GTP’s first poll

I’ve never done a poll at Get The Picture before – I confess that I find most of ’em kind of silly (I mean, does Mark Richt really care if 400 anonymous voters think he should fire Willie Martinez?) – but I think I’ve found my first subject worthy of soliciting your informed opinion on.

It seems that the NFL is wrestling with a very serious decision.

Bringing Florida quarterback Tim Tebow to New York for April’s NFL draft could spur higher television ratings, but Gil Brandt, who advises the NFL on its invitations, won’t say whether Tebow will be on the list.

That’s because Brandt, former head of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, never says who he’s inviting, especially this early.

It has been the NFL’s policy not to invite players who the league thinks could be sweating it out in the green room for hours, let alone days. And Tebow could very well sit well through the third round. Or he could be taken high in the first, depending on which NFL Draft web site, analysts or agents you go to for an answer.

So, there you have it… express your choice.  Vox populi, and all that.

Tell us how you really feel.

For sheer bile and invective, this plague-on-all-your-houses piece about the Tennessee football program (from a retired UT news director!) is hard to top.

An innocent question

Check out the top part of the list that Joe has compiled over at Coaches Hot Seat Blog ranking college football head coaches based on winning percentage:

Rank	Coach	School	Yrs.	W	L	T	WIN%
1	Chris Petersen	Boise State	4	49	4	0	.925
2	Urban Meyer	Florida	9	96	18	0	.842
3	Pete Carroll	USC	9	97	19	0	.836
4	Bob Stoops	Oklahoma	11	117	28	0	.807
5	Chip Kelly	Oregon	1	10	3	0	.769
6	Mark Richt	Georgia	9	90	27	0	.769
7	Bronco Mendenhall	BYU	5	49	15	0	.766
8	Gary Patterson	TCU	10	85	28	0	.752
9	Joe Paterno	Penn State	44	394	129	3	.749
10	Bobby Bowden	FSU	44	389	129	4	.745

Seriously, those of you who assert that Mark Richt is on some sort of a hot seat in 2010, what do you base that on exactly?

Bonus questions: if you were in Damon Evans’ shoes and fired Richt, who would you hire to replace him? And how much would you expect the new guy to improve Richt’s winning percentage?

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UPDATE: And while I’m at it, I think this writer’s list “of coaches whose departure would catch anyone by surprise” is short a name.

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UPDATE #2: Mr. Elkon adds some perspective about Richt’s career to date.

Are we beginning to see evidence of a peak in offense?

I don’t want to read too much into this set of stats that I found in a Mike Hugenin post this morning, but still, there’s a trend worth mentioning:

There were no 2,000-yard rushers this season; there was one in 2008, three in ’07 and none in ’06 and ’05.

There were 53 1,000-yard rushers this season. There were 54 in 2008, 56 in ’07, 36 in ’06 and 46 in ’05.

There was one 5,000-yard passer this season, Houston’s Case Keenum. He is just the 10th passer in NCAA history to reach that plateau; there had been two each in ’08 and ’07 and one in ’06 after none reached the mark in ’05.

There were three 4,000-yard passers this season. There were six in ’08 and ’07, three in ’06 and two in ’05.

There were 25 3,000-yard passers this season; that equals the number from 2008. There were 36 in 2007 — which is an all-time, single-season high — 17 in 2006 and 18 in 2005.

There were three 1,500-yard receivers this season; that’s more than in any of the past four seasons (one in 2008, two in ’07, zero in ’06 and one in ’05).

There were 29 1,000-yard receivers this season; there were 33 in ’08, 38 in ’07, 21 in ’06 and 28 in ’05.

Every one of those stats, with one exception, shows a decline this season.  And that one, 1,500-yard receivers, is hardly dramatic.  So, is there anything we can take from this?  Are defenses really starting to catch up to the spread?  Are the clock rules having an effect?  Is it simply the result of college offenses spreading the ball around to more players?  Or is it merely coincidence?

Wednesday morning buffet

Here you go:

• Were I a college recruiter, the first thing I’d tell a kid?  Shut your damned Facebook page down, son.
• And the second thing I’d tell him?  Nobody ever buys that lame after the fact “it was a joke” explanation.
• It looks like Tim DeRuyter will be filling some big shoes at Texas A&M.
• The Wiz has everything you need to know about the 2009 Bowl TV ratings.  (Check out the increased viewership for the Independence Bowl.)
• Warning!  Meme in play:  the SEC East is at a crossroads.  Look for that to crop up on your friendly neighborhood blogs as we get on this year.
• Doesn’t Jim Rome come off as the nerd you knew in high school who desperately wanted to sound hip?
• On the other hand, this story, in the wake of Junior’s departure, is pretty funny.
• The Tebow family and Focus on the Family advertisement story is back.  Since the Tebows are willing participants, it’s hard to argue there’s any exploitation going on, but you wonder if their choice of friends is the wisest, considering that there’s already push back and mockery coming from folks who would consider themselves to be Tebow supporters.
• Of course, Tebow could simply be preparing his resume to become the coach at Notre Dame one day.