SEC Extra Points: Decline in Arrests Changing the SEC's Reputation?
Over the last decade, the SEC's reputation off the field was as bad as it gets.
Urban Meyer was running a program at Florida that had 31 arrests during his tenure, according to Ken Bradley of Sporting News. Auburn had an offseason to forget following its 2010 national championship, including an incident in which four Tigers were charged with first-degree robbery in March of 2011, according to Charles Goldberg, formerly of AL.com.
Mike Rosenberg, a freelance reporter formerly of the San Jose Mercury News (via FoxSports.com), tallied up the five-year arrest totals of all FBS programs last summer, and it shed a disturbing light on the conference. Six of the top 11 were from the SEC, nine schools landed in the top 15 and 10 of the top 25 most-arrested schools in the country over the last decade were from the conference.
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That reads more like a standard coaches poll or Associated Press poll during the fall than a tally of arrests.
Things are changing, though.
As Ron Higgins of NOLA.com pointed out, the offseason has been rather quiet on the arrest front in the SEC. Only seven football players have been arrested in 2016 according to Arrest Nation, which, according to Higgins, is the first time that number has been in single digits during the first three months of the year since the website starting keeping records in 2011.
If this continues, when will the reputation of the SEC change?
It will take another couple of years of similar production (of lack thereof) on the arrest front for the rest of the country to take notice.
Fair or not, the sheer number of players who have been arrested over the last five years, coupled with the issues associated with Meyer's Florida program and other high-profile arrests, have tarnished the SEC's reputation as a conference that, at times, is a bit out of control.
That's fixed with time, patience and education.
Time must go by without the quantity and high-profile arrests that we've seen in the past; fans and coaches must have patience and understand that the poor decisions of young men aren't always indicative of larger, program-wide problems; and programs must continue to educate players on proper decision-making.
Bowles' Timeline Confirmed
Through an open records request of Tennessee head coach Butch Jones' phone calls, Anita Wadhwani and Nate Rau of the Tennessean confirmed the timeline of the sworn declaration of former Tennessee football player Drae Bowles. Bowles claimed in the federal Title IX lawsuit that he helped a friend who claimed she was raped by former Vols A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams, was confronted and assaulted in the locker room by former linebacker Curt Maggitt and later told by head coach Butch Jones that he betrayed the team.
According to the report, Jones' call log shows a call from Bowles on the afternoon of Nov. 16, 2014, and to Bowles later that evening. It also shows calls to and from Maggitt that afternoon, from the Knoxville Police Department's liaison to the football program at 8:20 a.m., four calls with Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch that day and a call to Bowles' father that evening.
Jones commented on the calls in a release from the athletic department, according to the Tennessean:
"Regarding the calls to Drae Bowles and his father, I care about Drae as a person and as a player and have frequent communications with players or their parents. I am very comfortable with everything Drae, Mr. Bowles, and I discussed, and I wish him nothing but the very best. My intent was to support Drae and make sure he was ok. There’s nothing more important to me than the ultimate success in the life of our students.
"
What does all of this mean?
It adds credibility to Bowles, who in February 2015 told Dustin Dopirak of the Knoxville News Sentinel that his friend did not mention the incident when he gave her a ride home.
That credibility matters, and certainly will be part of the much bigger lawsuit against Tennessee.
What matters more than the timeline is the actual content of those calls, which remains the great unknown in this case. The pattern of those calls is what you would expect from a head coach getting details about a situation involving his players, and doesn't necessarily indicate that Jones called Bowles a traitor to the program—which was his assertion in his sworn declaration.
The fact that Jones made and received calls from both Bowles and Maggitt that day, though, suggests that they indeed had some role in this saga, and that Jones knew that aspect of it immediately.
Rebuild Or Reload?
One of the biggest roster holes on the 2016 Auburn Tigers is outside, where former wide receivers Ricardo Louis and Melvin Ray—the Tigers' two leading receivers from a year ago—are gone, and the most experienced receiver on the roster—senior Marcus Davis—had just 182 receiving yards in 2015.
Despite that, there's hope for the future of the Auburn wide receivers. Jason Smith showed flashes of brilliance after moving over to wide receiver from quarterback full-time a year ago, catching 13 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Tony Stevens is a 6'4", 205-pound senior who has struggled with consistency, but has the frame and speed to be a big-time weapon.
In addition to veterans who have some experience, redshirt freshman Darius Slayton has a ton of talent, and true freshman early enrollee Kyle Davis is a 6'2", 208-pound clone of former Tiger Sammie Coates.
"We have a bunch of unproven guys," said Auburn wide receivers coach Kodi Burns. "It's a mentality to become a guy like Ricardo Louis or Sammie Coates, you have to come to practice every day to get better. That's our biggest challenge right now—attacking every single day with that mentality."
For an offense like Auburn's that could feature a dual-threat quarterback in John Franklin III, one thing that will set the receivers apart is their ability to get down and dirty on running plays. That's something that Burns—a former Auburn quarterback who made the move to wide receiver and won a national title in 2010—knows from firsthand experience.
"The perimeter blocking—those extra-mileage plays—made the difference in 2010," he said. "That's what I expect from my guys. I know how to win. I know the formula. If they listen to what I'm telling them and how they do things, I think we'll get there."
Where they need to be, though, is up for debate.
If either Jeremy Johnson or Sean White—both of whom are pro-style quarterbacks—win the quarterback battle, several Tigers need to step up. If it's Franklin, then only one true deep threat needs to emerge for the Tiger offense to be a threat again.
Mistaken Identity? Not For Long
Two years ago, Da'Shawn Hand was the nation's top-ranked defensive end, a 5-star prospect and one of the cornerstones of the the 2014 Alabama recruiting class.
Since then, he's been anonymous. A role player on the deep, versatile and talented defensive line in Tuscaloosa. A player with a ton of talent, but yet to earn the valuable experience needed to become a star.
That could change in 2016, and would help Hand's case of mistaken identity.
The 6'4", 278-pounder wears No. 9, just like 6'2", 230-pound running back Bo Scarbrough. According to Hand, per Matt Zenitz of AL.com, a radio host confused Hand with Scarbrough during a radio interview during an appearance prior to the College Football Playoff National Championship in January.
It wasn't the first case of mistaken identity for Hand, who favors a young Mike Tyson.
"C'mon. Don't do me like that," Hand joked, according to Zenitz. "You know, I've actually got that before. It is what it is. He was a great. He was aggressive. I like to think I just look like Da'Shawn Hand."
He won't be suffering from cases of mistaken identity for long.
Hand is being counted on this season to be a contributor along a defensive line that features Jonathan Allen on one side and will likely feature Hand and Dalvin Tomlinson rotating on the other.
It will be his first real shot at prolonged playing time, and you should expect him to take advantage. The attention paid to Allen and pass-rushing extraordinaire Tim Williams at linebacker will give Hand plenty of one-on-one matchups to exploit.
If and when that happens, Hand will become widely known to the college football world.
Gathering Facts
Jeffery Simmons surprised the college football world on national signing day, when the 5-star defensive lineman chose to stay in the Magnolia State and play football at Mississippi State.
His enrollment is now up in the air after video surfaced of Simmons allegedly hitting a 30-year-old woman during a fight last week. Simmons was charged with simple assault and cited for disturbing the peace.
That incident has put his Bulldog career in jeopardy.
"To me, like any situation you get into, you evaluate all the details and research every aspect of it," Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen told ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough on Wednesday. "Our responsibility is to make sure we investigate every part of it.
"I want to see some of the police reports," he added. "There's so much more I want to evaluate within the situation before I make a decision about what's best for our program."
If he's convicted, there's no way that Mullen can allow Simmons to play for Mississippi State.
There's an increased (and much-needed) focus on domestic violence in the world today, and the SEC played a part bringing that focus to the college football world. The conference passed the "Jonathan Taylor Rule" last May, which prevents players who have a history of domestic violence, sexual violence and sexual assault from transferring into the conference.
Simmons isn't a transfer, so the rule wouldn't technically apply to him. But the spirit of the rule is important in this situation, and Mullen should consider it as he continues to monitor the progress of the case.
Better Safe Than Sorry
LSU's defense got a surprise boost in January when linebacker Kendell Beckwith passed on the NFL to return to Baton Rouge for his senior season.
So far, though, Beckwith's impact on spring practice has been mostly made from the sideline and training room.
The 6'2", 252-pounder suffered a knee injury during LSU's third practice of the spring, and it doesn't seem like head coach Les Miles expects him back prior to the spring game on April 16.
"I think there's some time you need to heal," Miles said on Wednesday, according to Jim Kleinpeter of NOLA.com. "That's all it is. [It would be] conjecture on my part. I have no idea."
For star players, playing it safe is the right play—and could actually benefit the team as it builds the depth that's required to be a contender. As long as it is just a twisted knee—which is what the report states and what Miles confirmed—making sure that it doesn't linger into the season is priority No. 1 for the Tigers.
Quick Outs
- Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema said during his press conference to open spring ball that Austin Allen is his No. 1 quarterback headed into the practice session, according to Tom Murphy of ArkansasOnline.com. That's not surprising, considering he's the most experienced of the group that also includes Rafe Peavey, Ty Storey and Ricky Town. His game experience, though, consists of just three passes. Don't be surprised to see the USC-transfer Town move up the depth chart quickly.
- Florida linebackers coach Randy Shannon compared linebacker Jarrad Davis to Jon Vilma, Jon Beason and Ray Lewis, according to Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post. No pressure, Jarrad.
- In a feature on Ole Miss' pro day, head coach Hugh Freeze compared the NCAA investigation to a "four-year colonoscopy" to CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd. Too much information, Hugh.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, and recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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