The NCAA's High Horse

For once, don't blame Facebook. The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the University of Florida football program faces secondary sanctions because coaches posted messages on a recruit's Facebook wall. According to Orlando Sentinel, Facebook walls are considered "open forums" in which coaches cannot send messages to their prospective recruits. If, however, the coach wanted to send a private message via Facebook, this would be permitted because it's similar enough to the private nature of an email.

In an attempt to defend the policy, the NCAA's associate director of communications, Cameron Schuh, claimed that "NCAA member institutions maintain concern over the level of intrusiveness the recruiting process can create for a high school student who is a prospective student-athlete."

Reducing the level of intrusiveness? Really? Can NCAA officials really say that is something they are really concerned about? I'm sorry, is this the same NCAA that has and continues to increase the number of bowl games almost every season? Didn't they also just increase the number of teams and games in the NCAA basketball tournament? The NCAA isn't really concerned about the instrusiveness that bowl games and NCCA tournament games have on student-athletes' education when they are bringing in sweet cash.

Lastly, if private communications between coach and prospective athlete are permitted, then why is text messaging banned? That's a private form of communication. The NCAA just arbitrarily makes disciplinary decisions and pretends to care about their "student-athletes." I'm guessing they believe that if they crack down on minor improprieties it helps prop up their image as an organization that promotes higher education and intercollegiate athletes. If you believe that though, you also probably think the horse in the picture is real. Also, best of luck to the NCAA if they want to try to keep up with the privacy policies of most social networking sites. It'll be tons of fun to adjust their rules against the rapidly changing nature of social networking.

Replacing Riley

Replacing QB Riley Skinner will be no small challenge for redshirt junior QB Skylar Jones. Cutting to the chase, there really isn't any way that Jones could possibly be a better passing quarterback than Skinner. Skinner, who is now competing to be Eli Manning's back-up on the Giants, left Wake Forest with 17 school records and 31 career victories. Last year Skinner threw for over 3,100 yards and passed for 25 tds while throwing just 12 ints.

In my opinion, the best case scenario is that Jim Grobe returns to a misdirection run-based offense that could take advantage of both Skylar Jones's athletic ability as well as Wake's veteran backfield. While Jones might not be the passer that Skinner was, he is certainly more athletic. According to the Wake Forest website, Jones has run a 4.33 40 yard dash and has a 35-inch vertical leap. Did anyone else notice Skinner's 40 yard dash time (5.07) at the NFL combine? Yikes that's slow. Jones's ability to run may give the Deacons a refreshing change of pace at the QB position. If Jones can throw on the run, then they could really give some ACC defenses fits.

In my opinion, this year's Wake team will look a lot more like Jim Grobe's teams from early on in his tenure at Wake. I expect to see a more run-based offense with lots of misdirection. I think Wake will finish the year around .500 with the possibility of sneaking into one of the smaller bowl games.

Sound Advice

Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans resigned following a very public DUI charge in which police noted that Evans had a pair of red panties on his lap when he was pulled over.

Evans should have totally listened to this guy's advice:



In other DUI news, Arkansas freshman offensive tackle Anthony Oden, who, at 6'8'' 328lbs, was expected to compete for a starting position, was recently charged with driving while intoxicated and without a license. Seriously! Why is it so hard for good athletes to have their driver's licenses on them??? Of note, Anthony is the brother of NBA player Greg Oden.

What the Faulk did he just say?

Just read an interesting article by Jim Moore in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. While the article mainly focuses on recently fired Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim Mora, there is an extremely interesting section at the end of the article concerning Marshall Faulk. Faulk, who was attending a celebrity golf tournament hosted by Jim Mora, took a few minutes to answer some of Jim Moore's questions. Typically, athletes are second only to politicians in their ability to provide illogical non-answers to an interviewer's questions. Faulk, however, does not fall into this category.

When asked by Moore how Faulk thought the Seahawks would fare under new head coach Pete Carroll, Faulk admitted that he really did not know how the Seahawks would perform, but noted he was disappointed that coaches such as Pete Carroll could leave college programs like USC behind when they faced sanctions. Oddly though, Faulk did not seem to have a problem with the fact that Pete Carroll and USC were cheating, he only objected that the players were the only ones being punished. Interestingly, Faulk even lauded some of the finer aspects of cheating:

"Here's my thing -- it's well-documented that if you're not cheating, you're not trying in sports. Some of the best things that are done in sports are illegal. You work around the rules and try to get things done."

Later, when asked whether he was offered money during his time at San Diego State, Faulk offered this gem:

 "Nah, I went to San Diego State, other than good weather, they didn't have much to offer me, unfortunately. I wish I'd gone to a bigger program and had them slide me some cash to take care of my family, but that wasn't the case."

Overall, I don't view the NCAA as some holy institution that operates to best to serve the interests of their "student-athletes," as they certainly don't. However, I highly disagree with Marshall Faulk's statements. He's a made man. He dominated in the NFL and is a lock for induction into the Hall of Fame. He basically has nothing to lose. College players taking money today risk their college career and any future pro-career by accepting illegal money from boosters. For example, the only sin former Oklahoma State University stud WR Dez Bryant committed was failing to disclose that he had hung out with Deion Sanders and had him pay for his lunch. What did that get Bryant? How about a season-long suspension from Oklahoma State. Granted, NFL teams were so enamored with Bryant that the Cowboys still took him 24th pick in the first round of this year's NFL draft. Even though Bryant's situation has worked out well for him, I think it's safe to say that he would have gone much sooner in the first round if teams didn't have any "character" concerns with him.

Replacing Tim Tebow

Now that Tim Tebow will be suiting up in a Denver Broncos uniform, the obvious question at Florida is, "How will John Brantley fare as UF's new starting QB?" I think the biggest concern moving forward for Florida will be how John Brantley handles the obvious physical risks in Urban Meyer's spread offense. CBS analyst Gary Danielson accurately noted that Brantley can't afford to take the same physical beating that Tebow withstood during his college career. One theory that I've heard thrown around is that UF will employ one of their two freshmen in a two-quarterback system to help keep Brantley healthy.

If anyone can pull this off, it's Urban Meyer. Meyer was successful in using this system to win the 2006 National Title while employing both then-senior QB Chris Leak and then-freshman QB Tim Tebow. Overall, though, I don't think rotating QBs will work for UF this season. I'm a believer in the saying "if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks." The dual-QB system worked for Meyer in 2006 because Chris Leak was an experienced senior who was well complimented by a once-in-a-generation player in Tebow. The best strategy for Brantley, in my opinion, is for Meyer to rely on UF's talented offensive line to protect their new QB.

Manning Urges Patience with New UT Coach Dooley

Earlier this month, Peyton Manning noted that he had positive first impressions of new Tennessee coach Derek Dooley. Specifically, Manning advocated giving Dooley time to establish his principles and new system.

Dooley, who will be Tennessee's third head coach in three years, deserves the patience Manning advocates. Tennessee is nowhere near ready to compete for an SEC title and will be lucky to make a bowl game this season. If Dooley's regime stabilizes and improves the team over the next few years, recruiting will benefit and Tennessee will be back on the map. While UT fans are understandably bitter about former Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin's early departure, I can't help but believe that's going to be a good thing in the long run. Kiffin, who has literally accomplished nothing significant as a coach, was a major NCAA sanction waiting to happen.

In other SEC news, Alabama has almost finished their $65,000,000 in upgrades on the south-end zone project for Bryant Denny Stadium. When completed, Alabama's stadium will hold over 101,000 fans. Only Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State have the ability to hold more fans. There is no recession when it comes to the business of SEC football! So just imagine the picture below, but even bigger! (Picture licensed under Creative Commons. Creative Commons does not endorse the opinions in this blog.)

ACC Upswing

The ACC, which has been down for about the past decade, may finally have an impressive year as a conference. Two teams, FSU and Clemson, head into the season with highly-touted experienced quarterbacks (Christian Ponder and Kyle Parker, respectively). Further, ACC teams have winnable big games early in the season, which could help boost their standings on the college football landscape.

While I don't think the ACC will win all these games, I'm glad to see that a lot of ACC teams are playing tough road games early in the season.

SEP4: North Carolina at LSU
I can see North Carolina winning their game against LSU. While it's hard to believe, UNC will have the better defense. Though stats certainly don't say everything, UNC (whose defense should be even better than last year) was able to hold their opponents to 92.8 rush yds and 174.9 passing yds in 2009. If they can overcome what is sure to be a tough atmosphere in Death Valley, this would be a huge win that could set the tone for UNC's season.

SEP6: Virginia Tech vs. Boise State
Virginia Tech should win this game, which is what scares me. Although this game is being played at a "neutral site," it's practically a home game for Virginia Tech. With a talented team that's capable of competing for a national title, there is no reason for Virginia Tech to lose this game. That said, Virginia Tech literally seems to lose every big game they are in. Even though Boise State is an awesome program, if Virginia Tech loses, they should seriously put to bed all hopes of ever winning a national title.

SEP11: Virginia at USC
Although USC's coach is a moron and the school has had one of the worst offseasons of all-time, Virginia is still not winning this game.

SEP11: FSU at Oklahoma
I wrote a post on this earlier, but I really think FSU will win this game. I don't have a whole lot to base this on. Lots of analysts say that Oklahoma is going to be great this year, I just feel that Christian Ponder is going to have a big year.

SEP11: Miami at Ohio State
I'm going with Miami here, I really like where Randy Shannon has the program headed. Additionally, I'm a believer in Miami QB Jacory Harris (2009: 24TD, 17INT, 4 games of over 290yds passing) and not so much of a believer in Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor. I know everyone was excited after his solid performance against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, but if you look at his stats, that's just not something you can consistently expect from him.

Disclosure: As a graduate of an ACC school, you may assume that I am either biased or overly hopeful that the ACC will stop being an embarrassing BCS football conference. In reality, my alma mater (Wake Forest) actually benefits from the depressed state of ACC football because they are more likely to be competitive. Wake Forest will likely have no chance at competing for an ACC title if the ACC is actually as good as I expect them to be. That said, I don't expect them to be a complete embarrassment either, since they have a great coach in Jim Grobe, the 2006 AP Coach of the Year.