1. Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart reportedly withdraws from consideration as the head coach at Southern Miss.

2. No academic casualties at LSU.  Expect the Tigers to be at full strength when they face Alabama in the BCS championship game.

3. What did Les Miles and Nick Saban do at the Heisman ceremony? They swapped recipes.

4. The rumors this year about Mark Richt’s status has had an impact on recruiting. Expect his contract to be extended through at least the 2015 season.

5. Georgia tight end Orson Charles, safety Bacarri Rambo and quarterback Aaron Murray file paperwork for NFL evaluation. Charles appears to be the most serious about possibly leaving early, expect Murray to stay.

6. Still offensive coordinator at Auburn and new head coach at Arkansas State, it’s double duty for Gus Malzahn.

7. Auburn quarterback Kiehl Frazier says he’s staying. Tigers tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen named team MVP.

8. When Middle Tennessee State travels to Starkville next fall, it will cost Mississipi State $930,000.

9. Was Urban Meyer the best hire this offseason?

10.The college football bowl season starts today.

SEC Basketball

11. Ohio State at South Carolina (4-5). Gamecocks coach Darrin Horn on OSU’s Jared Sullinger: “His IQ is off the charts.”

12. Mississippi State (10-1) at Detroit. MSU point guard Dee Bost: “We’ve got great team chemistry.”

13. Texas A&M vs. Florida (7-2).  SEC foes next year, it’s No. 22 vs. No. 13 this year. Billy Donovan signs his contract extension.

14. Southeast Louisiana at Arkansas (5-3).  After two straight road losses, look for coach Mike Anderson to shake things up.

15. Ole Miss (8-1)  at Southern Miss. Ole Miss forward Murphy Holloway is everything coach Andy Kennedy thought he would be.

16. Indiana State at Vanderbilt (6-3).   Kedren Johnson leads all Vandy freshmen in points and minutes.

17. UT Chattanooga at Kentucky.  Terrance Jones gets a shot at redemption.  John Calipari: “He knows he screwed it up. Now, he’ll come back and be fine.” Transfer Twany Beckham is now eligible.

18. The Wildcats face a team in controversy.  How does Chattanooga forward Chris Early feel about his coach? “I would run through hell in gasoline draws than to play for this man another year.”

19. North Florida at Auburn (5-1).  The Tigers are still waiting for some players to get healthy.

20. Alabama (8-2) vs. Kansas State.  Trevor Releford goes home to Kansas City to face a familiar opponent.

21. Georgia (4-5) at USC.  Bulldogs look to break a four-game skid.

Extras

22. Former Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads gets a 10-year contract from Iowa State.

23. Former Alabama coach Ray Perkins is reportedly close to coaching again - at a Mississippi junior college.

24. Two New York high school athletes get suspended for paying tribute to Tim Tebow.

25. ESPN analyst Craig James weighs a run in the U.S. Senate.

Thanks for bearing with us the last couple of days.  We’ll be back to a full day’s work on Monday.  (Meanwhile, Mike and Josh will continue to handle weekend and recruiting news as usual.)

Here are your Friday headlines…

1.  Auburn will try to get its passing game cranked up in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

2.  The Tigers have sold about 15,000 of their 16,000 tickets to the game.

3.  Arkansas’ Joe Adams is an All-American.

4.  The hoops Hogs start a seven-game homestand tomorrow.

5.  LSU has started its title game preps for Alabama.

6.  The roundball Tigers shot just 31% last night… but they still managed to beat UC-Irvine.

7.  MSU cornerback Darius Slay is now playing a big role for the Bulldogs.

8.  Ole Miss is already keeping an eye on the RPI.

9.  Transfer Jelan Kendrick seems to be getting off on the wrong foot in Oxford.

10.  Florida is having struggles at the free throw line.

11.  Georgia’s Outback Bowl tickets are all sold out.

12.  The UGA hoops team will travel to Italy next summer.

13.  Chattanooga’s coach expects to run into a ticked Kentucky team after the Cats’ loss to Indiana.

14.  Are folks being too tough on UK’s Terrence Jones?

15.  South Carolina’s top defensive coach, Ellis Johnson, interviewed for the Southern Miss head coaching spot yesterday.

16.  An announcement from USM could come soon.

17.  Meanwhile, the Cocks are getting ready for their bowl date with Nebraska.

18.  New Tennessee AD Dave Hart wants to see “progress” from Derek Dooley’s program next year.

19.  The Vol hoops team is on its first four-game losing streak since 2004-05.

So what coaches are coming and going around the SEC?  Below is an update for each school, complete with the list of 14 head coaches — as of now — who’ll patrol the league’s sidelines next season.  We’ll take it in alphabetical order…

Alabama — Head Coach Nick Saban (2012 will be 6th season in Tuscaloosa)

It looks now like both of Bama’s coordinators will be back in 2012.  Defensive coordinator Kirby Smart was believed to be a candidate for the head coaching jobs at Ole Miss and Texas A&M, but neither job went his way.

Offensive coordinator Jim McElwain reportedly backed out of the running at Memphis amidst contract negotiations and he reportedly pulled his name out of the mix at Fresno State over the weekend.

Arkansas — Head Coach Bobby Petrino (2012 will be 5th season in Fayetteville)

Petrino lost all three of his coordinators — offense, defense and special teams — but those roles have already been filled.  Petrino’s brother, Paul, will take over for Garrick McGee who has taken over as head coach at UAB.  Paul Petrino ran the Razorbacks’ offense prior to McGee, but he spent the past two seasons as Illinois’ O-coordinator.

On defense, Willy Robinson “resigned,” and has been replaced by former Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Paul Haynes.  Haynes was hired Friday.  He served with Petrino

Special teams coordinator John L. Smith departed to be the head coach at Weber State and that set off a chain reaction of moves.  Steve Caldwell — UA’s defensive ends coach — will take over the special teams units.

Petrino has also shifted Bobby Allen from defensive tackles to defensive backs.  Reggie Johnson will coach the linebackers — both inside and outside.  And director of high school relations Kevin Peoples has been promoted to defensive tackles coach.

Auburn — Head Coach Gene Chizik (2012 will be 4th season in Auburn)

Defensive coordinator Ted Roof departed for the same job at Central Florida last week.  Chizik is taking over the D-coordinator role for the Tigers’ Chick-fil-A Bowl appearance.

Reports suggest Chizik has already had preliminary talks with Florida State coordinator Mark Stoops… who led a Top 10 defense in Tallahassee this past season.

Former North Carolina defensive coordinator is also considered to be a frontrunner for the position, but Ohio State’s Urban Meyer is reportedly interested in him as well.

Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn — once believed to be a leading candidate for head coaching jobs at North Carolina and Kansas — is still being mentioned in connection with Southern Miss’ head coaching vacancy, but it’s likely he’ll return to The Plains next year.

Florida — Head Coach Will Muschamp (2012 will be 2nd season in Gainesville)

Last week, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis made a surprise move to Kansas to become the Jayhawks’ head coach less than a year after arriving at UF.  Former Gator coach Urban Meyer has also hired strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti at Ohio State.

Muschamp is contacting candidates for both spots, but it’s not believed he will hire anyone until after Florida’s January 2nd Gator Bowl appearance against the Buckeyes.

Muschamp has past ties to possible coordinators Al Borges (Michigan), Major Applewhite (Texas) and Greg Davis (formerly of Texas).

Georgia — Head Coach Mark Richt (2012 will be 12th season in Athens)

Richt and AD Greg McGarity are currently working on an extension for the long-time Bulldog coach.  This after Texas A&M reportedly made a run at Richt.  Despite reports that he spoke with A&M officials, Richt put out a press release Saturday stating that he had not talked to any other schools.

The agent for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has publicly angled for a multi-year extension for his client, but McGarity has said he’s not sure yet where he stands on multi-year deals for assistants.

Kentucky — Head Coach Joker Phillips (2012 will be 3rd season in Lexington)

Despite much heat, Phillips will return for a third season next year.  He will, however, be replacing co-defensive coordinator Steve Brown.  Brown had the “co-” added to his title before last season when Rick Minter was hired and put in charge of the Wildcats’ defense.  On his way out the door, Brown pointed out that he was one of the last coaches from Rich Brooks’ staff to survive on Phillips’ staff.  Now only two remain (Randy Sanders and Chuck Smith).

LSU — Head Coach Les Miles (2012 will be 8th season in Baton Rouge)

Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Frank Wilson has had his name pop up in connection with head coaching jobs at Tulane and Southern Miss, but at this point it’s believed USM will promote from within to replace Larry Fedora.

Mississippi State – Head Coach Dan Mullen (2012 will be 4th season in Starkville)

Mullen has been rumored to be a candidate at both Penn State and Texas A&M this offseason.  He reportedly interviewed at State earlier this month, but the school’s search continues.

Missouri — Head Coach Gary Pinkel (2012 will be 12th season in Columbia)

Despite a late-season DUI arrest for MU’s head coach, things appear to be quite stable in the Show-Me State.  Get with the program, Mizzou.  You’re in the SEC now.  That means moves and rumored moves every offseason.

Ole Miss — Head Coach Hugh Freeze (2012 will be 1st season in Oxford)

Despite opportunities to land more proven coaches like Mike Leach and Rich Rodriguez, the Archie Manning-led search committee tabbed Arkansas State’s first-year head coach Freeze as the man to fix what’s been ailing the Rebels since the early ’60s.  Freeze has had a meteoric rise from high school coaching to SEC assistant to coaching to NAIA coaching to Arkansas State and now to Ole Miss.  He has a track record of success, but it’s a pretty short track record.

Freeze is bringing with him a number of assistants from his last stop: Dave Wommack (defensive coordinator), Maurice Harris (tight ends coach, recruiting coordinator), Tom Allen (linebackers coach) and Chris Kiffin (defensive line coach).

Reportedly, Freeze has also spoken to Duke offensive line coach Matt Luke about returning to Oxford where he was once a player and then an assistant.

South Carolina — Head Coach Steve Spurrier (2012 will be 8th season in Columbia)

Assistant coach Jay Graham has left Columbia for his alma mater at Tennessee, which leaves Spurrier in the market for a new running backs coach.

Defensive mastermind Ellis Johnson is reportedly a target of Auburn’s Gene Chizik or the Tigers’ defensive coordinator position, but it’s doubtful he would leave the Palmetto State — where he has a great number of ties — or another assistant’s job.  Johnson has been rumored to be a candidate for the head coaching job at Southern Miss, but as we mentioned above, that job will likely go to an assistant from Fedora’s old staff.

Tennessee — Head Coach Derek Dooley (2012 will be 3rd season in Knoxville)

Shortly after the season, wide receivers coach Charlie Baggett announced his “retirement” from Tennessee, though the school will give him some sort of payoff.  Baggett’s departure coincided with rumors that he’d grown weary of the antics of sophomore wideout Da’Rick Rogers.

With Baggett leaving, Dooley moved quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw to the receivers position.  Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney moved from running backs to quarterbacks, and Graham was hired to fill that slot.

Now Dooley is back in the search mode as former Mike Leach assistant Eric Russell is heading to Washington State to re-team with his old boss.  Russell was in charge of Tennessee’s tight ends and special teams the past two seasons.

Texas A&M – Head Coach Kevin Sumlin (2012 will be 1st season in College Station)

Despite late-in-the-game rumors of big-name candidates — Chris Peterson, Dabo Swinney, Richt, etc — the man first rumored to be A&M’s next head coach eventually did land the job.  Houston’s Kevin Sumlin was officially hired over the weekend to replace the recently fired Mike Sherman.

Sumlin is known for his offensive system, but Sherman had the Aggie offense rolling quite well.  Heading into a new conference, we believe Texas A&M would have been wise to simply hold on to Sherman and upgrade at defensive coordinator if a change needed to be made.  That indeed seems to be the approach with Sumlin.

The Aggies are reportedly targeting former Arizona head coach Mike Stoops for their D-coordinator position.  It’s believed Sumlin will line-up a completely new staff in College Station, which will make for an awful lot of change on the field and on the recruiting paths as A&M readies for its first season in the SEC.

Vanderbilt — Head Coach James Franklin (2012 will be 2nd season in Nashville)

Vandy’s fiery first-year head coach had his name mentioned in connection with openings at North Carolina and Penn State, but he’s instead worked out a contract extension with the Commodores… which happens to be great news for VU.

Just a quick catch-up on some of the coaching rumors making the rounds today…


* New Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze is expected to bring multiple assistants with him from Arkansas State.  Two names to keep an eye on are Chris Kiffin (defensive line coach) and Grant Heard (receivers coach).

It has also been reported by FootballScoop.com that Freeze has offered the offensive coordinator position in Oxford to…


* Current LSU running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Frank Wilson.  Wilson had been mentioned as a potential candidate to replace Bob Toledo at Tulane, but that job is expected to go to New Orleans Saints receivers coach Curtis Johnson.


* Carl Pelini has been named the head coach at Florida Atlantic.  Former Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee was a strong candidate for that job before officially accepting the job as UAB’s head coach yesterday.

John L. Smith — the special teams coach in Fayetteville — is rumored to be a top candidate at his alma mater, Weber State.  The school has scheduled a press conference to announce its coach tomorrow.


* Auburn’s Gus Malzahn appears to be totally out of the mix at North Carolina at this point.  Troy Calhoun of Air Force and Larry Fedora of Southern Miss appear to be the top candidates for that job.


* Fedora is also in the mix at Kansas and at Texas A&M.  Fedora is a native of College Station, was an Aggie fan growing up, and his brother coaches a nearby high school team.  His name began to shoot up the ranks after his Southern Miss team — 11-2 and C-USA champions — pounded previously unbeaten Houston on Saturday.  On the other end of that beating was Kevin Sumlin who is also a candidate for the A&M job. 

Currently, it sounds like Fedora and Louisville’s Charlie Strong are the leaders for the A&M gig.  Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart has also been discussed as a possible candidate.

We still wonder if A&M might not have been wiser keeping Mike Sherman as head coach — to allow for a smoother transition into the SEC — while adding a top-flight defensive coordinator.  Supposedly, if A&M goes with the offensive-minded Sumlin he will have to bring in a “name” D-coordinator.  Sherman’s offense was proven.  Seems like the safer and less expensive move would have been to simply add someone like Mike Stoops to Sherman’s staff… rather than start all over again from the top down.


*  We mentioned Smart above, but fellow Alabama assistant Jim McElwain — the Tide’s offensive coordinator — has been mentioned in connection with the open head coaching position at Fresno State.


* It’s been reported that Georgia AD Greg McGarity will begin working with Mark Richt on a contract extension in the next couple of weeks.


* FootballScoop.com is reporting that Kentucky receivers coach Tee Martin will not be heading to Tennessee.  Reports from the Volunteer State say Martin was never officially offered a job with his alma mater.

Auburn has received a commitment from linebacker Javiere Mitchell from Leeds (Ala.) High School.

Mitchell, who is Auburn’s 16th commitment for the class of 2012, considered offers from Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Southern Miss and Alabama-Birmingham.

“After doing all the research and traveling a lot, I had a lot of things to weigh especially because so many schools have something in common,” Mitchell said. “I just tried to find that ‘it’ factor. Auburn had it.”


Video credit: AuburnUndercover.com

This week, Archie Manning opened up just a tad about Ole Miss’ search for a new head coach to replace Houston Nutt:


“I know a lot of people in football.  You get names of possible coaches and you take them down.  We’ll turn the names we have over to the search firm and they’ll have more names.

Everybody talks about having a short list.  We’ve got a long list.  We’re going to try and move as quickly as possible to find a good fit for Ole Miss.”


Manning is heading up his alma mater’s five-person search committee.

The three “realistic” names that we continue to hear most often from our sources in the Magnolia State:


1.  Arkansas State head coach Hugh Freeze (a former Ole Miss assistant)

2.  Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora (who was upset by UAB last night)

3.  Former West Virginia and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez

Georgia has offered a scholarship to wide receiver Blake Tibbs from M.L. King High School in Atlanta.

Georgia is one of the top four schools being considered by Tibbs, who also has Arkansas, Kentucky and Southern Miss on his list. He received the offer from Georgia coach Mark Richt on Friday.

“We just caught up, and I told Coach Richt that I was interested and that I definitely wanted to make a visit to Athens,” Tibbs said. “I told him I was still going to take my other visits. Coach Richt was telling me that was good, but he also said, ‘You don’t want to miss out somewhere you really want to be.’

“I told him I was thankful for the offer but I wasn’t ready to make a decision right now because I need to visit some places to see what’s the best fit for me. It was a good conversation.”

Georgia’s need for another receiver in the 2012 class likely came after C.J. Curry decommitted from the Bulldogs earlier this month. Curry has switched his pledge to Oklahoma State.

“I know they had one wide receiver spot left before C.J. de-committed, so I guess they had another opening and went ahead and offered me,” Tibbs said. “I guess that’s the reason I got the offer. I’m hoping they didn’t want to miss out on any hometown talent from Georgia.”

Kentucky has received a commitment from offensive lineman Jordan Swindle from Creekside High School in St. John’s, Fla.

The 6-foot-8, 310-pounder chose Kentucky over offers from Vanderbilt, Louisville, West Virginia, Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic.

Swindle is the 19th prospect to commit to Kentucky for 2012 and the sixth offensive lineman to do so.

Mississippi State has received two commitments to help its 2012 class grow to seven members.

Linebacker Torrey Bell from New Orleans and offensive lineman Cole Carter from Caledonia, Miss., gave their pledges to Mississippi State.

“I’m very excited,” Bell said of his commitment. “Mississippi State had been among my top three choices and when I went up there I liked the campus and the coaches. I was looking for a place to play early.”

Bell chose Mississippi State over an offer from Southern Miss. He also received interest from Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Tennessee and Florida State.

Carter told BulldogBlitz.com that he actually committed in January. His father recommended he make his commitment known publicly.

“It felt good to go public with it tonight,” said Carter, who received interest from Alabama and Tennessee. “It feels good to know I have a chance to be part of a program on the rise and have the opportunity to be part of what they are building there. I want our class to help us stay going in the right direction and get the program where it needs to be and be another big piece of the final puzzle.”

Defensive lineman Darius Philon from Vigor High School in Prichard, Ala., has committed to Auburn.

Philon also considered scholarship offers from Kentucky, Mississippi State, Memphis and Southern Miss. He decided to commit to Auburn after receiving an offer from the Tigers last week.

“That was the offer I was looking for,” Philon told AuburnUndercover.com. “I told them I had a couple of things I had to look into before I committed but then I called them back Friday with the news they wanted to hear.”

Auburn has seven commitments for the class of 2012. Philon is the third player in the last week to give a pledge to the Tigers, joining defensive back Josh Holsey from Fairburn, Ga., and offensive lineman Shane Callahan from Chaparral, Colo.