A few thoughts to jump start your Saturday.
1. IT’S GOING TO BE A BIG DAY IN SAN ANTONIO FOR THE GATORS: Unless something goes terribly awry in the next few hours, the Florida Gators will look like the tall hog at the recruiting trough after the U.S. Army All-American Bowl at the Alamo Dome. The Gators stand to land commitments from stud defensive linemen Ronald Powell and Shariff Floyd and safe money is on Matt Elam jilting the Seminoles to help make Florida’s recruiting class easily the best in the nation. Oh, and there’s other good news. Travon Van isn’t waffling. Those reports that he’s looking at West Virginia are totally rumor and Jordan Hicks looks all-Gator at this point of the recruiting process. Not bad for a program whose wheels were said to be coming off just 10 days ago.
2. A CLOSE CALL FOR LEFTY: At Central Michigan, the coaching search will be over this weekend and all eyes point to Michigan State running backs coach Dan Enos and Florida quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler, both former CMU assistants. As of late Friday night, I was told that Lefty could get the job if Illinois defensive backs coach Curt Mallory, who has interviewed for the CMU job three times already, would agree to be his defensive coordinator. Apparently this is the combination that CMU athletic director Dave Heeke would prefer and if Mallory agrees, then he’s got his new head coach. If Mallory doesn’t agree, I’m told that Enos will get the job. It’s going to be a close call either way.
3. THE END IS NEAR FOR THE SOUTHERN CAL DYNASTY: The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Pete Carroll has all but signed a five-year deal that will pay him $35 million to become president and head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Now that the USC basketball program has bent over and spread its cheeks for the NCAA, the football program stands to take an equal if not greater hit because the Reggie Bush case will be part of the public record under oath in a real court room. That’s reason right there for Carroll to leave the dynasty he has created at USC. And let’s face it. We’ve always known that someday Pete would have to try the NFL one more time. It’s not like he was a bad coach when he was in the NFL before (33-31 career record) but after his success at USC, you have to know that at some point he would want to see if he could duplicate it back in the league.
4. THE END IS NEAR FOR THE SOUTHERN CAL DYNASTY, PART II: Should Carroll do as expected and bolt, all hell will break loose in Los Angeles. You can expect recruiting will go sideways. USC is coming off a very average (9-4) year and losing its best players to the NFL and losing a coach this late in the process ensures most of the kids who were thinking USC will go elsewhere. Then there is the question of the day — who would be the coach, particularly with NCAA sanctions looming? This situation has the makings of total chaos in the next few days.
5. THE SAD CASE OF JIM LEAVITT: The investigation at South Florida led to Jim Leavitt being fired Friday morning. Leavitt is the only coach in USF history so dismissing him was not an easy thing to do. Without Jim Leavitt, football at USF is still in the dark ages and not in the Big East. The firing goes beyond the incident where Leavitt grabbed the throat of a walk-on and then slapped him in the face twice during halftime of the Louisville game all because he missed a special teams assignment. It was a whole series of incidents and bizarre behavior that came to a boil with the incident at Louisville, then Leavitt complicated matters by lying about it, leaving the USF administration with only one choice and that was to fire the man that built the program from scratch.
6. A RIPE PLUM FOR THE PICKING: The South Florida job is indeed a ripe plum, just waiting to be picked. It’s a good enough job that there are reports that former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville would take the USF job over Texas Tech if offered. Tommy Bowden and Terry Bowden have both expressed interest. I’m surprised Bobby hasn’t. He doesn’t have a job. Skip Holtz is another one who is extremely interested. And then there are four coaches you need to keep an eye on — Larry Fedora of Southern Miss; Calvin Magee, the offensive coordinator at Michigan; Jeff Jagodzinski, formerly the head coach at Boston College; and Dan McCarney, Florida’s defensive line coach who coached up South Florida’s first All-American ever (George Selvie) in his one year on the job at USF in 2007. Whoever takes over, this is potentially a powerhouse job. The Bulls beat the Tallahassee Trade School this year. This is a program on the verge of something big if the right coach is hired.
7. BRUCE PEARL DISMISSES TYLER SMITH: In a move that could very well kill any chance Tennessee has to win the SEC basketball championship, Bruce Pearl dismissed the best player from his team Friday and continued the suspension of three others who were all arrested last week on weapons and marijuana charges. The loss of Tyler Smith is huge. He was the most versatile player in the SEC the last two seasons and the one player the Vols have who is capable of adapting his game to any style or tempo. Smith faces potential federal charges for possession of a firearm with an altered serial number. It remains to be seen how long Pearl keeps Cameron Tatum, Brian Williams and Melvin Goins. Those three could all get booted permanently as well. With everyone eligible to play, the Vols have the talent and depth to stand up to Kentucky. The way it stands now, however, Tennessee has gone from the SEC’s deepest team to one with serious depth issues.
8. THE EARLY TOP 25 FOR 2010: Mark Schalbach of ESPN goes with (1) Alabama; (2) Ohio State; (3) Boise State; (4) Oregon; (5) Texas; (6) Virginia Tech; (7) TCU; (8) Nebraska; (9) Iowa; (10) Wisconsin; (11) Florida; (12) Oklahoma; (13) Georgia Tech; (14) Cincinnati; (15) Pitt; (16) Arkansas; (17) Miami; (18) LSU; (19) Penn State; (20) Southern Cal; (21) Tallahassee Trade School; (22) Oregon State; (23) Georgia; (24) Stanford; (25) Navy. Only one SEC team in the top 10? Surely he jests. I would question what anyone who would pick either Florida or Oklahoma that low is drinking. Typical also of giving the Seminoles more respect than they deserve. They’ll be lucky to go 8-4 even with an ACC schedule. People don’t seem to get it. The dynasty in Tallahassee died a long time ago.
9. EARLY PREDICTIONS FOR 2010 IN THE SEC: In the East I like (1) Florida; (2) Georgia; (3) South Carolina; (4) Vanderbilt; (5) Tennessee and (6) Kentucky. In the West I like (1) Alabama; (2) Arkansas; (3) LSU; (4) Auburn; (5) Mississippi State and (6) Ole Miss. I think Florida and Alabama have too much talent and superior coaching so they will win their divisions and play for the SEC championship in Atlanta. In the East, I think Vanderbilt will be enormously improved and capable of finishing as high as third. In the West, I think Arkansas can challenge Alabama if Bobby Petrino can finally get a defense together. My preseason player of the year on offense is Heisman Trophy tailback Mark Ingram of Alabama and on defense I’ll go with Stephon Gilmore of South Carolina.
10. RANDOM THOUGHTS: Although it’s painful for South Florida to lose the guy who built the program from nothing to where it is today, I think the program needed new blood to take it to a new level … What is hard to believe is that both Jim Leavitt and Mike Leach (Texas Tech) both have lost their jobs for something other than wins and losses. I think both of them will have a hard time getting another college job although I think there are plenty of NFL teams that would gladly hire them … I expect Alabama’s Rolando McClain and Kareem Jackson to both declare for the NFL Draft, meaning Nick Saban will have to replace 10 starters, many of whom started three years … I am hearing that Florida is in great shape to land Brandon Knight but the team to watch is Miami. Landing BK to go with Eric Young and Casey Prather would give Billy Donovan a top three recruiting class … I’ll be shocked if Southern Cal salvages a great recruiting class if reports that Pete Carroll is gone to Seattle prove true … True story. Back in 1984 when Pete Carroll was a young assistant with the Buffalo Bills, former UF assistant/Gainesville High head coach Jim Niblack, who coached the Bills’ offensive line, told Carroll he belonged in college football, that he was the perfect type for the college game and not a good fit in the pros because he was so rah-rah … Gator baseball will be cranking up soon. I’m told Kevin O’Sullivan has a team capable of making it to Omaha this year. If you haven’t seen Preston Tucker hit, then you’re missing something. He alone is worth the price of admission at McKethan Stadium. The other guys aren’t bad, though … I’m hearing that Riley Cooper’s draft stock is soaring.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Nick Saban wouldn’t mind if his defensive coordinator, Kirby Smart, takes a head coaching job somewhere, but he wouldn’t be happy if Smart became a defensive coordinator elsewhere in the SEC. Saban said Friday, “I’m not pleased when guys make lateral moves because it’s a little bit human nature to think, like my dad used to say, the grass is always greener on top of the septic tank. You always think it’s better someplace else. You kind of let your ego get involved, and you make moves that you shouldn’t make and really aren’t in your best interests for a career standpoint. So I’m not happy when guys do that. But anybody on our staff who can moveup, we would like to help them do that.”
Have a great Saturday.
Franz