Category: College Football (Page 115 of 296)

      Staples: Alabama, Boise top early teams for 2010

      January 14, 2010 /

      Andy Staples of SI.com put together his 2010 Top 25 in college football, with Alabama and Boise State ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

      Here is his top 5:

      1. Alabama Crimson Tide
      It’s no coincidence that after linebacker Rolando McClain announced his decision to skip his senior year and enter the draft, rising junior Donta’ Hightower was brought before the media. That baton pass should go smoothly, and if you watched the BCS title game, you already know rising junior Marcell Dareus can take over a game. On the other side of the ball, the Crimson Tide only return a national-title winning quarterback (Greg McElroy), a Heisman Trophy-winning tailback (Mark Ingram) and the back a lot of people think is better than the Heisman winner (Trent Richardson).

      2. Boise State Broncos
      It’s time to stop doubting the Broncos. I ripped on their schedule plenty last season, but all they do when they get on the big stage is win. It’s easy to say they wouldn’t go undefeated in a better conference, but when Boise State has played teams from better conferences in the past few years, the Broncos have won. So to all the teams that think Boise State shouldn’t be ranked this high, you have one way to prove it: beat the Broncos.

      3. Ohio State Buckeyes
      Now that the Buckeyes have cast the BCS bowl gorilla from their backs, it’s time to work on Ohio State’s personal King Kong — the BCS title game. The Buckeyes have the talent. They have experience at key positions. Their only problem? The 2010 Big Ten will be deeper than it’s been in years.

      4. Texas Longhorns
      Rising sophomore quarterback Garrett Gilbert offered a glimpse of how good he can be in the BCS title game. The Longhorns’ defense loses end Sergio Kindle, but this is Texas. Kindle’s exit only means rising sophomore Alex Okafor has a chance to become a household name.

      5. Iowa Hawkeyes
      Defensive tackle Adrian Clayborn said he would be back next season, but that was before he owned Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. If he can fend off agents the way he fends off blockers, he’ll be the anchor of a stacked team playing a schedule that brings Penn State and Ohio State to Iowa City.

      If Ohio State can take what they did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl and build upon it for next year, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing the Buckeyes in the national title game.

      It’s a little early to be making predictions, but it’s fun to look ahead. I remember last year how everyone thought Ole Miss was going to make some noise in the SEC and the Rebels failed to deliver on that.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Longhorns’ DC Muschamp says he’s staying in Texas

      January 14, 2010 /

      Amidst the rumors that he could possible take the head coach opening in Tennessee, Texas’ defensive coordinator Will Muschamp stated that he’s staying in Austin.

      “I’m happy at Texas and plan to be here for a long time,” Muschamp said through a school football spokesman.
      He added that he has not interviewed for any other jobs nor does he have intention to do so.

      People in the Texas athletic department spent Wednesday saying they fully expected Muschamp to be on the staff next week, next month and next season.

      Media reports from Tennessee provided Internet whiplash. Supposedly, Muschamp topped the list of candidates to replace Kiffin. There were suggestions of a five-year contract offer for $3 million annually.

      He was interviewing in Knoxville. Or Dallas. Or Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton was in Austin. Pick a rumor, any rumor.

      Muschamp is in line to take over for Mack Brown at Texas, so it makes sense that he’s exercising a little patience right now.

      One name that I haven’t heard being tossed around for the Tennessee position is Mike Leach. After the Lane Kiffin debacle, the Vols might take a more conservative approach with their next hire, but Leach would make for an intriguing choice in Knoxville.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Was Al Davis right about Lane Kiffin?

      January 13, 2010 /

      Peter Schrager of FOXSports.com points out that maybe Al Davis was right when he called Lane Kiffin out for being a liar.

      Back in October 2007, the media jumped to call Al Davis everything from “crazy” to “senile” when the Raiders owner fired Kiffin under the most bizarre circumstances imaginable. With an overhead projector exhibiting a hand written letter he had penned to Kiffin, Davis referred to his then 32-year-old coach as a “flat-out liar” and said he was guilty of “bringing disgrace to the organization.”

      On June 8, 2009, the Raiders organization issued a statement about Lane Kiffin’s hiring at Tennessee. The statement read: “Lane Kiffin is a flat-out liar. He lied to the team, he lied to the fans, and he lied to the media. He will try to destroy that university like he tried to destroy the Raiders.”

      At the time it was released, the media viewed it as nothing more than sour grapes. In hindsight, Davis was right on the money. Once a weasel, always a weasel.

      Now, the rat will have his cheese (and some wine) in Southern California.

      After he fired Kiffin in ’07, Davis famously noted, “It hurts because I picked the guy. I picked the wrong guy.”

      The University of Tennessee now knows just how Davis felt.

      And if history tells us anything, so — eventually — will USC.

      See, I told you Al Davis wasn’t crazy.

      It is amazing how Lane Kiffin stormed into Knoxville, made all of these brash comments about turning UT into a winner, attacked other SEC coaches, brought in some recruits that would later be arrested for armed robbery and then left the program after only one season. That’s freaking unbelievable.

      College Football

      Tennessee students protest Kiffin’s resignation

      January 13, 2010 /

      What better way to show that you’re angry at the head coach that left your team high and dry then to burn a mattress?

      I’ve always wanted to see the expression on the guy’s face that volunteered to burn his mattress when he woke up the next morning and didn’t have a bed anymore.

      “Troy…Troy!”

      “What?”

      “What the hell happened to my bed man? It’s gone!”

      “Dude, you burned it in the protest last night. Don’t you remember?”

      “F**k no I don’t remember! What the hell, man!”

      “Yeah, you wanted to do it to protest Lane Kiffin’s departure.”

      “Lane Kiffin’s gone, too?!”

      College Football

      USC hires Lane Kiffin to replace Pete Carroll

      January 12, 2010 /

      In rather surprising news, USC has tabbed former Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin to fill the position vacated by Pete Carroll, who signed a contract over the weekend to coach the Seattle Seahawks.

      From ESPN.com:

      “We are really excited to welcome Lane Kiffin back to USC,” Garrett said in a statement. “I was able to watch him closely when he was an assistant with us and what I saw was a bright, creative young coach who I thought would make an excellent head coach here if the opportunity ever arose. I’m confident he and his staff will keep USC football performing at the high level that we expect.”

      He was a member of the USC coaching staff from 2001 to ’06, first as wide receivers coach and then as offensive coordinator under Carroll.

      Kiffin will bring his father and defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin, and assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron to Southern California with him.

      The hiring is surprising, but what isn’t surprising is the way Kiffin left Tennessee after just one season. The fact of the matter is that college coaches come and go as they please. As long as there is more money and a bigger opportunity to be had, coaches will always be a threat to leave.

      That said, it never ceases to amaze me that coaches can walk into a recruit’s home and talk about commitment, loyalty and family, and then leave a program at the drop of a hat. There is something incredible wrong with the process, but it has become such a norm that nobody is surprised by it anymore. As the clichéd response goes: It is what it is.

      I wonder if some in Knoxville are secretly glad to see Kiffin go. He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and never seemed like a great fit for UT. Considering he helped Carroll make USC’s program a success earlier this decade, it stands to reason that he will be a much better fit in Southern Cal, but we’ll see. It’ll also be exciting to see what Monte Kiffin can do with the talent he’ll have on the defensive side of the ball at SC.

      This is pure conjecture on my part, but if I’m venturing a guess as to whom will replace Kiffin at Tennessee, I’d say Jon Gruden might be a great fit. He was a graduate assistant there from 1986 to 1987 and also met his wife at UT as well. If he wanted to take a crack at the collegiate level, Knoxville might just be a solid fit.

      College Football

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑