“If this comes off, the question is: Does he call games or work the studio?”

Oh, FFS.  Haven’t we suffered enough already?

Sports TV viewers may see a lot more of Urban Meyer on TV this year than they thought they would. Fox Sports is close to finalizing a deal to hire the former Ohio State head coach as its star college football analyst, sources tell Sporting News.

Meyer, who won three national championships between Ohio State and Florida, is being given the choice to work either as a color commentator in the game booth or as a studio analyst at Fox, sources said. Citing serious health concerns, the 54-year-old Buckeyes coach retired after the 2019 Rose Bowl.

A Fox Sports spokeswoman declined comment to Sporting News Thursday night.

Fox just wrapped its most-watched college football regular season ever. The network envisions Meyer as the kind of big-time coaching name/TV talent who could potentially put its “Fox College Football Pregame” show on par with Kirk Herbstreit’s “College GameDay” at ESPN.

Cool.  Maybe Corch and Thom Brennaman can reminisce fondly about the GPOOE™.

If CBS ever loses the SEC to Fox, I’m gonna be one bummed mofo.

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Too many cooks in the Urnge kitchen

This, my friends, is simply priceless.

Phillip Fulmer couldn’t help himself.

Tennessee’s athletics director saw a couple of offensive linemen who he thought needed coaching during a drill last fall. So Fulmer, the former Vols coach, jumped in and coached them up.

That’s an NCAA violation.

And to think some of you don’t believe in the existence of the football gods.  But wait!  There’s more.

Fulmer self-reported the incident upon learning he might have committed an NCAA violation, according to the report.

Tennessee, in response, educated Fulmer on what “constitutes technical and tactical instruction.” Additionally, the SEC ruled that Fulmer be prohibited from attending practice for five days and that UT educate all coaches and non-coaching staff members on bylaws pertaining to coaching activity. The NCAA took no additional action.

Well, aside from snickering behind closed doors, I suspect.

Welcome back to Knoxville, Jim Chaney.  Make sure you let your good friend Sam Pittman know about your new (old?) digs.

“Nobody has the perfect solution.”

I realize I’m likely wasting bandwidth with this post, but for those of you who earnestly believe an eight-team college football playoff will be the greatest thing since sliced bread, after reading this piece, do you honestly think the people who make the decision to expand are competent enough to invent a format that addresses all the issues raised by a bigger playoff?

I’m not.  That’s not to say we’re not getting expansion.  We are.

It’s just that they won’t be able to figure out a solution that works.  Instead, they’ll flail around trying, in the end unable to ignore the one guiding principle behind another round of playoffs:  but there’s all that money!

Eh, no big deal.  They’ll just revisit things a few years later.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

But the salesman seemed so sincere when he sold me that car.

When the Jalen Hurts to Oklahoma news broke, I immediately thought of Jadon Haselwood, but I see MaconDawg beat me to the punch, so I’m outsourcing my snark.

Maybe it’s lonely in Seat 37F.

This is the most bizarre column Mike Bianchi has ever written — and that’s saying something.

I might be the wrong guy to be writing this, but — cringe! — isn’t it time for Gator Nation to welcome the second-greatest coach in school history back into its good graces? Isn’t it time to put the Urbanator into the school’s Ring of Honor for what he accomplished as a head coach?

I know, I know, you think I’ve lost my mind. You think I’ve fallen victim to the Meyer mind meld that somehow, someway has convinced the saintly Tim Tebow that Urban is actually a man of class and character. But you have to admit that if Tebow loves him, can Meyer really be all bad?

No, I have not personally or professionally changed my stance on Meyer’s unique interpretation of the truth. If you’ve read my columns enough, you know my feelings on Meyer, who is, without question, the most duplicitous, disingenuous coach I’ve ever covered.

I still think he bailed on UF when his program started coming apart, even though he laughably claimed he was quitting to spend more time with his family. Florida’s administration even gave him a $1 million bonus upon his departure. Meyer then kicked Gator Nation in the gut when he resurfaced at Ohio State months later.

I’ve written many critical columns on “Urban Liar” over the years, including last season when he blatantly lied about his knowledge of domestic violence accusations against his former assistant coach Zach Smith. Personally, I think Ohio State should have fired Meyer instead of just suspending him for three games.

But, yeah, Florida should rush out and embrace the man.  Seriously, WTF?  Then again, maybe this is just another troll.  But if so, why bother?

The greatest trick Saban ever played

Nick Saban’s entire 2016 coaching staff: all gone

Nick Saban’s entire 2017 coaching staff: all gone, except TE coach Joe Pannunziohttps://t.co/h2xXY6IfzH

— SB Nation (@SBNation) January 17, 2019

ESPN sources: Alabama offensive analyst Butch Jones will remain on the Crimson Tide staff for the 2019 season. Jones' role is still to be determined. He could fill one of Alabama's offensive position coach vacancies or work in a senior analyst or… https://t.co/2DSlPER0bc

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 17, 2019

Reading that, it’s hard not to believe that Saban’s on a course to prove he is truly the only person in college football who isn’t dispensable.  I mean, if you can win with Booch after two years of complete staff turnover…

Today, in bulletin board material

Shocking, I know, but Auburn dude tells PAWWWLLL that Georgia ain’t gonna be all that in 2019.

"I think Georgia is beatable heading into next season. I don't think they are going to be as good as they were this past season let alone two seasons ago when they were in the National Championship" – @bmarcello pic.twitter.com/bPgFPw0aaX

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) January 16, 2019

Pay no attention to all those stacked recruiting classes, dog.

A modest prediction

I don’t get this inkling every season, and I’m certainly not always right when I do, but I’ve got the same feeling about Jermaine Johnson that I had when Roquan Smith decided to bring his bad self to Athens.

247Sports Composite: No. 1 overall JUCO, No. 1 JUCO weak-side defensive end, No. 1 in Minnesota
First-year impact: We’ve already gotten a look at Johnson on the hoof and he certainly looks the part. Johnson is such a talented pass rusher that he’s going to be tough to keep off the field. He has the length to shed blocks on the edge while possessing the explosiveness to blow right by offensive tackles in pass protection. Seeing a junior college prospect play one year and then jump to the NFL is fairly rare, but Johnson’s skillset makes that a possibility.

Reports from bowl practice were about how impressive a physical specimen Johnson appeared to be.  And he’s coming in at a position where both starters from last season are gone.  He’s gonna get a shot.

Everything I’ve heard about this kid so far makes me thing he’s going to make an impact.  A big impact.  I wouldn’t tell you to take that to the bank, but I would keep an eye on him.  That’s what G-Day’s for, right?

Musical palate cleanser, gritty King edition

We haven’t had Elvis Presley grace GTP with his presence in quite a while, so I thought I’d share my favorite obscurity of his.  It’s from a bootleg album.

One on my favorite Elvis albums, even though it’s a bootleg, is Cut Me & I Bleed released on Double G Records. The album is a collection of alternate studio, home, and live rehearsal recordings that present “another side” of Elvis. Pedestal removed, Cut Me & I Bleed chooses to present “The King” in a raw, more human, and often explicit manner, one that often eschews the family friendly image constructed by the Elvis foundation.

Of all the tracks (22 in all), the real gem of the bunch, and a personal favorite, is Presley’s stripped down rendition of Percy Mayfield’s “Stranger in My Own Home Town” (studio rehearsal version, July 24, 1970). I can’t think of a more appropriate song for Elvis to cover at this time in his life. Set amongst friends in a rehearsal jam session, Elvis gives one of the rawest, grittiest, yet honest and soulful performances I’ve ever heard from him.

It’s an extended blues riff and the King gets a little dirty with the lyrics here and there, but it’s both stripped down and heartfelt as hell.  See what you think.