It’s your funeral.

Maybe it’s just me, but as a motivational tactic, I find this a little creepy.

The NLRB changes its mind.

The Federal labor board just overturned its standing ruling (h/t) that denied collective bargaining rights to teaching and research assistants, the ruling that schools relied on to fight the Northwestern football players’ attempt to unionize.

The NLRB said that a previous ruling by the board — that these workers were not entitled to collective bargaining because they are students — was flawed. The NLRB ruling, 3 to 1, came in a case involving a bid by the United Auto Workers to organize graduate students at Columbia University. The decision reverses a 2004 decision — which has been the governing one until today — about a similar union drive at Brown University.

… The ruling largely rejects the fights of previous boards over whether teaching assistants should be seen primarily as students or employees. They can be both, the majority decision said.  [Emphasis added.]

If college presidents’ sphincters make a sound when they tighten, then should you listen carefully, that’s what you can hear in the background.  You can bet somebody is going to make another run at unionizing college football players.  It’s just a matter of time.

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College football is a forgiving place.

It’s moments like this that make you realize Art Briles isn’t delusional to believe he’ll be coaching somewhere next year.

Run the damned ball, somebody.

If we’re starting to get some kind of idea about where the coaches are going with the quarterbacks, I can’t say I have the same amount of confidence in knowing which of the running backs are going to get significant carries against North Carolina.  Yesterday, we learned that Elijah Holyfield’s ankle injury isn’t particularly serious.

Smart said Monday night on 960 The Ref that “it’s not a major ankle (injury), it’s not a high ankle. It’s not as bad as (tight end) Charlie Woerner’s was. We think he’ll be back by the end of the week. He’s out there pushing on it right now. It’s not a major deal.”

Buuuut… Smart also had this to say.

Later he said Holyfield is doing well in camp but is not expected to get a lot of carries in the opening game.

Hmmm.  I don’t know if that’s because the injury set him back, because Smart doesn’t trust true freshmen running backs, or something else.  But when you add in Michel’s status,

Smart on Monday night gave the Athens Touchdown Club an update on Michel’s status:

“Sony’s doing all he can,” he said. “There’s only so much that Sony can do himself. The bone’s got to heal. The doctor’s have got to feel comfortable that he’s safe to put himself out there and be able to play with that injury that’s recovered. …It’s more about putting pressure on that arm and that’s just going to be a matter of time.”

Smart said he didn’t know if Michel will be available for the opener against North Carolina on Sept. 3.

… you have to wonder if Chubb will be getting a lot more carries than anyone anticipated.  Could be interesting…

Kirby gets ready for the opener.

Although it sounds like he’s more worried about the media right now than North Carolina.

Smart suggested later when speaking to the Touchdown Club meeting that he may keep the starter under wraps in the lead up to the Sept. 3 opener against North Carolina the Georgia Dome in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.

“Here’s my question, just because we don’t announce one does that mean there’s not one?” said Smart, who prefaced his comments by saying that there was media in the audience, indicating he would tread carefully with what he said “My thing is I’m sitting here thinking what does North Carolina want to know? Why should I give them information? They’re not giving me information. I’m not going to give them information. That’s not in the protocol for us. We’ll do what we think is best to not only win this game but help the future of this program and also develop our players and out team for this year.”

Dude, no offense, but I don’t think Gene Chizik is that consumed with trying to figure out which of your three non-running quarterbacks winds up being anointed to run your pro-style offense.  (How many carries you intend to give Nick Chubb is an entirely different story.)  On the other hand, not letting the media in on what you’re thinking… well, Saban’s Coke bottle approves.

The funny thing is that Smart made other comments yesterday that would indicate he and Chaney have begun making some initial decisions about the quarterbacks.

… “I wish I knew the answer to that. We’ve watched a lot of video from the scrimmage and we’re trying to make a determination after the scrimmage. We need to start getting two guys ready. I think it’s hard once you start getting more than two quarterbacks ready. We’ve got some guys who have looked good during camp. But to answer your question, I don’t know the answer to that.”

And so it went. To his credit, Smart had given fair warning. “Since there’s media in the audience tonight, y’all will be getting their treatment,” he said.

But actually, the admission that they’ll be paring the quarterback race down from three to two was somewhat of a revelation, though Smart had hinted often that would likely be the case. He said he and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney met all day Monday about the quarterbacks and other personnel matters.

Based on other comments throughout the night and in a radio interview conducted shortly before his speech, it seems likely those final two will be fifth-year senior Greyson Lambert and true freshman Jacob Eason. Late during his half-hour-plus remarks, Smart included Eason in his breakdown of freshmen or first-year players who are currently in the two-deep. And beforehand he told David Johnston of Athens radio station WRFC-AM 960 The Ref that Lambert’s experience is “very valuable at that position to help in these games,” referring specifically the Sept. 3 nationally-televised matchup against North Carolina.

Actually, there is a non-flippant, very fair point to be made in Kirby’s favor.  In fact, he made it.

“We’ve watched a lot of the tape and we’re trying to get things where we can get the reps more focused,” Smart said on the radio. “Jim (Chaney) and I talked a long time today about it and we’ll continue to do that tomorrow. We’re going to visit with the quarterbacks and let them know how we plan to practice going forward. I reserve the right to kind of talk to them first before we kind of talk about anything publicly.”

As he should.  In any event, it sounds like changes are coming this week.

Smart said “we’re going to start getting more quality reps for guys and getting the right ones. It’s just a matter of how much we do. It won’t be one-third, one-third, one third anymore.”

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UPDATE:  Here’s the link to Kirby’s radio interview.

Let’s hear it for the Class of 2016.

Kirby really, really loves them.

Only 5 or 6 signees in'16 class not in two-deep, per Kirby Smart. Includes all 4 D-linemen,OL Kindley. Framed Jacob Eason as in '3-deep.''

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) August 23, 2016

Or needs them.

If there’s one thing they’re good at in Knoxville…

… it’s keeping people no longer working for UT on the payroll.

“It’s the idols we worship.”

The two Presbyterian College professors who offer the “Religion of SEC Football” course open up about what that’s all about.  There’s actually a little substance there… well, except for using the Clay Travis book, I suppose.

And I have to admit this struck a chord with me.

… This season, Barr won’t go to an Alabama game because his family has too many activities to prepare for his oldest daughter’s wedding. But he still loves the elation of counting down the days until football starts.

“I’ve thought recently, well, the Jewish New Year is in the fall and my dad would get so excited about all of it,” Barr said. “Maybe that’s just another way to see renewal. Maybe this is another thing that happens and another way to mark your time. I just feel young again with football. I love the renewal.”

Me, too.

You can’t tell the players without a scorecard.

You’d figure the least a guy making $9 million a year could do would be to keep his commitments’ names straight.