All good things must come to an end.

As much as I might like to, I really can’t top Mandel’s final tribute to Mark Emmert.

Today is Mark Emmert's last day as NCAA president.

Let's take a moment to highlight his accomplishments over the last 12 years:

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Congrats, sir.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) February 28, 2023

At least he was well compensated for his efforts.

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The Urnge shoe starts to drop.

Actions, meet consequences.

Four former Tennessee staff members are expected to receive multiyear show-cause penalties from the NCAA stemming from their roles in recruiting violations committed under former coach Jeremy Pruitt, sources tell Sports Illustrated.

Inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer, outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton, director of player personnel Drew Hughes and student assistant Michael Magness are set to receive show-cause penalties of three-to-five years in negotiated resolutions they struck with the association.

None of the four are currently coaching on the college level, for what it’s worth.  Also,

Pruitt, as well as assistant Derrick Ansley, were not involved in the resolutions.

Also not involved is the school itself. The university and NCAA have not come to an agreement on a resolution despite months of negotiations. However, the association is bifurcating the case, a new method of bringing closure to some parties in an investigation while other elements of a case remain contested. Bifurcation was one of the recommendations made last summer by the NCAA transformation committee to speed up the association’s dawdling infractions process.

The association can now zero in on those outstanding parties who are disputing findings or contesting potential resolutions, which are expected to include Pruitt, Ansley and Tennessee.

More shoes to come, in other words.

Tough act to follow

Whew!  Talk about your deep dives, indeed.  Here’s over an hour digging into what Todd Monken pulled off last season.

tl;dl version?  He done good.  But, trust me, you should listen to the whole thing.

Too soon to be talking about QBR?

Okay, I’m being a bit facetious, but Monken’s departure has made me wonder how much of an effect it will have on the upcoming battle to be Georgia’s next starting quarterback.  As background, let’s remember that’s a question that’s been as up in the air during Smart’s time as it hasn’t, so it’s not exactly uncharted territory.  Let’s also remember that Stetson Bennett’s attributes have adjusted Kirby Smart’s thinking as to what he seeks in his starting quarterback.

“I definitely put a heavier weight on mobility because of Stetson,” he said. “I mean, it changed for me as he had success. Last year his mobility was the difference in a lot of games. Having been a defensive coordinator in this league, when you can’t account for the extra element, the 11th guy in the run game … people pass rush so well now that he’s going to have to make a play with his feet. Great example last night: We go empty (backfield), they max blitz us, they bring six on five, and you can’t block one. It reminded me of the Auburn play when Stetson had just taken over. They had a free rusher on him, and he spins out, beats the guy. I’m, like, who is that? That’s No. 13. That’s the fast guy. That’s Dee Winters. He splatters people.

“But the athleticism, the mobility and having the mental capacity to handle the volume of offense — that’s what makes Stetson unique.”

So, greater weight on mobility plus new offensive coordinator puts things where, exactly?  Sure beats me.

A refresher on the three candidates:

• Carson Beck:  The heir apparent, the player with by far the most live game experience coming into this season.  He’s got a live arm, but is probably the least mobile of the three.
• Brock Vandagriff:  Almost no live action to speak of, his physical attributes probably come closest to matching Bennett’s, as he’s the best runner of the three.  Arm is somewhere between Bennett’s and Beck’s.  There are questions about how well he’s mastering the playbook.
• Gunner Stockton.  Well, he’s got the name to play the position.  No live experience to speak of, although (like Bennett) praise has surfaced for his work at scout team quarterback.  Running ability lies somewhere between Beck and Vandagriff; arm strength, like the other two, is better than Bennett’s.  Pretty much a blank slate, in other words.  One other factor to toss in — he first committed to Bobo at South Carolina and worked with Bobo’s dad in high school, so there is a level of familiarity there that exceeds the others’.

Again, I have no idea where this is about to go, and, for that matter, am not exactly sure how fast the coaches want to go with it, anyway, since naming a starter after spring practice is likely to drive one of the other two candidates directly into the transfer portal.

What say y’all?

Will Mike Bobo remember the tight ends?

Seth Emerson ($$) suggests his recent history points to yes.

Auburn used multiple tight end sets 42.7 percent of the time in 2021, and South Carolina used them on 31.6 percent of plays in 2020. The last offense Bobo had at Colorado State in 2019 used double tight ends only 11.8 percent of the time, but that one tight end tended to be Trey McBride, who was the team’s third-leading receiver (45 catches, 560 yards, four touchdowns). McBride was a second-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in last year’s draft.

The production and usage totals for the past three offenses Bobo coordinated:

Well, if nothing else, I’d say Brock Bowers’ job is safe for now.

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UPDATE:

An unreal 54.5% of UGA’s snaps came from 12p this last season— the next SEC offense in line was UK at 39.2% (Bulldogs rocked the SEC’s best Success Rate, 2nd-best Yards/Play)

UGA’s usage the 3 years prior by my charting
2019: 26.6%
2020: 29.9%
2021: 39.8% https://t.co/BTT9TchHWO

— Clark Brooks (@SEC_StatCat) February 27, 2023

What’s your guess on this year’s percentage of 12 formation looks?

Musical palate cleanser, a little more edition

From a Les Paul tribute tour a little over a decade ago, here’s Jeff Beck absolutely shredding the intro to the Shangri-Las’ old hit Remember (Walking in the Sand):

Wooo!

“Uga live the life!”

I’m not really sure of the context that prompted the question, but Knowshon Moreno and Tavarres King have an opinion about PETA’s position on Georgia’s mascot:

“That dog’s loved, bro,” King told us. “Chill out, PETA!”

Just thought I’d share that…

Where have all the OCs gone?

Mike Griffith notes that ten SEC schools will have new offensive coordinators this season.  It’s worth noting that, even as it makes his attempt at fashioning a ranking of the fourteen pretty much a waste of time.

The teams that return their OCs are Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, LSU and Florida.

Needless to say, there’s gonna be a lot of hit and miss in those hiring decisions.  Who clicks and who doesn’t?  And in light of that, does Griffith have a valid point that Smart hiring Bobo as something of a known quantity makes sense?

Blown away

So, here’s today’s question.

Alabama is hiring Liberty linebackers coach Robert Bala as its new inside linebackers coach, program sources confirmed to The Athletic on Saturday…

Bala, who came to Liberty after being the defensive coordinator at Southern Utah, had blown Hugh Freeze away in the interview process with his knowledge and demeanor. Bala obviously did something similar when he met with Saban earlier this week.

So, this guy blew Freeze away so strongly… that Freeze didn’t bring him to Auburn, but Saban’s grabbing him now?  I know he’s the GOAT and all, but that seems like I’m missing something.

The NCAA and NIL: this time we **really** mean it.

The NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions announced its first decision, regarding Miami’s women’s basketball program, in the wake of the new NIL rules established July, 2021.  The gist ($$):

• The decision, a negotiated resolution between the school, the coach and the NCAA enforcement staff, included one year of probation and recruiting sanctions.
• It did not require Miami booster John Ruiz to disassociate from the school nor did it punish the two athletes at the center of the case.
• The school self-imposed a three-game suspension on the coach.
• There’s a one-year probationary period, a fine and some recruiting restrictions.

That’s it.  Now maybe you’re not seeing a discouraging message being sent to schools about reining in their boosters, but, brother, the NCAA wants you to know you’re all wet about that.  No, really ($$).

The panel was troubled by the limited nature and severity of institutional penalties agreed-upon by Miami and the enforcement staff namely, the absence of a disassociation of the involved booster. Further, this case was processed prior to the adoption of NCAA Bylaw 19.7.3, which went into effect on January 1, 2023, and presumes that a violation occurred in cases involving name, image and likeness offers, agreements and/or activities. Based on legislation in effect at the time of submission, the panel cannot presume that activities around name, image and likeness resulted in NCAA violations.

Although the parties asserted that a disassociation penalty would be inappropriate based on an impermissible meal and an impermissible contact, today’s new NIL-related environment represents a new day. Boosters are involved with prospects and student-athletes in ways the NCAA membership has never seen or encountered. In that way, addressing impermissible booster conduct is critical, and the disassociation penalty presents an effective penalty available to the COI.

I’m sure that’s got schools quaking in their boots.

“We didn’t want to put a green light on (that behavior),” COI chair Dave Roberts, USC’s special assistant to the athletic director, told The Athletic.

You didn’t exactly put a red light on it, either.

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UPDATE:  Yeah, this didn’t take long at all.

He seems to have gotten the message, alright.