Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen has an idea.  He’s thinking about proposing it as a future rule change, which would mean it would need backing inside the SEC and then outside with the NCAA.

According to Michael Carvell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mullen would like to see a four-week “dead period” during the summer that would completely sever ties between coaches and recruits.  No visits, no calls, no nothing.

The plan would allow each school to pick its own off weeks.

Carvell asked a number of SEC coaches for their take on Mullen’s notion.  The results?  Pretty favorable.

James Franklin, Vanderbilt:  “I’d be in favor of some time in the summer so that the coaches can truly have some time off.  That to me was one of the advantages of coaching in the NFL.  You truly had time off, where in college you really don’t… I’m I’m on vacation with my family for a week in the summer and the #1 recruit in the country calls me and he wants to come by your campus, what am I going to say?  No?”

Butch Jones, Tennessee:  “I think (recruiting) has been accelerated so hectic that I would be a proponent (of Mullen’s idea), even if it’s only a two-week dead period in July, where it really allows these individuals to sit back, relax and have some time off. I think the other things with these rules that we lose sight of is that we still have to coach our current teams. We’re responsible to them. We’re mentors to our current players. I think, with the all the deregulation going on, is that we have to remember we have to take care of our current teams as well.”

Mark Stoops, Kentucky:  “If we let ourselves, we could work every minute of every day. There’s got to be some balance where you spend time with your own team and developing your team. And spending time with your own family, and things of that nature. I have not heard of that before, but it does sound like a pretty good idea to me.”

LSU’s Les Miles was also in favor of some down time in one form or another.

With so many coaches reacting positively to Mullen’s suggestion, expect him to put on the table at this year’s SEC spring meetings in Destin.

When Tennessee chased Mike Gundy for its then-vacant head coaching position in December, the word leaked from Stillwater than Oklahoma State’s coach was upset about how tough his non-conference schedules were becoming.  Most thought that an alum of OSU who’d had much success at OSU would not leave OSU over scheduling issues.

In the end, he did not.  But he almost did.  At least according to Gundy in an interview with CBSSports.com.  And indeed, it was tied in large part to the schedules his AD was lining up.

“At some point, that’s where we thought we were going to go,” Gundy said of Tennessee.  But eventually the Cowboys’ coach decided to stay put — despite a UT courtship that included governor of the Volunteer State.  He also worked things out with athletic director Mike Holder.

“What head coach and AD Agree on everything?  They might not say it, but Mike and I do,” Gundy said of Holder.

According to Gundy’s comments, he was closer to taking the Tennessee job than many had actually thought.  Good thing for new Vol coach Butch Jones that Gundy (and Louisville’s Charlie Strong) decided to pass on the opportunity to coach in the SEC East.

SEC Football

1. Florida wide receivers coach Joker Phillips battles other schools and apparently Batman and Robin as well.  Phillips posted an all-caps note on his Twitter account this morning: “IT’S TIME TO PLAY WR FOR THE JOKER!” It included a picture of the deceased Heath Ledger as the Joker with the movie  line from The Dark Knight, “Ooohhh.  You Want To Play? Come On!”

IT’S TIME TO COME PLAY WR FOR THE JOKER! #ComePlayWRForTheJoker #GatorNation #SpreadTheWord twitter.com/jokerphillips/…

— Joker Phillips (@jokerphillips) March 27, 2013

2. Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops wanted to get the attention of quarterback prospect Drew Barker.  UK sent Barker 115 letters. Hand-written. In a single day. “I opened up the mailbox like I do every day, and they started falling out,” Barker told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “ I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ It was insane what it looked like in my mailbox. It was all crammed in there, and they had a bunch of rubber bands around them. It was pretty awesome, and I was pretty shocked.” Barker said Stoops himself had written 10 of the letters.  The 115 letters is apparently a record, eclipsing outputs from Tennessee coach Butch Jones recently and a Nick Saban/Alabama campaign last year.

Barker just returned from a visit to South Carolina.  He’s also planning to visit Tennessee, Ole Miss and possibly Louisville.  He’s also planning to attend the spring game at both Kentucky and South Carolina.

3. LSU recruit Rickey Jefferson, brother of former Tigers quarterback Jordan Jefferson, pleaded not guilty today to a felony charge of resisting arrest.  In early February, Jefferson allegedly attacked a narcotics agent who was arresting a friend of Jefferson’s in a parking lot.

4. LSU landed its eighth verbal commitment in the class of 2014 Tuesday.  Fort Pierce, Florida linebacker Sharieff Rhaheed paid a visit to the LSU campus and told Les Miles he wanted to be a Tiger.  ”It was great. Talking to coach Miles and the NFL players were the highlight of the day. It was really exciting. He was excited about my film. He watched it a couple of times. Feels good to be a Tiger!”

SEC Basketball

5. Huntington Prep (W. Va) star and Kentucky target Andrew Wiggins is the Gatorade National Player of the Year. Wiggins is considered the No. 1 recruit in the country and is considering Kentucky, Kansas, Florida State and North Carolina. The 6-foot-8 Wiggins has not indicated when he will make a decision.

SEC Basketball

1. Defense and a late Marshall Henderson surge helped Ole Miss beat Wisconsin 57-46.

2. Ole Miss forward Reginald Buckner’s line: Nine points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. “It was one of my best.”

3. Henderson got into a twitter battle with a fake Ryan Harrow account.

4. Florida’s defense smothered Northwestern State in the second half of a 79-47 win.

5. Friday was a day of upsets, but not in Austin. The Gators avoided any potential embarrassment.

6. Florida will meet Minnesota and former SEC coach Tubby Smith on Sunday.

7. Alabama coach Anthony Grant saluted Mal Moore and welcomed new athletic director Bill Battle.

8. Andrew Steele’s season is officially over. He had ankle surgery on Wednesday.

9. What happened to college basketball in Louisiana? Jeff Duncan examines.

SEC Football

10. Harvey Updyke – the Toomers Oaks poisoner – was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday.

11. Radio host Paul Finebaum on Updyke: “For everyone’s sake, I’m just glad this is finally over.”

12. Florida linebacker Antonio Morrison is filling a leadership role for the Gators.

13. Bruce Feldman of CBSSports.com was in Knoxville to write about Butch Jones’ challenge at Tennessee.

14. Take a look at Alabama’s defensive backs in the Crimson Tide’s latest practice.

15. Running back Brandon Williams will be the next breakout star for Texas A&M, writes Barrett Sallee.

16. Nose tackle John Jenkins weighed 370 pounds when he played for Georgia last season.

17. Linebacker Avery Williamson is working to learn another defense at Kentucky.

18. Kentucky fans seem excited about football as they continue to buy spring game tickets.

19. Former Vanderbilt QB Jordan Rodgers has tried to show NFL teams he can throw the ball downfield.

20. Sophomore Evan Boehm’s move to center is close to being permanent for Missouri.

Extras

21. Western Kentucky almost made history Friday night but fell to No. 1 seed Kansas.

22. The Big East has two teams remaining in the NCAA tournament, only one more than the SEC.

23. Interesting story in the L.A. Times on UCLA star Shabazz Muhammad. Read how Muhammad’s father turned him into a star.

SEC Basketball

1. It’s Ole Miss vs. Florida and Marshall Henderson vs. Scottie Wilbekin.  Henderson: “I had 25 on him last time…I get the best defender of every team every single time. It’s been that way for my entire life.”

2. Henderson’s postseason goal? “Make a name for myself so I can get this money.”

3. Would an Ole Miss loss today help Tennessee? Jerry Palm has the Vols in at the No. 12 seed in the West.

4. NIT invitation for Tennessee could present some Thompson-Boling Arena scheduling headaches.

5. Here’s how Kentucky’s resume stacks up against other bubble team profiles.

6. Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News says no to Kentucky, yes to Ole Miss.

7. Despite the loss yesterday, optimism at Vanderbilt.  Senior-less Commodores return entire roster.

8. Alabama has had two second-half leads against Florida, but couldn’t close the deal either time.  ”Florida outscored Alabama by a combined 61-21 to finish both games.”

9. Looks like the state of Alabama will be shut out of the NCAA Tournament.  Joe Dean, Jr. : “College basketball in the state of Alabama at the Division I level needs help.” (Alabama isn’t the only state with this problem.)

10. The Achilles’ heel of Missouri’s season – late fades.

SEC Football

11. Florida was in full pads Saturday. Running back Matt Jones “was the most impressive offensive player of the day.”

12. With spring practice starting at Ole Miss, are the Rebels undersized up front on defense?

13. Tennesssee coach Butch Jones on why it’s important to always keep score: “I think you have to find out about individuals when their blood pressure goes up and how they perform when there’s something on the line.”

14. LSU’s secondary – a young and inexperienced group. John Chavis: ”We’ve got some work to do there but we have the players.”

15. LSU had one early enrollee back in 2008 - they have eight this year.

16. Quarterback Chad Kanoff signed with Vanderbilt – but he’s decided to enroll at Princeton.

17. Georgia’s Ramik Wilson is focused on an expanding role as a starting inside linebacker.

18. Can a go-to receiver emerge at Auburn?

19. Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley is still recovering from offseason surgery on his right shoulder.

20. Alabama has eight quarterbacks in spring practice. AJ McCarron couldn’t squat 225 pounds when he arrived Alabama – now his goal is 600 pounds.

21. Nick Saban on running a successful organization: “Define everyone’s role. When I was with Bill Belichick and the Cleveland Browns, he had everyone’s role detailed and outlined for them. He had one sign in the building: “Do YOUR job.”

Tennessee coach Butch Jones inherited a mess when he was hired on Dec. 7.

The Vols had just finished their third straight losing season and fourth in the last five years. At the same time, Tennessee’s 2013 class was hanging around the bottom half of the SEC while its top rivals in the league were preparing to bring in more championship-caliber players.

So it’s no surprise Jones and his staff made the 2014 class a priority before the 2013 class was even signed.

“Recruiting is a relationship business, and you’re trying to work as fast as you can to build those relationships,” Jones said on signing day on Feb. 6.

Jones has had to work even harder because of the damaged relationships between in-state high schools and the previous coaching staff at Tennessee, led by former head coach Derek Dooley.

The Vols failed to sign one of the top five players in the state in 2013. Top-rated prospect Jalen Ramsey (Florida State signee) from Brentwood visited Tennessee but never strongly considered the Vols. Chattanooga safety Vonn Bell signed with Ohio State because Dooley didn’t built a relationship with Bell, according to his father.

Other Tennessee high school coaches claim to have never met Dooley. But they’ve met Jones, and his effort appears to be paying off.

Tennessee received commitments from Webb School of Knoxville safety Todd Kelly Jr. on Sunday and followed that up on Thursday with a pledge from Beech (Hendersonville) High School running back Jalen Hurd, the state’s top-ranked player and the No. 15 overall prospect for the 2014 class, according to Rivals.

Both Hurd and Kelly took closer looks at Tennessee, which has five commitments for 2014, after the coaching change. In fact, the Vols were barely on Hurd’s radar less than four months ago.

“I didn’t have much of a relationship with Coach Dooley or his staff,” Hurd told the Chattanooga Times Free-Press in November.

Jones made sure that changed, letting Hurd know he was a priority shortly after taking over at Tennessee. Another boost for the Vols came on Christmas Day when athlete Vic Wharton from Independence High School in Nashville, Tenn., became Tennessee’s first commitment for the 2014 class.

Wharton has since focused on spreading the word about Tennessee to recruits throughout the state and nation. He’s done so with his twitter account, which is filled with messages promoting the program.

Do you wanna #RiseToTheTop or get Left at the Bottom!? The decision is obvious! #VOLS

— Victor LaRoy Wharton (@VWharton5) March 15, 2013

Hurd and Kelly have gotten into the mix as well. Kelly said Monday he would call several prospects to help recruit them to Tennessee. Hurd was one of them.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Tennessee coach Butch Jones has landed a big one.  Five-star running back Jalen Heard took to Twitter this morning to announce that he’s committing to the Vols.  The Hendersonville, TN back becomes the fifth player in Tennessee’s 2014 class – the fourth in the last week.

2. New Orleans running back Leonard Fournette, considered the top back in the country, is paying a quick visit to Alabama and he’s bringing a few teammates with him  Cornerback Jermaine Roberts and lineman Joseph Paul both have offers from several programs.

3. Carrollton, Texas 2015 offensive line prospect Zach Rogers visited Arkansas over the weekend and came away impressed with new coach Bret Bielema.  ”He was a lot different than I thought he would be. I was more impressed than I thought I would be…”I could definitely see myself playing for him one day.”  Rogers also has offers from Texas Tech and UCLA. Razorbacks will have some prospects in attendance at football practice.

4. Kingsland, Georgia cornerback Kalvaraz Bessent is an Alabama commitment.  He grew up a Florida fan, so the move surprised a lot of people, including his high school coach. Jeff Herron.  ”I thought he would commit to Florida. He’d been a Florida fan all his life and was really leaning that way. But he went to Alabama for a junior day and was so impressed by every part of it.”

5. Opelika, Alabama cornerback Stephen Roberts has Alabama as his leader, with Auburn at No.2 on his list.

6. Georgia has 13 recruits that have enrolled early this spring.  Don’t expect this trend to go away anytime soon. Getting a jumpstart on a college career is an advantage that coach Mark Richt likes his athletes to have.   “We’ve never really had any kid come in at midyear and say that was a mistake for them.”

7. What do recruits think about proposed rules that would deregulate the process? ”The crazy thing is the nonstop text messages they can send you any time of the day. That is going to blow a lot of phones up.”

Last month, Georgia signee Davin Bellamy tweeted that during one of his last in-home visits from a coaching staff, “a school spent an hour and (a) half telling me why I shouldn’t go to Georgia.”

Michael Carvell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution caught up with a number of SEC coaches, including UGA’s Mark Richt to get their take on negative recruiting.  A sampling:

“…If you hear me talking about another school, if I’m you, I’m not going to listen much to what I have to say.  but when I tell you about Georgia and the reality of what’s going on at Georgia, then I want you to believe what I’m telling you.  We try to make sure that we’re going about it (in) a very positive way, and talkinga bout great things at Georgia.”

– Mark Richt, Georgia

“There were a lot of false accusations they (rival coaches) were using against the University of Tennessee in the recruiting process.  All I can speak of is what we’re going to do here at the University of Tennessee, and we’re going to do nothing but sell our football program and present the fact to prospective student-athletes.”

– Butch Jones, Tennessee

“It’s all over the place.  We hear it consistently from a lot of different angles.  I think when you have a really good product to sell, you can focuse on your product.”

– James Franklin, Vanderbilt

Read the rest of this entry »

New head football coach Butch Jones has suffered his first big loss at Tennessee.  Volquest.com — the Rivals site covering Tennessee — reports today that Vol running backs coach Jay Graham has verbally accepted an offer from Jimbo Fisher to join his Florida State staff in the same capacity.  Regarded as a strong recruiter, Graham left South Carolina to return to his alma mater under Derek Dooley in late-2011.

The site reports that Graham will receive “more money with more responsibility” in Tallahassee.

Jones and his first batch of Volunteers open spring practice in a little less than two weeks.  They’ll need to find a running backs coach between now and then.  According to the coach’s Twitter feed his search is already underway:

 1. Alabama makes the hiring of former Miami assistant Mario Cristobal official today.  He’ll be assistant head coach and coach the offensive.

2. Born and raised in Miami, Cristobal has both played and coached in the Miami area.  Could be a huge recruiting asset in South Florida.

3. Tennessee coach Butch Jones says his assistants are in demand.  Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian had been approached by two SEC schools this offseason, and receivers coach Zach Azzanni has “turned down three SEC jobs this year.”

4. Arkansas coach Bret Bielema on how to practice during the season: “You have two heavy work days on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday is shine and polish, Friday is a walk(through) and Saturday you play. If you try to do more than that in a week, players begin to break down.”

5. In 2014, new LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron will make $1.1 million - the same as defensive coordinator John Chavis.

6. Do John Calipari’s postgame comments Saturday after the loss to  Tennessee “give pause to any prep players thinking about being ’Cats”?