Category: College Football (Page 252 of 296)

With the news that Rich Rodriguez is leaving West Virginia to become the next head coach at Michigan, some are now arguing that he’s no better than Bobby Petrino.

Rodriguez met with his team for 10 minutes this afternoon to tell them he is leaving, and that he’s not going to coach in the Fiesta Bowl, all but ensuring a blowout loss to Oklahoma.

Rodriguez then walked back to his office, leaving players “somber-looking,” the reports say.

Thanks a bunch, Coach Rod.

I will not debate the merits of Michigan versus West Virginia. What upsets WVU fans is that, no more than a week ago, Rodriguez told West Virginia media “you’re stuck with me.”

He’s a liar.

I think it’s a valid argument that what R-Rod did to WVU was no better than what Petrino did to Louisville and Atlanta. Did Rodriguez lie about not jumping ship? Yes, although certainly not as bad as Petrino, who on Monday evening guaranteed Falcons owner Arthur Blank that he would be back next year, only to do the “Woo Pig Sooey” chant with Arkansas cheerleaders less than 24 hours later. Did Rodriguez leave a team in the lurch? Yes, although once again, not as bad as walking out on an NFL team with three games left to go on the schedule.

Is what Rodriguez did open for criticism? Absolutely. Is he Bobby Petrino? Well, there can only be one Bobby Petrino…and he’s off somewhere practicing the Gator Chomp or some other college football tradition, you know, just in case.

Just over a week ago, LSU’s Les Miles debunked an ESPN report about him becoming Michigan’s next head coach. While the report might have been made erroneously, it might not have been totally inaccurate, either. Apparently Miles is still very much in the picture to become Michigan’s next head coach.

Miles had a phone conversation Friday morning with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and school president Mary Sue Coleman, according to several people with knowledge of the call.

Michigan received permission Nov. 28 from LSU athletic director Skip Bertman to speak with Miles, as long as it was after the Dec. 1 SEC championship game. So asking LSU again for permission was not an issue; U-M is believed to have initiated Friday’s call.

Bertman said Monday night he didn’t know if Miles had had contact with Michigan. But he said he doubted anyone could sway Miles to leave LSU.

“He and Bo Schembechler were real close,” Bertman said. “If Bo Schembechler were alive, I doubt he could have got him to go to Michigan. It’s hard for people who don’t live in the South to understand.”

While there might be truth to Bertman’s comments, the fact of the matter is that college coaches have a tendency to lie. The sticking point with this situation, however, is that Miles signed a two-year extension with LSU just last week. Although hey, breaking commitments hasn’t stopped college coaches before – just ask Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, edging Arkansas’ running back Darren McFadden by 254 total votes. Tebow finished with a total of 1,957 votes, while McFadden had 1,703. Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan finished a distant third with 632 total votes.

“It’s surreal,” said a beaming Tebow, who got a hug from Danny Wuerffel, Florida’s last Heisman winner as soon as he stepped on the stage. “I’m so thankful and honored. It’s just an overwhelming feeling to be here, and to be honest it hasn’t sunk all the way in yet.”

After a record-setting season that saw Tebow become the first player in Division I history to have at least 20 rushing and 20 passing touchdowns, it’s no wonder that the Gators’ signal caller was able to convince the Heisman Trophy Trust to make him the first underclassman to ever win the award since its inception in 1935.

Tebow was the right call. McFadden and Brennan were excellent, but college football might not see another quarterback rush and pass for 20 touchdowns apiece, unless of course Tebow does it again next year. Some people argue that Tebow’s numbers are a bit misleading since he’s able to call his own number in Florida’s dynamic offense. However, there are tremendous players in dynamic offenses all over the country, but none who rushed and passed for a total of 40 touchdowns. Plus, none of those players eclipsed 40 total touchdowns in a tough SEC, either.

According to FOXSports.com, athletic director Bill Martin met with Rutgers’ head coach Greg Schiano to talk about the head coach vacancy at Michigan.

Both papers cited unidentified sources saying the meeting took place Tuesday night in New York during the College Football Hall of Fame banquet at a midtown Manhattan hotel. Though Michigan has made no official offer to Schiano, both papers reported one could be coming soon.

Schiano, a New Jersey native, has orchestrated one of the most impressive turnarounds in college football during his seven seasons at Rutgers. When he took over in Piscataway, N.J., the program was one of the worst in the Division I-A.

The Scarlet Knights have had three straight winning seasons and will be making their third consecutive postseason appearance at the International Bowl against Ball State on Jan. 6. They went 7-5 this season, a disappointment after starting the season ranked No. 16 in the nation.

Gasp! You mean Michigan is actually considering a head coach who isn’t a “Michigan man”? Wow, maybe the athletic department is starting to realize that there are decent candidates outside the “Great Lake State.” Schiano has done wonders at Rutgers and one would think that with more recruiting power, he could do the same at UM. Even if Schiano can’t be lured from Jersey, it appears that Michigan is going after a big name.

Update: ESPN is now reporting Schiano is staying at Rutgers. Michigan is now 0-2 luring head coaches.

The Heisman Trophy finalists have officially been announced and the prestigious award will come down to these four candidates: Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel.

The USA Today mapped out a case for and against each player and in doing so, it appears that each player seems to bring a little something different to table.

Brennan became the Division IA’s all-time leader in touchdown passes, but many consider him a “system quarterback.” Daniel also had fantastic numbers this season, but losing to Oklahoma in the national spotlight won’t help his cause. McFadden and Tebow both had solid years, but McFadden struggled in October and no sophomore has ever won the Heisman, which makes the odds stacked against Tebow winning.

For what it’s worth, here’s my prediction of how it will unfold on Saturday:

1. Tim Tebow
2. Darren McFadden
3. Colt Brennan
4. Chase Daniel