Shot.
Chaser.
Diaz’ defense was the only thing holding Miami up last season. To lose the architect of that, and then take on Mr. “You’ve got to run the ball in the SEC” as his replacement would be sublime from a blogging perspective… which is why that probably won’t come to fruition. Damn.
Just remember, Jeff, when one door closes, the one at Auburn opens.
Filed under ACC Football
The only possible acceptable excuse for this…
… is having to answer one serious call of nature.
Filed under ACC Football
All part of college football’s rich pageant:
Maryland’s president felt a need to work the refs he charged with investigating the death of Jordan McNair.
A day after he addressed reporters, Loh sent an email to his three new commission members, as well as a handful of school officials, laying out the assignment. He told them “to interview a sufficiently large sample of current and former players, their parents, athletics staff , and any other relevant stakeholders, in order to make an assessment on whether the relatively few (but deeply troubling) cases of alleged ‘abuse,’ reported anonymously in the media, indicate the existence of a widespread ‘toxic culture’ . . . or, do these reported cases represent only a small portion of the population of football players, present and past.”
Loh told the members that “arguably, a hyper-masculine and insular culture is the norm, rather than the exception, in college football.” Furthermore, he advised them that “some of the alleged verbally abusive or demeaning behaviors probably occur in every football program. It is part of the ‘football culture.’ There is, of course, an imprecise line between training practices that aggressively push players to the limit and are acceptable, and practices that most reasonable persons would deem to be physical and/or emotional abusive conduct.’”
Note two things about that — first, the commission is not tasked with delving into McNair’s death specifically, but is asked instead to inquire into the broader topic of “football culture”, whatever the hell that is, and, second, to set that inquiry in the overall context of college football, rather than simply looking at what happened at the school. A cynic might be forgiven for believing that to be an attempt at muddying the waters.
Interestingly enough, Maryland’s board of regents stepped forward soon afterwards.
Almost immediately after the commission’s unveiling, the University System of Maryland’s board of regents took control from the College Park campus, adding five additional members to the three named by Loh and suggesting that key decisions about the football program’s future would be made by the regents, not necessarily the school president.
The direction of the commission may have changed, too.
The commission’s review is expected to also look at the actions of other prominent coaches and staff members, including Damon Evans, who was promoted to athletic director less than two weeks after McNair’s death. Loh, too, could find himself scrutinized by one or both of the external probes. He nixed a plan recommended by the school’s athletic director to fundamentally change the way athletes receive medical treatment and athletic training less than a year before McNair died.
Sounds like this is going to get messy.
Filed under ACC Football
Here lies the remains of Power Five football in the state of Florida. Time of expiration: 10:09 p.m. EDT. That’s when Florida completed its dismal home loss to perennial foil Kentucky — yes, Kentucky, which hadn’t beaten the Gators since 1986. The Wildcats outplayed Florida in The Swamp all night, and for once didn’t self-destruct with a chance to beat the Gators in hand.
At the same time Florida was losing that game — and running its losing streak against Power Five opponents to seven — Florida State was trailing FCS Samford in Tallahassee. The Seminoles, favored by 31 points, would trail for 52 minutes and 20 seconds before finally taking a lead with 4:03 left. It was the first time FSU has led this season, after being housed 24-3 at home by Virginia Tech last week.
The Seminoles pulled out the victory, but it was a night of endless embarrassments. They were outgained by 71 yards, their secondary ripped by a Samford quarterback, Devlin Hodges, whose previous claim to fame before Saturday night was winning the Alabama state duck calling championship. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Hodges lobbed some ducks to the Florida State secondary — his four interceptions were instrumental in FSU rallying to win. For Samford to be minus-four in turnovers and have its top defensive player ejected for targeting in the third quarter, and still have a great chance to win, is a stark condemnation of the Seminoles’ execution and preparation.
These were the second games for new head coaches at both schools — Dan Mullen at Florida and Willie Taggart at FSU. There was the usual fresh-beginning optimism in both locales. That optimism is gone now, replaced by a sobering return to the reality of 2017: both programs are pretty bad.
Combine that with the defrocking of Miami last week against LSU — the Hurricanes’ fourth straight loss, dating to the end of last season — and the malaise is statewide. From the panhandle to the Keys, the state that once ruled the sport has fallen hard. The combined nine national titles between Florida, Florida State and Miami aren’t getting any younger.
The indisputable fact: Central Florida, its winning streak now at 15, remains the best team in the state by a wide margin. South Florida might be second best. The traditional powers are in no position to argue.
I get how this Florida team could lose to Kentucky — the ‘Cats at one point were 8 for 9 on third-down conversions and the Gators defense got whistled for having too many men on the field coming out of a timeout, both examples of peak Grantham — but how in Gawd’s name does FSU go +4 in turnover margin and still struggle to put away Samford? Their end of the year meeting is shaping up as one for the ages.
Bonus snide remark: Mike Bobo has more SEC wins so far this season than Dan Mullen.
Filed under ACC Football, Gators, Gators...
This is pretty cool.
Although a Mean Machine nod might be even cooler.
Filed under ACC Football
