While there’s been some discussion of possibly eliminating the kickoff from football — as proposed by Rutgers coach Greg Schiano — the proposal hasn’t gained much traction.  Still, just about every coach will acknowledge that the kickoff is a dangerous play.

Auburn special teams coordinator Jay Boulware believes it could be made less dangerous by coaches:


“It’s just my opinion, and take it for whatever it’s worth, but when you’re telling a kid to run down and run down into another blocker full speed, then you have basically eliminated that kid from being part of the tackle.  When you eliminate that thought process from what you’re doing and you teach kids to cover the kick and cover the returner as opposed to run into blockers full speed, that’s the type of thing that should be taught in the game. …

There are times when you have to run into a guy, but we’re not looking to go knock him out.  We’re looking to shed the block and go make a play… I don’t want to go one-for-one and lose one of my potential tacklers.  Then that blocker has essentially done his job even if he got his butt kicked.  I think if you can eliminate those type of mentalities in coaching kids, you’ll see a big change.”


That’s an impressive take.  Somebody get this man some speaking time at the next convention of college coaches.

1.  A South Carolina trustee says of GA Mangus’ arrest: “No one would condone his behavior, but he didn’t endanger a life like a DUI… it’s a little bit different.”

2.  Two Gamecock freshmen will feel pressure to help improve USC’s hoops fortunes.

3.  Derek Dooley is ready to stop talking and start working.

4.  This writer suggests that Tennessee should give away its many unsold football tickets to children.  (That’s not a bad way to hook future fans.)

5.  Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins is trying to shoot his way onto the 2011 USA World University Games team.

6.  Auburn freshman linebacker Kris Frost had successful surgery on his should yesterday… and he could be ready to play this season.

7.  Gus Malzahn’s offense will face some big challenges in the fall.

8.  Bobby Petrino talked expectations and quarterbacks at ESPN yesterday.

9.  Running back Vick Ballard is making his mark at Mississippi State.

10.  Pass rusher Kentrell Lockett is ready to test his knee at Ole Miss.

11.  UM is actually “ahead of pace” in season ticket sales.

Tired of talking about Alabama’s current football scandal?  Then let’s dig back into Auburn’s old football scandal.

An NCAA panel has come up with a new plan to close the Cam Newton loophole that allowed the player to keep playing last year… even though his father had asked Mississippi State boosters for $180,000 in cash.  The idea is to broaden the NCAA’s definition of an agent.

If the proposal is passed, any people who represent or attempt to represent athletes or prospects for financial gain would be considered agents.  Also included?  Anyone who seeks money or other benefits for steering a prospect to a school.

Under this rule, Cecil Newton would have been viewed as an agent and his son would not have been eligible to play last year.

However, an NCAA spokesperson says the issue is bigger than the Newton case.

“Cam Newton is one of the reasons for it but it’s broader than that because there are other situations in which third parties are interceding with regard to prospects or student-athletes.”

Before our email boxes blow up, yes, this creates the possibility of a new type of problem.  It’s possible that someone not close to the player — a third cousin, an estranged father — could ask for money and get a player into trouble.  But that’s not likely to happen very often.  And to rule on such a case, the NCAA would need only prove that the player did or did not have a relationship with the person trying to act as an “agent.”

Christian Robinson will be a co-caption on Georgia’s defensive unit this fall.  He certainly sounds like a leader when discussing the attrition at UGA this offseason:


“Some of the guys that are not here, they made their decisions, whether they were right or wrong.  I think the guys that are here, that are left, are the ones that want to be at Georgia the most.  Some guys didn’t always fit in and didn’t always do what they were supposed to do, and didn’t behave.  nothing against them, but they just didn’t fit into what we needed right now.”


The linebacker from outside Atlanta started 11 of 13 games for the Bulldogs last year.

1.  SportsByBrooks.com is now getting in on the T-Town Menswear story.

2.  SI.com is rewriting the NCAA rulebook.

3.  Ralph Friedgen taught Vandy’s James Franklin to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

4.  Commodore QB Larry Smith is excited about his senior season.

5.  It looks like Georgia’s depth at linebacker is taking a hit.

6.  Commenting on attrition, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo says, “We’ve made it extremely tough around here.”

7.  Two Dawg signees are still trying to get academically eligible.

8.  ESPN.com says the 24th best player in the SEC is Florida defensive tackle Jaye Howard.

9.  Here are five reasons why the SEC “rules.”

Following his arrest early Tuesday morning, South Carolina quarterbacks coach GA Mangus put out a brief statement last evening:


“Last night I acted irresponsibly and I deeply regret my actions.  I take full responsibility.  I would like to publicly apologize to Coach (Steve) Spurrier, (athletic director) Eric Hyman, the entire team and everyone associated with the University of South Carolina.”


Upon suspending his QB coach, Spurrier said: “We are all disappointed in his actions and will handle it accordingly.”  But what is accordingly?

There are several possibilities here.


1.  Spurrier might know that keeping Mangus will bring bad press to the program — it will be mentioned during televised Carolina games this fall — and could impact recruiting.  For that reason, he may decide to dismiss Mangus, who he coached as a player at Florida.

2.  Spurrier might realize that now is not the time to upset the apple cart.  He has built and built and built and now has what looks to be his best-ever team in Columbia.  With Stephen Garcia still technically on suspension and likely facing a quarterback duel with Connor Shaw in August, would it be wise to nuke the team’s quarterbacks coach now?  Spurrier could, of course, jump in and handle the QBs himself, but the fact that Mangus remains employed today suggests that he will survive.

3.  And who’s to say he shouldn’t survive?  People make mistakes and Mangus’ alcohol-fueled mistake was not made behind the wheel of a car at least.  Have his coaching and recruiting abilities earned him a second chance at USC?  Does the good outweigh the bad?  That’s something only people inside the program know.  Those screaming for blood on messageboards have no clue of what Mangus has done — good or bad — behind the scenes in Columbia.

4.  This could all be moot if the decision is made above Spurrier’s head.  If Carolina president Harris Pastides or AD Hyman feel Mangus’ actions are impossible to overcome, then he’ll be jettisoned regardless of Spurrier’s feelings.  It certainly seemed this spring that Spurrier wasn’t 100% onboard with the school’s decision to suspend Garcia for a fifth time.  Come to think of it, maybe Hyman’s wife will play a role in the final decision.


A day into this, we at MrSEC.com suspect Mangus will be kept onboard but told to find other work.  He’ll be a part of the Carolina coaching staff for the remainder of 2011, but he won’t be around come spring.

But that’s just a guess.  Stay tuned…

Reason #6,322 why I hate Twitter…

Yesterday, news broke that South Carolina quarterbacks coach GA Mangus had been arrested in Greenville on a charge of “public nuisance” after drunkenly urinating in a city street.  He has been suspended indefinitely by Steve Spurrier.  Mangus, of course, is viewed as the “mentor” to Gamecock quarterback Stephen Garcia, who has also had a number of alcohol-related incidents over the years.

The reaction came quickly on Twitter.  Even Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd piped up via his keyboard:


“Like coach, like QB, shaking my head.”


Pretty judgmental for a 20-year-old rival quarterback.

Boyd has now given this writer someone to pull against this fall.  Every interception he tosses and every fumble he loses, I’ll be chuckling to myself that the popper-offer might be better at tossing barbs than he is at tossing touchdowns.

Last season, as a freshman, Boyd completed 33 of 63 passes for 329 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.  And those kind of numbers give him the confidence to mock the personal troubles of another program’s quarterback and coach… a coach who has just done serious damage to his career?

If not for Twitter — and coaches stupidly continuing to allow their players to use the medium — I would have never known that Boyd had such a self-righteous attitude.

Well, he’d better hope he doesn’t step out of line during his next three years on Clemson’s campus, lest it be his rear that’s roasted in the Twittersphere.

As someone 20 years older than Boyd, I know that when I call someone out for a moral failing, it could be my flaw that someone else is mocking the next time around.  (Which is why you don’t see this site get too judgmental over moral issues.)

As always, you can follow us on Twitter right here.

There’s a danger in talking to someone about a job opening — You never know for sure if the candidate is really interested or if they’re just angling for a raise from their current employer.

In the case of Joe Alleva, it appears he was angling for a raise.

Despite Twitter reports yesterday afternoon that a deal was done between LSU’s athletic director and Tennessee officials, the Tigers still have their top boss in Baton Rouge today.  And Alleva is going to be getting a raise out of the deal.

“It was brought to my attention that the University of Tennessee was interested in Joe becoming their athletic director,” LSU chancellor Michael Martin said last night.  “In concert with the leadership of the Board of Supervisors, we determined it was in the best interests of the university to make him a sufficiently fair offer and opportunity to remain at LSU.”

Alleva currently makes about $500,000 per year.

“Baton Rouge is my home and I want to be a part of the community for a long time to come,” Alleva said in an LSU press release.  “Tennessee is a wonderful place.  But in the end I felt that Chancellor Martin has a great vision for LSU.”

“I think it’s the right outcome,” Martin told The Baton Rouge Advocate.  “We’ve done well under Joe’s leadership.  If you stand back and take a look at the program from a multiple year, multiple sport perspective, we’ve done as well as anyone could expect us to do.  Joe deserves a lot of credit for that.”

Meanwhile, Tennessee officials have to get back into search mode.  It was widely believed that Georgia Tech’s Dan Radakovich was the Vols’ top choice until the NCAA called out his athletic program two weeks ago.  Now UT has been spurned publicly by an AD inside its own conference.

As The Knoxville News Sentinel points out today, Tennessee’s search “has largely been tight-lipped” and “that is expected to continue as the process resumes.”  Alleva’s name was a last-minute surprise to many in Knoxville yesterday.

While no one knows if Alleva was indeed offered the UT job — it sure sounds like — LSU’s chancellor said: “My sense from a variety of sources was that they were very serious.”

As a result, Martin offered up more cash.  “I didn’t want him to go back to them and say, ‘This is what (LSU) offered.’  This was the deal, a fair and reasonable package that reflected Joe’s value to the program and the market we’re in.”

Unfortunately for Tennessee officials, it seems Alleva did go back to LSU and say, “This is what UT offered.”

For the past few weeks, a rumor has circulated around the Sunshine State and across the internet — Florida’s leading rusher from a year ago was giving up football for track.

But Jeff Demps said yesterday on UF’s website that that rumor wasn’t true:


“I concentrated on track this past spring and summer and I’m now ready to concentrate on football.  I’m looking forward to getting back together with my football teammates and having a great senior season.”


The diminutive speedster rushed for a team-high 551 yards in 2011.  He has averaged 7.1 yards per carry during his three-year career, though that figure is a bit skewed by the spread-option system that featured him.

It will be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Charlie Weis can take advantage of his skills this fall.  Demps is not the prototypical SEC back.  But Weis is not the prototypical SEC playcaller, either.

Good morning.  Let’s start where the big news always seems to be when it comes to the SEC — in the state of Alabama.  And like so many stories over the past few months, the big news of the day revolves around a potential football scandal at Alabama or Auburn.  Today it’s Alabama. 

Give it a week.

In this case, if it’s found that Tide players were paid for autographs or given merchandise at discounted rates by a Tuscaloosa menswear shop, those players could be ruled ineligible (or retroactively ineligible).  Think Ohio State.  Free tattoos brought down that program and have led to the vacation of a season’s worth of victories.  (The cover-up cost Jim Tressel his job, too.)

Players also are not allowed to have their likenesses used as advertising for a product or a shop, either.  It doesn’t look like that’s what’s been going on, but it’s part of this “investigation.”

The gist of the new info:


1.  UA put out a press release yesterday stating that it had found no violations of NCAA rules in its own investigation into the connection between multiple past and present players with a Tuscaloosa menswear store and its owner (who had Tide sideline passes in 2009 and 2010).

2.  The school released a letter that it sent to Tom Albetar — the store owner — on March 31st telling him that he was being disassociated from the program for three years.  Alabama had also sent him a cease-and-desist letter in December instructing him to stop selling merchandise featuring UA players’ autographs.

3.  Players like former Tide quarterback Greg McElroy are now coming forward to say that Albetar never paid them for their signatures.  Ex-player Chris Rogers said: “He’d (say), ‘Hey guys, I like you guys, but nothing is going to be free or discounted in there.  You have to pay for everything, because they’re watching me.  He would always say that, and he always would make sure you bought everything for what it was (worth).”

4.  Bama officials have still not filed a report with the SEC or NCAA, suggesting that they feel quite buttoned-up on this issue.

5.  Nick Saban spoke about the situation on KESN-FM in Dallas yesterday: “… Our compliance people have been on top of this for a long time.  I think this is an example of… it’s not a violation if you sign a shirt for somebody, you just can’t receive compensation for it.  We’ve done a cease-and-desist with this establishment a long time ago to make sure everybody understands what players can and can’t do.  You know, I guess I could ban our players from the place but until somebody can sorta convince me that somebody is doing something wrong — which I haven’t been convinced of yet — I don’t know if that’s fair to our players.”

6.  Meanwhile, the site OutkickTheCoverage.com — which happened to start this tempest with a launch-week story that ran just hours before Nick Saban’s SEC Media Days press conference — continues to ask questions.

7.  UA officials says they did discuss the matter with the SEC office.  The site questions why Bama officials initially said they did not file a report only to later come back and say that they did talk with the SEC. (Of course, it’s possible that there’s a difference between talking to the SEC office and filing a report.  Seems rather obvious to us.)

8.  The site also wonders what happened between last December’s cease-and-desist letter and the March letter disassociating Albetar from the program.  If nothing illegal was taking place, why was the second letter necessary?  That’s a good question.

9.  Here’s one of the site’s queries (verbatim): “Do you think Alabama would have ever released this letter without OKTC and the huge audience we’ve already created in less than a week pursuing this story?” 


On that front, we get to the meat of this story.  OutkickTheCoverage.com pulled a launch week coup by posting photos — and there’s no doubt in our minds those photos were sent to them by an Auburn-backer or 40 — of Bama players with Albetar.  In this day and age, that qualifies as “investigative journalism.”

Get a photo.  Post it.  Say “what’s up with that?” and then sit back and see where it goes.  When someone provides an answer, question the answer.  We’ve seen this same type of thing play out at SportsByBrooks.com again and again, too. 

It’s good business.

Clay Travis — the man behind OutkickTheCoverage.com — is an extremely sharp guy with an entertaining writing style.  He also would do anything for a pageview.  Nothing wrong with that, we suppose, as that’s how the business works.

Two years ago, Travis asked Tim Tebow at SEC Media Days if he still had his virginity.  Many laughed.  A few old-timers — like those of here at MrSEC.com — cringed at the line he had crossed.  That question was further proof that “old school” sports coverage was becoming more of a “National Enquirer,” “TMZ” style coverage.  You know why?  ‘Cause folks eat that stuff up.  Somebody’s been buying The Enquirer for all these years.

OutkickTheCoverage might have just found some real dirt on Alabama in this case.  It might lead to the downfall of its football program.  (Just as one of the 50 Auburn stories SportsByBrooks posted in the past 12 months might eventually damage the Tiger program.)

But we think this is a fishing expedition.  We feel the NCAA needs to get involved at this point to do some real legwork on the story… so we are not downplaying what OKTC has found.  We’re just suggesting that their method of investigation was pretty loose.

The trouble with sites like OutkickTheCoverage and SportsByBrooks is that they could post questionable photos of any program in the country.  While it doesn’t excuse a school’s actions, there’s some real truth in the old, “everybody does it,” line.  In this day and age, no player can be photographed with a booster, in a store or out to dinner without the photographer gaining the ability to start a controversy. 

It begins with a “What’s he doing there?” post.  Ten days later we may find that the player was doing nothing wrong at all.  Or we might find that John Edwards really was having an affair (to put things in a National Enquirer perspective).

These “investigations” aren’t “60 Minutes” in nature.  They’re much more toss-it-to-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks.

In this case, Alabama had better hope the photos OutkickTheCoverage has thrown against the wall don’t stick.  Or else the Tide could be on a Buckeye-like path to serious trouble.