As I read Chip Towers’ piece on the background story on the now notorious Rush Propst tape…
In an interview Monday, Nelson told the AJC that he turned over the files to UGA “to give them a heads up.” He also said he does not believe the allegations and doesn’t think anything will come of it.
“I don’t think they’re in trouble because of who said this,” said Nelson, referring to Propst. “That man’s credibility is zero and they’ll put this out in no time. I’d be surprised if the NCAA spends more than a minute on it.”
… UGA on Monday directed the AJC’s questions to compliance director Will Lawler, who also did not respond to requests for comment.
“This isn’t about (college) recruiting,” Nelson said. “This is about money being diverted into somebody’s back pocket. … There’s nothing to all that all other stuff. There’s no way the NCAA tries to make anything out of all this. I don’t see how they could.”
… one thought immediately came to mind, unbidden: how would Greg McGarity have handled this? (I mean, besides considering whether he should suspend Nick Chubb retroactively.)
Please, feel free to share your answers in the comments.
If Tennessee’s new defensive staff under first-year head football coach Josh Heupel looks like a Mark Richt staff of yesteryear at Georgia, that is not by accident.
Three defensive assistants — line coach Rodney Garner, outside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler and secondary coach Willie Martinez — worked under Richt, who compiled a 145-51 record and won two Southeastern Conference championships and five SEC East titles during his 15 seasons in Athens from 2001-15. Garner and Martinez worked together for the first nine years of Richt’s run, which yielded league crowns in 2002 and 2005 and a No. 2 finish nationally behind LSU in 2007.
Heupel introduced his defensive staff on a Zoom call Monday, and he quickly pointed out that four of his five hires on that side of the ball arrived in Knoxville with previous SEC experience.
“It was a big part,” Heupel said. “As you assemble your 10 assistants collectively and the balance you want to have, having some ties inside this conference and knowing how it operates from the landscape of it was important for me. When you’re bringing in together a group of guys, some familiarity with who they are individually and some connections there make the transition into that meeting room easier and the trust factor is really important.
Richt certainly trusted Martinez until it almost cost him his job.
Those of you who insist that allowing college athletes to monetize their NIL rights will cause the college sports world to devolve into a game of unchecked boosters throwing sums of money at the privileged few, while the rest of the peons get the back of the market’s hand and are forced to stew over the unfairness of it all… well, as Spock once put it,
When the NCAA adopts NIL rights, which appears inevitable, it’s possible some top-tier athletes could earn more than $1 million annually in endorsement deals, said Casey Schwab, CEO of Altius Sports Partners, a consulting firm focused on NIL legislation for athletes, coaches and schools, adding that the benefits won’t be limited to big-sport superstars.
A new study from Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management found the potential for NIL revenue, on average, was actually greater for female college athletes than men, and athletes outside the revenue sports of football and men’s basketball could still cultivate valuable brands.
“[College athletes] are really engaging a specific and targeted audience from a demographic perspective,” said Dr. Thilo Kunkel, the author of the Temple study. “They’re becoming really effective endorsers — and maybe it’s not the next national shampoo commercial, but it’s companies more focused on getting their brand out there and connecting with an audience.”
Kunkel’s study showed that athletes outside the revenue sports of football and men’s basketball could still earn about $5,000 per year with just 10,000 followers on various social media platforms. Engagement is critical, so the value would depend more on content and frequency of new posts than actual on-field accomplishments.
Even athletes with smaller social media followings would still have some value, Schwab said. He calls this the “in kind” group, athletes who might be able to snag a few free pizzas at a local restaurant in exchange for posting a photo with the owner to Twitter.
For most of these athletes, their college years are going to be the only time they’ll be able to maximize their NIL worth. For an organization that invented and relentlessly promoted the “There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and most of us will go pro in something other than sports” line, you’d think the NCAA would be on top of this. So should we.
What we’ll be saying after spring: The offense is well-ahead of the defense. Georgia’s weapons at receiver are probably going ot have their way with a young secondary this spring. In fact, that should be the expectation. Spring practice tends to get a little weird at times so it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen, but, again, it should. We expect to hear quite a few good things about Daniels and his leadership this spring but what happens in June, July, and August is just as important as what happens in March and April.
What if that expectation isn’t the reality at the end of spring? What if the passing game is merely meh at G-Day? How will you take that, as a compliment to a defense that nobody at the moment thinks is very shut down, or as a sign of concern for an offense that we all think will be as dynamic as we’ve seen in Athens for years?
Les Miles has been cut loose at Kansas and Jeff Long is “extremely disappointed”. I really feel for him. It was a mutual decision, which I assume means Les gets some money and Jeff avoids another embarrassing deposition. Truly something for both sides. At least Les can now get back to his acting career.
Unlike when he hired Miles, Long has hired a search firm this time around, not that it’s going to deflect the barrage of criticism he’s got to be trying to fend off frantically right now.
Bruce Feldman($$) is quick out of the gate with some possible replacements, with the most viable option, as he puts it, being the guy I’m glad Tennessee or South Carolina didn’t go after hard:
The most viable option for Kansas, based on what we’ve heard from industry sources, is Buffalo’s Lance Leipold. The 56-year-old has strong Midwest ties, knows the Big 12 footprint, and is a proven winner, having won six Division III national titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater. He left for Buffalo, one of the toughest places to win in the FBS, and has won there, too. In his fourth season, the Bulls went 10-4. They are 24-10 over the last three years, and that includes a top-25 finish in 2020. Leipold, a two-time MAC Coach of the Year, keeps finding and developing big-time players. He also spent over a decade coaching in Nebraska and worked three seasons on Frank Solich’s staff with the Cornhuskers.
I didn’t realize Leipold had a Big 12 history. He’s almost too perfect for the job, which probably means he’ll get passed over for it by Long.
Source: NCAA is moving forward with one-time transfers. D1 Council will vote on a waiver to allow one-time transfers for the upcoming year (2021-22) at their April meeting after the Final Four.
That works out fine, as far as I’m concerned, if a certain former Clemson defensive back wants to come to Georgia to rehabilitate his NFL draft standing.
Enjoyed reading all the suggestions in the comments yesterday, though I’d already put together a week’s worth of MPC posts. Still, this one’s kind of funny, in that it’s close, but no cigar close, to a couple of things that were mentioned.
So, here goes. In this corner, the original:
Versus:
The Isleys’ version is fantastic, but Lennon’s vocals are iconic. Gotta go with the Beatles here. Plus, it was Ferris Bueller’s choice.
Get The Picture 
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