I am cautiously optimistic that the Gators will field a good team. However we play both Alabama and Georgia as well as LSU. Going to be tough to win the East.
Georgia should be very good, again, this year. Reason...JT Daniels. Gators breaking in a new QB, and Georgia having a returning QB who could be a 1st round draft pick could be the difference. Alabama will be replacing a lot of people, esp on offense. But then they have recruited so well that they are used to replacing a lot of guys going to the NFL with guys who will be going to the NFL in a year or two. I'm not sure about LSU, they are a talented squad for sure but I'm not sold that Eddie O is going to ever be able to duplicate what happened in 2019.
I see that IU coach Tom Allen was rewarded for his excellent job by getting a new deal for 7 years at about 5M per year. Always hard to predict what will go on in the next 7 years, many times coaches like Tom Allen have a sort of magical year at places not known for great football, but have a hard time maintaining that level over time, or a job comes open that they don't feel they can turn down and they leave. But so far he's done and excellent job at IU and he's very popular with the players, maybe he can build on that and achieve consistently good results every year.
My observation from the cheap seats re: Tom Allen is that the long hoped-for turnaround of the IU football program is not a flash in the pan. There's an element of something special in his LEO mantra and the way his players respond to him. He's an Indiana native, and $5M per year should be enough to keep him at IU for a while. Fingers crossed. EDIT re: Buyout: For anyone who might be interested, this is the buyout provision: Under the previous arrangement, Allen would owe Indiana $1 million if he wanted to leave his contract from Dec. 1, 2022-Nov. 30, 2024. Now, he’d owe $4 million between Dec. 1, 2022-Nov. 30, 2023, and $3 million for the year after that. The next year, the buyout for Allen falls to $1 million for a year, and then $500,000 for two years.
And this mess is so big And so deep and so tall, We cannot pick it up. There is no way at all!” ― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat Miles out as Kansas' head football coach
No surprise, once those LSU allegations came out there was no way that KU could retain him. It's a terrible job and yet somebody will take it.
Longhorns start Spring Practice March 23rd. I haven't seen a date for the Irish but it's usually late March as well.
OSU FOOTBALL This from AD Gene Smith earlier this morning 11 Warriors.com Ohio State has put a pause on all football team-related activities and closed the Woody Hayes Athletic Center administrative offices for one week due to a rise in positive coronavirus cases.
It's still with us isn't it. I wonder when the players will get vaccinated. I have read that by April there is going to be a lot of vaccine available, enough so that everybody can get it. Hopefully that will lead to a pretty normal summer schedule and Fall Camp being normal.
I had read someplace when the Les Miles story first broke that not only was Miles likely to be out at KU but that the writer was going to be surprised if the guy who hired him, Jeff Long, wasn't also going to be out. Then Miles was fired and nothing was said about Long. Well today the other shoe dropped and Jeff Long is out as the KU AD.
Gators are in the middle of spring practice. But we are not going to have our annual spring game that a lot of Gator fans go to every year. Something is going to be on SEC Network but we don't know just what that is.
AJ what's going on in Lincoln? Huskers trying to get out of the game this fall with OU? Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione on Friday reiterated that the Sooners intend to face Nebraska this season, despite reports that Nebraska is trying to get out of the Sept. 18 game in Norman. Castiglione, responding to media inquiries, tweeted that the Nebraska-Oklahoma game is set to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the "Game of the Century," when top-ranked Nebraska beat No. 2 Oklahoma 35-31 in Norman. Stadium reported Friday that Nebraska is trying to get out of the matchup and is contacting potential opponents about playing a game in Lincoln that day. Sources told the Lincoln Journal Star that Nebraska is looking into "the feasibility of the move."
I didn't know Alabama still ran the football! Running back Emmanuel Henderson announced his commitment to Alabama on Saturday, choosing the Crimson Tide over offers from some of the biggest programs in the country, including Auburn, Georgia, Clemson and others. Henderson, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound back out of Geneva County High School in Hartford, Alabama, is the No. 12-ranked recruit overall in the ESPN Junior 300. He's the top-ranked running back in the class and continues a string of successful recruiting at the position for the Crimson Tide, who have signed five running backs ranked in the top 10 of the position over the past three classes. If Henderson signs with Alabama in December or February, he would make six in four classes.
It's a long time til next December/February. You never know what these kids are going to to do. Oh and Najee Harris did a pretty good job of running the ball.
Drew Brees will be the Analyst on Notre Dame football this fall, taking Tony Dungy's place. I really liked Dungy and am sorry to see him go after only 1 year. Brees is an unknown, he's never done this before but he has a great reputation as a person so I'm sure it will be OK. I'm guessing that NBC is hoping that he'll develop into their Tony Romo, as he'll be doing NFL football as well.
When he said he's going to NBC, that was my first thought, only if Tony Dungy wasn't coming back. I hope he does well. I remember how he torched ND during his years at Purdue. He had such a quick release that I'm not sure our defense ever got to him.
Memory getting a little fuzzy Sid? He never won a game at ND stadium. But it was a miscarriage of justice that he didn't win the 2000 Heisman, which went to Chris Weinke. Three starts (1998, 1999, 2000) 1-2 win/loss record 60/98 passing, 799 yards, five touchdown passes, four interceptions, one rushing touchdown The games: 1998 – Notre Dame 31, Purdue 30 Notre Dame fell behind 14-0 and trailed 30-21 with under eight minutes to play before a Jim Sanson field goal with under a minute left eventually won it for the Irish. Brees: 24 of 26 for 261 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions 1999 – Purdue 28, Notre Dame 23 Notre Dame jumped out to a 10-0 lead in West Lafayette before Brees guided the Boilermakers to victory. He finished the afternoon with a rushing touchdown, a passing touchdown and ran in a two point conversion in the Purdue victory. Brees: 24 of 40 passing for 317 yards, one touchdown pass, one interception and a two point conversion run 2000 – No. 21 Notre Dame 23, No. 13 Purdue 21 In Godsey We Tust…as long as the defense plays ridiculously well. That’s what happened on this afternoon in 2000 when a Shane Walton pick-six of Brees put the Irish up 14-0 in the first quarter. The Irish wouldn’t find the end-zone again that afternoon but three Nick Setta field goals, one of which came as time expired, did the eventual Big Ten Champions in. Brees: 13 of 22 passing for 221 yards, two touchdowns and one interception