A collection of some of our favorite news, notes and quotes around the SEC…

Mark Richt on Sheldon Richardson’s Apology

Richt: “I thought it was big of him to kind of grab me and say he had a lot of respect for our program and our team.”

— Gentry Estes (@GentryEstes247) September 11, 2012

Wes Rucker on the Tennessee/Florida matchup

Florida wants to slow down the game, and Tennessee wants to be Playstation fast. This is Bizzaro World. — Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) September 11, 2012

Andre Woodson On Current Kentucky QB

Former UK QB Andre’ Woodson, now a student assistant, on the Cats’ current QB: “I truly believe Max is going to break a lot of records.” — Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) September 11, 2012

Long Time, No See

Royce Boehm, dad of #Mizzou freshman O-lineman, on seeing Evan for first time in a month: “Your ham hocks are ginormous!” — Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) September 11, 2012

First Impressions

New A&M AD Eric Hyman on attending his first Yell Practice: ‘It absolutely knocked the socks off of me.’ — Brent Zwerneman (@BrentZwerneman) September 11, 2012

“Daredevil” Bray

#Gators CB Marcus Roberson calls Vols QB Tyler Bray a “daredevil” because he forces throws into coverage. “We like that,” he adds. — Mark Long (@APMarkLong) September 11, 2012

A&M Coordinator Clears Up Any Confusion

OC Kliff Kingsbury on SMU creating 10 turnovers against SFA: ‘We’re not Stephen F. Austin.’ — Brent Zwerneman (@BrentZwerneman) September 11, 2012

The Ol’Ball Coach Has A Question

Steve Spurrier on his OL: “We run a lot of plays, they don’t touch anybody. You ever seen that? … At least bump into somebody.” — Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) September 11, 2012

40 Times Your Money

A Cantor book in LV took a $3K bet on LA Monroe v Arkansas at +4000.Ticket cashed for $120K.Bettor wanted to make 5K bet but was denied. — Gill Alexander (@beatingthebook) September 11, 2012

Danielson on Justin Hunter

CBS analyst Gary Danielson says via a conference call that a lot of NFL cornerbacks would struggle to cover Justin Hunter right now. — Daniel Lewis (@Daniel_LewisCBS) September 11, 2012

No Cowbells

All bags brought into Troy’s Stadium are subject to search. Fans found with cowbells will have an opportunity to return it to their vehicle. — mstate Football (@mstateFB) September 11, 2012

Can Arkansas beat Alabama?

CBS Sports’ Gary Danielson on Ark chances v Bama,’If they can pull this out, this would be as big of an upset as ULM beating Arkansas.’ — Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) September 11, 2012

Tyler Wilson Update

Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson is watching from the field, but not practicing today. Allen, Mitchell working at QB. — Robbie Neiswanger (@NWARobbie) September 11, 2012

Line Movement

The Alabama-Arkansas line is inflating at roughly the rate of the German mark after World War I.

— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) September 11, 2012

SEC East

1. Mizzou wide receiver T.J. Moe on teammate Sheldon Richardson’s comments regarding Georgia: “If you need somebody to say something for you to play any harder, then you’re probably not playing the game right in the first place.”

2. Jon Gruden: “I like what Georgia does offensively.”

3. Mizzou linebacker Will Ebner listed as questionable for Georgia but says “I’ll be on the field Saturday.”

4. Then Florida State offensive coordinator Mark Richt interviewed for the coaching  job at Mizzou back in 2000.  He faces them for the first time as Georgia’s head coach on Saturday.

5. Injury update for the Bulldogs – tailback Ken Malcome expected to play on Saturday.

6. Florida coach Will Muschamp on naming Jeff Driskel the Gators’ starting quarterback.   ”(A)t the end of the day, I felt we needed to name a guy and move forward.”

7. Muschamp gets a gift basket from the mayor of College Station, Texas.  “It was nice. Very appreciative.”

8. Tennessee’s new fast-paced offense produced 79 plays on Saturday – the most since a quadruple OT game back in 2007.

9. Concern over the offense at South Carolina?  Gamecocks have passed for less than 100 yards three times in the last seven games.

10. Joker Phillips on Kentucky’s home-opening opponent:”Kent State’s probably looking at us thinking they have an opportunity to beat a BCS team.”

11. Mark Story: (T)here are some disturbing trends emerging for Joker.  Fact-checking preseason promises.

12. Vanderbilt faces a Northwestern team on Saturday that scored 42 points against Syracuse in a duel-quarterback system 

SEC West

13. “Gameday” has been a sad day for Texas A&M in the past.

14. Just how big a game is Mississippi State for Auburn? “(Gene) Chizik is about to lead his team into the most important game he’s coached without (Cam) Newton at quarterback. “

15. One area to focus on for Tigers – the play of their defensive tackles “has to improve significantly.”

16. Auburn fullback Jay Prosch transferred from Illinois to be closer to his ailing mother.  She died on Sunday.

17. Alabama center Barrett Jones on freshman running back T.J. Yeldon: “I don’t think it’s a secret that he might be the next one — kind of in line to take over that title of our great running back.”

18. “There is no grand experiment going on in Tuscaloosa, just an intensely driven, sometimes mean-spirited, often obsessive football coach trying to win games.”

19. After three fumbles on Saturday, a focus on ball security at Arkansas.

20. After giving up 24 points to Jacksonville State, “ there is some legitimate concern for the defense right now.”

21. Advice for LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger: You don’t have to win games for the Tigers - just need to focus on not losing them.

22. A behind-the-scenes look at Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and his first game week. Monday press conference notes.

SEC/College News

23. A Mississippi State writer has LSU No. 1 on his ballot – Alabama No. 3.  A Georgia writer has those spots reversed.

24. Athlon’s SEC power rankings.

25. Nick Saban likes the new helmet rule in college football.

26. Time for some other new rules? “The NCAA or the BCS or whoever’s in charge of college football these days should ban games against lower-division teams. “

27. The switch in conferences has business booming in Columbia, Mo.

Extra

28.  The world’s highest-paid athletes of 2012.  The first two on the list are boxers.

Will he or won’t he?

Will a coach survive this fall and live to coach again at the same school next year… or will he be ousted?  For some coaches, there’s no debate.  For many there could be more debate than you might think.

Each year, when we look at the hottest seats in the SEC, we try to create a baseline from which all coaches can be judged.  For the past few years, that’s been a 5-7 record in the regular season.  In 2008, two of the SEC’s best coaches over the long careers lost their jobs following surprisingly disappointing 5-7 campaigns: Tommy Tuberville at Auburn and Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee.

Last season, Mark Richt entered the year with a Bunsen burner beneath his chair because he’d finished 2010 with a 6-7 record.  But there’s still a big difference between 6-7 — losing #7 in a bowl game — and finishing under .500 in the regular season.

So once again, we’re going to focus in on what a 5-7 season would likely mean for each coach in the Southeastern Conference this year.  And we believe there are four categories — as you’ll see by clicking to read more — that the league’s 14 coaches would fall into based upon that specific final record.

Read the rest of this entry »

As we pointed out earlier this week, Ken Malcome — Georgia’s most likely starter at tailback — once left the team for about a day before coming back and asking Mark Richt for a second chance.  Richt gave that chance.  He usually does.  Why?  Because he once decided to leave Miami during his playing days, he changed his mind, and Howard Schnellenberger welcomed him back.

According to The Macon Telegraph, Richt said he has a standard warning for players considering a transfer:

“I’ll them, ‘Son, there’s a different between making that decision to leave and then living it out.’  You’re gonna make that decision, and now all of a sudden you’re gonna live the reality of that decision.  If you feel like you did something that you shouldn’t have done, then I’m ore than likely gonna allow you to come back.  Not always.”

With Malcome slotted as his top running back, it’s a good thing Richt let him come back.

Georgia’s coach is also looking forward to the return of several suspended and/or injured players on his defense this year:

“The reality is our first couple of game we’re not going to have everybody out there that would have normally been starters.  We’ve got to make sure we play outstanding defense until we become full strength again.”

The Bulldogs open with Buffalo at home then travel to Missouri for the Tigers first-ever home SEC game.

You knew it was coming.  Someone was going to ask Mark Richt why Georgia always seems to have so many players suspended and dismissed.  His response:

“People are human.  People make mistakes.  When they do you discipline it.  Some people have policies (like UGA) that bring certain things to light and some people don’t. 

The bottom line is — I love every guy on our team.  Part of love is to be able to help teach ‘em right from wrong and when they make mistakes you need to discipline them in such a way that hopefully they’ll become better men down the road. 

So that’s what we do at Georgia and to say that issues aren’t happening around the country isn’t really realistic.”

Hard to argue with that.  If a kid fails a test for marijuana at another school, it might not make the press and the player might not miss a second of action.  At Georgia, that player would get an automatic suspension for 10% of his season and all of the negative publicity that comes with such a penalty.

That didn’t take long.

This morning, we reported that a source in the University of Georgia administration told us that Isaiah Crowell’s overnight arrest on three gun-related charges — two of them felonies — would be the last straw for the sophomore tailback.  By early afternoon, our source’s comment had borne out.

In a terse statement from announcing Crowell’s dismissal from the UGA football team, Mark Richt’s quote was as follows:

“We have a dedicated and committed group of men who are working hard to prepare for the coming season.  Our total focus will be directed toward the team and this effort.”

Thus ends the brief career of Crowell who a year ago February was being looked upon by some folks as “the next Herschel Walker.”  Instead, he’s gone after 850 yards, two suspensions, a reputation for loafing, and an arrest on gun charges.  Here’s hoping the young man can rebound to salvage his playing career and his future.

As for Georgia, it’s another blow for a team picked to twin the SEC East.  The Dawgs will open against Buffalo and then travel to Missouri for its first division and conference game without Crowell and probably without a number of suspended defensive backs.  Faurot Field will be rocking at a fever pitch and if Richt’s team isn’t careful — and “dedicated and committed” — they might just find themselves having to dig out of 0-1 start in the SEC for the second year in a row.

A bad break for Georgia.  A sad ending for Crowell.

Those four people who were in the car with Isaiah Crowell when he was arrested at a road block at 2:20am (and booked at 3:37am) in Athens today?  Yep, they were members of the Georgia football team, too.

According to the recently released police report, three signees from Mark Richt’s 2012 class and another current Bulldog player were riding along with Crowell when officers at a checkpoint smelled marijuana, searched the tailback’s car, and found a 9-mm Luger with an altered serial number under the driver’s seat.

At this point, there are no charges against Sheldon Dawson (freshman defensive back), Josh Harvey-Clemons (freshman linebacker), Blake Tibbs (freshman receiver), and Quintavius Harrow (sophomore defensive back).  The fact that three newbies were hanging out with Crowell, who’s not exactly been a great role model since arriving at UGA, probably turns a few Bulldog fans’ stomachs.

But this is where things get more interesting.

According to the Crowell, he and his teammates were leaving an Athens club called Aftermath — appropriately enough — and that the smell of marijuana came from the club.  If so, there must be some sweet, stinky weed ablaze in that joint (pun intended):

Crowell said he let one of the other players drive the car and denied knowing that the gun was in the car.  The vehicle is registered to Crowell’s mother.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Crowell’s bond was actually raised from $7,500 to $9,500 late this morning.  The Athens Banner-Herald had previously reported that bond had been dropped to $6,000 and that Crowell had been handed a 10pm curfew.

Despite his many issues, Crowell was still named the SEC’s Freshman of the Year by The Associated Press last season.

The University of Georgia and football coach Mark Richt finally agreed to and announced that new contract extension they’ve been working on since the end of last season.  Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham got a new deal, too.  It was even announced that AD Greg McGarity had had his contract extended, too.

But the most interesting part of all this news?  Richt’s buyout.  On Georgia’s end, the school would owe the coach $4.8 million if it fires him after this coming season, just $2.4 million after 1013, down to $1.6 million after 2014, and all the way down to $800,000 after 2015.  If the coach remains in place for that length of time — which means he’s had continued success — it’s likely the contract and buyouts will be changed.

That said, that’s even the most interesting part of the buyout portion of the contract.  If Richt leaves UGA on his own, he will owe the school nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Not a penny.  Through the life of the entire deal.

Under his previous agreement, Richt would have had to pay the school at least $2 million had he exited for another job.

“There’s no question that Mark Richt wants to be at the University of Georgia,” McGarity said of the new pact.  “He and I are in a great place.  This is a very positive deal… I don’t want anybody to read anything into that other than it’s all good on both side of the ledger here.”

Georgia’s AD added: “I think people are gonna twist it and say whatever they want to about it.  But I’m just telling you the truth.  I’m telling you how it is between Mark and myself.  There’s no monkey business here.”

Regarding that no buyout portion of the deal, Richt said:

“I think it’s Greg’s philosophy on the contract.  It’s not something that I was asking for.  It was something that he suggested and I said that would be fine.  I think the bottom line for me, gosh, I think I’ve been here long enough for everybody to understand… that Georgia’s my home.  Georgia’s where I want to be.  Georgia’s the only job I want.”

“At the end of the day, I’ve always believed that money should not be a determining factor that people stay,” McGarity said.  “I’ve just felt like that shouldn’t really be an anchor around anybody’s neck.  Life’s too short.  If someone wants to move on, I have no problem with that.  This sort of allows people to do what they really want to do.”

Richt — as expected — did not receive much of a raise, standing pat on salary at about $2.8 million per year through 2016.  His bonuses and incentives did double, as had previously been announced.  According to McGarity, Richt’s bonuses are “among the top in college football, if not the top.”

Now, back to McGarity’s comment that he doesn’t want anyone reading into the no-buyout thing.  Some already are.  For example, there’s already speculation among some Dawg fans that the lack of a buyout might allow McGarity — if faced with a tough situation in a year or two — to “encourage” Richt to find another job.  The coach, of course, could hold out, demand to be fired and collect his own small buyout from the school.  Or he could save face, say he made the move on his own, leave free and clear, and keep McGarity from having to oust a man who’ll someday be revered as a legend in Athens.

Well, that’s possible.  Doubtful, but possible.

McGarity himself received a pay raise from UGA’s board yesterday in addition to a two-year extension.

As for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, the third year assistant will get a raise from $700,000 per season to $825,000.  In the age of million-dollar coordinators, that’s a darned good value for UGA.

At last week’s SEC Spring Meetings, Arkansas and Texas A&M worked together to push through a new piece of legislation.  With those schools planning to take their football series back to Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas in a couple of years, they wanted the designated “home” team each year to be able to bring recruits to the game.  (Arkansas also plays game in Little Rock, as well.)  The SEC agreed to the schools’ proposal.

But this week, Florida and Georgia officials announced that they had agreed not to bring recruits to their annual neutral site tilt in Jacksonville.  That left more than a few fans of both schools bewildered and/or ticked as hell.

Yesterday, UGA AD Greg McGarity explained the decision to The Macon Telegraph:

“Here’s the thing, and it’s probably educating the general public: The only thing we could do down there (in Jacksonville) is provide (a recruit) and two friends (or) family members tickets to the game. My coaches can’t interact, support staff can’t.  Once we’re off campus, we can have no contact with those unofficial recruits.  So they are there getting a ticket from our operations staff or our compliance staff and going in the stadium.

“As opposed to an official or unofficial visit on campus, we’re able to entertain them, show them around the campus, we’re able to give them access to the field, to the locker room, all these things…

There’s just so many factors involved that it’s just not worth your bang for your buck there.”

But there is enough bang for the buck for Arkansas and Texas A&M to do it in Arlington?  That’s the question a lot of Dawg and Gator fans will be asking now.

On a sidenote, McGarity also revealed that the UGA board is expected to approve Mark Richt’s new contract extension tomorrow.

Going into the 2012 season, Tennessee Derek Dooley and Kentucky’s Joker Phillips will be sitting in the warmest seats.  With a bad year, Dan Mullen, Mark Richt, Gene Chizik or Will Muschamp could hear some grumbles, too, but Dooley and Phillips appear to be coaching for their jobs right from the start.

That kind of talk doesn’t phase Dooley.  He saw it first-hand with his father, Vince Dooley at Georgia:

“You’re always on the hot seat in this profession… I grew up in it.  I grew up with the ‘Dump Dooley’ signs and the ‘For Sale’ signs in our yard and the house getting rolled after a loss.  It’s something you have to accept.”

Interestingly, Dooley also makes a point that we ourselves made last September in defending Mark Richt’s stellar record in Athens — Vince Dooley wouldn’t have lasted 25 years at UGA in the current environment.  ”I think my father would be the first to tell you there are two or three times during his 25 years (at Georgia) that he would have gotten fired under today’s standards… But we get a lot more money.  That’s the drawback.  You can’t have it both ways.”