“Greasy Political Payback”

I’m always amused at those of you who think my support of free market principles when it comes to student-athletes’ compensation translates into me being an unabashed socialist.

In the hope it proves illuminating, this is what a lefty bashing amateurism sounds like. See the difference?

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Dawg Walkin’

The good news is that the Dawg Walk isn’t going away.  The unknown is that they may feel a need to tinker with the tradition.

With the Kirby Smart era underway in Athens, some of the traditions and routines Georgia developed over the last 15 years are bound to change. One that appears to be going nowhere is The Bulldogs pregame ritual, The Dawg Walk. According to a tweet by UGA Football Live, J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Greg McGarity has announced that the team will conduct one before the annual G-Day spring scrimmage, which will be held on April 16.

In the past, UGA hasn’t made the journey from Lumpkin Street, under Field Street bridge, and into Sanford Stadium, but both Smart and the UGA administration are working to make this year a different experience.

There may be absolutely nothing new to this, other than having it for G-Day, as Bill King reports.

While Dawg Walks haven’t been a part of G-Day in the past, the push to fill the stadium up for this year’s spring game has changed the thinking on that, and athletic spokesman Claude Felton tells me there will be a “traditional” Dawg Walk on April 16. Right now, he said, it’s tentatively set for around 2:45 p.m. (the game kicks off at 4 p.m.).

If so, that’s a great way to build the enthusiasm that Smart seeks.  As such, well played, gentlemen.

“I think we’re trying to do things in a responsible manner based on our resources.”

Jeff Long, on economics:

Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said the rising tide of salaries across college football is a product of a free-market system and the game’s popularity, particularly in the SEC, which has seen a spike in revenues with the advent of the SEC Network in 2014.

And what does the free market get you in Fayetteville?

Arkansas’ 2015 salary pool for assistants ranked No. 19 nationally in a USA Today survey, which listed the cumulative pay at $3,529,550 because it included a mix of bonuses.

But the Razorbacks ranked 10th in the SEC in cumulative pay for assistant coaches in 2015, behind No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 10 South Carolina, No. 15 Florida, No. 17 Missouri and No. 18 Tennessee.

The coaching staff got a 10% pay bump for an 8-5 finish last season.  Because Long’s gotta do what Long’s gotta do.

“That’s a challenge. It’s something we work on every day. We want to compete. We want the best coaches here. We want to win and we want to beat Alabama and Florida and Georgia and Auburn. Until our fans say they don’t want to compete, we’re going to continue to battle.”

Wonder what he thinks the fans would say if pay for players became the norm.

History repeating

It sounds like Boom’s offense in Columbia is getting ready to go down the same road his offense in Gainesville took.

At Duke, co-offensive coordinator and play-caller Kurt Roper used a system which prioritized passing and made good use of the read-option. Roper wants to be up-tempo, snapping the ball with 18 or more seconds remaining on the play clock. But Muschamp wants balance, so the offense Roper runs at USC may not be exactly similar to the one he oversaw in Durham.

Muschamp says he and Roper need to be “on the same page” philosophically, which seems to indicate the Gamecocks won’t go full-on spread. But both men know the product of this relationship needs to be better than their short-lived stint at Florida in 2014.

There’s knowing and there’s doing.  Keep up the good work, Agent Muschamp.