Alabama Shut Out in Draft?

Paul Gattis of the The Huntsville Times reports that, “no Alabama players have been taking after 173 picks and none are on draft guru Mel Kiper Jr.’s list of best available players remaining in the pool.”

So I flipped through the history books and discovered this bit of history Alabama is making this year: Alabama has never had its first player taken in the draft this late. The closest was Kerry Goode in 1988. He was the 167th pick of the draft, taken in the seventh round.

At this point late in the draft, you start to wonder if guys like Wallace Gilberry, Simeon Castille and DJ Hall would be better off not getting drafted so they can sign free agent deals with teams that might be good fits for them.

Indeed, I’d love for the Cowboys to grab Simeon Castille and DJ Hall. They’ve got needs at safety and wide receiver that they’ve failed to address in the draft so far. Those guys are real athletes and have a better chance of making the squad than some of the guys who the Cowboys have already picked.

Gentry Estes observed yesterday that, “Alabama has not had a first-round draftee since 2000″ and it has now been two consecutive drafts since the Tide had a player taken on the first day. Truly a comedown for the Capstone. My guess is that this will chance quite soon now that Nick Saban is on board.

Florida Gators’ 2006 BCS Title Trophy Falls Off Stand, Breaks

It was broom and dustpan time in Gainesville last Friday.

The Gators’ 2006 BCS National Championship trophy fell off of its stand in Florida’s football offices and broke Friday, Florida’s operations and facilities director Chip Howard said Monday.

Because Florida is preparing to move to its new offices, which are expected to be completed in July, Howard said the trophy was in a temporary location in an open area of one of the stadium’s sky boxes.

“It was on a coffee table, and it was inadvertently bumped,” Howard said. “It doesn’t take much for the top of it to fall off.”

The trophy was insured for $8,000, and the university has already put in an order to replace it. Howard said it should take about 90 days for the new Waterford crystal trophy to reach Gainesville.

At least it was insured. Note also, the trophy was on a coffee table. Was someone using it to store mints?

Former Ole Miss QB and NFL punter Eagle Day dead at 75

He was an all SEC QB in the mid-fifties. Quarterbacks who also doubled as punters were quite common when I watched football in the 70′s and 80′s. Dallas Cowboy Danny White, Tom Blanchard who kicked for the Giants, Bucs, and Saints. There were others, including Sammy Baugh back in the 40′s who was one of the leading punters in the NFL. Former NFL QB Dan Marino punted for Pitt his freshman year at the school. Once I remember a local television reporter making fun of a youth who made mention of Marino kicking. The boy was wrong, but the reporter was ignorant too. Marino was the Dolphins emergency punter.

Back to Day, he spent 12 years in the CFL and is fondly remembered by Ole Miss Football fans. RIP.

Alabama 2008 Recruiting Class

Dennis Pillion dubs them “Alabama’s $4 million recruiting class,” an allusion to Nick Saban’s handsome salary.

“Ahhh. That’s more like it.” – The Alabama fan base.

For about 14 months now, Crimson Tide fans have rejoiced in the hiring and arrival of Nick Saban as their head coach as if someone had found a way to reincarnate Bear Bryant. And why not?

After all, this wasn’t just a football program with more money than God buying itself a high-profile football coach. This was restoring order to the universe, righting old wrongs (Auburn winning six straight Iron Bowls, no National Championships for Alabama in 15 years). This was Andy Dufresne escaping from Shawshank Prison, only as the Tide fans stood rejoicing in the downpour with outstretched arms, outsiders were lining up to point and laugh.

[...]

And then Wednesday rolled around. Signing Day. Julio Jones day. And around 11:30 a.m. Jones committed to the Tide. At 2 p.m. Gadsden City linebacker Jerrell Harris pulled an Andre Smith and donned a Houndstooth hat at his signing day press conference.

That’s when it started dawning on people how good this class really is. Alabama had long had verbal commitments from stud prospects like Vigor’s Burton Scott, Mountain Brook offensive lineman Tyler Love, Mark Barron of St. Paul’s, Melvin Ray, Courtney Upshaw, Michael Williams. Then came commitments from Star Jackson, Devonta Bolton, Chris Jordan, Donta Hightower, Barrett Jones, Alonzo Lawrence, Mark Ingram, Glenn Harbin. Saban locked up top prospects early and often, as is his habit, and when the last round of blue chippers – Jones, Harris, Marcel Dareus – said they wanted to be part of the class that returned the Crimson Tide to its glory days, the total body of work was outstanding.

It’s not just the few individual talent that makes this class special. The depth is truly overwhelming. Guys like Ray or Upshaw would have been the crown jewels in previous classes, but this year rivals.com gave higher rankings to eight Alabama signees. The Crimson Tide hauled in a ridiculous 19 four-star prospects by rivals. Last year, with only a month on the job, Saban signed 10 four-stars. In the four recruiting classes before that combined, Alabama signed 23 four-star prospects, and that includes guys like Mike Ford, Marcus Udell, and Chris Felder who never enrolled. This year’s class may have to ask players to greyshirt because too many of them are in good shape academically.

Even if you look past the fact that Alabama is bringing in nearly as many four-star and higher players this fall as it has in a four year span from 2002-2006, there are plenty of reasons to be fired up about the future in Tuscaloosa. In addition to being the most talented class Alabama’s had since services like rivals.com and scout.com started tracking such things, the 2008 group is by far the most versatile.

Players like Scott, Williams, Barron, Bolton, Kerry Murphy, and Chris Jordan could contribute just as easily on offense or defense. In fact, we likely won’t know until fall practice where some of these players will line up. Figuring out where to play your freakishly athletic horses is always a better problem than scratching your head wondering who in the world could play outside linebacker for you.

Oh, and just one more thing for the fans of other schools. The fact that Alabama signed so many top-notch prep prospects means that other schools did not. Auburn coaches and fans are busy claiming that the Tigers got who they wanted, that star rankings don’t mean anything, etc. Which I suppose is the only thing a coach or a fanbase can say when they’ve been completely owned. Auburn offered scholarships to 15 players that ended up signing with Alabama. No player offered by Alabama signed with Auburn. Tell me again fans, which school “got the players they wanted?”

[...]

But as a whole, teams that sign top classes win a lot more games than teams that don’t, and the 2008 Alabama team will be a whole lot more talented than the 2007 one. The scary part will be if Saban can continue to be as successful at recruiting in future classes as he was in this one. Then the Tide really will be back on top.

It’s about time.

Houston Nutt Hired at Ole Miss

Houston Nutt has been hired by the University of Mississippi, literally hours after quitting at Arkansas.

Houston Nutt wasn’t out of a job for long: He was hired as Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi’s football coach just hours after resigning at Arkansas.

Nutt agreed to a contract late Monday night, and replaces Ed Orgeron, who was fired Saturday after the Rebels lost to rival Mississippi State to finish 3-9 and winless in the SEC.

The school announced the hiring through a three-paragraph e-mail Tuesday sent out by Athletic Director Pete Boone. The school said a news conference will be held at 1 p.m. ET on campus Wednesday in Oxford. No contract details were made available.

Ole Miss was searching for a proven winner after years of mediocrity. Nutt neatly fits the description.

He is 111-70 in 15 years as a head coach at Arkansas, Boise State and Murray State. And he’s been a winner in the SEC. The Little Rock, Ark., native rebuilt the Arkansas program, going 75-48 since his hiring in 1997 to replace Danny Ford. He was 42-38 in conference with one of his biggest wins coming last week when the Razorbacks beat then-No. 1 LSU 50-48 triple-overtime win.

While Arkansas is likely headed to the Cotton Bowl, Nutt will be going to the homes of recruits attempting to hold together the promising class Orgeron was assembling.

Nutt, 50, said Monday he left Arkansas to help mend a split among fans after off-the-field problems were compounded by a difficult season. The Razorbacks started the year ranked and were expected to contend for the SEC West title against the Tigers.

A source told ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel that Nutt turned down a two-year extension from Arkansas worth $2.4 million annually after the Razorbacks upset No. 1 ranked LSU last week.

Arkansas lost its first three SEC games and dropped out of the poll in September, fueling fan discontent over last year’s transfer of quarterback Mitch Mustain and the loss of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who left for Tulsa.

A call to Nutt’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, was not immediately returned.

Nutt takes over a program that has foundered since a 10-win season in 2003 under David Cutcliffe. The Rebels won a share of the SEC West that season with Eli Manning at quarterback.

Since then Ole Miss has had four or fewer wins in four seasons. Boone fired Cutcliffe in 2004 for a lack of effort in recruiting. He had hoped Orgeron, who helped build two national title teams at USC as Pete Carroll’s recruiting coordinator, would bring the kind of energy needed to compete in the nation’s best football conference.

Orgeron finished 10-25 and was routinely the target of fan discontent.

Boone and Chancellor Robert Khayat endorsed Orgeron midway through the season, but decided to go in a new direction after the Rebels lost five of six to end the year.

The Rebels have been looking for a coach who can produce championships since Johnny Vaught retired in 1970. Vaught won three national titles and six SEC championships between 1947-63.

Nutt’s a solid coach and proven recruiter. The SEC is a mighty tough conference to run through, though, for an aspiring champion.

NCAA Screwed Alabama, Says Former Chairman

Five years after nearly destroying Alabama’s football program, the then-chairman of the NCAA’s infractions committee says the NCAA violated its own rules of procedure, punished the university based on dubious evidence, and issued sanctions far too severe for the alleged violations. Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News has the details:

The longtime former chairman of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions testified Wednesday that he believed the NCAA went overboard in its 2002 prosecution of the University of Alabama football program.

David Swank, who held the position of chairman for seven years and served on the committee for nine, testified in a defamation and privacy suit against the NCAA brought by disassociated booster Ray Keller in Jackson County Circuit Court. Swank questioned the NCAA’s finding of three major violations against Alabama and Keller and said the NCAA may have violated its own rules by using confidential sources. The NCAA also violated rules by not turning over all the available evidence to the infractions committee during a November 2001 hearing in Indianapolis.

Alabama lost 21 scholarships as a result of probation.

Swank questioned the finding that Alabama boosters were responsible for paying $20,000 to land blue-chip prospect Kenny Smith for two reasons – the use of confidential sources and the NCAA enforcement staff’s failure to pass contrary findings to the infractions committee.

Included in his testimony were several points of concern:

Swank said investigators did not relay the claim of North Jackson High booster R.D. “Dorris” Hicks that he was the source of the money, and it may have been used to recruit Smith to play at North Jackson. The NCAA said the late Memphis businessman and UA booster Logan Young was behind the payment. “There’s no question (booster) Wendell Smith gave Kenny Smith Jr. $20,000,” Swank said. “But where did he get it? If he got it from Dorris Hicks, there was no NCAA violation.”

Swank said that if Keller bought Kenny Smith and his parents meals after North Jackson football games then he committed a secondary violation, not a major one.

If Keller introduced then-prospect Eric Locke to UA boosters Smitty and Virginia Johnson at an A-Day Game, he committed a secondary violation, not a major one, Swank testified. Swank pointed out that Kenny Smith’s father, Ken, testified in court that lead investigator Rich Johanningmeier actually suggested the NCAA had evidence Keller would “sponsor” his son at Alabama. The sponsorship allegation was “cloudy,” at best, Swank said.

The NCAA should have been more skeptical of linebacker Travis Carroll’s claims that Keller gave him $100 bills in four separate payments. Swank said the NCAA took Carroll at his word about a potential major violation but did not allow Keller to respond to the allegation.

Swank said the NCAA violated its own bylaws on confidential sources by using recruiting analyst Tom Culpepper as a secret witness in the case. Swank said what was presented to the infractions committee “was not the actual conversation” that took place in the NCAA’s interview of Culpepper. Culpepper was identified to Alabama officials but not to members of the committee, who only learned of his allegations when Johanningmeier passed out copies of a summary of his interview at the hearing. “The whole purpose of identifying witnesses is so the committee can judge credibility,” Swank said. “You need to know who the individual is, where he came from and what his background is.”

Culpepper’s claim that Keller disagreed with NCAA rules should not have been considered at the hearing, Swank said. Likewise, Culpepper’s claim that the former booster had close relationships with Alabama players, including former quarterback Andrew Zow, should have been dismissed because of his confidentiality.

Culpepper’s claim that Keller played a role in getting Carroll an SUV was doubly bad, Swank said, because Culpepper said he learned the news from another unnamed source, Swank said.

The NCAA enforcement staff erred in not revealing Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer as a confidential source to the committee. Fulmer accused Alabama of wrongdoing and met with Johanningmeier in 2000 to discuss the case, although his testimony was not considered in the hearing.

Swank said the enforcement staff was wrong in not passing on all information to the committee, and investigators should have followed up with interviews of key figures who could have refuted charges against Alabama.

Swank said the NCAA should have interviewed former Tide player Fernando Bryant, who could have shed light on Carroll’s claims.

The NCAA also failed to pass on a statement to the infractions committee from former Alabama defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, who explained that Logan Young was not the source of a Mercedes Benz that Bryant drove. Instead, Johnson told investigators that relatives of Bryant who played in the NFL bought the automobile.

Attorneys for both sides sparred most of the afternoon over Swank’s testimony, forcing Judge John Graham to send jurors out of the courtroom on numerous occasions.

Swank, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma since 1963, represented the school in one NCAA infractions case and served as interim president during another investigation, which resulted in the resignation of former head football coach Barry Switzer.

There was irony in Swank’s testimony Wednesday. As chairman of the Committee on Infractions in 1995, he was highly critical of Alabama’s handling of Antonio Langham’s eligibility case, which resulted in the university’s first football probation.

When Alabama was hammered again in February 2002, Swank was highly critical of the program in an interview with CNNSI.com, telling the Web site, “This is one of the most serious cases I’ve ever seen.”

However, most of Swank’s ire was directed at the NCAA’s finding that Young lured Albert Means into signing with Alabama for payments totaling $115,000. Swank did not address the Means violations Wednesday. NCAA attorneys are expected to cross-examine Swank today.

Unfortunately, Alabama has no remedy here. Five seasons are forever lost, coaching careers ruined, and several classes of players had the chance to compete for SEC and national titles taken away.

Franchione Out at Texas A&M

Dennis Franchione‘s days as head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies appear to be numbered, ESPN reports.

Texas A&M is talking about buying out Franchione’s contract, sources have told ESPN college football analyst Andre Ware. Texas A&M said Monday it would wait until the end of the football season before deciding Franchione’s fate. At least one national Web site reported that Franchione had already accepted a buyout before backing off the story.

“There are several false rumors circulating regarding the Texas A&M football program,” the school said in an e-mailed statement. Athletics department spokesman Alan Cannon said athletics director Bill Byrne would wait until the end of the season to evaluate Franchione, as he does with all coaches. Cannon added, “I have received no indication that he has changed his stance.” Cannon said Franchione is still A&M’s coach and is preparing the team to play Missouri on Saturday.

Franchione has been in hot water with the university for a newsletter he was sending out to donors willing to pay $1,200 for inside information. In mid-October, Texas A&M officials admonished Franchione for his secretive, for-pay newsletter and said the embarrassing episode would be a factor in deciding whether he returns next season.

The school said it would report the results of an internal investigation to the NCAA because of possible rules violations, and Franchione was ordered to shut down his Web site, CoachFran.com. He also will receive a “letter of admonishment.”

“The Aggies are embarrassed right now,” athletic director Bob Byrne said in October. “This has been a very unfortunate incident we do not want to experience again.”

Texas A&M is reportedly researching whether Franchione violated his contract with the income he received from the newsletter. If he is found in violation of the contract, the Aggies may not have to pay the coach anything upon firing him.

Franchione’s contract pays him $2 million per season and runs through 2012. A buyout will be $141,667 per month for the remainder of the contract, or about $8 million. Ware reported Monday that Texas A&M is looking for a buyout in the $2 million range.

Ware reported that Texas A&M wants to talk to Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville for a potential vacancy. He reported that the school is working with Chuck Neinas, who runs a consulting firm specializing in hiring coaches.

Franchione’s case isn’t helped by the fact that he’s underperformed since taking the gig.

Franchione came to A&M from Alabama, where he went 10-3 in 2002. He was never a perfect fit at A&M, where he replaced the popular R.C. Slocum.

Oklahoma humiliated the Aggies 77-0 in 2003, the first of three consecutive losses to end the season. The Aggies went 7-4 in 2004, but lost again to Texas before Tennessee’s 38-7 win in the Cotton Bowl. A&M lost its final four games in 2005 and finished 5-6, its second losing record in Franchione’s first three seasons.

The Aggies won nine games last season, but narrowly beat Army in San Antonio. They beat Texas 12-7, snapping a six-game losing streak in the series and getting their first win in Austin since 1994. But California ripped A&M 45-10 in the Holiday Bowl last December, rekindling A&M fans’ discontent.

Texas A&M is 6-4 this season, and Franchione is 31-28 overall with the Aggies. He is 2-12 against main rivals Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

As an Alabama fan left in the lurch by Coach Fran when he bailed on his team in order to pursue his dream, all I can say is Bwaaaaa ha ha ha.

ESPN Football Coverage Sucks

About a year ago, I explained why Monday Night Football on ESPN Sucks. After watching the network’s college football coverage the last two weeks, though, I think we can strike the “Monday Night” from that: They suck all the time now.

The last two Saturday nights, the Alabama Crimson Tide has been on ESPN. Since I don’t live in Alabama any more, that used to be a good thing, since it meant I got to see the games. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily true anymore, since ESPN is apparently now run by the people who bring us the Olympics and decided long ago that people aren’t actually interested in the sporting events being covered but, rather, other stuff.

Last week, Alabama played Arkansas in a roller coaster game. Alabama went up by three touchdowns, let Arkansas back into the game, went up by three touchdowns again, and then collapsed to give Arkansas a big lead. Alabama fought back, though, to a thrilling victory with just 8 seconds left on the clock.

A pretty exciting game, right?

Apparently, though, ESPN didn’t think people tuned in late on a Saturday night to watch a college football game would find that stimulating enough. So, they brought in some gal from the women’s soccer team, which were in the middle of a big tournament overseas. And they yapped with her, via telephone no less, for several minutes right during the most critical part of the first half game action. No play-by-play of the game. Often, no cameras on the game, either, since fans would obviously rather see close-ups of the idiot game announcers and a picture of the head of the woman’s soccer player who wasn’t even in the damn booth.

And it got better.

We got to hear about Todd Blackledge’s adventures eating barbecue in Tuscaloosa. With actual footage of him looking at the menu and ordering food. While the game was on!!!

And, to top it off, they brought the annoying woman soccer player back in the second half to interrupt yet more game action.

Last night, Alabama and Georgia played in another close, exciting game that went into overtime.

Again, however, the cameras were on the announcers almost as much as on the game action. Again, we got treated to watching Blackledge eating grilled meat, this time at the pre-game tailgating parties. And some old announcer guy who’s so frail he can’t actually travel one state over to watch a football game was on the telephone for like half an hour yapping about his career while we were missing live football action.

The producers are also too inept to manage game breaks and commercials. Several times, we missed kickoffs, major plays, and other game action because they switched over to show ads or update us on other games and didn’t get back in time. And, each time, they pretended that it hadn’t happened, blithely carrying on as if we hadn’t missed anything.

I’ve been watching football on television for more than thirty years now. I’ve watched local games sponsored by local insurance companies that were better. I’ve literally never seen coverage as bad as what ESPN has put on the last two weeks. It’s absolutely frustrating.

Alabama Loses to Georgia in OT

Well, so much for Nick Saban restoring Alabama to glory in his first year. Neither the offense nor the defense were very good last night in regulation but they managed to capitalize on some Bulldog receivers who couldn’t catch the ball to limp into OT tied 20-20. They finally fell to Georgia in overtime after a pitiful offensive showing forced them to kick a field goal while an even worse defensive performance gave up a 25-yard TD on the very first play.

Georgia halts Alabama’s run at comeback with TD pass (Paul Gattis, Huntsville Times):

The 22nd-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday night handed the Crimson Tide its first loss under coach Nick Saban, getting a 25-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Mikey Henderson for a 26-23 overtime victory.

“Obviously, we’re very disappointed about the outcome of the game,” Saban said. “There are a lot of lessons about the way we played in the first half. I was concerned with the intensity we prepared for and the focus and the concentration we had in practice. We harped on it and I think it showed in our first-half performance.”

Georgia led 10-3 at the half and dominated the game over the first 30 minutes.

“That was the worst we’ve played all year long,” Saban said of the first half, “not only in terms of our ability to execute but also the intensity and the toughness. The look in our eye wasn’t what it needs to be.”

No. 16 Alabama tied it at 20-all on a 6-yard touchdown run by John Parker Wilson with 1:09 left to play to overcome a 20-10, fourth-quarter deficit. But the Tide offense could manage only a 42-yard field goal by Leigh Tiffin in overtime for a 23-20 lead and Georgia immediately went for the win.

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So, just a week after its last-second touchdown that beat Arkansas, the Tide (3-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) tasted the bitter side of such a loss as a stunned sellout crowd of more than 92,000 at Bryant-Denny Stadium looked on.

Loss to Bulldogs should snap Tide fans back to reality (Ian Rapoport, Birmingham News)

It was a week filled with boundless optimism from fans and seemingly endless national attention.

All the while, in his quest for realism, University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban used every opportunity to deliver his message: Don’t pay attention to any of it.

Assume players and fans understand now.

All it took was the 16th-ranked Crimson Tide’s 26-23 loss to No.22 Georgia in overtime Saturday night in front of a soldout crowd of 92,318 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The image of Bulldogs receiver Mikey Henderson beating UA cornerback Lionel Mitchell for a 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime will contribute to Saban’s message. Not that it makes a loss like Saturday’s any easier to swallow.

“I always talk about getting better when you win and not getting distracted by external things like where you are ranked or what people are saying off talk radio,” Saban said. “Sometimes you get a little relieved and satisfied with what you’ve done and you’re not as willing and as hungry to do it the next time.”

With Georgia up 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Alabama marched back with a Leigh Tiffin 22-yard field goal with six minutes left and a 6-yard scramble by quarterback John Parker Wilson with 1:09 left. When a 47-yard field goal attempt by Georgia’s Brandon Coutu went wide left, it was on to overtime.

Alabama had the ball first, but managed only a field goal. Henderson’s catch, on Georgia’s first play, ended it.

“That’s the advantage when you play defense first, you know what you need,” said Saban, after his first loss at UA. “Their guy made a good throw and they beat us one-on-one. It wasn’t bad coverage, but it wasn’t good enough.”

Not by a long shot.

It was too much to expect for Saban to come in and fix all that ailed the Tide in one season, especially since he came in near the tail end of the recruiting cycle. Still, the nature of college ball is that you can dream about championships until losing the first game.

Of course, the down side of the college game is that one loss, even early in the season, effectively ends any hope of a title, mythical or otherwise. If the team learns from the loss and gets better, they could conceivably play for the SEC title, which would be an awesome consolation prize. They’ll have to knock off LSU to do that, however. After last night’s performance, that sure doesn’t seem likely.