robsam
1741
The USC house of cards is coming down, Carroll knows it. He’s pulling a Calipari, getting the hell out before the program gets smashed by the NCAA. I wonder why no one seems to care that Calipari is a sack of crap, just because Kentucky is doing so well this year.
True enough (about sanctions, I’m not so sure about Calipari).
— Alan
robsam
1743
Look at what happened to Memphis, his last school. Then go back to the school he coached before Memphis. Then go back to the school before that one. Nobody seems to care, because he’s a charming guy, looks good on tv, and the man can coach some basketball, especially when he cheats like hell to get the best players. He’s the anti-Coach K.
Edit: Sorry, this is a football thread, I just can’t understand why Calipari is not being publically questioned every day by the press for his past, just like Pete will be be forgiven for what is about to happen to USC.
Rimbo
1744
Actually, Neuheisel is the guy most like Calipari, if you ask me.
Sarkus
1745
Because he wins.
As for Pete, we just need to see what the fallout ends up being. Perhaps I’m jaded, but I’ve pretty much reached the point where I assume there is at least a little bending of rules going on at just about every school (yes, even Texas Rimbo!) but that it doesn’t always mean that the head coach knows what is going on or even should be expected to know. Look at what happened with Bowden the other day at FSU - officially stripped of 14 wins because of something that wasn’t his fault. Some of Don James’ assistants as UW have admitted to things years later that I doubt he knew anything about. I don’t doubt that USC has had some shady things happen but whether they are Pete’s fault or not remains to be seen.
Tyjenks
1746
Heh, Calipari one who I thought of immediately when I posted that. My Grandma has lived in Memphis her entire life and has always loved basketball. SHe even played around 100 years ago, when women had to play in secret as they were not allowed [;)]. So, what he did to Memphis, promised the school he would leave those recruits alone and then raped and pillaged all of those same prospects made me sad as I am a fan as well…Coaches suck. Their drive to win outweighs any monetary or loyalty concerns. If they were only creating a bad rep. for themselves, I would not care, but they promise those kids one thing and then bolt after seeing the first sign of trouble, which, usually, they brought on the school themselves.
Or they just want $$$.
And there goes Tuberville to Texas Tech. One of the blogs mentioned that he would be a better fit there because he’s more of a gladhander than Leach.
I don’t know about that, but he’s a decent guy and a good coach, and I’m glad he has a good job. He wasn’t treated well at Auburn.
In more draft news for the Gators, DUI Dunlap will enter the draft early. Haden and TE Hernandez have already declared, but I see center Maurkice Pouncey is leaving. That’s interesting because his twin brother plays guard and he decided to stay another year. Still no word on their two safeties.
Looking at the draft board on ESPN is depressing. So many dynamic and talented juniors leaving for the NFL. Screw the pros, kids; entertain us for free!
Carrol’s departure from USC for the Seahawks is all official now. Mike Riley got a contract extension from Oregon State to make sure he wasn’t too tempted to take the job in LA. Will be interesting to see who takes the reins.
Rimbo
1752
Even more interesting will be who DOESN’T take the reins, knowing that it’s a sinking ship. Maybe Mike Leach will have a job offer this season after all?
And even further interesting is seeing someone spell “reins” correctly. Yay!
DT1
1753
Leach to USC would be awesome on entertainment value alone. (Plus, I think he’d do better than you’d expect.)
God dammit, now Florida’s safety Major Wright is gone too. All my entertainment, poof!
At least the running backs are sophomores and can continue to provide a few jokes at EDSBS.
robsam
1755
This needs to be enlarged to get the full effect, but the BCS Trophy is on a tour of Walmarts in Alabama. This gentleman was polite enough to wear a hat to the event. Forgot the shirt I guess.
Haha, the stacks of soda can boxes really do it there.
Interesting notes on the BCS game in Gregg Easterbrook’s column. (Thanks to robsam for mentioning him because I like reading it each week now. Lets me pick up on a few storylines without actually having to follow the NFL.)
Colt McCoy was injured early and freshman Garrett Gilbert entered, never having played in a pressure situation in college. Instantly it was obvious the game would turn on whether Gilbert could perform cold. My seat was low behind the Texas sideline, with a clear view of the Longhorns coaches and players. To my amazement, when the Texas offense wasn’t on the field in the first half, Gilbert simply stood alone. He wasn’t throwing to his receivers. Senior leaders were not coming by to urge him on. And no coaches were talking to him! Texas not only has $5 million-a-year coach Mack Brown, it has a bloated coaching staff, yet none of these gentlemen came over to help Gilbert prepare, calm down or adjust. Greg Davis, the Longhorns offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, was nowhere to be seen as Gilbert stood alone. Just what exactly was Davis doing that was more important, at that moment, than helping a freshman get ready to go back in at quarterback in the national championship? Only when McCoy returned from the trainer’s room in the third quarter, donned headphones and started assisting Gilbert, did the Texas comeback begin. McCoy, a student, was the one “coaching up” Gilbert. Where was the Texas coaching staff?
Greg Davis was up in the booth, perhaps talking to Gilbert, but I think we get the idea.
It was Alabama 31, Texas 21 with 1:38 remaining when the Crimson Tide reached first-and-goal on the Longhorns’ 5, with Texas down to one timeout. Saban could have created a memorable moment in college football lore by ordering his team to kneel. It’s unlikely Brown would have called his final timeout, but even if he did, four kneel-downs would have resulted in Texas ball near the Texas goal line with a few seconds remaining – no possible Texas victory scenario. Had Alabama knelt on the ball, Saban would have made a statement about sportsmanship and been widely praised for doing so. Instead, Saban was a scown and ran up the score, the better to boast of his victory margin. (In “Avatar,” the Na’vi word “scown” means buffoon.) Maybe Alabama can recruit some players from Yates High.
On the other side of the coin, one reason the Longhorns’ backup quarterback was ill-prepared for his unexpected debut was that Brown kept McCoy in games well after Texas held a solid lead, in order to run up the score. With Texas leading UCF 28-3, McCoy was still on the field late in the fourth quarter, padding his stats and running up the score. With Texas leading Kansas 44-20 in the fourth quarter, McCoy was still on the field, running up the score to 51-20. Reader Charlie Letts of Charleston, S.C., asks, “Considering how rapidly Gilbert improved when he was finally playing, what might have happened had Texas used its backup more often in the regular season?” Texas boosters surely boasted, “We hung 50 on Kansas!” In the end, it would have been better to be able to boast, “Our backup quarterback was ready and he led us to a razor-close title win!”
Well, it IS Wal-Mart - shirts and shoes are optional.
Rimbo
1759
What he says in your first quote is something that has plagued our offense all season long, and he’s absolutely right about it. Our offense comes off the field, and they sit around until it’s their turn again. The defense, on the other hand… the coaches are always coaching, always talking to the players, always pointing things out… time on the sidelines is coaching time.
The second quote is just plain wrong; outside of Jordan Shipley Texas did not have a single receiver on the field who had demonstrated he could catch the ball consistently, and Colt was staying in to try and give the receivers – especially younger guys like Marquis Goodwin and Malcolm Williams – some practice in, you know, actually catching the damn ball. It seemed to benefit Malcolm Williams in the latter half of the season, to the point where we thought he’d be a lot better in the title game than he turned out to be.
Yeah, the UT receivers were flat awful. They couldn’t catch anything. What the hell? Was it always like that, Rimbo? I’m excepting Shipley here, though he also had a bad drop in the big game. I give him a pass because he’s proven himself, but those other guys didn’t help Gilbert at all.
