If they get to play football, this is gonna be fun to watch.
Daily Archives: June 25, 2020
“There will be those kinds of disruptions.”
The Athletic is reporting ($$) that “three P5 conferences are considering pushing back their football championship games, if necessary, to allow space for potential makeup games to be played if there are in-season cancellations due to COVID-19.”
It’s a good idea, but what if they need to make up more than one game?
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UPDATE: One more thing from that article…
So, what happens if selection committee members come down with COVID-19?
Filed under College Football, The Body Is A Temple
The lucrative bigotry of low expectations
Looking at Mark Stoops’ situation at Kentucky, Andy Staples ($$) makes an interesting comparison with a coach we know.
… Let’s put it this way: Stoops could probably coach at Kentucky 15 more years, never win the SEC East and still could retire as a beloved steward of the program.
Meanwhile, Kirby Smart — a coach Aidan referenced as being secure — has won the past three SEC East titles, won the SEC in 2017 and came within a miracle pass of winning the national title that same season and people keep wondering if he can get it done in Athens. By the standard being applied to Stoops, Smart has gotten it done several times over.
But Smart is still trying to live up to expectations. Stoops has exceeded expectations despite winning 11 fewer games than Smart over the past three seasons. Yes, Smart makes more money. Stoops is scheduled to make $5 million this season, while Smart is scheduled to make $6.8 million. But who has the better job?
I know who has the easier one. Nice work, if you can get it.
Filed under Georgia Football, SEC Football
You can never start ’em too early.
One little side story I’ve tried to keep track of this offseason is an aspect of Todd Monken’s transition from the NFL back to the college ranks — how good or bad his recruiting chops are. I know he’s getting paid the big bucks to develop and scheme, but nobody’s staying on Kirby Smart’s staff for very long if they can’t contribute on the recruiting front.
So when I saw this UGASports piece on MJ Morris, an in state quarterback recruit in the 2022 class, I was curious to see if Monken was on the mother. Sounds like it:
“I’ve really gotten to know Todd Monken well, and I really like him. He and I have a weekly call which lasts about an hour. In this call, he’s teaching me NFL and college defenses. I’ve learned a lot from him in such a short time,” Morris said. “He’s going to be great at UGA. He is really cool and laid back, but when we’re talking football, he’s mostly straightforward and serious. You can tell he’s a perfectionist and has an eye for detail.”
While you might expect the calls to be centered around throwing receivers open and quarterback drills, Morris said the two are going much deeper.
“I believe by Coach being at the highest level, he knows what it takes to play at the next level. He can help me grow by expanding my knowledge of the game. Playing quarterback is mostly cerebral, and he’s getting me prepared by teaching me defenses,” Morris said. “He said we’d talk about offense later on, but first I needed to know how to read a defense. I agree with him. If you know the defense, then a QB knows where to go with the ball.”
I wonder how many others Monken is spending that kind of time with.
Filed under Georgia Football, Recruiting
Can’t get there fast enough.
It’s another day in Mississippi.
Between his noose kerfuffle and Kylin Hill’s flag announcement, my bet is Leach was ready to sprint down to the state capital yesterday.
Filed under Mike Leach. Yar!, Political Wankery
“This was about way more than a T-shirt.”
I carp a fair amount about Greg McGarity’s lack of PR skills, but compared to this, he’s a friggin’ PR guru.
After OSU players got a text message from team officials on March 17 telling them there’s “no need for you to return to Stillwater for any football related activities” because of COVID-19, they had little contact with Gundy as a team in the following two months.
Gundy compounded his lack of leadership and presence in front of the players with a series of actions and comments that simmered an undercurrent of anger in the program.
In his infamous COVID-19 news conference in early April, Gundy did more than issue his decree for the players to return to Stillwater to “run money through the state.” It wasn’t lost on the players that their coach, who makes $5.25 million per year, cast the players as robotic economic pawns rather than humans vulnerable to the pandemic.
Along with trying to restart the economy, Gundy resisted a pay cut.
He said of salary cuts, which have become commonplace for millionaire coaches: “I personally don’t want to get involved in that. It’s too early for me.”
Some of the internal frustration came from an announcement in late April of the athletic department taking away the football players’ stipends and a limit on access to summer school classes. While the players eventually received stipend money from the school when they returned to campus in early June, the uncertainty amid the pandemic led to a period of frustration and a rise in tensions.
On April 23, a few weeks after Gundy’s remarks about “running money through the state,” Oklahoma State football players received a group text message from Rod Johnson, the assistant director of football operations. It came under the header: “IMPORTANT SUMMER SCHOOL INFORMATION.” Johnson told the players that access to summer classes would be limited to scholarship players “making progress toward summer or fall graduation or eligibility purposes for fall competition.”
Johnson also told them in text messages viewed by Yahoo Sports: “THERE WILL BE NO ROOM & BOARD STIPENDS.”
That news blindsided many of the Cowboys’ players during the financial crunch of the pandemic. Stipends pay about $1,200 per month. The lack of access to summer school classes for players meant some players wouldn’t be eligible for federal Pell Grants, which pay up to $3,000 for summer classes.
In an environment where many coaches rallied for their players, Gundy didn’t announce the cuts to the players or address them directly. Instead, Gundy had an underling text them.
That raises tone deafness to a whole new level. “But wait,” you might say, “maybe there were other schools doing the same thi…”
A poll by Yahoo Sports of Big 12 schools showed that Oklahoma State was the only school that both announced cuts on summer classes and a stipend withdrawal while not cutting coach or athletic department salaries. Many cringed at the perception OSU presented, as Gundy has made nearly $45 million in salary as a head coach and athletic director Mike Holder is slated to make $950,000 this year.
Never mind. No wonder the players reacted the way they did.
Filed under Big 12 Football, General Idiocy
“I think that’s been a part of the charm of it, the attraction to it.”
On the other hand, Georgia Tech fans will always have this to console themselves with ($$):
“It’s the feel of the stadium,” Moore said. “It doesn’t matter what has happened in the previous three quarters of a football game. When we get to that break, everybody stands up and does it. It’s a vibe, a communal thing.”
“It doesn’t matter what has happened in the previous three quarters of a football game.” That explains why Tech doesn’t break out this beer jingle after a typical three-quarter result.
Filed under Georgia Tech Football
At Georgia Tech, you can’t do this!
Talk about turning chicken shit into more chicken shit…
A year of belt tightening is ahead for Georgia Tech. With revenues from ticket sales projected to fall by 40%, the athletic department will have to pare spending that already has been frugal.
“I will say there was a lot of heartburn with cutting costs and a very challenging exercise to find opportunities to contain costs, knowing that 70 percent of our budget is connected to our people, as well as facilities,” associate athletic director Marvin Lewis told the athletic association board at its quarterly meeting Thursday.
Lewis presented an $80.5 million balanced budget to the board, which was approved. It is 4% smaller than the budget for fiscal year 2020, which ends June 30…
The travel and recruiting budget was reduced by 24% – $7.1 million to $5.4 million…
You hire a guy in the hopes that he can lead the program out of the talent hole the genius left it in and cut the recruiting budget? Damn, Geoff, there’s ain’t enough Waffle House in the world to make up for that move.
Filed under Georgia Tech Football, Recruiting
The Portal Master™ is an all-timer.
This’ll put a smile on your face.
My guess is that’s a record that’ll never be topped — except by Mullen himself, after this season. Go Gata!
(h/t)
Filed under Gators, Gators...
Get The Picture 