“Hi, we’re from the NCAA. Is there some place we can talk?”

Next stop:  Athens.

Checking to make sure

From the AJ-C‘s Georgia Tech beat writer, here’s the question of the day:

Though the game-by-game previews I’ve compiled I have #GT at 10-1 going into the game against #UGA. Does that sound right?

Hey, at least he has the presence of mind to stop, collect himself and ask.

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It really is like a social disease. And it’s spreading.

From Capstone Report:

… But this party is a widespread problem that will likely affect a number of schools before it’s all over.  Chris Mortenson reported on ESPN radio Tuesday night that the initial speculation is that up to 25 NFL prospects were at the party, and from as many as 10 SEC schools.

Yikes.

Steele and the coaches: All-SEC Preseason lists

I’m definitely in the school that appearing on an All-SEC list after the season ends is a helluva lot more relevant than showing up on a preseason list, but I thought it might be fun to compare Phil Steele’s preseason All-SEC player list with that of the coaches (or, more accurately, the coaches’ administrative assistants).

Keep in mind, the methodologies of the two differ.  Steele breaks the lines and the defensive backfield down by position; the coaches don’t.  Steele recognizes the prevalence of offenses deploying three wide receivers and defenses playing 3-4, which means that his teams have twelve slots to the coaches’ eleven.  And, of course, the coaches recognize ties, which Steele won’t have.

Anyway, here’s how they look:

POSITION	COACHES 1ST	STEELE 1ST	COACHES 2ND	STEELE 2ND
QB	Mallett	Mallett	McElroy	McElroy
RB	Locke	Locke	Demps	Ealey
RB	Ingram	Ingram	Richardson	Fannin
WR	Green	Green	Jeffrey	Tolliver
WR	Jones	D. Adams	D. Adams	J. Adams
WR		Jones		Cobb
TE	Williams	Williams	Stocker	Stocker
OL	Pouncey	Pouncey	Barkesdale	Ben Jones
OL	Jones	Jones	Glenn	Hines
OL	Johnson	Johnson	Sherrod	Glenn
OL	Boling	Boling	Glenn	Carpenter
OL	Ziemba	Ziemba	Carpenter	Sherrod
OL			Pugh
PR	Norman	Cobb	Rainey	Gilmore
KR	Locke	Boykin	Boykin	Norman
DL	Matthews	Matthews	Ajiboye	Lockett
DL	Powe	Powe	Walker	Chapman
DL	Dareus	Dareus	Evans	Hunter
DL		Nevis	Nevis	McPhee
DL			McPhee
LB	Bynes	Houston	Wright	Marve
LB	Sheppard	Sheppard	Stevens	Franklin
LB	Hightower	Hightower	Jones	Bynes
LB	Marve	Stevens	Franklin	Cornell
DB	Peterson	Peterson	Thorpe	Thorpe
DB	Barron	Barron	Hill	Jenkins
DB	Gilmore	Gilmore	Culliver	Black
DB	Jenkins	Hill	Black	Jackson
K	Walsh	Walsh	Sturgis	Sturgis
P	Butler	Butler	Henry	Henry

There’s a pretty fair amount of consistency between the two, but a few choices stand out.  I don’t get the coaches picking Demps second team; either of Steele’s second team picks seem better choices.  (It’s interesting how the coaches have bought into the Alabama running backs, omigawd! narrative, too.)  On the other hand, the coaches get Jeffrey right.  The two biggest questions for me are on defense:  how do the coaches leave Lockett and Houston off?

What do y’all think?

Wednesday morning buffet

Fuel up… SEC Media Days are just around the corner.

• I’d love to hear Urban Meyer get asked that question about Clay Travis.
• Is it just me, or have we heard Todd Grantham talk about his coaching philosophy more in the last five months than we heard Willie Martinez talk about his in the last five years?
• Dennis Dodd has gone in to full “he’s a witch, burn him!” mode.  Southern Cal isn’t returning Bush’s Heisman Trophy because he was clueless, but because he made himself an ineligible player for the season in which he earned it.
• If the NCAA really wants to get serious about cracking down on agents, Darren Rovell has some suggestions.
• It’s embarrassing how far in the bag the Gator media is for the Florida program.  How embarrassing?  This embarrassing:  “Is it a coincidence that all this news is breaking right before SEC Media Days? Not a chance. Someone is intent on either hurting the Gators, hurting the Pouncey family or both.” Oy.
• How much was Pat Haden involved in the hiring of Lane Kiffin?
• Here’s something on how the Internet has changed the world of football recruiting.
• Same as it ever was:  just read the first and last sentences of this preview of South Carolina and ask yourself how many other seasons those could have been typed for.
• The main thing I got out of Chris Low’s rankings of the SEC quarterback position is that they’re completely useless after the first two slots.
• I don’t know about Les Miles, but it sure looks like Gary Crowton ought to be on a hot seat.  It’s almost criminal how much talent he wasted at LSU last season.

Head Coaching Made Simple, by Erk Russell.

Good story from Paul Johnson:

ACCSports.com:
That being said, you did turn over the play-calling to an assistant when you got your first head coaching job at Georgia Southern. What made you change your mind?

Johnson:
It happened for two games. What happened was, when I took the head coaching job, Coach (Erk) Russell came up to me one day in practice when I was walking around, checking everything out. He goes, “What in the hell are you doing?” I said, “Walking around, being the head coach.” He goes, “Boy, get your ass over there and coach those quarterbacks and call the plays. That’s what your good at, that’s what got you this job, that’s what separates you from everybody else.” He said, “Do what you can do to help the team. That’s what can help the team.” I was like, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” But I got to thinking about it.

That’s probably the last time anybody talked to Johnson like that.  At least that he listened to…

Pay to play: the wrath of Saban

Here’s some more shit that Nick Saban doesn’t have time for:

… Saban, a former coach of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, said it might be time to ban NFL teams from college campuses in order to get the league to take seriously the issue of agents boldly breaking NCAA regulations. Alabama is considered one of the more welcoming schools to NFL scouts, who may come watch video at almost any time.

But Saban says it might now be time for a change.

“What the NFL Players Association and the NFL need to do is if any agent breaks a rule and causes ineligibility for a player, they should suspend his [agent’s] license for a year or two,” Saban said. “I’m about ready for college football to say, ‘Let’s just throw the NFL out. Don’t let them evaluate players. Don’t let them talk to players. Let them do it at the combine.’ If they are not going to help us, why should we help them?”

To which I say, preach on, brother.

As I tweeted the other day, one positive to having a control freak as a head coach is that threats to that control from agents aren’t going to be tolerated.  And Saban is right to point out that it will take involvement from the NFL and NFLPA to rein in agent misbehavior.

Two possible flies in the ointment:  (1) for every Nick Saban/Urban Meyer out there, there’s also a Pete Carroll and unless college football presents a united front, Saban’s line in the sand will quickly be erased; and (2) it’s going to take a strong sales job to explain to some recruits why a particular program is restricting the access of a potential future employer.

The painful reality here is that the NFL is having its cake and eating it too right now.  It’s got a terrific player development system in place for which it doesn’t pay a dime.  And agents contacting high level college players doesn’t affect that one bit.  It remains to be seen whether somebody like Saban can change that.

Phil Steele thinks Georgia is doomed in 2010.

Based on this interview, he’s obviously not getting the hot seat memos.

If what he says starting at about the 7:00 minute mark doesn’t get you pumped up for this season, I don’t know what will.