Auburn hikes Chizik’s salary to $3.5 million

Gene Chizik has received a new contract nearly doubling his salary and making him one of college football’s highest paid coaches. Auburn announced the deal Friday and it’s worth $3.5 million a year through 2015, with incentives that could tack on another $1 million. Chizik was rewarded for leading the Tigers to their first national title since 1957 in just his second season. He made $2.1 million in salary last season, but received another $1.3 million in bonuses following the 14-0 season.
“We believe that we have the best coach in college football,” Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said in a statement. “More importantly, coach Chizik is a great mentor to our student-athletes, he represents Auburn with class and integrity in all that he does, and he is an outstanding ambassador for Auburn University.”

“I want to thank President (Jay) Gogue and Jay Jacobs for their leadership and vision and believing in the direction that we have established for the Auburn football program,” Chizik said in a statement. “I deeply appreciate their commitment to me and to the future of Auburn football.

“The success that we’ve accomplished in the past two seasons has been possible because of the collective efforts of the football coaches and staff, players, our administration and the entire Auburn Family. We will continue to work tirelessly to build the foundation of the Auburn football program so that we can compete for championships regularly.”

The hefty raise still doesn’t quite push Chizik up into Nick Saban territory, but does make him the SEC’s fourth-highest paid head coach.

Former Arkansas lineman officially lands at North Texas

Former Arkansas offensive lineman Cam Feldt has officially moved on from the Hogs and on to the campus of North Texas, Brett Vito of the Denton Record-Chronicle is reporting.

Feldt, a four-star lineman from Pilot Point, Texas, will sit out this season per NCAA regulations and will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Feldt redshirted his only year in Fayetteville.

Alabama running back Corey Grant plans to transfer

University of Alabama running back Corey Grant plans to transfer, according to his former high school coach.
Opelika High School coach Brian Blackmon said he does not know where Grant plans to play football next, but believes the redshirt freshman has the ability to contribute at a major college program.
"I don't know where he's going, but he told me he's not coming back to Alabama. He didn't give me any indication as to what he's going to do. There is talk that he wants to go to Auburn, but we don't know for sure," said Blackmon.
Grant signed with Alabama in the Crimson Tide's 2010 signing class and redshirted last season. At 5-foot-10 and 186 pounds, Grant was undersized for the position but possesses excellent speed and had no shortage of scholarship offers as a Rivals.com four-star recruit, including one from Auburn.

"I think it's a situation where he committed early, the summer before his senior year, and he just felt like he went to the wrong place," said Blackmon. "I only saw him for a few minutes, so he didn't get too much into the details, but he said he wasn't going to be back."

It is unclear whether Grant has been released from his scholarship, conditionally or unconditionally, by UA coach Nick Saban. If Grant received a conditional release that excludes a transfer to other Southeastern Conference institutions, and chose to attend an SEC school anyway, he would not be allowed on scholarship at the receiving SEC school initially. NCAA rules also require players transferring from one FBS program to another to sit out one season.

Montori Hughes no longer part of Vols football

A lightly recruited but physically impressive defensive tackle out of Murfreesboro, the 6-foot-4, 327-pound Hughes arrived in 2009 and looked like a potential stalwart in the middle of the line for the Vols in the future. But that flickering possibility was definitively extinguished on Thursday when UT confirmed he was no longer part of the program without an official reason provided by coach Derek Dooley.

Hughes has had issues related to his academics over his two seasons with the Vols, problems that led to a suspension for the regular-season finale last year against Kentucky and another "violation of team rules" that kept him out of the first two practices of spring camp in March. Off the field, Hughes was also present during the brawl at Bar Knoxville in July of last year and retained a lawyer, though charges were never brought against him.

But regardless of the circumstances, moving forward without one of its biggest tackles will be another challenge for a UT defense already short on depth in the middle.

"I do think it's big, because we're so thin and unproductive at defensive tackle," Dooley said after suspending Hughes before the Kentucky game last fall. "Anybody we lose there, it hurts the team - there's no question.

"But we have an academic accountability system that they understand and they know the consequences. I've told them, it's the same old line that everybody can do what they want. Everybody has freedom of choice, but nobody has freedom of consequence and at some point, you can't play."

Hughes reached that point again Thursday, but he won't be getting another chance to play at UT this time.

Austin Ward covers Tennessee football

Gamecock's Lattimore...the best RB in the SEC

The Adrian Peterson comparisons may have been a bit premature, but you can certainly understand why people got so excited about Marcus Lattimore so quickly.
Lattimore arrived in Columbia as a a heralded 5-star recruit out of South Carolina’s Byrnes High School, and he definitely made quite a first impression.
The 6'0", 230-pound powerhouse rumbled for nearly 1,200 rushing yards and scored 19 TDs last season.
Lattimore will again have the benefit of one of the best receivers in the country, Alshon Jeffery, to help keep defenses honest.
It should prove interesting to see how much the extra 15 pounds of muscle that the sophomore put on in the offseason will help.

Former four-star RB leaves the Football program of Alabama

According to the Birmingham News, running back Corey Grant has left the Tide program and will transfer to an unknown destination.

“I don’t know where he’s going, but he’s not going back to Alabama,” Brian Blackmon, Grant’s high school coach, told the paper. “I don’t think he’s made up his mind.”

The presence of starter and Heisman candidate Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy, Jalston Fowler and 2011 five-star signee Dee Hart, the No. 1 RB in the nation according to Rivals.com —had to play at least a minor role in Grant’s decision.

As a member of Saban’s 2010 recruiting class, Grant was given a four-star rating by Rivals.com and was the No. 5 all-purpose back in the country according to the recruiting service. After redshirting last season, Grant played in UA’s spring game, totaling 12 yards on three carries.

The Opelika, Al., native had received offers from, among others, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Stanford and Oklahoma before verbally committing to the Tide in July of 2009.

Update: UT athletic director Mike Hamilton resigns

Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton announced Tuesday he decided to resign so the Volunteers would have a “clean slate” when they go before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions later in the week.

Hamilton, who has been at the helm of Tennessee athletics for eight seasons, said it was both a personal decision and one that he hoped would help reunite the Vols fanbase. During a three-year period, Hamilton fired a popular coach, hired a controversial one and now the athletic department faces 12 NCAA infractions against the football and basketball programs.

“The last several years at UT have been marked by turmoil, fractures and the development of camps. This is not healthy, nor is it productive for our university,” Hamilton said. “During the last three months in particular, I myself have become a lightning rod for negative attention, and that’s a major distraction for the many positive things that are going on in athletics and on our campus.”

Hamilton will join UT-Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek, former Vols and current Southern California football coach Lane Kiffin and former basketball coach Bruce Pearl and other Tennessee representatives to respond to the NCAA’s charges on Saturday in Indianapolis. He will take administrative leave from Tennessee beginning Monday and remain on staff until June 30 unless he finds new employment.

Mike Hamilton out as Vols AD

The Knoxville News Sentinel this morning that Hamilton has decided to “resign” as the school’s director of athletics. An email, the paper reports, was sent by UT president Joe DiPietro Tuesday morning to the entire board informing them of Hamilton’s decision.

“He’s an outstanding guy who’s done a lot of good things for the university, so obviously we’re going to work hard to find somebody to replace him,”

The move comes as UT is set to appear before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions this week to answer questions regarding violations alleged in both the football program under Lane Kiffin and the basketball program under Bruce Pearl. Neither coach is still with their respective programs, with Kiffin bolting for the USC job after one year in Knoxville and Pearl fired for his significant role in the hoops scandal.

Vols Herman Lathers won't be ready for start of season

Vols coach Derek Dooley confirmed through UT spokesman Jimmy Stanton on Saturday night that returning starter Herman Lathers won’t be ready for the beginning of the season after fracturing an ankle last week, an injury that will require surgery to repair and has no definite timetable for return. Backup Greg King also required arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, but the procedure performed Friday is expected to have him ready in time for camp in August.

The potential loss of Lathers could be particularly damaging for the Vols, who were counting on the only returning starter at linebacker to bounce back from the shoulder surgery that kept him out of spring practice to anchor a group that doesn’t boast much experience.

The junior started each of the 12 games he played in last season, missing just one contest with an ankle injury unrelated to the one suffered some time in the middle of last week. His 75 tackles were the second-highest total on the team behind only Nick Reveiz, one of the two departed seniors who filled the starting roles alongside Lathers at linebacker.

The post-spring depth chart released by the Vols listed King as the backup behind Lathers at the weak-side position, and both have had their share of physical concerns lately. King missed almost all of last season after undergoing surgery on his knee, which has been a recurring problem for him throughout a promising career that has struggled to gain traction because of the run of bad health.

LB Petey Smith leaving ‘Bama

The latest player to leave Alabama's program is Petey Smith, who the Birmingham News has confirmed is transferring from the Tide to Holmes (Miss.) Community College.

The linebacker participated in spring practice, but shortly thereafter spoke to head coach Nick Saban about his future with the program. After apparently seeing the writing on the depth chart, Smith chose the transfer option as the next step in his football career.

“Basically, I just felt that I wasn’t giving it my all,” Smith told the News. “I’m not going to say I wasn’t happy. I didn’t feel like I had an opportunity to show what I could do with reps and everything. Instead of waiting, I thought I’d just go somewhere else. …

“I just thought it wasn’t the place for me. I didn’t want to wait until my junior or senior year. …I’m just gonna go to Holmes, play the football season and then I can really choose what school I want to go to through the recruiting process over again.”

Smith went on to tell the paper that he’s talked to schools from schools in the SEC, Big Ten and ACC, although he declined to name any specific schools that have expressed interest.

A member of Alabama’s 2010 recruiting class, Smith was the No. 32 inside linebacker in the country and given a three-star ranking by Rivals.com. He was a redshirt his true freshman season last year.

Vols starting LB fractures ankle

According to both the Chattanooga Times Free-Press and Knoxville News Sentinel, starting linebacker Herman Lathers suffered a fractured ankle during a seven-on-seven session this past Wednesday. It’s unclear exactly how the injury occurred. What’s also unclear is how long Lathers will be sidelined, although head coach Derek Dooley, through a UT spokesperson, told the News Sentinel that he won’t be ready for the beginning of the season. Whether that’s just a game or two is uncertain. Lathers, who started all 12 games in 2010, had already missed all of spring practice due to a shoulder issue.

He is the Vols only returning starter at the position.

Vandy's Hayward leads a list of 6 on Phil Steele's College Preview

Cornerback Casey Hayward leads a list of six Vanderbilt players named to preseason All-Southeastern Conference teams by Phil Steele’s 2011 College Football Preview, which hits newsstands on June 7.

Hayward, a senior from Perry, Ga., was also selected as a preseason All-America by Phil Steele’s, named to the publication’s fourth team defense. As a junior last season, he led the conference with 17 pass breakups and brought down a team-high six interceptions on the way to receiving second team All-SEC postseason honors as a defensive back from both league coaches and the Associated Press following the season. Hayward is the only Commodore and one of 26 players from the SEC named to one of Steele’s four preseason All-American teams.

Five other Commodore returning starters were named to All-SEC squads by the publication. A pair of fellow seniors, linebacker Chris Marve and tight end Brandon Barden, join Hayward as second-team All-SEC selections. Sophomore Wesley Johnson was named to the third team as an offensive tackle, while junior Warren Norman and senior Sean Richardson were named to the fourth team at kick returner and safety, respectively.

Kickoff for Vols-Gators', UT-Cincinnati at 3:30 p.m.

Tennessee may not be opening the season in prime time, but it will still have plenty of the national attention it’s used to.

The Vols have a pair of September games set for afternoon kickoffs at 3:30 as the television schedule started to take shape on Thursday, with a non-conference meeting with Cincinnati on the Sept. 10 picked up by ESPN2 and the annual rivalry game with Florida again picked up by CBS on Sept. 17.

The series with the Gators has another new look, but it was still the pick for CBS to begin its 11th season of national coverage of the SEC. Another new face will be on the sidelines when Tennessee travels to Florida for its first meeting with Will Muschamp, but that might only add to the intrigue of the early season, divisional showdown in The Swamp.

This will be an exciting conference’s Game of the Week broadcast, setting the stage for what could be a marquee win for either Muschamp in his first season or Derek Dooley in his second with UT.

The Vols open the campaign with home dates against Montana and the Bearcats before hitting the road to take on the Gators, one of just four contests away from Neyland Stadium this fall.

Arrest apparently led to dismissal of Miss. St.’s Dennis Thames

It has been reported that Mississippi State dismissed defensive back Dennis Thames from the football program for violating unspecified team rules. A report has subsequently surfaced which reveals that one of those team rules is apparently “don’t let alcohol and/or weed ride shotgun in your ride.” Allegedly. According to The Dispatch, Thames was arrested May 31 and charged with possession of marijuana and alcohol in a vehicle. Thames was booked into the Winston County jail shortly after noon local time Tuesday and was released a short time later.

This was Thames’ second brush with the law since signing with the Bulldogs as a four-star player out of Louisville (Miss.) High School; he was arrested for “public intoxication-other substances” shortly before the start of his freshman season in 2009. He also served a one-game suspension last year for violating unspecified team rules.

Ex-UGA RB Ealey to drop down a level to play in 2011

Washaun Ealey has found himself a new collegiate home. The running back’s high school coach confirmed to Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald that his former player has transferred to Jacksonville State. The coach, Milan Turner, added that Ealey started classes Thursday. As the Alabama school competes at the Div. 1-AA level in football, Ealey will be eligible to play immediately. “It came down to where he wanted to go and play and it was a place where it was a good fit for him,” said Turner, who added that there was initial interest from SEC schools that subsequently waned. Ealey led the Bulldogs in rushing in each of the past two seasons, totaling 717 yards in 2009 and 811 last year.

SEC coaches favor 28-LOI limit for recruiting classes

Last week, details from Slive’s oversigning legislation were leaked, with one amendment asking the SEC to begin “Limiting the size of a football signing class in each academic year to 25, down from the current level of 28… The 25 limit would cover those who sign from Dec. 1 to August 1.”

The coaches felt a change in the status quo would limit opportunities for recruits.

“When you sit in our seat every day for 26 years, you see all the different things that could happen,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “Are there some risk/reward chances you have to take on guys? Absolutely. Everybody across the country does it every year. Unfortunately, every school doesn’t recruit every single kid who is 300 points above the SAT and has a 3.0 GPA. That’s not realistic. We also want to give kids opportunities to be student-athletes as well.”

“You all are creating a bad problem for everybody,” added Nick Saban, who blamed the bad publicity surrounding oversigning on the media. “You’re going to mess up kids’ opportunities by doing what you’re doing. You think you’re helping ‘em but you’re really hurting ‘em. It took one case where somebody didn’t get the right opportunity. You need to take the other 100 cases where somebody got an opportunity.”

Top ‘Cocks recruit Clowney on path to qualify academically

Gamecock Central recruiting analyst Chris Clark reported Wednesday morning that “while Clowney’s academics meet the criteria to qualify under NCAA standards, he still has not been certified by the NCAA Clearinghouse.” Clark, however, goes on to write that navigating the Clearinghouse and USC admission hurdles should not be an issue for the defensive end.

“Not that it’s a problem, I’m told it’s simply too early in the process for that to happen,” Clark wrote. “His Clearinghouse certification and admission to USC are essentially the two remaining steps in his path to USC, and both of those are expected to be fine according to what I hear.”

Oversigning, cost-of-living expenses for scholarships topics at SEC spring meetings

The meetings will continue through Friday. On that day, the SEC is expected to announce it will distribute another record in revenue among the membership. Last spring, the league shared $209 million, the highest total in the conference's history and a 57.7 percent increase from the previous year. It was the first year that contracts signed with ESPN and CBS were included in the league revenues. This year's expected revenue-sharing record will mark the 21st straight year the league has had an increase.

Oversigning has been discussed and addressed at past SEC spring meetings. The Athens Banner-Herald reported recently that the league is expected to limit schools to signing no more than 25 football prospects to grants-in-aid in a single signing class. That would be three fewer than the current number allowed by the league.

Last month, commissioner Mike Slive said the SEC would take "a very comprehensive look" at oversigning during the spring meetings and that he expected the league to adopt legislation that would represent a change in the current policy. The 2009 rule adopted by the league limiting the number of signees to 28 per class applies only to recruits signed between signing day in early February and May 31, but does not include those who enroll at a school in January and wait until June to sign.

That loophole has allowed schools to go beyond the limit of 28 without penalty. It allowed South Carolina to sign 32 players in its 2011 signing class, with Arkansas signing 30.