The chafing dishes are ready.
- I get that the Packers want to talk to some college coaches about how better to defend the spread-option, given how they got shredded by Kaepernick in the playoffs. And I see that they intend to go to more than one place for that. But Sumlin? Why not talk to the guy who made Kaepernick into a quarterback in the first place? (Plus, it’s not like Ault doesn’t have some spare time right now, anyway.)
- Interesting interview with Ellis Johnson about his 4-2-5 defense. I just wonder how long it’s going to take him to get the right personnel to implement it at Auburn.
- “It’s like a mini-NFL.”
- The highest paid member of Georgia’s non-assistant coaching support staff is Dave Van Halanger, at $168,570.
- Bet Florida appreciates this Mike Slive observation: “If you watched Georgia play this past year and you watched Alabama play, it would be hard-pressed to say that Georgia isn’t one of the top four teams in the country, right?”
- John Infante points out that one of the biggest hits the NCAA has taken with the Miami debacle is that it’s made itself less likely to survive a split in D-1.
- Missouri’s got a nice home schedule this season but elects not to raise general season ticket prices.
- A look at how Alabama will get down from 95 to 85 players on scholarship.
Get The Picture 
Saw the Missouri article and I’m curious who else is still pissed about the SEC expansion? It seems like the West teams got a much better deal picking up a home home with A&M while we are getting Mizzou every year. Works great if you are a fan of soft scheduling, but not so much if you like playing the big boys a bit more… Ugh.
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Why would Ault help a team defend is Wunderkind?
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(1) because he’s asked (2) because he’s paid (3) because he’s interested in coaching in the NFL
Coaches like to exchange talk all the time.
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After their embarrassing bowl performance, only a completely delusional Gator fan could argue they were a top 4 team and/or better than UGA.
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Maybe they asked and Ault said gth.
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Chance Warmack in the mini-NFL article: “All I know is if it’s 10:30, I’m getting there at 9 o’clock. And it’s been like that since my freshman year,” Warmack said. “Everybody’s programmed that way. That’s just how we do it at Alabama.
That’s a tight ship, and — low and behold — the players respect it. More than that, they buy into it. With good reason: “ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. said playing under Saban can be good for as much as a ‘half-a-round bump up.'”
While I want to envy Bama, I wonder: do Bama’s non-starters with low NFL chances show the same kind of dedication? And how different is Bama’s culture from what we require at UGA? Richt has traditionally let the players enjoy the student life to the extent he can. Still, we’ve started hammering home diet, class attendance & punctuality the past few seasons. My guess: the more players we sign every year, the more like Bama we’ll have to become.
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DIdn’t Michigan under Rich Rod get in trouble for making players be there more than the 20 hour limit imposed by the NCAA? I guess Saban doesn’t have to play by those rules.
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If I’m Saban, I’m saying that practice started at 10:30 — if half the team showed up early and chose to go through drills on their own, that’s their business.
Not that we should complain. Our passing game was excellent this year b/c Murray worked on his own with receivers before & after practice. Just need to spread the bug.
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RR got busted for reading reports filed by athletic department personnel who monitored “voluntary” workouts beyond what the NCAA allows. Players can practice on their own, but it can’t be monitored. Another one of those lovely split hairs, an NCAA specialty.
Showing up an hour early for a meeting is fine, especially if you bring study materials.
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Seems like Wall Street and college football reward mediocrity. Ellis goes 0-12 at Southern Mississippi, gets fired and hired again with a 10,000 dollar raise to $800,000. Nice work if you can get it.
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He was hired as a DC. He is proven as a successful DC. Coordinators in the SEC have seen large salary increases in recent years. It certainly makes sense to me.
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And considering his history of success there, and multiple teams in the area needing a DC, his salary is much more justifiable than say the one the Senator pointed out last week given to LSU’s new OC, Cameron.
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On Slive and UGA, yes Georgia was one of the top four teams in the country even after the SECCG. Problem was that under the current system, UF got the Sugar Bowl bid. Also, under a four team playoff, UF would have likely gotten in the final four. It seems to have been proven the last 2 years that the SECCG loser is out, but the next best SEC team gets a free ride in. Bama in 2011 and UF in 2012. All this being said, it makes no sense. The only answer it seems is to go undefeated and it all takes care of itself.
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“Player with a hangnail: “I’m getting better.”
Saban: “No you’re not. You’ll be stone dead in a moment.”
Funny stuff.
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Hey, excellent analysis. Obviously, unbiased and objective. What paper does he write for?
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Hey, don’t blame the messenger. He didn’t make up 95.
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Saban doesn’t have time for numbers. They’re biased and subjective.
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Any statistician could have told you that.
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I so want to know how Little Nicky manages the process given the 20-hour rule. He’s either a master planner or bending the rules as far as he can without breaking them.
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It’s Saban, he can’t be a master planner, he has to be bending the rules.
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See above. Players can practice 100 hours a week if they want. Only 20 can be monitored – the other 80 have to be plausibly voluntary.
Georgia takes advantage of that rule, too. All the programs do.
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With Saban’s roster management techniques, does anyone really think that the workouts in Tuscaloosa are voluntary? They are voluntary if you want to involuntarily give up your scholarship.
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I don’t know why you’re limiting it to Tuscaloosa. It happens everywhere, in sports for both men and women, at small schools and large.
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It is Alabama. Saban would not be allowed to operate this way at most other schools.
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SB Nation:
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl-mock-draft/2013/2/24/4024858/2013-nfl-combine-john-jenkins-weight-sec-championship
“When Alabama and Georgia met for the SEC Championship, Georgia defensive tackle John Jenkins had let his weight get a little out of control. Despite being listed in the 350-pound range, Jenkins said on Saturday that he weighed 370 pounds during that game.
Jenkins knows his weight is going to be a concern for NFL teams, but after weighing in at 346 pounds at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine, Jenkins doesn’t think teams have anything to worry about.
“That’s the biggest issue out of anything is my weight,” Jenkins said. “I tell them they have nothing to worry about. That’s the only time I’ve ever weighed that high in my life. Now I’m educated enough to know to keep my weight down and that’s where I want to be to be able to get the job done.”
This has to be Saban’s fault, somehow.
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“This has to be Saban’s fault, somehow.”
Obviously!!!
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I understand the angst over over-signing and I’m not starting a debate about Saban’s class this year, because we won’t agree and we won’t convince each other here. But I would like to get an opinion here on one point the article glosses over and I remember from a Clemson issue with Ray Ray McElrathbey. They talk about not renewing scholarships for a fifth year, but fail to mention that those players have already graduated. The same thing applied to McElrathbey, and Tommy Bowden took a lot of media grief for his decision not to grant him a fifth year. What is the responsibility of a university to provide a scholarship to a student who has earned his degree?
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I have a very simple rule of thumb about all such dealings: have the coaches misled the kid? If they haven’t lied, and they’re in compliance with NCAA rules, I don’t have a complaint.
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Unless it’s Saban, of course.
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“The highest paid member of Georgia’s non-assistant coaching support staff is Dave Van Halanger, at $168,570.”
Why in the hell is this boat anchor scrub still drawing a salary from UGA?
This is disgusting cronyism.
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