Times are tough, NCAA edition

Best get ready to tighten those belts, ADs.

In response to the cancellation of all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships, the Board of Governors voted unanimously to distribute $225 million in June to Division I members to specifically focus on supporting college athletes.

Division I revenue distribution for 2020 previously was budgeted at approximately $600 million, with the first distribution scheduled for April.

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Your Daily Gator doesn’t want to hear the “c” word.

I like the way Paul Myerberg gnaws at this in his latest Top 25 list:

7. Florida

Florida’s trajectory under Dan Mullen suggests that serious playoff contention lies in the near future. Of course, Georgia is a hurdle in the Gators’ path. On offense, the potential for a quarterback competition between Kyle Trask and Emory Jones shouldn’t overshadow the need to develop the receiver corps.

But Trask is already the best quarterback in the SEC!   Why does Mullen (or the Gator fan base, for that matter) need competition?

New faces, old hands

One reason I’m not quite as concerned about the changes on offense as I keep thinking I should be is because of the experience factor on the coaching staff.  Todd Monken comes in with 23 years’ worth as an on-field coach, 15 years in college, 8 years in the NFL.  Matt Luke has 20 years under his belt.  They’ve both seen a lot already and I have to think they’re not going to be particularly fazed facing a transition like the one testing Georgia in 2020.

Looking at Jake Rowe’s summary of the current staff, the questions I’ve got are (1) who is going to be the quarterbacks coach and (2) who is going to be the passing game coordinator?  I’d guess Monken in both cases, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Through and out the portal

Rivals takes a shot at ranking all the 2020 quarterback transfers here, and the name that tops the list should be familiar to y’all.

1. Jamie Newman – Wake Forest to Georgia

–

NATIONAL

32

STATE

30

POSITION

Jamie

Newman

RANK

5.6

6’4″ | 215 lbs | DUAL QB

Graham

Graham, NC

CLASS OF 2016

As a recruit: NC State, North Carolina and West Virginia were all involved early in Newman’s recruitment, but a spring visit to Wake Forest, combined with the opportunity to compete for playing time early, ended up leading to a spring commitment to the Demon Deacons.

At Wake Forest: Newman didn’t get the chance to jump right into the lineup as he might have hoped, instead redshirting his first year and then barely seeing the field in 2017. Newman’s career started to take off in 2018 after an injury to Sam Hartman led to him finishing the year as the school’s starter. After leading the team to a 3-1 finish to close the season he won the starting job heading into 2019 and didn’t disappoint when given the opportunity. Newman had a record-setting season, throwing for 2,868 yards and 26 touchdown passes while also rushing for 574 yards and six touchdowns. After the season he decided to transfer and quickly made the decision to head to Georgia following Jake Fromm’s decision to enter the NFL Draft.

Farrell’s Take: “Newman is a big kid who always had a live arm and could hurt you throwing on the run. The Georgia offense will likely change a bit to accommodate his skills, and RPOs could be in order. But make no mistake: He’s a Power Five talent. The job he did at Wake Forest was impressive.”

Impact rating: 9.2 out of 10.

If you’re wondering how that 9.2 translates, here you go:

9.1- 9.9 — A very-high impact player who should start the moment he steps on the field and will change the outlook of a program immediately.

I do think it’s going to be interesting to track Newman’s season at Georgia in comparison to K.J. Costello’s under the Pirate.  Who knows?  They might both turn out to give Kyle Trask a run for his money.

Timeline

I think the header to this tweet is a bit misleading.  Brian Kelly isn’t expressing a hope here; he’s providing an idea of how long it’s going to take a college team to prepare for the start of a season.

Brian Kelly tells @notthefakeSVP he hopes strength and conditioning resumes no later than July 1 so college football teams will have enough time to prepare for the season. pic.twitter.com/4UvyL9KQbz

— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) March 26, 2020

In other words, if programs can’t get started by July, the season isn’t going to start by Labor Day.

The question I’ve got as we sit here in late March is this:  if the schools haven’t opened back up for students by July 1, how are football teams going to be allowed back on campus to work out?

Today, in “damn, son, I don’t think I’d have said that”

Tales from the coronavirus times:

Dabo Swinney: "Robbie Caldwell had us all dying laughing this morning because he said the only reason his face wasn't popping up (on Zoom when he talked was because) he said he was naked. He always wanted to come to a staff meeting naked. We all got a big kick out of that. "

— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) March 25, 2020

I guess you had to be there.

“It just means more”, on steroids

Just when you think you’ve seen everything — Arkansas gave two assistants raises before they even coached a single game there.

Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom and offensive line coach Brad Davis each received $100,000 pay raises after other SEC programs tried to hire them away.

Odom’s raise brought his annual pay to $1.3 million – the highest salary on the Arkansas staff – and Davis’ raise increased his salary to $650,000. Odom’s raise was finalized March 10, and Davis’ was finalized Feb. 3…

During a March 12 speech at Cross Church Pinnacle Hills, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Davis had been offered a job by Texas A&M, where he was once a graduate assistant, and that Odom had been offered a defensive coordinator job by another SEC program, but did not specify which one.

Turns out there’s precedent.

As Arkansas’ newly-hired offensive line coach in 2013, Pittman received an annual pay raise from $275,000 to $500,000 and a two-year contract extension after Alabama showed interest in hiring him. Neither Odom, who is under contract for three years, nor Davis (two years) received extensions.

No extensions this time?  I guess that’s the Saban factor.

(h/t)

He’s happy to be back.

You guys know I couldn’t care less about the NFL, but in this case I’ll gladly make an exception.

 

Rise Up I’m Home‼️♥️🖤 #GoDawgs #ATLpic.twitter.com/IJ0NVsomir

— Todd Gurley II (@TG3II) March 26, 2020

Hey, it’s not like we don’t have the time now — what’s your favorite Gurley moment in red and black?

Scattered and unsmothered

Reading this and wondering, will no one think of the sacrifice Geoff Collins has been forced to make?  No meals at Waffle House for weeks?  Take out ain’t gonna cut it.

This may be the biggest spring practice negative in all of D-1.

Musical palate cleanser, stark edition

Alex Chilton’s words of wisdom for times like these:

There aren’t many records that pull at me the way Third / Sister Lovers still does.