Moar Process in Athens

Sam Madden is applying for a medical disqualification… which means,

This decision with Madden moves Georgia’s scholarship count, including the recruits who have yet to enroll, to 88.

Vols and Tide, lying together

I have a feeling we’ll be mining the Tennessee coaching change news for weeks.  Now comes a report that Alabama’s assistant AD for strategic planning, at the request of Alabama AD Greg Byrne, sent this letter to John Currie:

Hello John,

My name is Kyle Vasey and I am an assistant AD for strategic planning at Alabama. Greg Byrne asked me to send you some analysis we performed on head coaches recently. You’ll find an excel spreadsheet which ranks head coaches based on a metric we created called: coaching efficiency. This metric is a weighted score which incorporates various factors such as national championships, final AP ranking, overall win percentage, etc. You’ll also find a pdf file which analyzes coaches based on their previous coaching experience: Power 5 Head Coach, Power 5 Assistant Coach, former NFL head coach, etc

I am happy to answer any questions you might have on the data.

Thanks,
Kyle Vasey

So, yeah, Alabama’s athletic department offered assistance with Tennessee’s search for a new football coach.  Why, I have no idea.

And that kind gesture was rewarded by taking Saban’s defensive coordinator.  So much for gratitude.

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He’s just here to he’p, mane.

The selflessness of Phil Fulmer knows no bounds.

According to Tennessee President Joe DiPietro’s phone records as part of documents obtained by The Daily Times, Fulmer told prominent Tennessee donor John “Thunder” Thornton “all they would have to do is ask” for him to become the Vols head coach once again.

Thornton told DiPietro in a text message on Nov. 29 about a “long talk” he had with former Alabama athletic director Bill Battle the day before.

Thornton said that talk involved whether or not Fulmer would return to coaching. Thornton’s message said he “doubted it.”

But, Thornton’s talk with Battle prompted him to ask Fulmer, and his message to DiPietro references former athletic director John Currie and booster Jimmy Haslam.

“Bill, Phillip and I hunt and fish a good bit together,” Thornton wrote to DiPietro. “We talked about Bama’s loss Saturday and our search. Bill asked me if Phillip would consider coaching UT. I told him I doubted it because I didn’t think he’d work for Currie. This morning I asked Phillip that question and he replied ‘all they would have to do is ask.’ So, there’s another option for you but probably not one Jim would go along with. Thunder”

DiPietro replied that he was, “surprised by Phillip’s interest in coaching again.”

Thornton then told DiPietro that Fulmer, “was feeling bad for the university that he loves,” and would only return to coaching if it was at Tennessee.

How convenient is it now for Tennessee that Fulmer is the AD?  He doesn’t even need to leave his office to find a head coaching candidate.

Have a great day, Jeremy.

Fear this man.

If you haven’t seen this picture of Elijah Holyfield — and it’s been all over the Intertubes the last day or so — prepare to be shocked and awed.

Great googly mooglies… how would you like to be a defensive back trying to tackle him in the open field under a head of steam?