Brief thread hijack. Briefly vacationing in Cozumel and made the mistake of bringing my Michigan national champion cap. Anne is cracking up at the number of stony or hostile stares the hat generates. “They hate you”, was her explanation to me as to why other tourists seemed happy to interact with her but seemed very reserved with me. I can only conclude that the self restraint of the SB members in their dealings with me here left me unaware that my Wolvies are pretty much perceived as the same as Hamas in the outside world. Will be packing my Milwaukee Bucks cap next vacation…
Bobda, Haha! We're "restrained' because we're your friends. We know you and we like you. Those people don't know you like we do. If they did, they'd be smiling and trying to elicit some of your trademark humor. After a conversation or two, they'd love you. Having said that, you might want to ditch the cap on your next trip. I have an ND cap I can send you. Always popular.
Next big things are Spring Drills which will be starting soon in the South and a bit later in Midwest along with the NFL Combine. The Nat'l Champions have a record # of players invited. I find it interesting in the sense that in no year that Harbaugh was in Ann Arbor did he even come close to bringing in the type of talent that Saban, Day or Smart brought based on Star ratings. Notre Dame’s eight selections match the number attending the combine of 2023 opponents Ohio State and USC. Clemson will be represented by six Tigers. Appropriately, the national title combatants – Washington (13) and Michigan (18) – have the most. Michigan’s 18 eclipses the all-time record of 16 from LSU in 2020 following the Tigers’ historic undefeated run led by the No. 1 pick in the ’20 draft -- QB-Joe Burrow. (Note: His 60 touchdown passes to six interceptions, 5,671 yards passing, 76.3 completion percentage and 202.0 passer rating still seem fictitious.)
This is a very interesting read, to sum it up ..Group of 5 = Minor League for the Power 4 conferences. As college football's elite is engulfed in a power struggle, G5 left just trying to survive: 'We are a farm system' Of 247Sports’ top 100 transfers this fall cycle, 20 of them moved from Group of Five or FCS to a Power Five team. That represents some of the best players at the G5 level, such as UTSA edge rusher Trey Moore (Texas), Liberty receiver CJ Daniels (LSU) and Toledo QB Dequan Finn (Baylor). “We develop these young players and give them an opportunity and the minute they can leave, they do,” American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco said. While those are the best G5 players, plenty more exit their schools as G5 starters to take backup jobs in the Power Five for more NIL cash, championship aspirations and/or ability to reach the NFL, said Terry Bowden, a longtime college coach who spent the last three seasons at Louisiana-Monroe. In fact, last cycle, a total of 144 players from the Group of Five moved to the Power Five with one year of eligibility remaining, according to a G5 coach who calculates such figures. “Anybody who is 6-foot-5 is gone, even if it’s to join (Power Five) scout teams. If you’re a 6-1 corner, you’re gone. You lose your best players,” said Bowden. “It’s a hopeless feeling,” said SMU coach Rhett Lashlee, whose school is moving from the G5 American to P5 ACC next year. “That’s why you see coaches leaving.” Chadwell’s Liberty team capped an undefeated regular season with a Conference-USA title and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl only to then lose three of his top returning players: a defensive tackle (Duke), cornerback (Oregon State) and receiver (LSU). “Those guys would be all-conference for us,” Chadwell said. “LSU paid for a car and an apartment and like $300,000. What do you do?”
Heard that the number of players leaving college ball to go to the pros dropped from over 80 last year to over 50 this year. Could very well be that that burning desire for money is somewhat quenched by the NIL money kids are getting. Stay in school, get good money and improve your draft value, is a new avenue.
Speaking of a different type of recruiting, today is the first day college players can opt into appearing in the EA Sports College Football video game to be released this season. ND announced the other day that they will participate. I knew that the players who agreed would be paid and I thought there would be some scale, like Jalen Milroe or Quinn Ewers would get more than most QB's but apparently everybody gets $600. For over 11,000 college football players, Thursday will be the first chance to opt in to EA Sports' new college football game, EA Sports College Football 25, and get paid for it. EA Sports has finalized its name, image and likeness plan and will begin the opt-in process. Up to 85 players per school will initially appear on rosters in the game, which comes out this summer. All athletes who opt in to have their name, image and likeness appear will eventually receive $600, plus a copy of the game that's typically valued at $70. Athletes would remain in the game for the entirety of their careers but could opt out of future editions if they choose. Athletes who remain in the game for multiple years will be paid annually, and players who transfer will continue to be compensated as long as they are on a roster. Players can start opting in to new EA Sports game
Hey kp how are the Alabama faithful taking the AD for forcing out Eli Gold as the Tide Radio guy? He's said it was their choice for him to not return and that he's not retiring.
Not well. Not many details yet and his replacement is well liked but I don’t think anyone is happy with the way it was done. Eli has been here for so long. His “Touchdownnnn Alabama” call was iconic around here.
I see where we have made another hire from Alabama (Personnel Director) Are we indebted to say Roll Ohio or not?
Well, I like the song...part of the problem was the You Tube...I like this context better and shoulda looked for it; Brings back a lot of memories...one thing of interest to me was at 45 seconds the view of the old Hulett Ore Unloaders. Designed in 1898 by George Hulett (Conneaut, Ohio). They were all over the great lakes (75 were built). Their demise was because of the newer cargo ships having self-unloading capabilities. They are registered on the National Registry of Historic Places and designated Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks...but efforts to do something to reassemble one of the big "Grasshoppers" are going to amount to nothing...Much too expensive. The last two are rotting away on Whiskey Island not far from Cleveland Browns Stadium...and are soon to be recycled. Hulett - Wikipedia How's that for thread drift? Your comment about Roll Ohio just reminded me of the song and movie.
I saw a tweet that said the NCAA is considering 3 signing periods for Football. Currently there are 2, Dec and Feb. The proposal is for a 3rd one in early June.
Also on the table is expanding the playoff to 14 teams. This is so the Big 10 and SEC can have 3 auto bids. The 14-team CFP model that's earned the most discussion would award three automatic qualifier spots for the Big Ten and SEC, two for the Big 12 and ACC and one for the Group of Five. That would leave three at-large spots in that 14-team model, which could be reduced to two if Notre Dame is ranked in the top 14 on Selection Day. Not really sure why we need more than 1 automatic qualifier for the Big 4 Conference Champions and the "Top Group of 5" team. Based on the end of season CFP rankings, last year with a 12 team playoff and considering autobids. Big 10 would have had 3 teams SEC would have had 4 teams Big 12 would have had 1 teams ( OU was #12 and their bid would have been stolen by #23 Liberty) ACC would have had 1 team Pac12 would have had 2 teams Group of 5 would have had 1 team (Liberty was highest ranked Group of 5) Notre Dame would not have made it as we were outside the top12. So looking at that I can't see why we need 3 auto bids for the Big 10 and SEC, esp when you expand to 14 teams? I can't see a season where they won't get 3 each or more into the top 14.