Anyone dreaming of Mike Leach landing in the SEC this year (Ole Miss fans) or perhaps next (Kentucky, Tennessee fans) can stop dreaming.  The pirate has landed about as far from his South Florida home as imaginable.

Leach has been hired by Washington State, which might just be the best place for him.  If there’s a school as isolated and off-the-beaten path as Texas Tech, it’s Wazzu.  In addition, the Cougars have a long history of producing star college quarterbacks… from Jack Thompson to Drew Bledsoe to Ryan Leaf.  (We said star college quarterbacks.)

In the wide open Pac-12, Leach could prosper as he did in Lubbock.  And if he does — and does so more than Ole Miss — it’s likely the folks in Oxford won’t let their administration forget that they could have had him. 

Damien Jacobs is still considering Texas A&M despite his commitment to Tennessee.

The defensive tackle from East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, Miss., took an official visit to Texas A&M on Sept. 24. Jacobs told MrSEC he’s considering the Aggies “a good bit” after watching Texas A&M’s home game against Oklahoma State.

“I enjoyed it,” Jacobs said of his visit to College Station. “The game day atmosphere was the best part of it.”

Jacobs, who plans to enroll at his next school in January, said he doesn’t have a timetable for a final decision.

“I’m not sure of that,” he said. “Right now it’s Tennessee. I really decided already so I’m with Tennessee right now. You could kind of say I’m in the middle.”

Jacobs insisted he hasn’t lost interest in Tennessee. He said he talks to members of the UT coaching staff “all the time.”

Jacobs said Mississippi State and South Florida have both offered him a scholarship and invited him to visit. He said he’s unsure if he’ll do so.

Vanderbilt has received a commitment from offensive lineman Blake Fromang from Lake Highland Prep in Orlando, Fla.

Fromang, whose offer list included Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Florida, Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech, decided to commit to Vanderbilt after taking an official visit to Nashville last weekend.

“It was a great trip,” Fromang told ESPN.com. “They showed me the student life outside of football and introduced me to a lot of people. We went to the game and they defeated Elon. I got to meet the players and hang out with them. Coach Franklin is really driven, he wants to win bad and turn the program around.”

Vanderbilt is the only school to receive an official visit from Fromang. He can visit up to four more schools officially. But that doesn’t appear to be his plan.

“I’m done with the recruiting,” Fromang said. “My word is my word and I will stick to it. I’m going to be a Commodore and that’s the end of the story.”

Fromang is Vanderbilt’s 15th commitment for the class of 2012.

Defensive back Kivon Coman from Florence (Ala.) High School has committed to Mississippi State.

Coman considered scholarship offers from South Florida, Arkansas State and South Alabama before committing to Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs have 17 commitments for the class of 2012.

Here are some headlines for your Tuesday afternoon.

-Offensive line prospect Alex Kozan is visiting Arkansas today. Oklahoma State and LSU will follow.

-Cornerback Chris Bivins has committed to South Florida. That is unless the Florida Gators comes calling.

-Defensive tackle prospect Martin Aiken explains his commitment to Clemson over South Carolina.

-CBSSports.com has obtained a letter outlining recruiting changes being proposed by the SEC.

-Georgia’s top-ranked quarterback prospect is ready to visit several schools in the Southeast.

-Defensive tackle Jordan Watkins has trimmed his list to eight schools. Half of them are in the SEC.

Now is not the time to find your school’s name in the same mix with Ohio State.  But that’s exactly what’s happening when it comes to Auburn, LSU and Tennessee.

According to Dave Hyde of The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, NCAA investigators are heading to South Florida “to look into the recruiting of several high-school football stars and the methods of several colleges in doing so, according to a source.” 

Those schools are Auburn, LSU, Tennessee and Ohio State.


“The schools involved have been successful for years in getting players out of South Florida, and enough red flags have been raised about money changing hands in the recruiting process to merit investigation, the source said.

High school officials, street agents, seven-on-seven tournaments — they’re all going to be asked questions by the NCAA.”


The schools mentioned above are all under some level of NCAA scrutiny already.  NCAA snoops have been interviewing people regarding numerous Auburn allegations (Cam Newton, the HBO Four, etc) for months. 

LSU is waiting to hear back from the NCAA regarding some self-imposed sanctions and the school’s recruitment of Patrick Peterson has recently come into question thanks to a connection to alleged street agent Willie Lyles. 

And Tennessee just wrapped up a hearing with the NCAA last weekend regarding alleged violations under Lane Kiffin’s watch.

Just when SEC fans thought things might be calming down a bit…

1.  Ole Miss successfully lobbied the NCAA to allow quarterback transfer Barry Brunetti to play immediately by citing his mother’s degenerative neck and back injuries.

2.  As expected, former Florida receiver Chris Dunkley has transferred to South Florida.

3.  Will Muschamp — who is six years younger than FSU’s Jimbo Fisher — said yesterday that his friend “is a solid 12 to 15 years (older than him), at least looking.”

4.  Mark Richt is still trying to explain the “I know what the hell I’m going” comment he recently made to a fan.

5.  Isaiah Crowell’s ability to pick up pass protection assignments will dictate how much playing time he gets this fall.

6.  John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader draws attention to a story from the Dominican Republic about how “former” Kentucky coach John Calipari will be taking over the DR’s national squad.

7.  The NBA is about to endure some rough labor negotiations, but this writer says the one-and-done rule likely won’t be changed.

8.  Often mentioned as a potential candidate for Tennessee’s AD post should Mike Hamilton get the gallows, Phillip Fulmer says he’s at peace with his post-coaching life.

9.  Vanderbilt — no surprise — routed the SEC in terms of the NCAA’s freshly-released APR results.

Two transferring Florida footballers may simply move from Gainesville to Tampa.  Wide receiver Chris Dunkley and running back Mike Blakely are both reportedly being pursued by nearby South Florida.

The St. Petersburg Times reports that USF is waiting for Dunkley’s transcript from UF to begin the enrollment process.  Meanwhile, Blakely — who was an early enrollee with the Gators in January — is also being chased by Bulls’ coach Skip Holtz.

Will Muschamp nixed Blakely from transferring to Florida State, Miami or an SEC school, but he has reportedly given clearance to a USF-Blakely marriage.

Last week, Will Muschamp said that he would place no restrictions on ex-Gator receiver Chris Dunkley as he planned his transfer from Gainesville.  We wondered if UF’s coach would change his mind and apply restrictions should Dunkley start flirting with a rival SEC school.

He’s not.

Dunkley — once a top receiver prospect from Pahokee High in South Florida — is now leaning toward South Florida according to his former high school coach.  “I think USF is the top one on his list,” Blaze Thompson said.  “A lot of schools have expressed interest in him, but USF is the only one he has actually visited.  They’re interested in him, and he had asked me to look into them as well.”

For now, it doesn’t appear that Muschamp will need to worry about Dunkley jumping ship to another SEC program.

UCLA’s Rich Neuheisel has finally hired a defensive coordinator and it’s Joe Teasley, a former D-coordinator at Cincinnati and South Florida.  Kentucky’s Steve Brown interviewed for the job last week.

As we suggested this morning, reports that Brown’s candidacy was gaining steam were actually a case of internet reports gaining steam, not Brown’s candidacy.