Movers and shakers, moving and shaking

So what does it say about the state of college athletics that a list of the 25 most influential people in college sports has more judges and lawyers than coaches in the top ten?  Or that Jimmy Sexton sits square in the middle of the list?

And how ’bout this ringing endorsement of number five?

“There is no doubt Mark Emmert belongs on this list. But contemplate this: Has anyone ever held office for less than five years, had more curious lapses of judgement, exhibitions of ego and lost the confidence of nearly everyone who works for and with him — and kept their job?! For sure, his low profile reflects the lashes imposed on many fronts for the first two-plus years of gaffes and neglect during his tenure. He’s likely still in the role because those he reports to realize no one would yet want this job given the unrecognizable state of affairs Emmert took the organization toward when he got his hands on the wheel. Credit him with surviving multiple 10 counts and remaining in for the latter rounds.”

Staggered but still standing as a recipe for leadership.  That explains so much.

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‘Why are people texting me about what you said on the Finebaum show today?’

Honestly, if this is the kind of reaction you get merely suggesting Alabama could lose five games this season…

“Are you an idiot?” one caller said. “Our second string is deep enough to roll with the boys in the SEC.”

Burns’ favorite response questioned if he was “high on fart bubbles.”

… I’d pay good money to sit down and listen to PAWWWLLL for a day if it really did come to pass.

“Richt is just fine.”

Barrett Sallee swims against the tide.

If Richt can do what he always does—lead his team into mid-November with realistic chances at the division title and dance around the 10-win mark—that constitutes a successful season, just like last year was after Georgia topped Louisville in the Belk Bowl.

Agree?  Disagree?

It’s a trend.

The AJ-C‘s Chris Kirschner points out that Mirko Jurkovic becomes the second member of Georgia’s 2015 class to join without signing a NLI, following Roquan Smith.  Not that Jurkovic had much of a choice.

Jurkovic won’t be an official UGA recruit until he attends his first day of college classes with the Bulldogs later this summer. NCAA rules prevent a student-athlete from signing two national letters-of-intent (NLI) in the same calendar year. Because Jurkovic signed an NLI with Ohio State in February, he is not permitted to sign one again with UGA. He simply signed financial-aid papers, which are non-binding to Jurkovic.

So you’re saying there’s still a chance… er, let’s not go there.

Eh, who needs results, anyway?

This Berry Tramel piece about Bobby Johnson’s approach to deciding which teams are playoff-worthy – which Tramel scathingly refers to as having a “god-complex” – is so, so good.  And so, so what is wrong about the CFP.

Former Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson has replaced Archie Manning on the committee, and Johnson told ESPN that he will “rely heavily on the eye test this fall,” according to the story that you can read here.

Oh brother. Will this never end? Will this self-belief that the committee members are anointed to be savants and look deep into the world of college football and determine who is the better team not by results, but by what they detect from the motion pictures they study?

Johnson said he will consider a variety of factors but “the old eye test is probably the most important. I don’t want to get too involved with statistics. I like to watch games and then I’ll go back and look at statistics and see what may have been the big difference in that one team winning or losing.

“It always gets down to who can execute and who can get the job done when the pressure’s on. To me, that’s the big thing. That’s looking at the coaching staff, that’s looking at the players, the kickers, everything. There’s a lot of stuff to look at, but when it gets down to it, the old eye test is probably the most important.”

I swear. If I’m ever in need of a strait jacket, you can blame the College Football Playoff committee. This incessant need to look past results drives me batty.

The most important thing to look at — no, the ONLY thing to look at — is results. Who did you play? Where did you play? Who did you beat?

C’mon, Berry, where’s the fun in that?  Even a computer could do that without having to meet every week in a Texas resort and then explain it on a weekly ESPN show… oh, wait.

I knew there was something I liked about Nick Chubb.

As Seth Emerson points out, it’s not just that Chubb rung up big rushing numbers last season.  It’s that he did it against some very good defenses.

Chubb had 226 rushing yards against Louisville, which still finished as the nation’s 10^th-best rushing defense. He gained 202 yards against Arkansas, which was 12^th-best, 156 against Florida (13^th in the nation), 143 against Missouri (26^th in the nation). And going all the way back to the opener, when Chubb was sharing carries, he had 70 yards on just four carries against Clemson, which was fifth best in the country.

Hey, and some of that Clemson yardage came on one shoe!

Despite that, Seth sees Chubb as the Dawgs’ second-most important player, behind (I presume) whoever wins the starting quarterback job.  His reasoning:

Remember, when Georgia’s quarterback situation is brought up, the default position is: “Well they don’t need a special quarterback, just somebody who can hand off to Nick Chubb.”

Well, what if that’s not the best option either?

Then Georgia’s probably screwed, frankly.