Randy Galloway of The Fort Wort Star-Telegram is the latest journalist to kick Texas AD DeLoss Dodds around for his latest comments regarding Texas A&M.  Earlier this week Dodds said that it was A&M that scuttled the Longhorns/Aggies rivalry, that it would only be re-started under Texas’ rules, and that Longhorn fans don’t even care about playing their most hated rival any longer.

That’s all nonsense, of course, and everyone outside of those in burnt orange knows it.

That’s why Galloway believes it’s time for Dodds to get over his Aggie-phobia:

“Well, first, not once as the Aggies were departing the Big 12 did anyone in College Station say the rivalry with UT was over. It was just the opposite. School officials repeatedly said, with the move to the SEC, A&M wanted to continue the game, and if it could no longer happen at Thanksgiving, pick another date.

Second, if DeLoss is actually listening to his fan base, I’d like to know what his poll says on Mack Brown continuing as head coach.

But these are tough times for Dodds. Shockingly, the Aggies became the national talk of college football in their first SEC season. The Longhorns, after the last couple of seasons, just hope they are still talked about in Austin.

Based on current conditions, DeLoss should have a wet finger in the air, and be playing the wind. If he doesn’t want to play A&M again, a much more diplomatic answer to the question would come across better.

DeLoss had the PR hammer as the Aggies departed. In a one-eighty, the Aggies now have the hammer.

The rivalry, at some point — probably after DeLoss retires — will continue. It should continue. Everyone knows that.”

Galloway also did a little recon on other Texas-based schools that used to play A&M to see who’d be interested in scheduling them again.  Texas Tech and TCU are both in favor of playing the Aggies.  Baylor — which threatened lawsuits in an attempt to block A&M’s move to the SEC — shows no interest.

But if given the opportunity to fire up some old rivalries, here’s guessing the Bears would rank behind the Longhorns, Red Raiders and Horned Frogs on most Aggie fans’ lists.

SEC associate commissioner and PR man extraordinaire Charles Bloom is leaving the league office to take over as senior associate athletics director of external affairs at South Carolina.

Bloom has done a great job for the SEC over the years and he’s been very kind to this website and this writer.  No question has gone unanswered and his responses have usually been quite rapid.

Carolina got a good one today.

Normally on this site we don’t dive too deeply into women’s sports.  Heck, we don’t dive into the non-revenue men’s sports, either.  But when a former female employee files an “unlawful discrimination” suit against an SEC school and its athletic director in federal court and it involves a coaching legend, yeah, we’ve gotta mention it.

After serving for more than 35 years as the Tennessee Lady Vols’ main PR person, Debby Jennings was forced out of her position in May.  The University of Tennessee has been working to combine its men’s and women’s athletic departments into one unit for some time… and this spring the axe fell on a number of people, including Jennings.  Today, Jennings got her revenge.

Her lawsuit claims that UT athletic director Dave Hart gave Jennings three options back in May: retire, resign, or be fired for “insubordination.”  The suit consists of 41 pages and 11 exhibits, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel.  In it, Jennings requests that Hart and fellow UTAD employees Chris Fuller and Jimmy Stanton undergo “appropriate diversity and ethics training.”

The real kicker — and I suppose it’s included to show that Hart does not like women — is the claim that Hart forced Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt into retirement.  Summitt is suffering from early-onset dementia.  Jennings’ suit claims that Summitt was “very upset and extremely hurt” after being told that she would not coach the team in 2012-13.

For Hart, this could be a PR kick to the teeth in the Volunteer State.  Jennings might as well have claimed Hart voted for Charles Woodson in the 1997 Heisman race or that he stole Davy Crockett’s coonskin cap.  You don’t force out a legend.

At least that’s the spin that’s supposed to come from that bit of information.

Read the rest of this entry »

The quarterback duel in Gainesville between Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel may be decided by injury rather than by on-field performance.  According to Twitter reports today, Driskel has banged up his left, non-throwing shoulder.  Ah, but the extent of the injury is anyone’s guess.

Robbie Andreu of The Gainesville Sun claims a source told him that Driskel sustained a “significant shoulder injury” in practice today.

But Bryan Holt of InsideTheGators.com — the Rivals site covering Florida — claimed he had heard from “a source close to Florida” that Driskel “seems fine.”

Meanwhile, WJXL-AM 1010 in Jacksonville has reported that Driskel suffered a “broken scapula.”

The website AlligatorArmy.com does a nice job of summing up just how bizarre the whole situation is.  And it’s really just symptomatic of a larger problem.

Fans knock news outlets when they don’t get a story first.  But fans also knock news outlets when they rush a story that turns out to be more rumor from poor sources than fact.  Catch-22.

Then you have schools who close down practices, won’t talk about injuries, and — in some cases — produce their own “news” coverage on their official athletic department website which is really nothing more than PR spin.

And fans like that, too.

So fans want news first and fast and accurate — which isn’t always possible — since many media members are now more worried about getting something up on Twitter before anyone else than they are actually getting their facts straight.  Oh, and there are also more media members than ever before, all trying to make names for themselves.  Break a story, get followers.  It’s a simple formula.  But not every media member out there paid attention in — or even attended — journalism ethics classes.  Some folks are more likely to throw a lot of nonsense up against the wall, knowing that if just one thing sticks… they’re gold.

So while we wait for final word on Driskel’s injury — if that word ever officially comes — it might be a good time for fans and those of us in the media alike to ponder just what the hell we’re doing these days.

The University of Tennessee is getting a bit of bad pub today for the fact that the school has announced it will eliminate 17 full-time jobs from its athletic department on June 1st.  Some outlets are viewing this as a sign of the times and as a move to cut costs in Knoxville.

Well, yes and no.  Tennessee is one of the last schools in the nation to have separate men’s and women’s athletic departments.  That means there’s been a lot of duplication in a number of areas.

But as part of a plan to re-organize itself and merge the two departments under one roof, UT has been planning to make cuts for a while now.  Why have a men’s and women’s PR staffs — for example — when you can just have one?

While that’s certainly sad news for those employees whose jobs are being cut, these moves will the UT athletic department the price of 17 salaries and health/benefits packages — which is roughly $1.03 million.  And that doesn’t include the savings gained by combining other positions in the department.

So while this will a) save the school money and b) give new AD Dave Hart more control over the entire UT athletic program, it’s not a last-ditch effort to save a buck or two during an economic downturn.  Tennessee’s consolidation of its programs has been planned for a while. 

There’s just no way to pen a story about 17 positions being cut and make it look positive in the national headlines.

Earlier today we told you that UConn senior-to-be Alex Oriakhi plans to transfer from Storrs and is on the radar at Florida, Kentucky, and Missouri.  If UConn can’t play in next year’s NCAA Tournament due to NCAA sanctions — and the school is still waiting to hear about its appeal — Oriakhi could play his senior season immediately without sitting out a year.

However, as we also told you today, the SEC has a policy in place that is designed to prevent schools from simply bringing in rent-a-players for a single season of football or basketball.  In Mike Slive’s own words last summer: “It is not acceptable for a student-athlete to transfer in solely for an athletic experience.”

But with at least three SEC institutions chasing Oriakhi anyway, we turned to the SEC for an explanation.  The league’s quick-to-respond PR king Charles Bloom said that he’s been getting several questions about the league’s stance today and that the statement below “is our policy.”

SEC Bylaw 14.1.15

“A student-athlete who, upon enrollment at the certifying institution, has less than two years of eligibility remaining, is not eligible for financial aid, practice or competition at the member institution.  A member institution may request a waiver from the Conference office for a student-athlete transferring from an institution discontinuing a sport, or for a student-athlete transferring for the purpose of enrolling in an academic program not offered at the institution from which he or she is transferring.”

In other words, as long as the league allows it, Oriakhi could transfer to an SEC school and play if he simply enrolls in an academic track not offered by UConn.

Which means all the bluster about last year’s “no more one-year transfers” policy was just that — bluster.  Unless, of course, the commissioner is actually prepared to refuse said waiver.

There was much talk last summer about the SEC nixing oversigning.  In reality, it didn’t.  Schools could still oversign thanks to a “soft” cap of 25 signees that still allows for backcounting.  The move was a step in the right direction, yes, but there was more PR involved than actual change.

It seems what became known as “the Jeremiah Masoli rule” was created with PR in mind, too.  We may soon find out if that’s the case or just the appearance.  If Oriakhi chooses one of the three SEC schools chasing him, Slive will have to either provide a waiver or deny the member institution’s request for one.

Though it would seem Florida, Kentucky and Missouri have a feeling such a waiver would be granted or else they’d probably not be wasting their time pursuing Oriakhi in the first place.

When word first leaked out last week that Maryland coach Randy Edsall would not allow three ex-Terrapins to transfer to Vanderbilt, we compared the situation to a recent dust-up Derek Dooley experienced.  Tennessee’s coach tried to prevent receiver DeAnthony Arnett from transferring to Michigan State in January — a program UT is not scheduled to play — because — we believe — Dooley felt MSU coaches had tampered with his player.

We said at the time that Dooley couldn’t win that PR battle whether tampering had occurred or not.  And he didn’t.  We said the same when comparing Edsall’s stance to Dooley’s last week.  And — turns out — he indeed couldn’t win the PR battle either.

Maryland’s coach today gave quarterback Danny O’Brien, offensive lineman Max Garcia and linebacker Mario Rowson a free release to Vanderbilt if they want it.  In fact, he gave them a free pass to transfer anywhere they like.  However, according to The Baltimore Sun, “Maryland is pursuing the matter of possible tampering through the schools’ respective conferences.”

As you know by now, VU’s James Franklin was the offensive coordinator in College Park before taking over in Nashville and he admitted late last week that he does maintain relationships with his ex-players.  A school is not supposed to encourage a player to transfer unless that school has been given permission to communicate with said athlete.

Edsall — like Dooley — probably had reason to be upset.  However, both coaches failed to realize that the “spin” of their situations in headlines and tickers — and by rival recruiters in parents’ living rooms — would be that both coaches are punitive and do not have the best interests of their players at heart.  Lose and lose.

That’s why in both instances the coaches have backed down.

“While at first I thought it was important to limit the institutions to which they could transfer, I have since reconsidered my decision” Edsall said in a press release today. “At the end of the day, I want what’s best for these guys and I wish them well in their futures. As a program we are looking forward to putting this distraction behind us and to moving forward. Spring practice opens on March 10 and we can’t wait to get back out on the field.”

Uh-huh.

O’Brien is the most likely of the three players to land at Vanderbilt.  The quarterback was the ACC’s Rookie of the Year in 2010 under Franklin, but he struggled in 2011 and fell out of favor with the Terps’ new coach.

So expect O’Brien to soon announce his intention to transfer to Vanderbilt.  But we’ll have to wait to hear what — if anything — Mike Slive and ACC commissioner John Swofford say about Edsall’s formal complaint that Franklin tampered with one of his players.

Maryland coach Randy Edsall is allowing three players to transfer from his program: quarterback Danny O’Brien, offensive lineman Max Garcia and linebacker Mario Rowson.  Initial speculation focused on Vanderbilt — especially in the case of O’Brien — being a potential landing spot.  But Edsall doesn’t want that to happen.

According to The Washington Post, the three players will not be cleared to transfer to Vandy, where former Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin is quickly turning things around.  Obviously, Vanderbilt is not in the ACC and the Commodores are not going to be on the Terrapins’ schedule anytime soon.  So why the ban on Vandy?  It’s likely Edsall believes Franklin has done some tampering.

Franklin was close to O’Brien and according to The Post, the coach and his then coach-in-waiting status were major reasons the signal-caller inked with Maryland.  In cases like this, it’s not unusual for coaches to assume that word has gone back and forth between player and potential new coach with regards to opportunities and roster spots.  Unfortunately for Edsall, coaches who drop stipulations on transferring players without providing a reason usually lose the ensuing PR battle.  (He should call Tennessee’s Derek Dooley on that one.)

It’s possible that O’Brien can appeal the no-Vandy clause in his release.  It’s also possible that he could enroll at Vandy as a graduate student  – he’s set to graduate from Maryland this spring — without the benefit of a scholarship, but that would be quite pricey.

O’Brien is a native of North Carolina, but Edsall has ix-nayed ACC schools as options as well.  Ole Miss is one of several other schools that have been mentioned as possible landing zone for O’Brien.

The quarterback threw for 1,648 yards, 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last year in College Park.

It didn’t take long for DeAnthony Arnett to make up his mind after Tennessee cleared him to transfer anywhere he liked.  The sophomore-to-be receiver — the #12 prospect in America at his position last year — will transfer to Michigan State where he expects to start classes next week. 

He will apply for a hardship waiver from the NCAA in an attempt to play for the Spartans next season.

As everyone knows by now, Arnett planned to transfer from Tennessee in order to get closer to home, closer to family.  His father’s health has been in sharp decline in recent months.  MSU is just about an hour from his hometown.

Derek Dooley, however, initially gave Arnett a waiver that nixed Michigan and Michigan State as potential landing spots.  More than likely he felt there had been some contact between those programs and a player still on his roster and coaches don’t respond well to tampering.  But whether tampering was involved or not, there was no way Dooley could win this particular PR battle.  Two words would always trump him: sick father.

So Dooley backtracked this week and told Arnett he was free to move about the country.  It didn’t the player long to make his decision.  And that likely validates any suspicions Dooley might have had about contact between Sparty and Arnett.

So much for out with everything-that’s-bad-in-2011 and in with promising-hopes-for-2012.  At Tennessee, the departures of defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and linebackers coach Peter Sirmon to Washington — lateral moves at best — have left many in the Vol Nation wringing their hands as if they’d never rung in a new year at all.  Many — including some in the press — are barking for a coaching change at the top.  Like, now.

Dooley hasn’t been seen or heard by the Vol fanbase since UT’s season-ending loss to Kentucky.  That changed today with a press conference on Tennessee’s campus.

But before we get into what the coach said, let’s look at what he’s dealing with on Rocky Top at the moment:


1.  His second team had a disappointing 5-7 record, missed a bowl game, and lost to Kentucky to snap the nation’s longest team-over-team winning streak at 26, raising the dander of many a Big Orange supporter.

2.  The coach and his school are getting plenty of bad press for their handling of the DeAnthony Arnett situation.  The player wants to play at Michigan State to be closer to his ailing father.  UT pointed him toward MAC schools instead last week.

3.  There are now three slots to fill on the UT coaching staff.  And any new coach will want some assurances that he won’t be booted without a buyout should the head coach go belly-up in 2013.  So it might not be easy to find a replacement for Wilcox.  (Don’t be surprised if defensive line coach Lance Thompson is promoted.)

4.  But the three coaches who left — and that includes former special teams/tight ends coach Erik Russell — were rumored to have been upset with the fact that new AD Dave Hart isn’t big on handing out multi-year contracts to assistants.  Hart might have to if he wants to land a good defensive coordinator for Dooley.  And if he doesn’t, it might just show that Hart isn’t going to go overboard to help a coach that he didn’t hire in the first place.

5.  In addition, controversial wide receiver Da’rick Rogers took to Twitter last night and threw this bit of gas on the fire: “So many recruits lost today … wish I could tell you otherwise fellas .. but that’s whats goin on here …”


From that mess, Dooley emerged today to give an “all is well” speech.  At his press conference he said:


“The program is significantly better than it was 22 months ago, when we all got here. … I’ve never been more excited going into an offseason.  We’re returning 19 starters. … I understand why there’s a (negative) perception, but I’m more concerned with reality. … We’re on our way.  The worst is behind us.”


And Dooley is correct.  Tennessee’s roster is deeper and older now than it was when Lane Kiffin left, thanks to back-to-back Top 15 signing classes.  On paper, the Vols should be better moving forward.  And as the coach also pointed out during his presser, there have been coordinators leaving all over the SEC this offseason. 

The problem for Dooley is the perception, just as he said.  His coaches are leaving on top of a lot of other junk.  So it’s not just about the coaches.  It’s a quarterback who reportedly wasn’t interested in going to a minor bowl.  It’s a team that appeared to fracture at the end of last season.  It’s a coach who has rather poor public relations skills when it comes to sending a consistent, calming message through the media to his fanbase.  Even today, he opened his presser by admitting surprise over the size of the media throng packed into the UT football complex.  Kentucky fans might refer to this as Billy Gillispie Syndrome… a coach who doesn’t quite get just how important his each and every move is.

Dooley will need to do a better job of grasping the fact that at most SEC schools, fans hang on every word uttered from their head coach.  Dooley will also need to win and win fast. 

With a team lacking in confidence, next year’s opener with NC State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta — a venue that has become a house of horrors for Tennessee since 2001 — will be enormously significant.  Win and things can start to calm in Knoxville.  Lose and the wheels could come off the Dooley bandwagon once and for all.  (And before someone tosses out Mark Richt’s 0-2 start this year, his players had a lot more reasons to have faith in their coach than Dooley’s would in him.)


A few other notes:

Dooley suggested that Arnett is not excluded from going to Michigan or Michigan State.  It would not surprise this writer if UT backtracks for the sake of PR and recruiting and allows Arnett to go wherever with the word leaked that he misunderstood Dooley’s initial ruling.  If that were true, of course, UT would have immediately put out a press release saying that he was free to go anywhere he chose when the bad publicity started pouring in last week.  The school didn’t. 

Next, Dooley said that Rogers — the tweeting receiver mentioned above — is still on the team despite numerous rumors to the contrary.

Also, the coach said he won’t rush coaching hires just for the sake of speed.  So UT fans can probably forget the rampant Randy Shannon speculation.  (This guy has been “hired” by about 15 different schools in the last two years.  He’s become the defensive coordinator equivalent of Jon Gruden, who’s rumored to have an interest in every college job in the country.)

Finally, just a sidenote for those folks who would like to see Dooley blown up after signing day, if you think the PR from the Arnett mess was bad, just try to lure in a whole signing class and then dump their head coach.  Tennessee’s new AD should probably focus on putting out the fires he inherited, not starting new ones.