SEC Football

1. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini to high school player Dominic Walker – who flipped his commitment from Nebraska to Auburn: “‘Best of luck, you’re going to need it.”

2. Most loyal fanbase in the country?  Survey says…Auburn.

3. Tennessee has to clamp down on over-exuberant students – eager to greet recruits with a welcome message.

4. Former Florida defensive back De’Ante “Pop” Sanders has enrolled at Tennessee State.

5. Alabama has four players in today’s Senior Bowl game.  All have something to prove.

6. LSU has two players in the game. Defensive end Lavar Edwards projected as a fourth-round pick. Wide receiver Russell Shepard expected to be a seventh-round pick or free agent.

7. Former LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu says he’ll attend the NFL draft combine in February.

8. Vanderbilt wants a Thanksgiving weekend series with Middle Tennessee State.  MTSU wants the series, which starts in 2015, to be the season opener.

9. A facelift of Missouri’s Memorial Stadium is underway. The addition will add more than 5,000 general admission seats and about 1,200 premium seats.

10. AJ McCarron and the responsibilities of being a quarterback at Alabama: ”I don’t think any of us can comprehend the pressure he has to win.”

11. Bear Bryant died 30 years ago today. Former players and coaches remember the private Bryant.

College News 

12. Former Miami assistant coach basketball coach Michael Schwartz will not receive a notice of allegations from the NCAA. Schwartz was an assistant to former Hurricanes coach and current Missouri coach Frank Haith.

13. University of Central Florida coach George O’Leary on the Miami investigation and NCAA president Mark Emmert:  ”I’m sure Mark (Emmert) didn’t know what was going on, but there are times when coaches don’t know what’s going on either and yet we’re getting punished.”

14. The president of the National College Players Association says a news conference on head injuries was cancelled because of pressure from the BCS.  ”The BCS has tried to actively silence us on this. That was pretty disturbing.”

SEC Basketball

15. With Craig Sword and Fred Thomas, Mississippi State has the No. 1 and No. 3 freshmen scorers in the SEC.

16. Florida has held opponents to 52 points or less 11 times this season.

17. How has Kentucky’s Kyle Wiltjer been in practice lately?  ”An animal.”

18. Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leads the team in scoring, rebounding and steals.

19. In conference play, Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson leads in scoring.  Tennessee’s Jordan McRae is second.

20. Status of Auburn’s Chris Denson and Jordan Price murky heading into the weekend.

21. Both Keion Bell and Laurence Bowers missed the last Missouri game. Bell has a better chance to play today against Vanderbilt.

22. When Mike Anderson left Missouri for Arkansas, Rotnei Clarke “didn’t feel comfortable” with the new coach and left for Butler.

Extra

23. Is a made-for-TV movie next? Katie Couric got Manti, Dr. Phil gets the alleged hoaxer.

The idea of landing a hot name in coaching circles — like Temple’s Al Golden — briefly excited Vanderbilt fans last week.  Alas, Golden was apparently less enthused about the prospect of having to resurrect Lazarus for a second time.  Would you want to rebuild Temple only to be rewarded with the tougher challenge of rebuilding Vandy… in the SEC?

So now assistant coaches are bubbling to the top of Vandy coaching pot.  Just as we expected.


1.  Vandy has a tradition of losing.

2.  Vandy plays in the toughest league in America.

3.  Vandy has horrible facilities.

4.  Vandy’s football budget lags behind those of Stanford, Northwestern and Duke.


It should be no surprise then that the newest names on Vandy’s list are Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin and Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson.  Assistants looking for a first-time gig — and a million-dollar paycheck — might be lured to Nashville.  Proven candidates likely will not.

ESPN’s Bruce Feldman tweeted this weekend that Watson was “slated to interview for the Vandy job” yesterday.  Nebraska lost 23-20 to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday night.

According to HuskerExtra.com, Bo Pelini was asked about Watson’s job opportunities just a few weeks ago.  “He’s had opportunities at some other jobs in the last couple years that he didn’t feel were the right opportunities or right places.  He didn’t even give them any consideration.”

Feldman also tweeted that Franklin might be a candidate.  Franklin is Maryland’s coach-in-waiting under Ralph Friedgen.  The Washington Post reports that  Franklin is due $1 million if he is not named the Terps head coach by January of 2012.  He is not believed to be a serious candidate for the VU job.

The Post also says that Temple’s Golden remains atop the Commodores’ wish list though several sources have already said that he is not interested. 

Vanderbilt has already interviewed Stanford offensive coordinator Greg Roman.  The two parties got together Friday in Atlanta according to The Tennessean.

There are several other names that have been connected to the Vandy job:


1.  Former Miami coach Randy Shannon

2.  Former Miami and current Texas-San Antonio coach Larry Coker

3.  Tulsa head coach Todd Graham

4.  Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst

5.  Former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden


And three candidates for the vacant job at Indiana are also believed to be in the running at Vandy:


1.  Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson

2.  Michigan State offensive coordinator Don Treadwell

3.  Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Doeren


The Tennessean reported Friday that Vandy is still interested in interviewing Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster and Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun, too.

Uh, yeah.

So Vandy’s next coach will either be:

Al Golden or James Franklin or Shawn Watson or Greg Roman or Randy Shannon or Larry Coker or Todd Graham or Paul Chryst or Tommy Bowden or Kevin Wilson or Don Treadwell or Dave Doeren or Gus Malzahn or Bud Foster or Troy Calhoun. 

Or not.

Either a) Vanderbilt is putting out a big smokescreen of disinformation over their search process or b) the Commodores are casting a very wide net in the hopes of finding anyone who might actually be interested in taking their job.

Judging by the school’s plan to interview 10 candidates before moving to a second round or interviews, it looks like b is the answer.