Ex-Vols defensive line coach insists he was forced out

Chuck Smith’s sudden departure from Tennessee was already curious. But after the former Volunteer star and NFL defensive end held a press conference on Friday to “explain” the circumstances surrounding his dismissal as defensive line coach, I think it’s safe to call it bizarre. During one 25-minute session, Smith said he was not fired but was not allowed to stay, said he was a “Vol for life” but would consider coaching at another SEC school, compared himself to former UT head coach Lane Kiffin, apologized to recruits for “lying” and saying he’d be there to coach them, and denied rumors he had come to blows with defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox. Smith did manage to thank head coach Derek Dooley and everybody at UT except for Wilcox and the rest of the Vols’ defensive staff. So clearly things aren’t hunky-dory there. "I put my heart and soul into a job, and I want to let you guys know why I left. The decision to leave the University of Tennessee wasn’t my decision," said Smith, , an Athens native a former Atlanta Falcon. "The decision was made, let me make sure I say the right thing, this is tough, a mutual decision was brought to me that I’m too big for the program and my stature is too big and I could better help serve this program in a different capacity. Stay and move to another position here or go home. I decided under the circumstances at the school I love and with the effort I put in, in fairness to the program, I probably would need to step to the side. The point is, I never agreed to step to the side." Dooley announced that Tennessee and Smith were parting ways on Feb. 6, the weekend after national signing day. Numerous recruits cited Smith’s presence as a big reason they wanted to sign with the Vols.

Alabama’s McElroy out of cast, closer to throwing for scouts

Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy is one step closer to being able to finally throw for pro scouts after suffering a cracked bone in his throwing hand during the Senior Bowl. Via his Twitter account, McElroy declared "Cast off!! Still have to wear a splint for 2 more weeks but at least I have freedom!." McElroy’s injury was initially diagnosed as a cracked bone before being downgraded to a bone bruise. After a second opinion, however, McElroy’s injury was again a cracked bone. McElroy did not participate in throwing drills during the NFL combine (but he did score a 48 on his Wonderlic) and it still looks as though he will not participate in many, if any, drills during Alabama’s Wednesday pro day.

McElroy does, however, appear to be on track to hold an independent workout for NFL scouts once he is able to resume throwing.

Georgia's Marlon Brown, Wide Receiver...has to step up..big shoes to fill

With A.J. Green's premature departure, Georgia loses their number one weapon at receiver and arguably one of the best athletes in UGA history. Green cannot be replaced, and Georgia's offensive philosophy will have to adjust without having a game changing receiver in the line up.

Regular production at receiver will be vital. Marlon Brown will have to step up. Despite being a highly recruited prospect, he's seen limited playing time. As an incoming redshirt sophomore, Brown is expected to be the second receiver on Georgia's depth chart.

He's a mystery right now, but Brown could very well blossom into a top SEC receiver. He won't be A.J. Green good, but if he can be a 50 catch receiver, he'll help the offense drastically.

UK's Cobb Honored by Touchdown Club of Atlanta

Kentucky wide receiver Randall Cobb has been chosen for the Bill Hartman Award as the Southeast Special Teams Player of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Atlanta. The Hartman Award will be bestowed Saturday during the TD Club’s annual awards ceremony at the Ferst Center of the Arts. Cobb will not be able to attend because of the National Football League combine. Cobb earned the honor based on his remarkable all-around performance in 2010 as a punt returner, kickoff returner, holder, wide receiver and quarterback:

• Averaged 7.8 yards on punt returns, including one return for a touchdown
• Averaged 23.7 yards per kickoff return
• Served as the team’s placekick holder and threw a touchdown pass on a fake field goal
• Led the Southeastern Conference in pass receiving with 84 catches for 1,017 yards and seven touchdowns
• Rushed for 424 yards and five touchdowns
• Threw three touchdown passes during the season, including the fake field goal TD.
• SEC single-season record with 2,396 all-purpose yards.

The Southeast Special Teams Player of the Year adds to the list of honors for Cobb that includes first-team All-America as chosen by The Associated Press, ESPN.com and SportsIllustrated.com This marks the seventh time that a Kentucky player has won an award in the long, prestigious history of the Touchdown Club of Atlanta.

Georgia Bulldog's Ray Goff....Hall of Fame QB

You will find his name listed twice in the section in the Georgia football record book labeled "Passing TDs." He connected with Gene Washington in 1976 versus Kentucky for 87 yards and earlier in the season for 75 yards to Washington against Ole Miss. There were numerous touchdown "bombs" to add to his resume. Additionally, in the category "Touchdown Responsibility-Game," he is tied for second place with five others with five TDs: three rushing and two passing. His career was very productive, leading the Bulldogs to the SEC title in 1976 when he was named SEC Player of the Year. In the era when Bill Yeoman of Houston developed the Veer, which prominently featured passing concepts, option football was still king. The wishbone had been dominant for some time, but the Veer was more explosive. There was a lot of movement at the line of scrimmage with the Veer, a quick-striking offense. Goff, certainly not a sprinter, was nonetheless a quick and powerful runner, perfect for the Bulldog offense. As Georgia's 22nd head coach, Goff had a winning percentage of 58.1 (46-34-1), his high-water mark coming in 1992 when his team finished 10-2, defeating Ohio State, 21-14, in the Citrus Bowl. When he was inducted into the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame last weekend, his most distinguished coaching statistic for Bulldog partisans is that in the series against the big rival, Georgia Tech, his record is a sparkling 5-2.

Saban’s ‘not going to have a lot to say about’ QB competition

It's widely expected that the competition will come down to two players, AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims. Nick Saban said Friday that he will simply allow the fight for the starting job to play itself out rather than try to force a decision, regardless of how much focus and scrutiny the media gives to the position. "I know that every press conference between now and whatever is going to be about the quarterback," Saban said. "I'm not going to have a lot to say about it. This is something that you have to let happen and you have to let develop. Even though it may create a great news story every day it’s something that cannot be affected by anything other than what happened on the field."

Saban also added that he would "appreciate it if we don't" create a quarterback controversy, and that somebody’s "going to have to earn the job through their ability to manage the team, lead the team and make good choices and decisions that allows them to play winning football on the team." McCarron would seem to have an edge entering spring practice over both Sims and true freshman Phillip Ely. Last season as a redshirt freshman, McCarron threw 48 passes, completing 30, while Sims used his freshman season as a redshirt year.

Alabama lineman out for spring practice, perhaps for good

Nick Saban has indicated that the Tide will going forth without at least three of its defensive players: defensive lineman Kerry Murphy, and defensive backs Kendall Kelly and Wes Neighbors. All three have been absent from team workouts due to injuries and will miss all of spring practice. Saban wouldn’t go into specifics of the injuries, but did offer a cryptic, Nostradamus-esque prediction of exactly where he thought the future of the three players would be. "All these guys have physical issues that have not allowed them to participate in the offseason program and will not allow them to participate in the spring, and most certainly could affect their future ability to contribute here," Saban said. Saban didn’t elaborate as to whether any of the three would go on medical scholarship.

UGA QB Murray says he’ll be ’100 percent’ for start of spring ball

Speaking to reporters ahead of the start of the spring sessions, the Georgia quarterback said he’s fine and will be 100 percent when March 10 rolls around. Murray was in a walking boot for a week, but it appears the junior-to-be was more concerned about how his coach and offensive coordinator would react than he was with the injury. "A little scare that Mike Bobo and Mark Richt were gonna rip me a new one," Murray said. "I was lying on the ground saying, ‘I don’t want to talk to Coach Bobo right now.’ But I knew it was nothing serious." While Murray stated that the injury scare has led him to swearing off the playing of other sports, Richt reiterated that he’s not going encase his players in bubble wrap and lock them in a closet out of fear that they might get injured. "I want these guys to live their lives and enjoy it," Richt said. "It seems like no matter what you do, somebody can still stumble down the steps and get hurt. So I’ve never really done that."

Auburn ‘lost’ $600K on title-game trip

The Birmingham News has learned that Auburn spent $2,901,706 for their football sojourn in the desert. That total was offset by an expense allowance of $2,287,600 given to the school by the SEC, meaning that Auburn “lost” just a little over $614,000. The News writes, Oregon reported having a final deficit of $285,437 from its Pac-10 allowance of $2,263,295 over 10 days. In other words, it “cost” Auburn in the neighborhood of $330,000 more than it did their title game opponents.

In reality, unsold tickets were the primary culprits in both schools being technically in the red.

The largest single-line expense item for both teams was unsold game tickets that get used for complimentary purposes to administrators, band members, cheerleaders and others.

Auburn absorbed a loss of $781,825 from 2,456 unsold tickets from its allotment of 17,400. Oregon lost $555,575 by withholding 1,761 of its 17,400 tickets.

Another factor in Auburn "losing" more money than Oregon was the size of the respective schools’ traveling parties. Oregon brought 493 people to the event, while Auburn nearly doubled that number with 938.

Of course, all of this talk of either school losing money based on the bowl expense report is simply a matter of fiddling with an incomplete set of financial numbers, as noted by the News.

Additional bowl revenue the schools receive through their conferences is not included in the NCAA reports. Counting the BCS payout and other SEC bowl money, Auburn will more than come out ahead.

Miles says three-way QB competition ‘will be a fair one’

Speaking ahead of the start of spring practice March 11, head coach Les Miles said he’s going to give all three of his QBs — Jefferson, Mettenberger and Jarrett Lee — a fair shot at the starting job. Oh, and he hasn’t completely ruled out going with a two-QB system either.

"We’re going to give Lee and Mettenberger the opportunity to do the things that they do and give Jordan Jefferson the opportunity to do the things that he does," Miles said Thursday, apparently referring to the latter’s innate ability to toss both interceptions and incompletions with the mere flick of his wrist.

"I don’t know that we’ll be in a two-quarterback system, but we’re going to let those guys that might naturally throw, throw, and we’re going to let those guys that might naturally have athletic ability and movement to do those things that they do. So, the competition will be a fair one."

Gamecocks announce spring practice schedule

The University of South Carolina's 2011 spring football practice dates have been set. The Gamecocks are slated to open their spring drills on Tuesday, March 15, and conclude with the annual Garnet & Black Spring Game on Saturday, April 9. All 15 of the spring practice sessions are open to the public. Most practices will take place at the Bluff Road practice fields beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday scrimmages will take place at Williams-Brice Stadium at 10 a.m. All dates and times are subject to change. Persons with cameras will be permitted to shoot the first 15 minutes of each practice only. After that, no still or video photography will be allowed during the practice sessions. Also, autographs will not be allowed at the practice sessions. "We're going to open up the entire spring to our fans and hope to have big crowds at our Saturday scrimmages," said head coach Steve Spurrier. The Garnet & Black Spring Game will be held Saturday, April 9, beginning at 1 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium. Admission to the spring game is free. The defending SEC Eastern Division Champion Gamecocks, under seventh-year head coach Steve Spurrier will return 48 lettermen, including 13 starters, seven on offense and six on defense, from a squad that went 9-5 in 2010 and finished the season ranked 22nd in both major polls.

Former Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams in running for the Sullivan Award

Former Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams has won his fair share of awards in the last few months and he’s closing in on another. Williams, who won the Mackey Award and Disney Spirit Award last year, was named one of five finalists for the Sullivan Award Thursday. The winner of the award, which is given to the top amateur athlete in the nation by the New York Athletic Club, will be named March 14. A Little Rock native, Williams finished his Arkansas career as the school’s top tight end, catching 149 passes for 1,831 yards and 10 touchdowns. He went through the NFL Scouting Combine last weekend in Indianapolis and will go through a Pro Day in Fayetteville next Tuesday in preparation of April’s NFL Draft. "It was a pleasure to be able to coach him because he exemplifies all of the qualities the award represents," Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said in a statement. "D.J.’s leadership was instrumental in the success we had on the field this past season, and his strong moral character will continue to show the players in our program what it means to be a Razorback."

UK Wildcats to kickoff against WKU on a Thursday

The University of Kentucky’s season-opening game against Western Kentucky has moved from Saturday, Sept. 3 to Thursday, Sept. 1 at Nashville’s LP Field.

The game was moved to accommodate Tennessee State, who has first rights at LP Field and has its home opener scheduled for Sept. 3.

The two schools are still working on a specific time and television options, according to UK spokesman Tony Neely. Western will be the home team in the matchup.

Dismissed Auburn RB facing domestic violence charge

On Monday, Auburn confirmed that running back Eric Smith had been dismissed from the football program for violating unspecified team rules. Today, we learn that one of the Tigers’ team rules is "avoid domestic violence charges". According to multiple media outlets, Smith was arrested Feb. 22 on a charge of third-degree domestic violence. The police report stated that Smith was arrested at 11:15 p.m., and was sober and did not resist arrest. So he’s got that going for him, which is good. No further details of the events that led up to the arrest were made available.

The arrest was Smith’s second during his time as a Tiger. In August of 2009, he was charged with third-degree assault after becoming involved in a fight with a fellow Auburn student.

Update: Auburn Hires Mike Pelton as Defensive Line Coach

Mike Pelton, a former All-SEC standout at Auburn, has been named defensive line coach at his alma mater, announced head coach Gene Chizik Wednesday. Pelton worked under Chizik as the defensive line coach at Iowa State from 2007-08.

"I'm very excited and humbled to return to Auburn and be a part of what Coach Chizik and his staff have built during the last two years," Pelton said. "I look forward to working with a young defensive line and getting them ready to compete next season. Auburn has always had a special place in my heart and it's been my goal to coach at my alma mater. I can't wait to return to the Plains and get started."

As a player at Auburn, Pelton was a standout defensive tackle at Auburn, earning first team All-SEC recognition in 1994. A four-year letterman from 1991-94, Pelton was a co-captain as a senior and helped the Tigers win a school-record 20 consecutive games from 1993-94.

"I was fortunate to have Mike on my previous staff and I have known him for several years," Chizik said. "He's a great coach, a tireless worker and an outstanding recruiter who has mentored some very good players, including NFL standouts Demarcus Ware and Osi Umenyiora, both who are from Auburn. Mike is very familiar with the state and region, and he knows what it takes to coach and recruit in the Southeastern Conference. We look forward to having a member of the Auburn Family return home and join our staff."

Pelton, 39, was hired in January as defensive line coach at Louisiana Lafayette after serving as defensive ends coach at Vanderbilt in 2010.

New leader for Auburn coaching vacancy emerges

Last week, Clint Hurtt was the presumptive leader to take over for Tracy Rocker as Auburn’s defensive line coach. The Birmingham News is reporting this afternoon that Mike Pelton has emerged as the leading candidate to take over for Rocker. So much so, in fact, that his hiring could be announced by the Tigers as early as today.

Pelton, who was hired by Louisiana-Lafayette following the 2010 season, was an All-SEC defensive lineman at Auburn in the nineties and spent the past two seasons at Vanderbilt. Prior to that, he coached at Troy for six seasons.

Vandy's Black and Gold Spring Game set April 17

The next phase in James Franklin's push to change the culture of Vanderbilt football starts March 18 when the Commodores open spring drills.
Franklin, preparing to direct his first spring practice as a head coach, expects to achieve several goals as the Commodores work toward the featured Black & Gold Spring Game, scheduled Sunday, April 17 in Vanderbilt Stadium.
Franklin will focus on increasing expectations throughout the Vanderbilt roster.
"We'll be laying a foundation to build on this summer and in fall camp," Franklin said. "We want to instill confidence in our guys. We want them feeling great entering the Black & Gold Spring Game and as we go forward from there.
"All the guys have given Coach Dwight Galt and his staff great effort during our winter conditioning program and I also think we can build on that this spring," the coach added.
Franklin will welcome nearly 85 players at the first spring session. The Commodore roster will include 26 contributors with started multiple games last season.
Introducing new playbooks and coaching philosophies will be a priority for Franklin and his staff. "It's important that we install everything we can, and find out the things we can do successfully," Franklin said. "The coaches are great teachers and the players are excellent students, so we'll introduce as much as we can.

Franklin also promises plenty of competition through the 15 spring practices.

Major program to be outed for major recruiting violations

On his ESPN radio program Tuesday afternoon, the 30:00 mark in this clip, Colin Cowherd tap-danced around rumors that we’ve been hearing for the past few days, that a top-10 program will be the subject of an, for lack of a better word, exposé by a very recognizable media entity in the coming days. Here’s Cowherd’s minute-long monologue on what would be a seismic development if proven true:

I received an interesting text about 10 days ago, and this should be very frightening if you’re a fan of college football, that a major program in this country is going to be outed very soon for major recruiting violations. It is a top 10-12 program. I know what I think it is according to both my sources; I received another tip last night. I went to Vince Doria, who is sort of the journalistic editor at this company. He had heard the exact same thing. We are pursuing this story with vigor. A major publication is about to unseat a major college football power on recruiting violations. I will tell you from my source, it is not, it is not, Auburn. I will leave it at that. It is a major program and a major publication. When we can validate more… I have not been able to validate it nor has this company. We’re both pursuing it.

Shortly after Cowherd’s words hit the airwaves, John Canzano of The Oregonian was contacted by, he writes, "several national college football writers after those early rumors began to point at the University of Oregon being that program." An Oregon source denied they are the football program in question.

Oregon is not the school we have heard connected to these rumors, nor is it Auburn, nor will we mention the school’s name we’ve heard floated around as it’s not been remotely confirmed.