Now do McGarity.

Mr. Conventional Wisdom’s Q&A with Coach Impose Your Will is every bit the hard-hitting bland, keenly insightful cliché-ridden, top-notch journalism coach speak PR exercise you’d expect.

Q. Was it difficult for your team to focus after Alabama? It’s a hard position when you miss out on the playoffs after a tough loss.

Smart: “I’ve been there twice when I was at Alabama that when you went from playing for everything to playing for the Sugar Bowl championship. That (winning the Sugar Bowl) should be enough. If you’re a competitor and you have inner drive and you have ‘want to’…..

“We’ve can all make excuses for players being out or juniors coming out early or injuries and all that. It doesn’t matter. You’re playing Texas in the Sugar Bowl.

“You get over your wounds. Obviously they did a better job. I do think them having nine seniors on defense speaks volumes as to who they are.”

On the plus side, at least you don’t have to pay anything to read it.

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50 shades of Urnge schadenfreude

Long-time readers of the blog will remember the absolute glee I took in learning that Lane Kiffin ditched Tennessee for Southern Cal.

I bring this up now because of an item in today’s Mandel Mailbag ($$).  A reader asks who Alabama would turn to if Nick Saban suddenly decided to call it a day in Tuscaloosa.  Mandel rejects the thought of an internal promotion (yeah, including Booch), as well as Dabo jumping ship for what Mandel refers to as a lateral move (ouch).  After skipping past Corch, here’s where Mandel goes next.

So then it would become — which of Saban’s protégés is A) qualified and B) interested? Georgia’s Kirby Smart is qualified but probably not interested. Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt would be very interested but is not yet qualified.

I think we all expect Pruitt would crawl over broken glass for the Alabama job were it offered.  My question is where that abandonment would rate on the Lulu and Junior departure scale, assuming that, oh, John Currie rated a zero and the Laner a white-hot ten.  I don’t sense that the UT fan base is quite as emotionally invested in Pruitt as it was in Kiffin, but on the other hand, Fulmer is.  (On the third hand, that might be just the opening Fulmer needs…)

I suspect Vol tears would flow more over rejection as a general principle than specifically tied to the coach, but who knows?  What do you think the response would be?

“Jacksonville, Ga”

I’m not sure I agree entirely with the premise of this post at Dawg Sports.

Like any rivalry, the one of Georgia and Florida has had its eras.

Over a good bit of time, it was marked by Georgia holding the overall upper hand. Of course, much to many on this site’s disdain, that changed with the arrival of the Head Ball Coach in 1990. Even with Mark Richt gaining a few wins in a series, it was too back and forth for the liking of some fans (really?! Losing to Ron Zook!!)

Sure, each team has had its moments of dominance. The intensity has never been an issue for both fan bases. But there has never been a visible genuine dislike by both programs. Sure, you had shoving matches and Spurrier’s one-liners, but he didn’t limit those to just Georgia (Free Shoes University and the UT Citrus Bowl are on the line 1…).

That’s changed with two coaches in Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen that straight up don’t appear to care for each other. It’s almost as if the dislike from each side mirrors from both the point of the fans and actual coaching staffs.

“But there has never been a visible genuine dislike by both programs”?  I was in Jacksonville in 2007 and 2008, so I’m gonna have to disagree a little with that.  Sure, Mullen’s a bit dickish, but don’t forget he learned those skills at the feet of a master dick.

But I digress.  There is one thing in that post I firmly believe we ought to embrace wholeheartedly.

Like anything else, everything the Georgia program does is calculated to a purpose. The “Jacksonville, Ga” talk? That wasn’t just thrown together. It was a message and ‘MO’ set forth that the days of Georgia being owned by the Gators at a ‘neutral site’ were over.

Hells, yeah!  Own that sucker.  Quit making excuses about travel and location and nonsense about Gator bus rides and claim Jacksonville as part of south Georgia.  Jacksonville is closer to Brunswick than to Gainesville.  Act like it belongs to us.

Kirby’s already doing his part.

Your 3.13.19 Playpen

The Playpen topic du jour is a no-brainer, amirite?

I’m sure everyone has their special take on Admissions-gate, but for me, it’s all about ‘Murica, the meritocracy.

The documents facilitate no such doubt, though, when it comes to their subtextual indictment of American meritocracy and its hallowed institutions and loudest defenders. The wealthy believe their kids deserve special treatment, even as they preach a gospel of self-reliance. Employees of prestigious universities will make every effort to provide that special treatment to the wealthy and connected, even as they stress the importance and virtue of their social or athletic mission.

Hey, when you’re in the service business, catering to customers is what you do.  Especially the more desperate ones.

And here’s my favorite take on the news.

Playwright David Mamet wrote a letter supporting Macy and Huffman, longtime friends, in an open letter posted by The Hollywood Reporter.

“The unqualified may be accepted for many reasons, among them, as Legacies, and on account of large donations made by their parents,” Mamet wrote. “I do not see the difference between getting a kid into school by bribing the Building Committee, and by bribing someone else. But, apparently, the second is against the Law. So be it.”

These are people who, on the one hand, bitch about affirmative action at parties, and on the other, look on with envy at the people like Charles Kushner who can afford to bribe Ivy League schools legally with eight-figure contributions to get their own mediocrities admitted.  (And since those contributions are charitable ones made to non-profit institutions, we taxpayers nobly subsidize them. What a country!)

In other words, it’s tough being white and rich, but not quite rich enough, these days.  Think of the children forced to take up sailing at Stanford.

The cool thing coming is that they’ll profess contrition in court — those acting skills will surely come in handy — pay a fine, maybe even do a little time/get probation, and then, with it all in the rear view mirror, go on to write, act and produce Admissions — The Real Story to recoup their losses.

The floor is yours, peeps.

Today, in where are they now

This Kipp Adams piece on what’s happened with every recruit who decommitted from Georgia since Smart’s hire is a fascinating read.  With just a few exceptions, like Plumlee and Emory, almost every kid who left was replaced by someone either higher ranked or more specifically suited for the program’s needs.  It’s a running testament to roster management.

It’s also a reminder that recruiting is about relationships.

Four-star wide receiver Devonta Smith (Amite, La./Amite) committed on Aug. 10, 2015, when Georgia hired Sam Petitto, a former high school coach in Louisiana. When Smart hired new support staff and Alabama hired Petitto on January 14, Smith de-committed from Georgia the same day. Smith played in every game as a freshman for Alabama in 2017, making eight catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning pass in the national championship against Georgia in overtime. In 2018, Smith made 42 catches for 693 yards and six touchdowns. Georgia would will his spot with Trey Blount.

Yeah, that one wound up stinging a little.

Looking for “a dead hooker … in [Coach Beaty’s] closet.”

One of life’s small mysteries for me is why people continue to think Kansas AD Jeff Long is one of the leading lights of his profession.  Throwing money at Bobby Petrino isn’t some act of genius, and that seems to be the high water mark of his career.

Now he’s gotten his school in a pissing match with the football coach he just fired, and it’s not likely to end well.

When Kansas fired head football coach David Beaty in November, the school said it would fulfill the terms of his contract, which called for a $3 million buyout if Beaty was fired without cause.

On Tuesday afternoon, Beaty filed a lawsuit alleging KU has not paid any of that buyout, even after the former coach agreed to meet with NCAA investigators after Kansas informed Beaty of a “potential” violation the school identified during his time as head coach.

The suit also says Kansas athletic director Jeff Long and “at least one other senior Kansas Athletics official” openly discussed needing to “find something” to void Beaty’s buyout, such as, in the suit’s words, “a dead hooker … in [Coach Beaty’s] closet.”

The lawsuit, filed by Beaty’s representatives in federal district court in Kansas, alleges KU first contacted Beaty in December to formally deny previously agreed-upon monthly payments of $500,000 over six months. According to the suit, the school told Beaty the reason for paying his $3 million buyout was “a self-initiated NCAA investigation being conducted — not by the NCAA — but by Kansas Athletics’ corporate counsel looking into impropriety involving a former assistant coach.”

Well, that’s one way to try to weasel out of a $3 million check.

The timeline’s kind of fun to follow here.  First, Beaty is terminated on November 24.  Less than a week later, he received a memo from Long confirming that he was “terminated without cause effective November 24, 2018. All liquidated damages payments owed to you will be paid out consistent with Section 12 of your current amended Employment Agreement and Section 7 (D) of your current amended Professional Services Agreement.”

Then comes December 14, and Beaty receives a letter from Kansas’ general counsel, notifying him that the school was conducting an internal investigation about possible NCAA rules violations conducted by a member of his staff.  And while Kansas didn’t respond to numerous requests from Beaty about the specifics, that hasn’t stopped the school from notifying the conference and the NCAA about the allegation.

According to Beaty’s lawyers, Kansas has gone scorched earth.

The suit states that Kansas has been “more than willing to notify prospective employers that Coach Beaty is the subject of a NCAA investigation.”

That’s awfully nice of Kansas.  So is this official statement.

The University of Kansas is aware of a court filing submitted by attorneys of former Head Football Coach David Beaty. While the university typically does not comment on pending litigation, the nature of the current matter warrants further context.

The filing is full of false claims and factual misstatements, including that KU’s Director of Athletics made salacious comments about seeking reasons to withhold payment from Beaty. Simply, that did not happen.

Here are the facts. Beaty was informed he would not be retained by KU on November 4, 2018, but would be able to coach the remaining games. Immediately following the end of the season, Kansas Athletics staff conducted standard exit interviews of all football coaches and staff, and through that process we learned of possible NCAA violations allegedly committed by Beaty. KU contacted the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference and began an investigation into the matter. Beaty refused to cooperate with the KU review and, ultimately, the NCAA took the lead in the still-ongoing investigation.

Due to the nature of the allegations, which, if true, would be in violation of the terms of Beaty’s contract, the university has withheld payment of money owed to Beaty pending the outcome of the NCAA investigation. In a show of good faith, the university has placed the full amount owed in escrow.

While disappointed in the court filing, the university is committed to seeking the truth and upholding our high standards of ethical conduct.

You can stop chuckling now.  What’s impressive here, as you may have noticed, is that Beaty’s suit has caused the school to admit to possible NCAA violations, which should make for a lot of fun in discovery.  Not that this is going to get anywhere near the point of Jeff Long sitting for questions under oath.  Either the NCAA comes up with something relatively quickly, or Kansas settles, probably for an amount north of the buy out.  (Beaty’s lawyers aren’t gonna pay themselves, after all.)

Yeah, that Jeff Long is brilliant.

Of course, no story about an NCAA investigation would be complete without this:

An NCAA spokesperson, Stacey Osburn, said in a statement to SB Nation: “We cannot comment on current, pending or potential investigations.”

Should Kansas part ways with Jeff Long some day — hey, parting is what Kansas does — they could do a lot worse than hiring Stacey.  At least she knows when to keep her mouth shut.