Kenny Miles on South Carolina’s spring roster

Gamecocks running back Kenny Miles has been undecided about his future in Columbia, with transfer rumors swirling since January. The State‘s Josh Kendall noted that a decision from Miles was expected by the start of spring practice, which, wouldn’t you know it, starts today.

It now appears Miles is going to stay with South Carolina for his final year. Via a tweet from Darryl Slater of the Charleston Post and Courier, a school spokesperson says Miles is on the latest spring roster as of last week. Because Miles graduated in December, he could play anywhere in 2012 without having to sit out a year.

The start of spring practice was a reported deadline for Miles; there’s obviously still time for the senior-to-be to go another route, and with Marcus Lattimore back in the lineup, playing time could be even slimmer for Miles next year.

Ellington giving up Gamecocks football for hoops

The Gamecocks announced via a press release Monday that All-SEC Freshman Bruce Ellington has decided to commit to playing basketball for the Gamecocks and will no longer be a part of the football program. The move is actually a return to a full-time commitment to the hardwood for Ellington; in 2010-11 Ellington was USC’s leading scorer, and he played this past hoops season as well.

In March of last year the wide receiver decided to give up the round ball for an oblong one. Now, he’s officially switched his sports path.

“Basketball’s always been my first love,” said Ellington in a statement. “After giving it a lot of thought, this is the decision I’ve made. If you want to be great at something you have to commit to it full-time. I appreciate Coach Spurrier for giving me an opportunity to play football at South Carolina.

“It was a great experience, but right now I want to focus on basketball. I also want to thank all the fans for their support throughout my time in Columbia.”

During the 2011 football season, Ellington posted 707 all-purpose yards for the Gamecocks, with 211 receiving yards, 106 rushing yards and 390 yards on kick returns.

Mizzou QB gets arrested on traffic warrants

The Columbia Tribune reports Glaser’s arrest took place early Sunday morning. According to local police, Glaser knocked on the door of a female neighbor for unspecified reasons, at which time an unidentified male came to the door and promptly hit Glaser in the face for, again, reasons that haven’t been disclosed. Witnesses to the incident called the police, but only Glaser was arrested. But the reserve QB wasn’t arrested because of the alleged “scuffle.” Rather, Glaser was arrested as a result of two out-of-county warrants stemming from an unpaid speeding ticket he received on Nov. 24 of last year. The warrant for Glaser’s arrest was issued after he failed to appear in court on Jan. 23, and then again on Feb. 9. It’s not the first time Glaser has been arrested for missing court dates, either. The quarterback was arrested in September 2010 for missing a court appearance related to another speeding ticket. Glaser reportedly paid the fine, but the warrant wasn’t removed from his records. Glaser is currently third on Missouri’s depth chart as the Tigers move forward with spring practice.

Pac-12 leaders eye switch from BCS to playoff system

Leaders of the Pac-12 Conference agreed in principle Saturday to try to end college football's Bowl Championship Series, proposing its replacement with a playoff system that would allow only conference winners to play for college football's national title.

"I don't hear anyone saying business as usual is acceptable," said Edward Ray, Oregon State University's president and chairman of the Pac-12 universities' CEO group. "We need change."

Though a formal vote was not taken among the top Pac-12 university officials who attended Saturday, they expect that to occur at their next meeting later this year. If the Pac-12 makes its formal recommendation as expected in June, it would come just before BCS bowls prepare late this summer to start negotiations on BCS contract renewals. The BCS contracts expire in early 2014.

The Pac-12 action is not unexpected. Arizona State University President Michael Crow advocated for the idea in Phoenix earlier this year. College football and the BCS have come under increasing criticism amid reports of lax financial oversight and administrative abuses and questions about the fairness of the bowl-selection system. Presidents and chancellors of the Pac-12 Conference schools discussed the future of the BCS on Saturday behind closed doors at a hotel adjacent to Staples Center, home of the Pac-12 men's and women's basketball championship games.

What emerged, according to Ray and Crow, was consensus that the current BCS system needs to significantly change and that it should be replaced by a playoff system that may or may not include current BCS bowl members, including the Valley's Fiesta Bowl. However, the Pac-12 chief executives want to protect the iconic Rose Bowl's status as an elite postseason game in which only representatives from the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences play. In a playoff scenario, it might or might not be one of the playoff games.

thanks to AZ Central.com

Shackelford’s status for Ole Miss in 2012 uncertain

A torn ACL suffered during spring practice last April kept Ole Miss’ D.T. Shackelford out for all of the 2011 season, but the linebacker was expected to return this year. Unfortunately, he won’t be available for spring practice this year. Even more unfortunately, his availability for the 2012 season appears to be up in the air as well.

First-year Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze revealed Saturday that Shackelford underwent a second surgery last week on his injured knee. Freeze said that Shackelford’s participation in summer camp is questionable at this point in time.

“Yes there is a chance [Shackelford will return for camp] but certainly not something that we would feel definite about at this point,” Freeze said according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

A return to health by Shackelford would be a huge boon to an Ole Miss defense that finished dead last among SEC teams in total yards allowed per game (419.3) and points per game (32.1). As a sophomore in 2010, Shackelford played in 12 games, starting six of them. He led the team in sacks with five, and finished second with nine tackles for loss.

by J Taylor

All-American tackle moves to the center of the Tide’s line

Last year Barrett Jones was one of the top left tackles in the country, earning unanimous first-team All-American honors from, among others, the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association and Football Writers Association of America. He was also named as the winner of the 2011 Outland Trophy, which is presented annually to the nation’s best interior lineman.

After flirting with an early move to the NFL, Jones announced in late December that he was returning to the Tide for another season. Somewhat surprisingly, though, that final season won’t include a return to the same position.

As the defending BcS champions opened spring practice Friday, Jones was not working on the outside of the Tide’s offensive line. Instead, the senior-to-be was in the middle of the trenches, working at the center position as the spring officially kicked off.

And, according to head coach Nick Saban, this was no experiment; Jones is moving to center full-time — provided sophomore Cyrus Kouandjio, who is coming back from a knee injury, can prove he’s a capable and healthy replacement for Jones as quarterback AJ McCarrron‘s blindside protector.

“We thought he was a starter last year,” Saban said of Kouandjio. “Obviously, he’s a freshman, but he made tremendous progress. Obviously, his injury set him back a little bit, but he’s worked very hard and made a good recovery.

“We think he can be a very, very good player. There’s no experiment involved in Barrett playing center. That experiment was all done last year. He got a lot of reps and played some in games. I don’t think there’s any question about the fact he’ll do a really good job.”

by J.Taylor

Dooley adds yet another new assistant to Vols staff

For the seventh time since the end of the 2011 regular season, Derek Dooley has added a new assistant to his heavily-revamped Tennessee coaching staff.

The latest addition is Josh Conklin, who will take over as coach of the the Vols’ safeties, the team announced today. It had previously been announced that Derrick Ansley will coach the Vols’ cornerbacks.

Conklin and Ansley will replace Terry Joseph, who officially left as defensive backs coach for the same job at Nebraska last week.

“Josh brings successful coordinator experience and consistent secondary production to our defensive staff,” said Dooley in a statement. “He comes highly recommended and I believe will be a great fit for our football staff.”

Conklin comes to UT from The Citadel, where he served the last two years as defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Prior to that, he had served on coaching staffs at Wofford (2007-09) and South Dakota State (2003-06).

With Conklin’s addition, Dooley will have an entirely new defensive staff from the one that “helped” the Vols go 5-7 in 2011. The only holdovers from last year’s staff come from the offensive side — offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and wide receivers coach Darin Hinshaw, who was actually quarterbacks coach last season. Dooley had previously announced that Chaney will take over QBs so that Hinshaw can assume the position created by Charlie Baggett‘s “retirement” in December.

Two ’12 Auburn coordinators worth one ’11 Malzahn

On Thursday, AU released documents detailing the contracts of Gene Chizik‘s new assistant coaches and, as expected, the new defensive boss will be the highest-paid coach on Chizik’s staff. Brian VanGorder (pictured), hired to replace Ted Roof earlier this year, will earn $850,000 annually on his two-year contract.

Roof, who left Auburn in December for the same job at UCF before taking the same job at Penn State in January, “earned” $500,000 in 2011.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer notes that VanGorder’s salary ties him with Alabama’s Kirby Smart as the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football.

On the offensive side of the ball, Scot Loeffler will make roughly one-third of what his predecessor pulled in. Loeffler’s contract, a two-year deal as well, will pay the former Temple coordinator $500,000 in both 2012 and 2013. Loeffler was officially added to the staff in late January.

New defensive backs coach Willie Martinez will make $255,000 on his one-year contract.

by J. Taylor

Only conference champs not the way Slive wants playoff to go

Suffice to say, the SEC — and possibly even a conference like the Big Ten — would not be in favor of any format that could potentially limit the number of teams the conference could put into a playoff. And, in an interview with Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, SEC commissioner Mike Slive did not shy away from the fact that, while he’s open to talks on any concept, limiting a playoff to league title winners is not something he — and presumably the presidents he serves — is prepared to get behind.

“I’m willing to have a conversation about (only conference champions), but if you were going to ask me today, that would not be the way I want to go,” Slive told. “It really is early in the discussions, notwithstanding what some commissioners say publicly. There’s still a lot of information that needs to be generated.”

Taking such a stance would certainly make sense as limiting a playoff to conference champs would’ve impacted the SEC on a couple of occasions the past few years. In addition to last year’s title game, the SEC has finished a regular season with two teams inside the top four in the BcS rankings — 2008 (Florida No. 2, Alabama No. 4) and 2006 (Florida No. 2), LSU No. 4).

Of course, it remains unclear whether BCS-type rankings will be a part of any type of playoff that may be instituted, but the point remains the same: the SEC, the strongest football conference in the country, especially in the top half of the league, will not go easily into any system that could potentially limit its opportunities.

Florida OC signs three-year deal with Gators

Nearly two months after former Boise State offensive coordinator Brent Pease took the same job with Florida, the details of Pease’s contract have been released.

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, multiple media outlets were able to get its hands on the details of Pease’s contract, as well as two other other assistant coaches new to Will Muschamp‘s staff. Pease has signed a three-year deal worth $490,000 annually plus a $100,000 signing bonus. Pease is also set to receive longevity bonuses (also $100k) after the second and third years of the contract.

New offensive line coach Tim Davis signed a one-year contract worth $275,000 last month and director of strength and conditioning Jeff Dillman signed a two-year contract worth $215,000 annually.

Female kicker to give LSU football a shot

According to WDSU-TV, LSU women’s soccer player Mo Isom will get a tryout Tuesday with the Tigers football team, which began spring practice earlier this month. This would actually constitute Isom’s second “stint” with the Tigers, having practiced kickoffs and field goals with the team last September.

Isom, who while a senior would still maintain a season of football eligibility, addressed her looming opportunity in a post made to her Facebook wall late last month.

“It will finally be time to show what over a year of diligent preparation has produced,” Isom wrote by way of the Sporting News. “I would appreciate prayers for continued health, a clear and undistracted mind, and absolute faith that no matter the result, God has my best interests at heart. I will control what I can control and leave the rest to Him! Let’s rewrite history in His name.”

The tryout is not Isom’s lone hurdle, though. As a redshirt junior last season, Drew Alleman connected on 16-of-18 field goal attempts and 62-of-63 extra point tries, earning second-team All-SEC honors. Barring injury or the utter loss of ability, Alleman will be LSU’s kicker in 2012.

Surgery knocks Eddie Lacy out of Tide’s spring practice

Head coach Nick Saban announced Tuesday that running back Eddie Lacy will miss all 15 of the spring sessions after undergoing surgery this offseason. Lacy had dealt with a foot issue throughout the latter portion of the 2011 season.

As the primary backup to Richardson last season, Lacy finished second on the team in rushing yards (674) and touchdowns (seven). he added 11 receptions for 131 yards out of the backfield.

Lacy won’t be the only Tide player to miss spring practice due to a health issue, either, as offensive lineman Arie Kouandjio will be held out as well due to offseason surgery. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, Kouandjio played in two games.

Additionally, three other players will not participate this spring due to suspensions, and all three also happen to be wide receivers — Michael Bowman, Ronald Carswell and Duron Carter. The development is the latest low point for Carter, who left Ohio State in June of 2010 and ultimately landed at Alabama in April of last year but did not see the field at all due to myriad issues.

“It is what it is. They’re suspended today. That’s all I know. If it changes, I’ll tell you,” head coach Nick Saban said of the suspended players and when they may return. “Why do we have to make decisions about things we don’t know the answers to? Why would you ask me to?”

Vols assistant Terry Joseph offered position at Nebraska...taken or not

It still hasn’t been made official by Nebraska, but the Terry Joseph-to-Cornhuskers reports appear to be all but set in stone. Joseph wouldn’t confirm to the Omaha World-Herald that he had accepted the defensive backs coaching job with the Nebraska, but did reportedly confirm it to 247Sports over the weekend.

Coachingsearch said they could confirm the hire last week, but other publications began picking up on the hire later in the week as well.

Common sense finally prevails over BCS

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott summed up the thinking after the meeting, telling The New York Times: "So much of the passion of a move to a playoff is to see it earned on the field. What more clear way to have intellectual consistency with the idea of a playoff than to earn it as a conference champion? It would play down the rolls of the highly subjective polls that are based on a coach and media voting and a few computers."
It's a shame it took an all-SEC national championship to move administrators toward the epiphany of a playoff, especially since the championship in question (with Alabama winning over LSU) was one of the few times in recent years when the BCS grand finale clearly featured the two best teams.
After the current BCS contract runs its course, it looks like college football will go to a final-four format, with four conference champions playing semifinal games at one of the participating teams' home stadiums. That will be followed by a national championship game on or about New Years Day to be held at a neutral location.

"I hope we can come up with a system that turns the bowl model on its head and improves it," Scott told the Times.

Gamecock's Clowney ready to unleash awhole lotta hurt in the SEC

Clowney was going to be a playmaker this season no matter who lined up with him in the trenches. The fact that the big-play Ingram has used up his eligibility simply means that No. 7 is going to enjoy an even bigger spotlight in his second season in Columbia, S.C. He is as close to a sure-thing among defensive underclassmen as there is in America, a 6-6, 255-pound terror coming off the edge. Even as a backup in his debut, he still managed to rack up 11 tackles for loss, six sacks and five forced fumbles. Although you don’t get better by losing an All-American, such as Ingram, the Gamecocks might not be any worse. With Devin Taylor on one side and Clowney on the other, South Carolina will still boast one of the nastiest bookends around.

Gators LB Neiron Ball says he’s cleared to play football

After missing all of the 2011 season with a health issues, Florida’s Neiron Ball appears ready to get back to the playing field.

The linebacker was hospitalized in February of last year with a burst blood vessel in his brain and, after spending a couple of days in intensive care, was released. It was initially feared that, because of what is technically called arteriovenous malformation, Ball’s playing career might be over.

Fortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

In a posting to his Facebook page Friday night, Ball stated that he has been medically cleared to resume his playing career less than two weeks before the gators are set to begin spring practice.

“Got GREAT news today!!! I am CLEARED TO PLAY FOOTBALL AGAIN!” Ball wrote. “This is one of many God’s blessings… I am so thankful and excited. PRAISE GOD!”

The school has yet to confirm Ball’s availability for spring practice and beyond. This year’s spring sessions will commence March 14.

Ball, a four-star member of UF’s 2010 recruiting class, played in 13 games as a true freshman before being sidelines all of last season.

Thanks to Orlando Sentinel

Mizzou fills 2012 scheduling void with Syracuse

In a pair of press releases, Mizzou and Syracuse confirmed that the two schools have reached an agreement for a one-off game this coming season. It will be a home game for Mizzou as the Orange will travel to Columbia to take on the Tigers Nov. 17.

“We are very pleased to get our schedule finalized, and are excited that we could put this kind of schedule together,” said MU senior associate athletic director Mark Alnutt. “This is a schedule that Tiger fans can be excited about, and we’re very fortunate to be able to put such a quality group of opponents together given the challenging timetable we were faced with.”

With the Orange’s addition, Mizzou’s non-conference slate will also include home games against Arizona State and SE Louisiana as well as a road trip to Orlando to face UCF. It’s believed the scheduling of three current or soon-to-be members of BcS conference members will not lead to sanctions for Mizzou by the SEC.

On the ‘Cuse side of the ledger, the addition of Mizzou fills one of two holes on the 2012 schedule that had remained. The Orange had originally been scheduled to face TCU in a conference matchup — the Horned Frogs bolted the Big East for the Big 12 after zero official seasons in the league — in mid-November, but still must fill the hole created by West Virginia’s departure for the same conference.

The addition of Temple to the Big East, if the rumors come to fruition, would be the final piece to the scheduling puzzle for all members of the conference.

Before settling on the game with Mizzou, head coach Doug Marrone stated in the release that the school had spoken to Florida State, Arkansas, Boise State and Nevada about taking over TCU’s spot. A Div. 1-AA (FCS) school was not considered, Marrone added.

Vols DB coach reportedly has offer to join Nebraska

Tennessee coach Derek Dooley has faced significant turnover on his coaching staff this offseason. A month after that turnover was said to be finished, Dooley may have yet another coaching hire to conduct.

Both Coachingsearch.com and The Knoxville News Sentinel are linking Vols DB coach Terry Joseph to the open secondary coach job at Nebraska that has become vacant with the departure of Corey Raymond to LSU. Raymond had previously said he had no interest in returning to his alma mater before bolting earlier this week.

Coachingsearch says they expect Joseph to accept the job, but the News Sentinel only states that Joseph has an offer, and whether or not he will accept is unknown. Joseph, a former assistant at Louisiana Tech, followed Dooley to Knoxville in 2010.

Eariler this month, Tennessee announced Derrick Ansley would be the Vols’ new co-defensive backs coach.