Those who can, do. Those who can’t…

Making an appearance on SEC Nation Saturday on the SEC Network to break down Georgia-Alabama in the league championship game: former Florida coach Dan Mullen

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) November 29, 2021

Go Gata!

Thursday morning buffet

Nibbles from around the world of college football:

• According to Mike Leach, Will Rogers was the first true freshman quarterback he’s worked with.
• Here’s Athlon’s fairly milquetoast analysis of Florida’s 2021 schedule.
• Who has coached the most seasons in Kentucky football history?
• Roll ‘Bama Roll’s take on 2021 Georgia:  “The defense of course will always be elite, the running game is loaded, and if Kirby finally finds some wideouts to let JT Daniels take the top off, the Bulldogs are legit. They would actually be my favorite…if you can trust Kirby Smart 15 times in one season.”
• Dick Vitale isn’t happy with the new NCAA transfer rule.
• Meet former UGA player Wix Patton, who gave up football to pursue a music career.  (h/t Hunkering Hank)
• From Chip Towers’ update on G-Day:  “Unfortunately, traditional tailgating still will not be allowed. Fans will be directed into designated parking lots and won’t be allowed to set up tents, grills or television sets.”  Don’t say you weren’t warned.

“I just chose to be known as the poop man.”

If you could use a chuckle this morning, have I got a story for you.

Thursday morning buffet

Dig in, peeps.

• Jeff Sentell does a deep dive into Georgia’s de-commitments during the Smart era.
• Barrett Sallee sees Florida winning the SEC East, beating Georgia and LSU, but losing to… Tennessee?
• How will coronavirus affect the 2020 college football season?
• Dr. Fauci thinks some sports may have to skip a 2020 season entirely.
• The Mountain West Media Days are going virtual.  More conferences to follow?
• Tell me you saw this one coming:  TCU’s Gary Patterson is using the downtime from the coronavirus to record an album.

Mark Richt has lost control over losing control.

Life doesn’t get much better than this! Just think I could be grading film right now!! pic.twitter.com/6s5V6JMYJE

— Mark Richt (@MarkRicht) September 9, 2019

Way to go

Couldn’t somebody in the athletic department come up with a better name?  The program, admirable as it is, certainly deserves better than this:

The Georgia Way. #CommitToTheG pic.twitter.com/JRgJolSC1U

— Georgia Bulldogs (@UGAAthletics) July 16, 2017

I can’t entirely discount the possibility that they’re just screwing with us, but it seems more likely they’re only being their usual tone deaf selves.

“Almost all of our clients are acutely aware that they don’t want to end up a greeter outside a Las Vegas casino.”

Here’s a really good piece on the financial decisions kids who are fortunate enough to sign pro contracts face.  Many listen to good advice, but many don’t.

It’s something that schools ought to spend more time on with their student-athletes than they do.

“I didn’t have that wisdom, man. I blew some cash.”

As cautionary tales go, the story of former Michigan State great Charles Rogers is epic.

“Dedicated to the mission”

Mark Richt may be gone, but the Paul Oliver Network lives on.  And that’s a good thing.

“We don’t want to talk them out of their dreams; we just want to give them some reality, too.”

You know, there’s much to criticize about how schools blow smoke about how college athletics is merely an extension of their academic mission, so pointing out the hypocrisies embedded in the current arrangement is justified.  But it seems to me some of the anger coming out of this study is misplaced.

Young black men playing basketball and football for the country’s top college teams are graduating at lower rates than black male students at the same schools — despite having financial and academic support that removes common hurdles preventing many undergraduates from earning degrees, a new report has found.

While 58 percent of black male undergraduates at the 65 schools in the Power 5 conferences got degrees within six years, 54 percent of black male student-athletes at the same schools graduated, according to an analysis of the 2014-15 academic year by University of Pennsylvania researcher Shaun Harper.

Harper said the graduation gap represents a wide and systemic issue worse than isolated scandals seen on individual campuses.

“It happens just about everywhere,” said Harper, director of Penn’s Center for Race and Equity in Education. “Generations of young black men and their parents and families are repeatedly duped by a system that lies to them about what their life chances are and what their athletic outcomes are likely to be.”

You’re starting with the wrong system, man.  Start with high schools that are woefully resourced for the purpose of preparing these kids for college.  And as far as their parents and families go, well, they don’t have the excuse of youthful inexperience to fall back on.  So why aren’t they doing more proactively before their children are misled?

That being said, I don’t disagree with this:

“When coaches are looking for the best athletic talent, that’s what they’re looking for,” Harper said. “They’re not really concerned with academic talent.”

And why should they be, when the system doesn’t incentivize them to do so?  But if that’s not where their focus lies, who’s there to see to it that the schools’ proclaimed devotion to the academic life aren’t just empty words?

One thing I do give the NCAA credit for was its decision to stiffen core eligibility standards in high school curriculum.  But those are new and we won’t see their effect for a few years.  In the meantime, more finger pointing is in order, I suppose.