As he lay on his death bed, former president Zachary Taylor uttered his last words: “I regret nothing.”

Well Dan Mullen basically threw out a big ol’ ditto when asked about his recruitment of controversial ex-Auburn superstar Cam Newton.  MSU’s coach had mixed emotions when he recently discussed the situation with Brandon Marcello of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

“I don’t regret how we handled his recruiting situation at all.  How the situation kind of stained almost everybody, I don’t like that, because I care about Cam a lot.  I’m proud of him and I’m happy for all of the things he’s accomplished.”

Mullen says he knows he’ll see Newton again at some point and that their relationship will still be okey-dokey.  “Like I said, if Cam called me today and said, ‘Coach, I need a favor,’ in a heartbeat I’d do whatever I could to help him as a former player.  I’ve always thought we were very, very close.  In my opinion, nothing has changed in my feelings toward him.  I don’t feel any different today.”

As for his old boss Urban Meyer’s recent comments about the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is college football, Mullen said little.  “He’s allowed to talk a little bit more freely because now he’s paid give his opinion.  I’m paid to monitor our program and one of the things we try to do at Mississippi State is make sure we are doing everything the right way. … I can’t really worry about other programs.  If people are doing things better than us, we’re always going to try to improve and do things better but we’re always going to do things legally and do things ethically the right way.”

All this in light of the fact HBO is digging around MSU’s pursuit of Newton for an investigative piece on it’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumble” franchise.  Mullen says he’s not been contacted by HBO about the report.

As for doing things ethically, Mullen better hope there’s no truth to the rumors that Newton “handler” Kenny Rogers has an audio tape that would shine a bad light on MSU’s involvement in Newton’s recruitment.

If there’s one man in America who’s catching more heat than Bruce Pearl or Lane Kiffin today it’s the guy who hired both of them at Tennessee.  Just check out a few of the national pundits who are calling for the head of UT athletic director Mike Hamilton…


CBSSports.com’s Gregg Doyel:  “Why is Hamilton still there?  No idea.  None.  He may well be a good man, as readers have e-mailed me over the years.  But he’s a lousy AD.  Hires poorly.  Doesn’t make sure they act ethically.  Doesn’t do anything with teeth when they get busted acting unethically.”

SI.com’s Stewart Mandel:  “But what of Hamilton?  Under his watch, one of the nation’s proudest athletic programs has deteriorated into one of its most shameful.  Will Tennessee chancellor Jimmy Cheek go along with the illusion that the football mess can be blamed entirely on that mercenary scoundrel Kiffin, and that reducing Pearl’s salary last fall was an adequate show of force?  Or, will he do the right thing: recognize that Hamilton was ultimately Pearl’s and Kiffin’s greatest enabler; that Hamilton’s department is a textbook example of the risks of allowing splashy head coaches the freedom to act as their own freewheeling autocrats; and that ultimately Hamilton and his whole department should be replaced and rebuilt?”

ESPN.com’s Pat Forde:  “If I were the president at Tennessee, the man in charge of an athletic department that has hemorrhaged credibility at an alarming rate in recent years would need a Committee on Infractions miracle to keep his job.  Nothing short of an exoneration of both programs would be enough to spare Hamilton — and chances of that happening are even smaller than the chances that Tennessee plays in the next BCS championship game.”


Brutal, no?  But here’s the interesting thing: No one in the Knoxville media is actively calling for Hamilton’s ouster. 

In years past, some Knoxville columnists have flat-out called for coaches to be fired.  They have critiqued and criticized Hamilton himself.  But no one — as of today — has written a “Can him now!” piece like the ones cited above.

Perhaps the folks nearer to the situation have a better take on why Hamilton should remain employed than Misters Doyel, Mandel and Forde.  Or, perhaps a more distant view is necessary.

We just think it’s interesting that the national view is one of outrage while the local view is, well, kinda quiet.  That might be telling. 

As for why this site isn’t calling for Hamilton’s head on a stick, we rarely call for executions.  Unlike some writers, we don’t find that kind of thing to be much fun, even if it is very easy to do and it’s guaranteed to drum up pageviews. 

Hell, we were the one site on the web that tried to show a little compassion toward former Georgia AD Damon Evans following his DUI arrest last summer. 

Oh, we’ll write about wins and losses and we’ll certainly tell if you we think someone is doing a good job or not — so far UT’s Hamilton has a sub-par judge of character with a flair for raising funds — but we’ve never hollered for scalps and we don’t intend to start.

Besides, if the NCAA throws the book at UT (and Pearl) in the penalty phase, there’s a pretty good chance the Hamilton issue will settled by the powers-that-be at Tennessee anyway… and not by the sportswriters at SI, ESPN and CBS.

Good luck finding a coach who’ll tell you he doesn’t want clutch players.  They all do.  But when it comes to a new offensive coordinator, folks want to hear every word he has to say.  And they latch onto those words awfully tight.

A personal favorite of mine is when folks brag that their new O-coordinator “plans to get the ball to his playmakers in space!”  But what coordinator out there wants to give the ball to schlubs in traffic?

Ah, but back to clutch players… LSU’s Steve Kragthorpe says he wants ‘em.

“I told the players the other day, ‘If someone hands you a check for $10,000 and says you get to invest this,’ you’re not going to throw it in whatever investment you hear about first.  You’re going to do some research.  That’s how I call my game.  I’m going to put my money where the money players are.”

(Sidenote — Considering just how many NCAA investigators are cruising the back roads of the SEC these days, Kragthorpe might want to watch how he words things.)

“I’m kind of deaf to guys who want the ball,” the coach said.  “I’m a visual person.  I want to see you make plays in practice.  If it’s third-and-five, I’m going to try to put the ball in the guys’ hands I think have produced in practice to the point where I think he will produce in a game setting.”

Nothing out of the ordinary there.

1.  ESPN’s Todd McShay says Cam Newton is the “biggest question and storyline in the draft right now.”

2.  After last night’s buzzer-beating win over Auburn, Alabama’s Anthony Grant told his team “sometimes you need those near-death experiences” for educational purposes.

3.  John Pelphrey and his Razorbacks were emotional and overjoyed following last night’s overtime win over Kentucky.

4.  UK’s Josh Harrellson said of Arkansas: “They’re a better team than most people think.”  (The Hogs are now 17-10 and probably a lock for the NIT.)

5.  Marshawn Powell “killed” the Wildcats.

6.  LSU’s Trent Johnson said of last night’s win at MSU: “Offensively when the ball is going down it hides a multitude of your sins.  Tonight, the ball was going down.”

7.  Rick Stansbury said of State’s potential game-winning shot that rimmed out: “We didn’t have no timeouts, so that about as good a shot as you can hope to get in that situation.”  (Well, if you don’t have no timeouts, you don’t have no timeouts.)

8.  Senior Riley Benock says the Dogs don’t want to look past Tennessee on Saturday, but they still have a shot at the West’s #2 seed in Atlanta.  (Then they better focus on beating Tennessee.)

9.  Legendary play-by-play man Jack Cristil “told the Mississippi State story.”

10.  Ole Miss is stumbling into the SEC Tournament.

11.  Running back Brandon Bolden wants to be a good leader for the underclassmen looking up to him.  (Link fixed.)

When it comes to Arkansas basketball fans, John Calipari’s opinion probably matters very little.  But for beleaguered head coach John Pelphrey, his rival’s words after last night’s 77-76 Hog win are no doubt appreciated.

“Any time you’re up against it like Arkansas was, to compete the way they did it says a lot about their team and a lot about their coach,” Calipari said.  “I thought John coached a great game and his guys responded.”

Nice words.  But when the coach’s detractors run them through the Rabid-Razorback-Anti-Pelphrey Translator, they’ll probably hear this instead: “Please don’t fire this guy, Arkansas, ’cause I can usually beat him.”

Kudos to Pelphrey.  Talk about a guy who needed a big win.  He deserves another season in Fayetteville to show what he can do.

Louisville defensive line coach Clint Hurtt — ESPN’s National Recruiter of the Year this year — will be staying at Louisville and not joining Auburn’s coaching staff.

“Big news!! The big hurtt is staying with the cardinals,” tweeted U of L coach Charlie Strong today.  Hurtt took part in a much-publicized interview session with Auburn yesterday.

Auburn is looking for a replacement for former D-line coach Tracy Rocker who left AU for a job with the Tennessee Titans.  Former Minnesota assistant Tim Cross is expected to meet with Gene Chizik in the near future, if he hasn’t already.

When Rocker left, we suggested that finding a replacement might be a tad tougher than expected due to the NCAA’s ongoing look-see into the Tiger program.  Now maybe Hurtt and Chizik didn’t hit it off or maybe an offer was never made or maybe we’re just adding 2 + 2 and coming up with five… but one does have to wonder why a coach at Louisville would turn down the opportunity (if it was offered) to move to Auburn, the home of the defending national champs.  Doesn’t one?

Former Arkansas and Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton was on hand to witness the Razorbacks snap a 10-game losing streak against Kentucky last night in Fayetteville.  (With that tan and hair, Sutton would need only a headdress to pass for a cigar store Indian.)

Sutton was an invited guest of current Hog coach John Pelphrey — himself an ex-UK player — and assistant Rob Evans.  Sutton gave Pelphrey his first coaching job as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State.  Sutton’s son, Sean, was on hand for last night’s game, too.  And like Pelphrey, he also once played for the Wildcats.

How incestuous.


(Sidenote — This is a cigar store Indian.  This site did not compare Eddie Sutton to a Native American.  The person that’s typing this right now?  His great-grandmother was a Native American.  Just FYI.  In this photo, Sutton, supremely tanned and straight-lipped, looks like the inanimate object we referenced in the piece above.)

Were you wondering about the blacked out portions of Tennessee’s letter of allegations yesterday?  Well, you probably won’t be wondering for long as a Knoxville television station has filed an open records request with the school in the hopes of learning just what information has been redacted from the NCAA’s list of accusations.

In most cases such as this, schools will try to protect the names of innocent people mentioned in reports… players, parents, people under age, etc.  It’s doubtful that the University of Tennessee attempted to hide an alleged violation or two while simultaneously releasing details of a dozen other major infractions.

When WBIR-TV receives its info, it would be surprising to learn of any other misdeeds carried about by Bruce Pearl and company.  (Not saying it’s not possible, just that it would be very surprising.)

More likely, those people whose names had been redacted will now have to deal with media types and enraged Vol fans who will no doubt contact them either looking for a story (media) or looking to hand out some blame (fans).

1.  For a change, Florida isn’t feeling bubble pressure as it heads into a late-season showdown with Georgia tonight.

2.  Casey Prather will likely start in place of the injured Chandler Parsons tonight…

3.  But Parsons could still see some action.

4.  Putting the cart ahead of the horse: Might an NCAA Tournament berth in nearby Tampa actually be a bad thing for UF?

5.  The Georgia basketball team is still angling for a first-round bye in the SEC tourney.

6.  Getting some more help from the bench would help the Bulldogs’ chances of earning such a bye.

7.  Kentucky’s loss at Arkansas last night marked the first time since the league expanded that UK has lost six SEC road games in a season… and it also showed that the Cats really aren’t improving.

8.  Brandon Knight — after a 26-point effort — missed three potential game-winning shots in the final seconds of overtime.

9.  Steve Spurrier thinks “John Butler is an excellent special teams coach.”  Good thing, ’cause he hired him yesterday.

10.  Read this story about former South Carolina O-lineman Garrett Chisholm and you’ll be pulling for him at this week’s NFL combine.

11.  Tennessee didn’t report Bruce Pearl’s violation of the “bump rule” because it didn’t believe there was a violation. 

12.  But that potential violation has certainly caught the attention of the media.  (And the NCAA.)

13.  Here’s an excellent wrap of yesterday’s events…

14.  And the possible punishments Tennessee could be facing.

The University of Georgia Athletic Association’s board of directors is scheduled to meet this afternoon in Athens.  As always, money is the key issue — as in how to raise it and where to spend it.

The board is expected to discuss plans for renovating the main video screen at Sanford Stadium.  The video board debuted in 2005, but new technology could be used to create a clearer, brighter picture for fans.

Also on the docket is an increase in the cost of game tickets to the World’s Largest Outdo… wait… the Georgia-Florida football game.  Florida’s athletic board approved a $10 increase in ticket price back in December.  Now Georgia’s board must agree.  Seeing as how new UGA AD Greg McGarity was until recently the right hand man to UF AD Jeremy Foley, you can guess that your ticket prices for that game will be rising, fans.

The board will be on hand to witness the grand opening of a $33 million project the group okayed a few years back.  Georgia’s renovated and expanded Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall football complex will get the ribbon-cutting treatment this afternoon. 

The expanded facility will feature a 12,000-square foot strength and conditioning area, an 8,500-square-foot athletic training area with four therapy pools as well as new offices and a new player lounge.

For those who have it lying around, 33-mil can still go a long way.