SEC Extra Points with Barrett Sallee: Steve Spurrier Sounds off on Autographs
Insight into the Business?
Georgia running back Todd Gurley will have to sit two more games after the NCAA ruled that he received more than $3,000 over a two-year span for autographs and other memorabilia.
Who better to ask his thoughts on the matter than the always honest Head Ball Coach?
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South Carolina's Steve Spurrier was asked about his stance on players receiving payment for autographs on Wednesday's SEC coaches teleconference, and he provided some interesting insight into how things really go down.
"It appears some guys sign autographs and say 'hey, give me the money when my days are over,'" Spurrier said. "Because, obviously, they're not signing them for free. I guess Todd Gurley took some money now when he should have waited until his eligibility was over. He would have been fine, I guess."
Slip of the tongue? Not at all.
Spurrier reiterated it later in the call.
"I think most of the guys who are in position to sign autographs are smart enough to say 'catch me after the bowl game, and we can do some business then,'" he said.
Spurrier also reiterated his stance that college football players and basketball players should receive between $4,000 and $5,000 per year for expenses.
"With the tremendous amount of money that football and basketball brings in, I just personally think you should reward those guys that are bringing in the big money for all of our universities," he said.
It's going to happen soon enough through autonomy, and the backlash from Gurley's autograph scandal will only accelerate the process.
If You're Going to Burn a Redshirt, You Burn It
Tennessee had planned to redshirt sophomore quarterback Joshua Dobbs and leave the season in senior Justin Worley's hands. But when the wear and tear of constantly being hit by opposing front sevens took a toll on Worley's shoulder, head coach Butch Jones decided the time was right to scrap the original plan and trot out Dobbs early in Tennessee's loss last week to Alabama.
All Dobbs did against the Crimson Tide was complete 19 of 32 passes for 192 yards, two touchdowns, one pick and run 19 times for 75 yards. Alabama head coach Nick Saban said, according to Michael Casagrande of AL.com, that his team didn't practice for Dobbs, so his performance might have been more due to shock and awe than anything else.
That doesn't matter. With Worley still questionable, Dobbs should be the starter from here on out on Rocky Top.
With a team that's so young and a season that is on the verge of being lost, it's time for Tennessee to truly prepare for the future. That future is in Dobbs' hands.
Tennessee already knows the offensive line is a disaster, and Dobbs' athleticism will help keep those chains moving, keep the Vols on schedule and perhaps break a big play or two that can sway the outcome of the game.
Jones is pleased with the way Dobbs responded but knows there's room for his sophomore to grow:
"Josh is progressing...He made some big plays for us. I thought he was very poised. I thought he benefited from his live game opportunities last year, and going into a game with a sold-out crowd playing [at the time] the No. 4 ranked team in the country, I thought he handled himself well. With him, it's just about making the routine plays, not the 'oh my God' plays, but the routine plays. We had a slant down by the goal line that has got to be a touchdown.
"
At 3-5, Tennessee needs to try to catch lightning in a bottle and get to a bowl game. Not for the trip but for the practice. The Vols have played 23 true freshman in 2014—the most in the nation. Toss Dobbs in with those guys for bowl practice, and the foundation is being laid for the future program's future.
Tennessee has South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt left on the schedule, winning three of four isn't out of the question.
False Alarm
Ole Miss exited the LSU game battered and bruised, with linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche, defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and safety Cody Prewitt all nursing various injuries. That's not the most comforting thought, considering the Auburn Tigers—another smashmouth, power-rushing team—are headed to Oxford on Saturday night.
Of those injuries, it appears only Denzel Nkemdiche's is serious. The Rebels' reserve linebacker underwent season-ending ankle surgery this week.
The others, however, will be back for the showdown between No. 4 Ole Miss and the No. 3 Auburn Tigers this weekend.
"They did get some dings the other night that will probably keep them from being 100 percent," head coach Hugh Freeze said, "But they're going to give it a go for sure."
That's big news for Ole Miss' defense, which needs defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche and safety Pruitt to play big to slow down Auburn's multidimensional rushing attack. On the other side, Tunsil's health is critical for a Rebel offensive line that's had issues protecting quarterback Bo Wallace. It's given up 19 sacks this season—the third-most in the conference—and losing its most reliable piece would be devastating.
Crisis averted.
Ace in the Hole
It's no secret that Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and Freeze are friends. The two former high school coaches both worked at Arkansas State, run similar offenses and play a round of golf with Spurrier every spring at SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida.
They also share a bond with Ryan Aplin.
The former Arkansas State quarterback played for both head coaches with the Red Wolves, was an administrative intern under Freeze in 2013 and moved over to become a graduate assistant for Malzahn at Auburn this year.
Aplin has watched film with Auburn's defensive staff this week, according to Brandon Marcello of AL.com, hoping to give some insight into what Freeze's offense is doing.
"It's always a concern that you have people on your previous staffs and played for you on other staffs you're competing with," Freeze said.
Will it work?
Freeze changed his signals this spring as a result of Aplin's departure. That doesn't mean Aplin can't crack the code. His presence in the film room to discuss tendencies of Freeze's play-calling and Wallace's decision-making could play a huge factor in one of the biggest games of the season.
If it is, Freeze will adjust.
"We wholesale changed everything," Freeze said. "There may be some things that he can add. We'll kind of feel it out early on and see if they've got something or not, but I don't know what else we can do at this point that we haven't already done."
It should make for quite an interesting cat-and-mouse game on Saturday night.
'If Only Georgia Was at Full Strength'
Gurley won't be back for this weekend's "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" against Florida.
Is Will Muschamp happy? The Internet seems to think so.
Except that he's not. Believe it or not, Muschamp is disappointed that Gurley won't be toting the rock for the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville.
"Todd's a competitor," he said on Wednesday. "As a competitor, you want to compete against guys like him."
But as a coach on the hot seat, Muschamp probably doesn't want to compete against guys like him. It's a nice, diplomatic answer by Muschamp and the proper thing to say, but let's be real, that's about as far from the truth as you can get.
Quick Outs
- Texas A&M is wearing some sweet throwback uniforms from 1939 this weekend versus Louisiana-Monroe. The throwbacks feature an amazing replica leather helmet. Head coach Kevin Sumlin said on Wednesday that he hadn't seen the real thing yet, only the pictures, but "they look pretty good to me." That might be the understatement of the century.
- Spurrier confirmed that the Gamecocks will wear black uniforms versus Tennessee on Saturday night. With four losses already down, any change is good change for the reeling Gamecocks.
- Muschamp reiterated that Treon Harris is his quarterback on Saturday against Georgia. "It's Treon's game to play," he said. Muschamp also didn't rule out former starter Jeff Driskel seeing time in specific situations. At this point of the season, with his job on the line, ruling anything out—even Driskel—would be reckless.
- Coaches, to a man, don't care about the College Football Playoff rankings—especially Arkansas' Bret Bielema. "I can't waste my time worrying about something that we're not involved in," he said. He's not wrong.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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