Bleacher Report - Articles by FastTimesintheSEC.com

Friday Night SEC Nuggets

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:29:00 -0400

Good evening everybody,

Here's a couple of news nuggets from around the SEC being reported this afternoon:

1. LSU head coach Les Miles has announced that redshirt freshman defensive back Phelon Jones will be transferring to another school. The school Jones will be transferring to was not mentioned.

2. Linebacker Brandon Fanney returned to participate in Alabama's spring practices today. Don't expect any statements from head coach Nick Saban about his return to the team until tomorrow.

3. The Kentucky Wildcats football team got a surprise visit today as head football coach Rich Brooks introduced them to new head basketball coach John Calipari (the guy making twice Brooks' salary.)

That's a wrap. I'm taking tomorrow (Saturday) off to celebrate my birthday. Y'all be careful and look for more blog posts from Fast Times in the SEC on Sunday.

LSU Tigers Complete Second Scrimmage of Spring

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:25:00 -0400

LSU Head Coach Les Miles put his team through their second scrimmage of spring practices on Thursday afternoon in Tiger Stadium.

In the Tigers' last scrimmage, the defense had snuffed the offense's ability to score. There was some improvement shown by the offense in yesterday's scrimmage as it was able to score three touchdowns against the defense.

However, that may be a "glass half full" view of the unit's performance as Miles admitted that the offense was given a shorter field, being allowed to start on the 50-yard line.

Actual statistics from the scrimmage were unavailable, but Miles stated that Jarrett Lee threw two touchdown passes (one to Deangelo Peterson for 25 yards and one to Brandon LaFell for 23 yards).

Running back Keiland Williams was also said to have scored on an 18-yard run. Miles also said that running backs Richard Murphy and Charles Scott performed well.

Miles summarized his take on the practice saying, "It was pretty evenly matched. The offense made some plays. The defense made some plays. It was a good go. A lot of ones versus ones and twos versus twos."

The Tigers will not practice again until April 13, once the team has returned from spring break. Their spring game will take place on April 18.

Rain Forces Auburn Practice Indoors, Tigers Prepare for Saturday Scrimmage

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:56:00 -0400

Head coach Gene Chizik was able to put his Tigers through about an hour's worth of practice outdoors on Thursday before rain forced the team into its indoor practice facility.

When offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was brought on to Chizik's staff, it was promised that Auburn would return to its roots as a run-first offense. It appears that the team is moving in that direction, as most of the positive reviews from the coaching staff have been regarding Auburn's running backs.

After Thursday's practice, running backs coach Curtis Luper said that his players were getting a good handle on the offense and that he was pleased with the play of Ben Tate, Eric Smith, and Onterio McCalebb.

Mario Fannin, who will also be looked upon to be a kick returner and possible slot reciever, has had his participation limited by an ankle injury.

Chizik is looking forward to putting the Tigers through their first scrimmage on Saturday. The scrimmage is expected to include 90-100 plays and involve game-like situations with SEC officials on hand.

Mississippi State Thursday Practice Report

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:40:00 -0400

Head coach Dan Mullen juggled hosting a coaching clinic for 250 coaches and putting his Bulldogs through a workout on Thursday. The Bulldogs practiced in shells and helmets outdoors before being forced indoors by the threat of bad weather.

Mullen seemed to be pleased with his team's effort. After the practice Mullen said, “We were able to get some good work done today. We seem to be picking it up, and the effort was really good.”

The Bulldogs will practice again today. On Saturday, the team will participate in a practice with a number of scrimmage-like sessions.

Mullen is also attempting to generate more fan interest in the Bulldogs' spring game. The game will be part of a larger "Super Bulldog Weekend," with events on campus during the course of the weekend.

Some extra bells and whistles are being added to the spring game itself, such as hosting student games during halftime, and allowing one winner to assist in coaching one of the teams—including drafting the team's players and providing a pregame speech.

The winner of the coaching competition will be determined by an online auction.

SEC Coaches Get Rich Along with Conference

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:04:00 -0400

The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Tony Barnhart today provides some good commentary about the spending habits of the SEC and its possible repercussions.

The league is about to hit some serious paydirt as it has recently entered into 15-year contracts with ESPN and CBS, which will generate a whopping $3 billion.

I encourage you to go over to his blog and read it.

Some interesting factoids pulled from his posting:

–In January of 2007, Alabama hired Nick Saban as its head football coach for $32 million over eight years.

–After winning the BCS National Championship in January of 2008, LSU football coach Les Miles had his contract redrawn to guarantee that he would be the highest paid football coach in the SEC.

In 2008 Saban made $3.75 million. Miles' contract called for him to make exactly $1,000 more, and that will remain the case during the life of Miles’ five-year contract.

–In 2009, Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton pulled out his checkbook to give new head coach Lane Kiffin the all-star staff that he wanted.

That staff, beginning with over $1 million going toward defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, will collectively earn an unprecedented $3.325 million this season.

–Alabama just announced raises for its football staff that will pay them a total of $2.685 million this season. That doesn’t count Saban’s compensation, which will be bumped up to $3.9 million this season.

–Kentucky just made John Calipari the highest paid coach in college basketball history with an eight-year deal for nearly $4 million per season.

Potential bonuses and perks actually push that figure toward $5 million, more than twice what Kentucky head football coach Rich Brooks makes.

As far as to the repercussions of having so much money at the SEC member institutions' disposal, Barnhart gets around to questioning whether it is really such a good thing. First, coaches will be on an incredibly short leash. If a coach does not perform, he's gone and then the university will be saddled with the separation expenses (he points out that Auburn and Tennessee will be paying Tommy Tuberville and Phil Fulmer a combined $11 million to NOT coach). Secondly, with higher salaries come higher expectations.

Personally, I have no problem with the money being made by the league or the amount being dished out to retain the best coaches possible. These guys are paid according to what the high-dollar college football market will bear. While I'm not as in tune with the basketball situation at Kentucky, there's a price to attain and maintain success on the hardwood too.

And make no mistake of thinking that the universities are losing money on the deal. The football programs are producing a major stream of revenue for their respective schools. They provide money for other sports programs as well. See Forbes' September 1, 2008 article "The Most Powerful Coach in Sports" (providing that Alabama's football program generated a profit of $32 million and financed 77% of the athletic department's budget in the previous year). School president Robert Witt also credited football as being the reason for the groundswell of support to the university's $500 million capital campaign.

The economy is bleak and this may be a hard pill to swallow for many academics as universities are cutting jobs. In fact, the University of Alabama just last week announced that it would be cutting approximately 1000 jobs from its system over the next 18 months. But the fact remains that football is giving and not taking anything away from universities' coffers.

The expectations placed on coaches is a different beast. In evaluating SEC football coaches' performance, the crowning achievements are generally considered winning your division (East or West), getting into the SEC Championship Game, a BCS bowl, and then the national title game. Along the way you have to recruit lights out against other coaches who are the best in the business.

That is a big task.

But the real problematic twist to it is that there are 12 teams in the league, 6 in each division. Only 2 of the 12 are going to win a division title, of course only 1 will be crowned league champion (and as of late that team becomes a shoo in for the national title game), and maybe 2 get into a BCS game. Chances are that many coaches will never have a long enough opportunity to achieve any of those goals because patience is not a virtue in this league.

All in all, this is no departure from SEC normalcy. Everyone just needs to put on their big boy britches and enjoy the best damn football in the land!

Nick Saban Actually Somewhat Pleased with First Scrimmage

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:49:00 -0400

This had to be some sort of twisted April Fool's prank, as Nick Saban was pleasantly upbeat when he addressed the media following the Alabama Crimson Tide's first scrimmage of spring practices. Saban said:

"I'm really sort of not disappointed at all. It actually went a lot better than I anticipated. We're a lot further along than I thought we'd be. But we have a lot of work to do for the rest of the spring, individually and collectively."

What's going on with "I don't look happy, but I really am" Saban?

There was some injury news. Running back Mark Ingram pulled his hamstring and will be out one or two weeks.

Here are the stats from the scrimmage:

Scrimmage No. 1 (April 1, 2009)
*Stats include 11-on-11, situational drills, red area, goalline, 2-minute

Passing
Greg McElroy - 22 for 33, 214 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
Thomas Darrah - 10 for 20, 81 yards, 3 INT
Star Jackson - 6 for 16, 25 yards, 1 INT

Rushing
Terry Grant - 18 rush, 63 yards
Jeramie Griffin - 10 rush, 24 yards, 1 TD
Demetrius Goode - 4 rush, 23 yards
Ivan Matchett - 6 rush, 19 yards

Receiving
Marquis Maze - 3 rec., 59 yards
Julio Jones - 5 rec., 56 yards, 1 TD
Mike McCoy - 3 rec., 39 yards, 1 TD
Darius Hanks - 6 rec., 34 yards
Colin Peek - 7 rec., 33 yards, 2 TD
Chris Underwood - 4 rec., 32 yards

Field Goals
Leigh Tiffin - Made: 45, 42, 20; Missed: 54, 45, 32.
Corey Smith - Made: 32, 18.

Punts
P.J. Fitzgerald - 4 punts, 168 yards, 42.0-yard average
Heath Thomas - 4 punts, 149 yards, 37.3-yard average

Defensive Leaders
Rolando McClain - 10 tackles, 2 INT, 2 sacks
Dont'a Hightower - 7 tackles
Tyrone King - 7 tackles, 2 INT
Robby Green - 6 tackles, 1 INT
Lorenzo Washington - 5 tackles, 2.5 sacks
Javier Arenas - 4 tackles
Terrence Cody - 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks
Justin Woodall - 3 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU

Scoring
Touchdowns - 5 (McCoy 21-yard pass from McElroy; Peek 15-yard TD pass from McElroy, Peek 4-yard pass from McElroy; Jones 10-yard pass from McElroy; Griffin 2 run).

Houston Nutt Looking to Shore Up Ole Miss' O-Line

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:44:00 -0400

Offensive line play continues to be a key area for the Ole Miss football team, as the Rebels held their fourth practice of spring drills Wednesday afternoon.

The weather was sunny and warm for the second straight workout, which lasted over two-and-a-half hours in full pads. The forecast also called for change in the air, as linemen shifted positions while head coach Houston Nutt searched for the best combination across the offensive front.

"We’re moving some people around to create more competition," Nutt said. "We worry about our depth. As good as we are with depth on the defensive line, it’s the opposite on the offensive line. We have to hope and pray that there are no injuries. We were very fortunate last year."

Among the significant moves was senior Reid Neely lining up at left tackle. The Jackson, Mississippi, native has made all 18 of his career starts at left guard.

"He has length, good height, long arms, and he’s been around the block," Nutt said. "He’s really shown some versatility. If we played a game tonight—thank goodness we don’t—it would be Reid Neely at left tackle."

Nutt also saw positives in the other candidates competing for snaps on the line.

"With Bradley Sowell, we’ll keep pushing him. He got better today. He came out here fighting through a swollen ankle," Nutt said. "Brandon Green has been a good utility guy, from center to left guard to right guard. A.J. Hawkins is coming.

"Mark Jean-Louis has probably been the biggest surprise after the first couple days in pads, snapping very well, getting the calls, and he is very, very tough and strong."

Defensively, Nutt praised the progress of junior tackle Jerrell Powe, and noted that his weight from last year to this year "is not close." The former Parade All-American from Wayne County saw action in 12 of the 13 games in 2008.

“Jerrell Powe continues to excite us," Nutt said. "He’s lost a lot more weight. He’s a lot quicker. He’s a lot harder to block in these scrimmages. He’s penetrating and doing what we need him to do. He has a lot more confidence.

"(Last year) he just wasn’t ready after being away from the game. Now, after a year in the offseason weight room with Coach (Don) Decker, the weight loss and more knowledge of what we want done, it makes it a lot easier."

Ole Miss continues spring drills Friday at 3:50 p.m. CT, while Saturday's workout is set for 10 a.m.

Spring practices are open to the public.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

Auburn Practice Notes

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:29:00 -0400

Head coach Gene Chizik and staff put the team through a limited scrimmage on Wednesday. After the Tigers' practice Chizik reported that running backs Ben Tate and Onterio McCalebb both busted some good runs.

He also said that there was no separation among the quarterbacks vying for the starting position. Otherwise, Chizik summarized the practice as saying the energy was good but as far as execution, there was a little good and bad on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

Wide receiver coach Trooper Taylor also said he was especially pleased with the effort of Tim Hawthorne.

The Tigers will have a full scale scrimmage on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The scrimmage is closed to the public.

Arkansas Defense Smothers Offense in Scrimmage; Running Back Injured

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:19:00 -0400

The Arkansas coaching staff put their team through a grueling 111 play scrimmage on Wednesday. The offense struggled mightily. The running game could get no yardage, the quarterback play was off target, and receivers dropped balls.

Ryan Mallett put up some dismal numbers, completing 17 of 30 passes (not so bad a percentage), but with two interceptions. Mallett and the first team offense were unable to score touchdowns on three opportunities and were forced to settle with field goals.

Mallett said, "That defense was flying around today. Our offense has got to get better as a whole group. We came out pretty sluggish. We can't do that and we know that. We've got to get better as a unit."

On the injury front, it was announced that freshman running back (January enrollee) Knile Davis broke his ankle and will certainly miss the remainder of the Razorbacks' spring practices.

Urban Meyer Not Thrilled with Gator Wide Receivers or the I Formation

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:58:00 -0400

Urban Meyer has been pretty much pleased with his defense to date, but he was poor mouthing the performance of his team's wide receivers after Wednesday's practice.

Wednesday marked the Gators' fifth spring practice and the weather was as soggy as Meyer's mood.

The Gators certainly have some major holes to fill in the wide receiver slots with Percy Harvin now gone...Louis Murphy and Cornelius Ingram too. And Meyer has so far been unimpressed with their potential replacements, saying, "You take those guys out and now you still throw the ball and say, 'Let's go play.' And guys are covered."

Meyer's sogginess continues when speaking about his running backs. Meyer says the team is still looking for an "everyday" back and the team just does not look to have one right now.

The Gator running backs have been excited about the Gators' tinkering with the I formation in spring practices, although Meyer has already said he does not believe the team has the personnel to successfully run it.

Running back Emmanuel Moody says ''[running in the I formation] definitely excites me because it's just another way to get the ball to the running back."

Why the Gators would want to try and bring in the I formation is beyond me. That is unless Meyer is wanting to give NFL scouts a look at Tebow's ability to play under center.

Rich Brooks Pleased with Kentucky's First Practice

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:47:00 -0400

Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks says he was pleased with his team's first practice on Wednesday. The weather was beautiful and the guy's face is on a bourbon bottle. The round ball team has a new coach too. Can life get any better?

As far as the practice, the Wildcats were in shorts and helmets. Brooks said he really won't know much about his team until they put on the pads, but he was pleased with the team's effort and noted that the team's conditioning program looks to have been successful. He also noted that the team had come a long way since he took over the head coaching duties in 2003.

One last note from yesterday is that Brooks announced that cornerback Paul Warford will miss spring practices due to a broken foot, but he is expected to be able to participate in the summer's practices.

LSU Tigers Set For Second Spring Scrimmage

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:34:00 -0400

LSU coach Les Miles will put his team through its second full-scale scrimmage of the spring on Thursday when the Tigers workout at 3:30 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.

Thursday’s scrimmage will again be scripted in nature and will feature game-like situations for both the offense and defense. LSU is also expected to spend time working on special teams during the scrimmage.

Thursday’s workout will also be the 11th of the spring for the Tigers, leaving LSU with just four practices remaining. LSU will take next week off for spring break before returning to campus for the final week of spring practice on Apr. 13.

LSU’s annual spring game is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Tiger Stadium on Saturday, Apr. 18. Tickets for the LSU Spring Football Game are currently on sale for just $5.

However, fans can receive a complimentary ticket by bringing in a coupon that can be downloaded here (.pdf). to the LSU Athletic Ticket Office prior to Saturday, Apr. 18.

Fans can also print a ticket online for just the $1 service charge at LSUtix.net by entering the promo code SPRINGGAME09.

Compliments of LSU Athletics Office

Utah Fans Can Cry Me a River, and Then Jump In

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:59:00 -0400

As mentioned last week, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah) got all into a tizzy about his constituents' state university getting no love from the BCS and left on the outside looking in as Florida and Oklahoma played for the national title. Senator Hatch was seeking our elected officials to take a look into the BCS.

Tony Barnhart penned a column that was spot on as to why the BCS should be left alone. It wasn't just the human voters that shunned Utah, it was the computer polls as well.

There was also the fact that one-loss Big12 and SEC teams were a lot more impressive—they come from highly competitive leagues with championship games. It's a no-brainer.

Lastly, our members of Congress sure as hell have a lot bigger fish flopping around in their laps than to try and tinker with a system, albeit not perfect, that has generally gotten it right. But maybe they need a misdirection play or two right now.

One last point that Barnhart emphatically made is that the BCS was untouchable as far as being able to withstand legal scrutiny under the antitrust laws.

But guess what? Now the Utah Attorney General is expected to file an antitrust suit against the BCS in June.

Hell hath no fury like a Ute scorned.

SEC Football Has to be Among Toughest Coaching Jobs in College Sports

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:56:00 -0400

Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman writes that the head basketball coach at Kentucky is the toughest job in college sports. The rest of his list goes like this:

2. Alabama football
3. Notre Dame football
4. LSU football
5. Oklahoma football
6. North Carolina basketball
7. Ohio State football
8. Michigan football
9. Nebraska football
10. Texas football

He gives honorable mentions to Arkansas, Tennessee and Auburn football.

With all due respect to Mr. Bohls, he's off the mark. The top list of toughest jobs must be chop-full of SEC football coaching positions. This is the most competitive league in all of college sports. In any given year five or six of our football teams are legitimately competing for their division and league championships. And if your team is not, well you'd better be the following year or your head coaching days are numbered.

The SEC is one big coaching pressure cooker. The respective teams' fans don't give much creedance to what a coach has done over the long term, or the coach's "body of work" -- a term heard often when Auburn and Tennessee were letting Tommy Tuberville and Phil Fulmer go. The fans in this league are all driven by the "what have you done for us lately?" state of mind.

Kentucky's round ball coach? Sure the expectations are high around the arena Rupp built, but this is the SEC. Kentucky normally will not have but a handful of teams to compete against in this league year in-and-out. It's apples and oranges in comparing that pressure to what is faced by the football head coaches in at least 10 of the SEC's member institutions.

Football gigs in other conferences? Okay, I'll concede that there's some pressure for the Golden Domers' coach -- particularly the current one, and I'm sure there is some in the Big 10 and 12 too. But those guys haven't been winning any national championships lately.

My top ten list would include each football head coach position in the SEC, excepting Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

Ole Miss Rebel Monday Practice Report

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:18:00 -0400

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss’ spring football drills became a little more physical Monday afternoon, as the Rebels worked out in full pads for the first time in day three of training. The team also held its first practice outdoors.

The Rebels labored for two and half hours under sunny skies on the practice fields, and worked in position groups before some situational scrimmaging at the end. Head coach Houston Nutt said the tempo took a turn for the worse as the players put on the pads.

"We were really fast the first two days in shorts. Today was a little bit like we were running in mud," Nutt said. "It was the first time to put the pads on in a long time. We had some physical middle drills and inside runs. It was a good little start, but we have to get better. There were too many missed assignments, offsides, illegal procedure, dropped balls. We can’t do it. We have to get a little bit tougher, and we have to get better Wednesday."

Defensively, Nutt noted some strong play from end Kentrell Lockett and linebacker Jonathan Cornell, as well as the safeties.

"Kendrick Lewis and Johnny Brown had the good winter workouts," said Nutt. "They’ve been physical and didn’t slow down."

With the loss of offensive linemen Michael Oher and Maurice Miller, the Rebels must replace two starters on the left side of the line, and Nutt is seeing improvement from the candidates."

We’re getting better," he said. "Bradley Sowell is making some strides. Rishaw Johnson was pretty physical today. I’m anxious to watch this film and see just how good he did. I was excited, because usually the first drills, it’s overwhelming because the defense is usually ahead and in the backfield. But they had a few plays where they at least came out and made a few creases."

Nutt also saw some positives from the backups along the offensive front, as the team looks to build depth this spring.

"Brandon Green is really our utility guy," Nutt said. "He can go from center to left guard to right guard. He is really important. Mark Jean-Louis is really helping us at center. That was really a good move for us. He is a strong body that doesn’t get pushed around in there. Logan Clair has got to keep coming. But right now, everything is new. The terminology is new, but they’re getting better."

Ole Miss resumes practice on Wednesday with the time tentatively set for 3:50 p.m. Spring football drills are open to the public, but fans are asked to remain in the designated area, outside the red line, and are not allowed between the practice fields. Use of cellular phones and cameras are prohibited for fans at practice.

Courtesy of the University of Mississippi Athletics.

Georgia Bulldogs Monday Scrimmage Notes

FastTimesintheSEC.com — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:25:00 -0400

The Georgia Bulldogs picked back up with spring practices as a scrimmage was held at Sanford Stadium on Monday. According to Head Coach Mark Richt, neither the offense or the defense separated in performance from the other.

“I thought it was relatively even, kind of back and forth,” Richt said. “We’ve got a long way to go yet, but we also saw a lot of good things. We’ve got to be able to handle adversity a little better on both sides of the ball. Things don’t always go the way you want in football, and you’ve got to be able to recover and play ball.”

Here are some selected stats from the scrimmage.

QBs

Joe Cox—9/13, 79 yds, 1 TD
Aaron Murray—4/6, 131 yds, 1 TD

RBs

Kalvin Daniels—9 carries, 45 yds, 2 TDs
Caleb King—6 carries, 32 yards
Carlton Thomas—8 carries, 26 yards, 1 TD
Shaun Chapas—3 carries, 7 yards, 2 TDs

WRs

A.J. Green—5 catches, 65 yards
Marquise Brown—3 catches 24 yards
Vernon Spellman—catch, 75 yards, 1 TD

Unfortunately, it appears that the injury bug is going to be a continuing problem for the Bulldogs. Offensive lineman Austin Long has had successful back surgery which will make him unavailable in 2009. Long was a highly coveted recruit from the state of Tennessee.