Thursday's Thoughts of Football in The SEC

There's a lot of Sunday coach's shows I don't watch, but of all the ones I do, it seems old Yeller Feller is tossing his cash toward that school.  Now it may be savvy marketing and I'm sure he's hitting a large male audience, but he's about the biggest Auburn booster this side of Bobby Lowder.

So I wonder if it sticks in his craw when he must know most of his sponsorship dollars are going straight in Nick Saban's pockets as well as the other coaches.  These shows are big cash generators for the coaches you know.

Heck, he even films a lot of commercials with them, or did, until his cowboy fantasy took over.

We know his sponsorship gets him the 'private' numbers of the coaches because his late night call to Houston Nutt gave Tuberville the last laugh in his firing.  If you don't know that whole story, go to Intrigue, Conspiracy and a Great Story May Have Gotten Gene Chizik a Job 

But I wonder if he gets 'other' perks?  Surely a seat or two... In a nice skybox?  Inside information?  No wait that was Franchione's sponsors. 

I can't think of another company that sponsors so many coaches shows, there has to be a reason I'm missing.  It's not like they're expanding Bryant Denny Stadium with Osmose Pressure Treated Wood.

And where would my Thursday Thoughts be without a dig a Lane Kiffin.  This week he received a commitment from a 13 year old.  Yes that's right, a 13 year old.

Something's kind of wrong with taking a commitment from a kid who doesn't even need to wear a cup yet.

And to think I was making jokes about Saban taking commitments for the 2011 class. 

Speaking of commits, with each team now limited in the number of commits they can sign, each has to be done with a little more care.  It also makes getting them in the fold faster more important.

With that in mind, here's the breakdown of 2010 commits in the books, even if it is only written in pencil.

Team          Commits          Points 

Alabama -      18                 2765

Florida -         15                2312

LSU -             15                2049

Georgia -        12                1977

Tennessee -    11                1221

South Carolina - 12                960

Auburn -            8                 854

Vanderbilt -       11                512

Arkansas -         6                 367

Miss State -       5                 223

Mississippi -       2                  88

Kentucky -        1                  72

Now let's examine what's going on and just put it all in perspective with a few statements sure to cause a few thoughts to spin through your head.

Bobby Petrino at Arkansas is supposed to be a Nick Saban type genius and he's got half the recruits so far Bobby Johnson at Vandy.

You wonder why I never talk about Kentucky?  One commit so far?  Maybe his dad was a former player or something, they're so boring I haven't checked.

Where's all the excitement over Houston Nutt's big turnaround at Ole Miss?  It sure don't seem everyone's lining up to jump on that wagon does it?

Gene Chizik is running about as far behind Nick Saban as Tuberville did, so it's sort of hard to see a lot of results coming from the Tiger Prowl and the other gimmicks so far, but hey, it's early, he still time to be embarrassed even more.

For all the bluster and loud talk and despite signing one of the nations top recruits, the rest must really be a lot no talent commits for Tennessee to still be mired in the middle behind Florida and Georgia yet again.

My guess is that's where they'll finish the season in wins also.

It seems like that 'All World' recruiting coaching lineup still has a lot to live up to before they come close to cashing those checks their big mouths were writing, but hey, it's still early and things could get better or worse for them.

That's all for this Thursday.  Until next week.....