“… accepts legal and moral responsibility for the mistakes that our training staff made…”

I don’t know if you heard the news, but Maryland finally settled with the McNair family over the death of their son.

By “finally”, I mean two and a half years later.  Or almost that long since the school’s president acknowledged fault.

And while I understand the ass covering and due diligence that accompanies such a high-profile settlement takes time, I can’t help but shake my head over the comparative dollar signs involved.  McNair’s family received $3.5 million.  His head coach?

Durkin’s contract with the university runs through the end of 2021. Maryland owed Durkin 65 percent of his remaining contract, with half of the buyout paid within 60 days of his firing. According to the Baltimore Sun’s public salary database, the university paid Durkin $4,793,000 in 2018, which also includes earnings that year before his firing, and $860,000 in 2019. After a brief hiatus from on-field coaching, Durkin is the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Mississippi.

Thank goodness lives weren’t ruined because of this tragedy.  At least lives other than McNair’s.

TFW you know this year’s draft class is absolutely loaded

Big news for the #Canes: D’Eriq King says he’s coming back for the 2021 season to UM. https://t.co/GyfVhB6Nwv

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 26, 2020

Hopefully, this is a message not lost on JT Daniels.

We’re both part of the same hypocrisy, senator.

Greg Sankey is shocked, shocked to learn that conference commissioners are manipulating schedules to gain favor with the selection committee.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made a strong College Football Playoff case for his conference on Wednesday, in part by citing that his conference plans to play all if its scheduled regular-season games. This after the ACC this week canceled games for its two best teams in order to make it easier for them to advance to the league title game, and by extension, earn playoff bids.

The ACC’s move Tuesday raised eyebrows around the sport when the conference eliminated Dec. 12 games for its CFP contenders, No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 Clemson. The ACC said it made the move to “preserve the integrity” of the league’s championship on Dec. 19.

Sankey had another view.

“I was surprised to see the announcement [Tuesday],” the SEC commissioner told CBS Sports. “It begs one question: If their two most highly ranked teams were, for instance, [ranked] five and six in the CFP Rankings, would this decision have been made?”

Says the man who supports his members scheduling November cupcake games in the good times.

Wait ’til he finds out what the Big Ten’s gonna do to preserve Ohio State’s path to the CFP.

Down, down, down

Holy crap.  I knew FSU had fallen on hard times, but I didn’t realize how hard.

This will be the first #FSU senior class to compile a losing record (20-26) since 1977.

The class never had a winning ACC record nor beat Miami. It had three head coaches, four if you count an interim. It was never ranked in the AP Poll after September. It started 0-1 each year.

— Mike Ferguson (@MikeWFerguson) November 30, 2020

The outgoing seniors when this one arrived had won more games (47) than any class at #FSU ever.

This class went 2-12 against ranked opponents, 14-10 at home (10-10 against FBS opponents, 7-9 vs. Power 5).

The three losing seasons is as many as the #Noles had in prior 43 years.

— Mike Ferguson (@MikeWFerguson) November 30, 2020

Sheesh.

“Come on, dog. It’s a game.”

Syracuse pulled a Reggie Ball in the waning moments of its game against NC State.

boner alert pic.twitter.com/tXDv6ifcr8

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) November 28, 2020

And, yes, to make things even more perfect, that’s former Tech announcer Wes Durham on the call.  He must have had some serious flashbacks watching that go down.

COVID strikes again.

And it isn’t some lowly mid-major backing out, either.

SCHEDULE UPDATE

Notre Dame's upcoming game on Sept. 26 against Wake Forest has been postponed.

RELEASE: https://t.co/Qtp5hfz4Sh pic.twitter.com/YEWOxvR7wt

— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) September 22, 2020

Week 15 just got a little more crowded, methinks.

TFW you can’t handle a home loss to Georgia Tech

Welp, this is one way to deal with it.

DB-turned-WR Isaiah Bolden becomes the second Seminole to enter the NCAA transfer portal on Tuesday, joining WR DJ Matthews. https://t.co/bDVXOBoJk9

— Warchant.com (@Warchant) September 15, 2020

“It’s a unique opportunity.”

ACC, Big 12 and SEC to recruits:  The Big Ten and Pac-12 ain’t playin’ ball, so take advantage of the situation and join us!

Also ACC, Big 12 and SEC to recruits:  Now wait just a fucking minute.

A bubble by any other name

AP style calls for no hyphen in clusterfuck pic.twitter.com/sjCayl1dpp

— dan michalski (@danmichalski) August 18, 2020

So, the proverbial shit hit the fan in Chapel Hill after the school announced 177 students are in isolation and another 349 are in quarantine because of the coronavirus.

“Our student-athletes will continue to attend online classes, and may choose to remain in their current on- and off-campus residences,” North Carolina said in a statement. “Workouts and practices will continue under the standards set by our University, health officials and department. We still are expecting to play this fall, and we will continue to evaluate the situation in coordination with the University, the ACC, state and local officials, and health officials. The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, and community remains our priority.”

Hey, look at the light bulb that went off!

Source: One ACC President has been told by medical personnel that the best course moving forward is to have virtual classes with all non student athletes moving off campus.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 18, 2020

No shit, Sherlock.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Shot.

Liberty football coach Hugh Freeze said the program hasn't had a positive test in three weeks.

The screenings in the past two weeks haven't necessitated any tests because players are not showing symptoms.

— Damien Sordelett (@DamienSordelett) August 14, 2020

Chaser.

NC State football admin on Liberty’s lack of testing: "The ACC has clear testing protocols in place. We have communicated those protocols and expectations with Liberty if this game is to occur."

— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) August 15, 2020

That “if” probably isn’t doing as much heavy lifting as Freeze hopes it is.