Envy and jealousy: Junior as muse

I wish I had written every word of this.  “Alabama athletic director Bill Battle pre-emptively notified the NCAA of forthcoming violations.”  LMAO.

Appearing in an Auburn jersey near you in 2016

Missouri’s Dorial Green-Beckham gets popped for his second drug offense.

The special teams shuffle

Hmm… do I detect a slight undertone of snark from Brother Weiszer here?

It’s become an annual offseason issue to address for Georgia in recent years.

Fixing what ails the Bulldogs on special teams.

“Certainly we’ve got to get some better answers in our special teams,” coach Mark Richt said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean changing any coaches on what they do or all that kind of thing, but I’m going to make that a point of emphasis for myself and our staff and give them carte blanche to take trips of maybe bring people in to really solidify what we’re doing and be certain we’re doing the right things schematically and technically.”

Richt said that before the offseason of 2012.

Okay, maybe.  But maybe I’m not quite sure.

Richt said back in 2011 that he expected a “high sense of urgency on our special teams to become more than just decent.”

Most Georgia fans would settle for decent as a starting point.

Why, yes!  Yes, I do.

If you’re a beat writer, look on the bright side:  at least Richt isn’t making you work hard for new material.  For the rest of us, decent would be a nice change.

For the NCAA, not getting paid is a “modern experience”.

I’ve been waiting for this logic shoe to drop in the O’Bannon case:

The O’Bannon plaintiffs say recent bylaws allowing athletes to receive $300 more than actual expenses (provided the money comes from a permissible source), athletes to be employed at the school’s summer camps, and other benefits related to academic support and medical expenses are examples of less-restrictive variations of amateurism. The plaintiffs say the proposed cost-of-attendance stipend and possible changes allowing athletes to use their name, image and likeness to promote commercial businesses also suggest a less-restrictive alternative to the no-pay rules.

Yet, the O’Bannon lawyers wrote, “the product of these college sports is as popular (and more lucrative) than ever.”

In other words, if paying players will be apocalyptic for the sport, as the organization and others have alleged would occur if the plaintiffs prevail, resulting in a dramatic drop in public interest, how is it that the payments already permitted by NCAA rules and contemplated by the player stipend being pushed by Mike Slive and others won’t?

I’ll hang up and listen for your answer, Donald Remy.

“We are striving to make certain that in this 21st Century student-athletes are offered opportunities for a modern experience and compete in a healthy and safe environment,” Remy said. “Meanwhile, the plaintiffs are seeking to separate certain student-athletes from their peers and make them employees.”

You make that sound so dirty.  Aren’t coaches and school presidents employees?

Will SEC pass defenses rise again in 2014?

One reason to think there might be grounds for seeing a defensive resurgence in the conference next season is because of turnover at the quarterback position.  John Pennington has a nice breakdown, comparing the situations going into last season and next season, here.  This is how he describes the new crop:

School	Top 2013 QB Returning	Total Off. 2013	Yds/Gm 2013	Our View of Situation
Ole Miss	B. Wallace	3701	284.7	Good, Just needs to keep cutting down on turnovers
Auburn	N. Marshall	3044	234.2	Best, But Marshall still needs to improve as a passer
Miss. State	D. Prescott	2769	251.7	Good, Prescott was a solid leader in ’12 when healthy
Arkansas	B. Allen	1581	143.7	Worst, Injuries were an issue, but Allen needs work
Kentucky	J. Whitlow	1492	124.3	Bad, Likely an open race as Whitlow’s health always a ?
Missouri	M. Mauk	1300	100.0	Good, Mauk showed he’s a solid heir to the job
Tennessee	J. Worley	1295	161.8	Bad, An open race once between up to 4 guys
Georgia	H. Mason	960	240.0	Good, Mason wasn’t great, but he should be ready for ’14
Vanderbilt	P. Robinette	856	85.6	Bad, If Franklin walks out how will new coach see/use him?
S. Carolina	D. Thompson	810	101.2	Good, But not great… he’s not been a Shaw clone to date
Florida	J. Driskel	515	171.6	Bad, New OC and likely an open competition
Texas A&M	M. Joeckel	293	73.2	Good, Whoever gets the nod should excel in Sumlin’s system
Alabama	B. Sims	228	28.5	Good, The people around Bama’s QB will help a lot
LSU	A. Jennings	199	22.1	Good, Beat Arkansas and Iowa and run game will help

Yeah, there’s a drop there from Manziel, Murray, McCarron, Shaw, etc.  When arguably the top returner at the position “still needs to improve as a passer”, I’d say you’re looking at a potential situation where secondary play should take a step up.

Maybe Lakatos’ successor can take advantage of that.