Thursday morning buffet

Should be something in here you’ll like.

• Brent Musburger welcomes Mike Leach to the profession (and probably hopes to knock back a cold one or two with him later).
• Meet Les Miles, the incredible two-faced coach.  (Okay, so it’s not that incredible.)
• Evidently the hot seat meme hasn’t made it to Montana.
• Marlon Brown is starting to intrigue me.
• Dawg porn:  Dean Legge interviews Mr. Aggressive, Todd Grantham.
• This interview will come as a complete shock to you.
• Funny, you don’t look Tebowish.  (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
• The AJ-C discovers Georgia’s turnover margin story.

Kiffin watch: no hard feelings

So, Phil Fulmer, do you have anything nice to say about your successor?

“First thing, I’m a Tennessee guy. I want Tennessee to always do well, and I want us to do it with character and integrity, which we’ve always done, and to appreciate our traditions and our history. Appreciate what other coaches and players have done here prior to me, and what others will do after me or Derek or whoever. We didn’t have that (with Lane Kiffin)…”

But didn’t you leave Junior in a tight spot, talent-wise?

“The knock on the talent, we had four guys play in the Super Bowl, we had two first-rounders this year, looks like four or five guys are going to be drafted,” Fulmer said after the first round of the draft. “I think it’s just par for the course when somebody replaces somebody and they have maybe a holier-than-thou attitude of arrogance or whatever. Then that’s just kind of normal…”

Oh.  Okay.  But what about that new sense of spirit that was part of the Laner’s plan?

“There are certainly good players at Tennessee, and it’s a shame what we’ve gone through with losing as many guys from the program for whatever reason, counting the really good players that I had committed my last year.”

Thanks for sharing, Coach.

Thursday morning buffet

Believe it or not, there are other things going on in the college football world today.

• Louisville hasn’t spoken with Charlie Strong yet.  Phil Fulmer, on the other hand…
• Ari Fleischer has been, is and always will be a douchebag of the first order.  What the BCS sees in him I have no idea.
• Stewart Mandel says the Gator Bowl can invite a 6-6 FSU team to play this season in Bobby Bowden’s last game as head coach.  The Gator Bowl says the ACC had better believe that.
• What is it about schools that make them think they should get away with heavy-handed crap like this?
• Ivan Maisel interviews four SEC coaches about Alabama vs. Florida.  Their conclusion?  It’s all about Tebow, baby.
• Today’s “Jane, you ignorant slut” exchange:  Jerry makes the case for why Auburn is as worthy as any 7-5 SEC school to play in the Outback Bowl and cocknfire counterpunches.

Looks like there’ll be a few more doughnuts on the table this year.

Phil Fulmer refuses to go graciously into the night.

Less than 10 months ago he stepped down as Tennessee’s head coach, but not necessarily willingly. UT fans and administration had become restless, and in early November he agreed to step away at the end of the season.

“I’m still PO’d to say the least. There’s probably a couple of people there that I’m not going to invite to Christmas dinner any time soon,” Fulmer said. “I’ve chosen the best I can to take the high road. I really love Tennessee, so let there be no doubt about that. It’s very much a part of me.”

Yeah, that’s some high road you’re taking there, dude.  At least after that hefty contract extension and settlement you can afford the transportation.

And some post-hot seat talk…

Phil Fulmer reflects on one very special part of his legacy:

Q.

Obviously, your successor, Lane Kiffin, has been in the news. You know those players. What do you see for this season and what they can accomplish?

A.

I love Tennessee and I love those players very much. If you’re going to be brash, you better be willing to back it up. You know, I’m hopeful that they can. We kind of screwed it up last year, honestly. We should have won eight or nine. Eight at least. They’re going to have to get great quarterback play or a lot better quarterback play…

Yeah, Lane Kiffin thanks you very much for that quarterback play, Coach.

Sattidy mornin’ buffet

Grab a plate, folks.

• Tennessee could be starting as many as five true freshmen in its opener.  That’s a pretty good indication of what Kiffin thinks of the level of talent he inherited.  You might want to dial back the 9-3 projections a little, Vol fans.
• I’m certainly not saying this kid is the one, but sooner or later Paul Johnson’s going to find his version of Pat White – someone who no other major school will seriously consider playing at quarterback, but turns out to be the perfect match for what Tech runs.
• Smart Football’s Chris Brown now has a football column in that pinko liberal bastion of journalism, The New York Times.  It’s a step up – for the Times.
• Another list that makes little sense to me.  (Frank Beamer ahead of Mack Brown?  Why, exactly?)
• The new buzzword for the remaking of Tim Tebow, quarterback:  “enhanced”.  (I prefer the more old-fashioned description of “bullshit”, personally.)

Friday morning buffet

Wrapping up the working week with some tasty stuff –

• Self-promotion time:  Clark at The ACC & SEC Blog was nice enough to invite me to come bloviate all over his place with a Q & A preview of Georgia.  Feel free to mock.
• Sagarin’s 2009 preseason rankings are out.  Three SEC teams are in the top ten – but none are in first and ‘Bama ain’t one of them, either.  Georgia, however, checks in a number seven.  Wow.   (That’s higher than where he ranked UGA last year.)  Also, if I understand his methodology, he’s got Georgia +3.5 minus 3.5 in the opener against Oklahoma State.
• And speaking of the Cowboys (since the Cowboys aren’t speaking for themselves these days), The Quad shares its analysis of #15 OSU with us today.  Everyone tends to focus, understandably, on the Okie State offense, but make sure you read Paul Myerberg’s take on the defense.  Lots of good stuff – and he also predicts Georgia wins the game.
• No sir, Phil Fulmer’s not bitter about being replaced by Lane Kiffin.  Not one bit.
• I don’t get this.  Sure, blame the media if you like, but it still doesn’t explain why Saban seems more contemptuous of the folks covering his team than most of his peers.  Is there something particularly shoddy about the Alabama football media?
• MaconDawg interviewing David Hale is as entertaining as you might expect.  Good job, fellas.
• Here’s another SEC position rankings that I just don’t get.
• And The Valley Shook runs its SEC quarterback analysis for the past three seasons.  Check out Stafford’s steady progress.  Mike Bobo must be doing something right.
• Let’s finish with a great recruiting story:

In 2007, Penn State coach Joe Paterno watched on TV as Drew Astorino hit the game-winner for Edinboro (Pa.) General McLane High in the Class AAA state hoop final. A few months before, Astorino scored the winning touchdown in the AAA football final. Astorino, who doesn’t run a 4.3, had one offer (Kent State) before Paterno called. Astorino “made plays in the clutch, so we took him,” Paterno told the Philadelphia Daily News. The 5-foot-10, 193-pound redshirt sophomore is starting at free safety. That’s recruiting, old-school.

Perverse thought(s) of the day

After I read this, for some strange reason I immediately wondered what it would be like if Spurrier retired after this season and the Gamecock brain trust (no oxymoron cracks, please) pondered hiring Fulmer as his replacement.

And in a totally unrelated matter, Reid McCollum remains my favorite South Carolina player.  I’m counting on you, Reid.

Kiffin watch: on getting it, and getting after it.

My post on why I don’t understand Junior’s strategy in rebuilding the Tennessee brand has prompted a couple of responses on the ‘Net – one from Brian Cook, who shares my puzzlement, and one from Rocky Top Talk’s CornFromAJar, who responds to Brian and me.

Corn’s response was thoughtful and honest – he’s got no idea where the ride is going to take him, but at least he’s enjoying the journey so far – and so deserves a brief response in return.  What I’m struck by with his post (and some of the comments to it) is how tired the UT fan base had grown of Fulmer.  Now, being a Georgia fan, I can certainly understand how a coach’s appeal can wear thin, but it’s not like Fulmer’s resume was exactly threadbare, even of late (there was a SECCG appearance in ’07 that was extremely painful for me, anyway).

But here’s the thing:  like him or not (and I’m certainly in the latter category), you never questioned the fact that Fulmer bled orange.  So far, there’s nothing in Junior’s actions that indicates the same dedication to UT – if anything, some of what he’s done is quite contrary to that.  And again, I realize that winning will override much of that for the typical Vol fan.  But I’m still a wee bit surprised by it – especially if it’s an attitude shared by Hamilton, which Corn assures me it is.

But if going in a radically different direction, and by that I mean ignoring convention and tradition to a significant extent, was the approach embraced by Hamilton from the start, why didn’t he talk seriously to somebody like Mike Leach who’s been very successful on the college level?  Leach (who has an SEC coaching background, unlike Junior) with some stellar recruiters could have been a force in the conference, could he not?

Further, I think Corn has badly missed on Brian’s comparison of Junior and Spurrier.  The point isn’t that both men run their mouths, only Spurrier waited until he accomplished something. It’s that Spurrier went into Gainesville armed with an offensive strategy he knew would work and a realization that the key to success was changing the program’s attitude about the Georgia game, while the Laner’s method to date can only be characterized as an ad hoc approach to doing whatever it takes to win recruits.  And if that’s all it takes to win big in the SEC, the Zooker would still be a Gator.

I guess I’m just finding a lot of the “it’s all part of a plan” talk a lot of after the fact justification, particularly in light of the last contract Hamilton handed out to Fulmer.

On the other hand, if you want to find something that should legitimately excite the UT faithful, check out this lengthy, detailed post on NFL defenses.  There may be more there than you ever wanted to know, but interspersed throughout is a lot about Monte Kiffin’s strategy.  And if you look at Warren Sapp’s career as sort of a collaborative effort between Orgeron and MK, it’s hard not to be impressed about what they might be able to accomplish together – while it lasts, anyway.

****************************************************************

UPDATE: Without context, I can’t say for certain, but, Jeezus, this seems excessive:

Under Kiffin’s direction, UT spent $835,908.47 from Dec. 1 to National Signing Day on Feb. 4.

Lost opportunities

Is it just me, or does it seem like we’ve entered the golden age of negative recruiting possibilities in the SEC?

Oversigning at Alabama.  The gypsy at Arkansas.  New head coaches who were bad head coaches at their last stops.  You could go on and on.

And now this.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said he knows why Captain Munnerlyn and Emanuel Cook fared so poorly in last weekend’s NFL draft.

They were lied to.

Munnerlyn, drafted in the seventh round by the Carolina Panthers, and Cook, not drafted at all, were convinced by agents, family members or other people they trusted that they would be selected fairly high and earn seven-figure signing bonuses, Spurrier said.

But does he think they regret their decisions to forego their senior seasons? Not a chance.

“Nah, they all get misled,” Spurrier said Tuesday night to a small group of reporters before the start of the Charlotte Metro Region Gamecock Club meeting at Nation Ford High School. “They all think they’re going to be first-rounders.”

…

Spurrier shrugged off comments by former offensive linemen Jamon Meredith that his tumble from the second to the fifth round may have been attributable in part to unflattering comments made by the South Carolina coaching staff to NFL scouts…

So the OBC is trashing his former players and the former players are complaining that the coach is trashing them.  And Spurrier doesn’t care.  My friends, this is Phil Fulmer’s wet dream.  You’ve got to feel for the guy being out of a job right now, don’t you?