Ball of confusion

So, after all this…

Eddie Gran, who had just wrapped up his third season in charge of the Kentucky offense, was rumored to be in contention for the offensive coordinator job at Georgia, which played for a national title a year ago and just missed the College Football Playoff this past season.

There was plenty of confusion over the Bulldogs’ pursuit of Gran in early January.

There were reports that Georgia had actually offered Gran the job. There were reports that Georgia had not offered the job. And there were even reports that the Bulldogs wanted Gran as an offensive position coach, not offensive coordinator — a move that would’ve been a head-scratching demotion for the longtime assistant coach.

… there comes this.

On the second day of UK’s spring practice, Gran was asked about the seriousness of the discussions he had with Georgia over its offensive coordinator position.

“Serious in the point that they offered the job,” he said Tuesday. “It came down to: I love this community. I love this administration — Dr. (Eli) Capilouto, Mitch Barnhart — the guy that I work for is fantastic. And I’ve become a part of this community, and I love it. I think we’re doing some things that are special, and those (were) all a part of the decision-making when I decided to stay.”

Cool for you, my man.  My only question is this — if you’re so in love with all things Lexington, why did you even speak with Smart in the first place?

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One of our schools is missing.

I suppose this is the result of an editorial oversight, because Paul Myerberg is too meticulous to have done it purposefully, but guess which team is omitted from this USA Today spring football preview.

Even as an accident, it feels like a Freudian slip.  National media has to make an effort to ponder Georgia this season, it seems.

My Jermaine Johnson flame remains lit.

The once-JUCO defensive end is number one on Jake Rowe’s ranking of 2019 signees as projected contributors this coming season.

Nobody signs junior college prospects without the expectation that they can help right away, especially guys who have just two years of eligibility left. The good news for Georgia is that Johnson has all the tools to be a difference-maker from day one. At 6-foot-5 250 pounds, he can play on all three downs. He can be disruptive against the run and the pass and has the raw ability to be a terror when he’s in full pass-rush mode.

I’m all good with that.

On the border between correlation and causation

Your stat of the day:

I was able to replicate the result using college football 2005-18, and it does make some intuitive sense.

Anyway, I think it was in the context of either the "can you coach turnovers" or "how random are turnovers" debates. pic.twitter.com/xnu2mKjzJu

— David Wunderlich (@Year2) March 5, 2019

That certainly makes intuitive sense to me.  Offenses are forced to become more one-dimensional as the deficit expands and defenses are more than happy to guard one-dimensional offenses.

“I’ve gotten fairly artful at it.”

Mike Leach, on dodging sideline reporters at halftime:

Mike Leach lays out his strategy in evading halftime reporters like it’s a play he diagrammed.

“I’ve gotten fairly artful at it”

Simply glorious pic.twitter.com/Abld6aO6mv

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 3, 2019

LOL.  Of course, there’s an obvious consequence for tipping your hand by going public with your tactics.

Thanks for the heads up @Coach_Leach! Wearing running shoes next time I cover @WSUCougFB 😂😂 https://t.co/6d0axwRIhz

— Molly McGrath (@MollyAMcGrath) March 4, 2019

Back to you, guys!

Best start saving for that Magill Society contribution now.

If you thought getting those 2017 Notre Dame tickets was a tough go, you’d better brace yourself for what’s coming in Austin, Texas in a few years.

The Bulldogs will travel to Austin, Tex. on Saturday, September 2, 2028 for the first game of the series and the Longhorns will return the favor on Saturday, September 1, 2029.

Each visiting team will receive a guaranteed amount of $500,000 and it will cost $1 million to either program if the wish to cancel one of the games before either is played. Once the first game is played, the number to cancel the game moves up to $2 million and that figure also applies if either institution has designs on canceling both games.

The visiting programs in the home-and-home series will also have the options of buying 5,000 tickets for their fans. There’s still some wiggle room as far as the tickets go, as the two programs can negotiate the ticket allotment up until September 1, 2026. Neither program, however, is obligated to agree to a proposal from the other when it comes to changing the number tickets.

Both UGA and Texas have the right to return any unsold tickets for a refund up until 60 days before each game takes place. Each program’s visiting band seating will also come from those 5,000 available tickets.

A whole 5000 tickets, eh?  I can’t even imagine what the Hartman points cutoff will look like.  And Redcoats, I don’t think I’d rush to make travel plans that week.  Your seats are likely to be sacrificed for the reserve fund greater good.

Today’s NCAA “dog bites man” story

The only reason I mention this suspension story — a lacrosse player at Albany gets one for tagging a stick-stringing company in a social media post — isn’t because of the pettiness of it all (something the NCAA evidently realized, as it lifted the “indefinite” suspension after the news went public), but because of this quote from his head coach:

“He made a mistake. He put something on Instagram that violated a rule. Of course big brother monopoly we work under doesn’t allow you to do those types of things,” said Marr. “No warning, no nothing, just instant ‘you’re ineligible.'”  [Emphasis added.]

That is all kinds of awesome.  Hope Coach Marr isn’t looking at his own indefinite suspension for speaking truth to power.

Musical palate cleanser, Long Island tough edition

For your listening pleasure today, from the friendly confines of Long Island, NY, straight out of the MTV era, I’ve got an obscure 1985 cut, Dancing Hoods’ “Pleasure”.

Every time I play this in my car, I wind up going 20 miles an hour over the speed limit.