
Five burning questions about the ACC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The ACC Preseason football meetings start Sunday at Reynolds Plantation at Lake Oconee. There will be a million questions asked by the assembled scribes, but here are five that interest me:
1. What will the Georgia Tech defense look like under Dave Wommack? For seven years it was a lot of fun watching DC Jon Tenuta driving opposing offensive coordinators nuts. Wommack won’t be blitzing when he gets off the bus like Tenuta used to do. Tech has a couple of studs in the defensive front in Vance Walker and Darryl Richard. But for the most part Wommack starts with a pretty young defense, especially at linebacker and secondary. What will Ryan Perrilloux (QB, Jacksonville State) think when he looks at this defense on Aug. 28?
2. Will Drew Weatherford go the distance at QB for Florida State? Florida State obviously thinks so because the school is bringing him to the media session on Sunday. Weatherford is a fifth-year senior and if you just look at the numbers, he’s had a pretty decent career. As red-shirt freshman he had 18 interceptions. As a sophomore in 2006 he had 11 picks. Last season he only threw three interceptions. But he also threw only nine touchdown passes. The quarterback’s job is to get the ball into the end zone. Florida State was eighth in the ACC in scoring (23.3 ppg) last season. He had knee surgery on March 28 that has limited is off-season throwing and workouts. But he is a fifth-year senior and normally those guys play with a sense of urgency. We’ll see.
3. How is Cullen Harper’s shoulder?: Harper, Clemson’s junior quarterback from Alpharetta, suffered an injured shoulder in the Nov. 17 game with Boston College. He said this week that if Clemson had beaten BC and reached the ACC championship game, he probably would not have been able to play against Virginia Tech. He had surgery two days after the regular-season finale against South Carolina and played in the Chick-fil-A Bowl and struggled with the shoulder in an overtime loss to Auburn. Last season he was the ACC’s most efficient passer (27 TD, 6 int). How is the shoulder now and will it be ready for the opener against Alabama?
4. Will North Carolina finally find a running game?: For a school that has produced 24 rushers over 1,000 yards in a season, the Tar Heels simply could not run the ball in 2007, averaging 99.7 ypg (10th in the ACC). It’s one reason North Carolina (4-8) lost six games by seven points or less. Freshman wide receiver Greg Little made the switch and ran for 243 yards in the last two games of the season. Four starters return on the offensive line. If Little is the answer at running back, North Carolina will be the most improved team in the ACC.
5. Can Duke improve? Got to. Can’t get any worse. David Cutcliffe will enter preseason with a team that finished last in the ACC in total offense (271.1 ypg), last in scoring offense (17.9 ppg), last in total defense (424.4 ypg) and last in scoring defense (33.2 ppg).
Two players from each ACC will meet with us on Sunday. If you were there, what questions would you want to ask?
Permalink | Comments (119) | Post your comment |
Alabama at Dome in 2009 far from done deal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let’s begin today’s visit with a couple of “Not So Fast” items.
1. Alabama at Dome in 2009 far from done deal: Virginia Tech announced yesterday that it had agreed to open next season by playing in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff at the Georgia Dome on Aug. 29, 2009. Virginia Tech released the information on its website even though no opponent had been signed. In that release the school said that Alabama would be a possible opponent. But I heard from somebody in the Alabama football building last night telling me that the odds were against the Crimson Tide coming back to Atlanta for the second straight year. Alabama opens the 2008 season against Clemson on Aug. 30 and is thinking about playing Duke in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in 2010. Alabama will also have a rookie quarterback in 2009 as John Parker Wilson moves on. The Crimson Tide might not want to throw a new QB against Bud Foster’s Hokie defense.
2. SEC Network still on the table: A couple of media outlets in Orlando reported this week on Florida’s huge multi-media deal with the Sunshine Network that will pay the Gators somewhere between $8-10 million per year over 10 years. One of those stories strongly speculated that Florida’s signing of such a deal means that an SEC Television network is not going to happen anytime soon. Why would Florida sign such a deal if the SEC, which controls all football and television rights, was going to form its own network?
I talked to Charles Bloom, the director of SEC Media relations, and others close to the process who told me that all of the league’s options are still on the table as negotiations continue to hammer out a new TV deal with CBS, ESPN, and its other television partners. Those negotiations, I’m told, have reached a very sensitive period and everybody on both sides wants to keep all of their options open.
Do I think there is going to be an SEC TV network when the new deals start in 2009? No I don’t. I think given the the popularity of SEC football, the league will get a very attractive deal and will not have to create a network with all of the distribution hassles that go with it. But it makes for a great bargaining chip.
3. Kudos to Stinchcombs, Greene: We read way too much about athletes getting in trouble. The fact is that every school has about 100 players in its program and it’s usually 8-10 guys that keep coaches up at night and keep reporters checking the police blotter. But if you’re a fan and you love the game, it is discouraging and you grow pretty tired of reading about it.
That’s why it’s refreshing to see what former Georgia players David Greene, Matt Stinchomb, and Jon Stinchcomb are doing in an effort to give back. On Saturday they are hosting their annual Countdown to Kickoff children’s charity event at the UGA practice fields in Athens. There is golf on Friday and a fans day on Saturday, July 19. Over 22 former Georgia players are scheduled to participate. They will be signing autographs and there will be games for the children. There is more information, including the chance to buy tickets, at their website www.ugakickoff.com. All proceeds from the event go to four charities all dealing with the care of children. This is a good thing.
4. Price of football going up: Georgia is not the only place in the SEC where it is going to be hard—and pricey—to get a football ticket this fall. Thanks to some fine work by Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, it looks like the minimum donation necessary just to buy a ticket has gone up about 80 percent over the past 10 years in the SEC. The fact is that while a lot of people complain about the BCS and the lack of a playoff in the sport, the popularity of college football, and thus the ticket demand, is at an all-time high. The good news in that for schools is that they can charge a high premium for the right to buy tickets. The bad news is that younger fans, like recent UGA grads who are just getting started in their careers, can’t afford to buy tickets of any kind.
5. What will happen to Ezekial Knight, Alabama linebackers? Alabama’s linebacker problems took another hit Wednesday when the school declared senior Ezekial Knight “medically disqualified” for the 2008 season. Knight’s health status cannot be completely revealed because of privacy laws but it has been reported that he had surgery in 2006 in an effort to correct a heart murmur. Now comes word that Knight will try to leave Alabama and play at a lower division. Whoever signs Knight needs to be very careful. I just hope the kid and the new school don’t go doctor shopping.
Alabama is now down to basically one linebacker they know can play, the splendid sophomore Rolando McClain. Knight, who started at outside linebacker last season, is gone. Prince Hall, who started five games last season, is on indefinite suspension for an undisclosed violation. He may or may not get back on the team. Jimmy Johns, who may have given some depth at the position, has been kicked off the team after being arresting for cocaine distribution. This position is a big concern for Alabama.
Permalink | Comments (77) | Post your comment |
Should Nebraska fan get hammered for internet hoax?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Yesterday The Daily Oklahoman newspaper and one of its sportswriters filed a 10-count civil lawsuit against James W. Conradt. And for one of the few times in our history, university athletics programs around this country are pulling for a newspaper to win one in court.
In case you hadn’t heard, Mr. Conradt, a 36-year-old Nebraska fan who happens to work in IT at the University of Texas, decided to strike back at some Oklahoma fans who were saying unflattering things on a Nebraska message board. His response to this unforgivable outrage was to write a bogus story that two Oklahoma football players — Sam Bradford and Landry Jones — had been busted for cocaine distribution.
To make the hoax look real, he allegedly lifted the template from The Daily Oklahoman website AND used the byline of Jake Trotter, a writer for that newspaper. Conradt then allegedly put a link the work of fiction on his personal website and on a message board.
Needless to say it wasn’t long before all hell broke loose and Mr. Conradt was forced to take the story down and apologize to the entire world. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” he would later say. Apparently accusing someone else’s child of cocaine distribution is what passes for humor in Mr. Conradt’s world.
I’ve read comments on this story that go something like: “Well, yeah. What the guy did was dumb. But hey, it was a joke. Let him apologize and let’s move on.”
If you’re in that camp, then you don’t realize what has really happened here and what is about to happen.
Now understand this. I work for a newspaper so I’m a Free Speech, First Amendment guy. I have no problem with people expressing their opinions. It may be rough and it may be cruel and it may even be uninformed, but you have to live with it in a free society.
But to publish something that is knowingly false — to accuse someone of a crime for your own amusement — crosses a line. To violate copyright laws, trademark laws, and put some one else’s name on your bogus story crosses a line. In Mr. Conradt’s case it was a pretty clear legal line and he’s about to pay a very dear price for it.
Here’s why this case is important. Because of the freedom of the Internet, some people are lulled into believing there are no rules and no accountability. Some people believe there is one set of rules for sports fans and one set of for everybody else. This case will prove that is not true and that is why I expect the Daily Oklahoman and their lawyers to make an example of this guy.
Trust me when I tell you that there are a lot of college athletics departments who have a tough enough time dealing with the TRUE stuff that is posted on the Internet. But they also spend a lot of time having to shoot down and disprove things that are not true that are written by people who view hurting others as a form of sport.
These schools won’t say so publicly, but they are hoping that Mr. James W. Conradt gets hammered in the court of law and the court of public opinion.
Am I wrong about this? Is this just not that big a deal? Should this guy get a slap on the wrist? Hasn’t the public humiliation been enough punishment?
I’ll open the floor for you.
Permalink | Comments (79) | Post your comment |
SEC Quarterbacks: Five Burning Questions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As we go through the preseason I’ll be breaking down several positions in the SEC and ACC and asking Five Burning Questions for each. Today we’ll start with the SEC’s quarterbacks and what inquiring minds want to know:
1. How many carries for Tebow?: Last season Florida quarterback Tim Tebow carried the ball 210 times, which was 106 more than any other runner on the team. Why did Tebow get so many carries? Mostly it was because Tebow was the best power runner on the team (he averaged 4.3 yards per carry) and had a knack for getting the ball into end zone (23 TD). Will a running back step up and take a significant amount of carries away from the Heisman Trophy winner? Will coach Urban Meyer and OC Dan Mullen resist the temptation to go with the big guy in every clutch running situation? Tebow has to be healthy on Nov. 1 for Georgia.
2. How many picks for Stafford?: Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford threw 19 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions a season ago. As a freshman he threw seven touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. Stafford has one of the best arms in all of college football and can make all of the throws. He is as talented as any quarterback who has played for Georgia. But patience hasn’t always been one of his virtues. Can he keep his interceptions in single digits in 2008? If he does, Georgia has a chance for a big year. The Dawgs are 14-2 in games where he has thrown one interception or less.
3. How will John Parker Wilson fare with young receivers?: Wilson sometimes doesn’t get a lot of love from the Alabama faithful because of his inconsistency. He has also made some crucial turnovers (LSU, 2007). But the fact remains that the rising senior will, if he stays healthy, become the Crimson Tide’s all-time leading passer this season. He needs only 732 yards to pass Brodie Croyle’s 6,382 career yards. But Wilson is really going to miss DJ Hall (67 catches, 1,005 yards), who was his go-to guy under pressure. And it’s clear some talented freshmen will have to play at the receiver position. Wilson will also be working under his third offensive coordinator (Jim McElwain) in as many years.
4. Will Stephen Garcia actually get on the field this season?: After three run-ins with the law, the highly-recruited but star-crossed South Carolina quarterback, who has yet to play a down, will be on suspension from all team activities until Aug. 15. First he has to get back into school. Then he has to get out of Steve Spurrier’s doghouse. Then he has to prove to Spurrier that he can play and be trusted not to mess up again. That’s a lot of ifs. But unless Tommy Beecher or Chris Smelley improve, the Gamecocks are going to need Garcia before this season is over.
5. Will Jonathan Crompton get the green light on Sept. 1?: Crompton finally gets his chance at Tennessee after playing behind Erik Ainge for two years. Former OC David Cutcliffe always expressed a lot of confidence in Crompton to run the offense and make plays. But Tennessee is going to be so good in the running game with Arian Foster and a stable of good backs, I wonder if new OC Dave Clawson will hold the reins a little bit in the first game with UCLA? This we know. If Tennessee is going to beat Florida on Sept. 20 and Auburn on Sept. 27, Crompton will need to be ready to make all the throws.
BONUS QUESTION
How good is Javan Snead? Two years ago Snead battled fellow freshman Colt McCoy for the starting quarterback job at Texas. McCoy won and Snead landed at Ole Miss, where he sat out last season. Snead completed 20 of 26 passes in the Ole Miss Spring game. He’ll team with former Ole Miss quarterback Kent Austin, who returns to Oxford as offensive coordinator after a successful coaching career in the CFL. If Snead is the real deal, and the people in Oxford swear he is, Ole Miss (3-9 last season) could be the most improved team in the SEC in its first year under coach Houston Nutt.
Now there are a lot of questions around the SEC in places where they don’t know who the quarterback will be (Auburn, LSU, Kentucky). We will get to those once practice starts.
Permalink | Comments (61) | Post your comment |
Forget the calendar. College football season is here!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Silly me. After taking some time off I thought we would be able to sort of ease back into our daily visits about the game that we all love.
But this summer has again proven what I’ve been saying for years. There is no off-season for college football any more.
Yes, the calendar says the ACC (July 20-22) and SEC (July 23-25) preseason meetings are just around the corner. It also says that the first games won’t be played until August 28. But gentle readers, you can forget the calendar. Football is already here. And it’s good to be back.
Here are five examples I offer as proof that college football season never ends:
1. UGA VI: Only in college football and only in the South could the passing of a mascot evoke such emotion as when UGA VI passed away in June. I had a couple of friends from newspapers in other parts of the country call to ask why this was such a big deal. I tried to explain but bless them, you have to live in the South to understand.
The reverend Claude McBride gave the final blessing at the funeral at Sanford Stadium and ended it with:
“Sic’em UGA. Woof! Woof! Amen.”
Sorry. But you just don’t get that in the NFL. And you sure as heck don’t get it in the Big Ten.
2. James W. Conradt: Mr. Conradt, a Nebraska fan who should know better at age 36, decided he had read enough smack from Oklahoma fans on a Cornhusker message board. So he wrote a completely bogus story saying that two Oklahoma players, Sam Bradford and Landry Jones, had been busted on charges of cocaine distribution.
In order to give the story an air of authenticity, Mr. Conradt lifted the internet site header for The Daily Oklahoman newspaper and attached it to the story before posting it on the message board.
Needless to say, the folks down at the Daily Oklahoman were not happy and used their vast resources to track down Mr. Conradt. The newspaper is considering legal action. That newspaper also quotes Kevin Jones, father of Landry, as saying that he and Mr. Conradt would have their day in court as well.
In an interview with The Daily Oklahoman, Mr. Conradt said: “I just wanted to get them (Oklahoma fans) riled up, I guess. It was a bad decision.”
No. Wearing one blue and one black sock is a bad decision. Driving through downtown Atlanta during construction is a bad decision. This guy may have broken the law and intentionally defamed two innocent kids for his own amusement. He is getting ready to go down a real bad stretch of road.
3. Rich Rod, Michigan pay the $4 mil: A funny thing happened in the case of West Virginia vs. Rich Rodriguez, the Mountaineers’ former coach. WVU had a contract that said Rodriguez owed them $4 million for bolting to Michigan. Rich Rod said no way. The case appeared headed to court until it looked like Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman might have to sit down for a deposition. Then things got settled in a hurry. Now Rodriguez will pay $1.5 million and Michigan will pony up the rest. This was a huge event. Here’s why: Schools now know that they can hold coaches feet to the fire if there is a big buyout in the contract. They also know they can make life miserable for the other school and therefore get the money. It will make other schools think twice before hiring away somebody else’s coach.
4. Fulmer’s future is off the table: Despite the fact that Tennessee won 10 games and was two bad passes away from beating LSU, the BCS champions, in the SEC championship game, some fans were still questioning the long-term viability of Phillip Fulmer as the Volunteers’ head coach. Athletics director Mike Hamilton essentially took the issue off the table this summer by giving Fulmer a contract extension through 2014 that will pay him $2.4 million this season with a salary that will grow to $3.3 million in the final season of the deal. There is no question that Fulmer wants to reach two big goals: At 147 career victories he needs just 27 more to pass the legendary Robert Neyland as Tennessee’s winningest coach. With 55 wins Fulmer would be at 202, which would make him second only to Alabama’s Bear Bryant in SEC history. There is also no question that Tennessee has not won an SEC championship since 1998. This will make for an interesting dynamic if Tennessee stumbles against Florida (Sept. 20) and Auburn (Sept. 27).
5. Gators take a hit at safety: College football season never ends because at any time something can happen that can change the entire complexion of a football team. Florida’s greatest weakness in 2007 was the secondary and now comes word that starting strong safety Dorian Munroe will miss the season after tearing an ACL in voluntary drills. Florida has lost a bunch of players at that position and it is worth noting that junior Jamar Hornsby was kicked off the team earlier this summer after being arrested for credit card fraud. The Gators appear down to a redshirt freshman, Ahmad Black, Bryan Thomas (who is coming off surgery), and true freshman Will Hill at the position opposite Major Wright. A cornerback may have to switch positions. That is what makes college football different. You can’t go to the waiver wire and pick up another player. You play with what you have.
Services »
