Arkansas focused on immediate future with Smith

Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long's hiring of John L. Smith for the next 10 months provided an unconventional, and perhaps temporary, solution to a problem that came with coach Bobby Petrino's sudden and scandal-ridden exit. Smith's return after a five-month absence from the Razorbacks also effectively signaled the program is all in for a season many expect to include a national championship run. And the Razorbacks couldn't be more relieved to have found Petrino's replacement in the form of the well-liked and outgoing Smith, who served as an assistant at the school for the past three seasons.

''I think it's going to go great,'' Arkansas running back Knile Davis said. ''A lot of people look at it differently because they're on the outside looking in. They don't necessarily know what's going on behind these doors.

''I think it was a great decision and I'm ready to run with it, not matter what the result is, but I think it's going to be a great result.''

The hiring of the 63-year-old Smith, who had left to become head coach at his alma mater, Weber State, in December, allowed Arkansas to keep together a group of assistant coaches the players had lobbied for with Long. It also allowed for the least amount of transition as possible in the post-Petrino era. Long faced a difficult decision following Petrino's firing April 10 after the former coach had admitted to an affair with a woman he later hired as his assistant. The timing of the coaching search was one of Long's biggest problems, with many candidates already well into spring practice with their own teams. Long also had to balance the current players' hopes for the upcoming season with the long-term interests of the program. In the end, Long believed he found the right answer to all his concerns despite some rumblings among fans and pundits that he missed out on a ''home run'' hire by choosing Smith.

''Anytime there is a hire, there will be fans that question that hire. I get that,'' Long said. ''I get that's part of being a fan. But the thing I've been hearing, they're excited. They believe in this team. They believe we have a special year in front of us. I think coach Smith will win them over time.''

Mizzou losing corner to transfer

Mizzou confirmed Tuesday that cornerback Robert Steeples (No. 22) has decided to transfer from the football program. Steeples, who would be a fifth-year senior this season, will graduated next month and transfer to another Div. 1-A (FBS) program, where he would be eligible to play immediately if he enrolls in a grad program not offered by Mizzou.
Several young corners reportedly had solid springs, which likely would’ve meant Steeples, who entered the sessions No. 2 on the depth chart, was in a for an unexpected battle for playing time coming into summer camp. During his time at Mizzou, Steeples played in 39 games but started just one of those contests. He was a three-star member of the Tigers’ 2008 recruiting class.

Razorbacks officially announce John L. Smith’s hiring

Arkansas has officially announced the hiring of John L. Smith as the Razorbacks head coach for the 2012 season.

Smith, who is leaving his post as Weber State’s head coach after less than five months on the job, has signed a 10-month letter of agreement with a compensation package of $850,000. The agreement will also make Smith eligible for performance and academic achievement incentives.

The agreement would technically carry Smith through Signing Day next February, although it’s highly likely UA will have a permanent replacement in place by that time. From the release:

Long announced the University of Arkansas will continue to evaluate the program and the head coaching position in anticipation of naming a head coach following the 2012 season. The current appointment will allow the program to identify a head coach for the future of the program in a timeframe that is more conducive to attracting the potential candidates expected for one of the nation’s premier football head coaching positions.

Smith had been special teams coordinator under Bobby Petrino at UA for the past three seasons, prior to leaving for Weber in early December. In a statement from athletic director Jeff Long on Smith’s hiring, it was actually the coach who first broached the subject of taking over on an interim basis.

Auburn wraps up spring practice...sets sites on recruiting

“We’ve got a whole summer in front of us which our expectation is that our whole team is working extremely hard to build on what we’ve started to accomplish these 15 days,” Chizik said. “So a lot is going to depend on what they do voluntarily.”

Chizik sees no decision forthcoming in the quarterback battle between Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley, expecting it to last into August.

“Unless something drastic happens, I don’t anticipate us being able to make a decision before sometime in two-a-days,” he said. “You never say never, but again, I’d have to see a clear cut definitive change and that would be hard for us to do because we’re not going to be out there.”

While most of the attention this spring has been on the quarterback battle, Chizik said the coaches will sit down with every player on the roster for “exit interviews,” just to give them a sense of where they are in the pecking order.

“We’re very candid about where everybody stands in relationship to other players competing for jobs,” Chizik said. “Guys become good at football in parts. They don’t just become good at everything all at once. You’ve got to give them a good idea where they’re at.”

“That’s huge because the only thing we can do is exactly what you think, is to give it everything we’ve got, trust in them, do whatever they tell us to do and not worry about that,” Moseley said. “But at the same time, we are human beings. I want to know where I’m at. I want to know what I did wrong in-depth.”

As for Chizik, the focus shifts to recruiting, with the spring evaluation period approaching.

“There’s a lot of work to do,” he said. “It never ends.”

Read more here: http://www.wareagleextra.com/2011/04/18/auburn-wraps-up-spring-practice-sets-sights-on-recruiting-summer-workouts/#storylink=cpy

Vols Marlin Lane scores twice in Orange and White Game

Marlin Lane rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Orange team to a 17-14 victory in the DISH Orange and White Game on Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium.

The game began with scoring drives on the first two possessions.

Lane gave the Orange team a 7-0 lead with a 19-yard run on the opening drive of the game, which went 56 yards in six plays. The White team, made up of the first-team offense and second-team defense, responded with a five-play, 75-yard scoring drive of its own. Quarterback Tyler Bray connected on a 51-yard pass to Da'Rick Rogers down to the Orange 3-yard line. Rogers very nearly scored, but cornerback Justin Coleman tripped him up just shy of the end zone. Rajion Neal, who returned to running back this spring after spending time as a receiver last season, scored two plays later.

The teams appeared to be headed for a 7-7 tie at halftime, but Lane broke free on a draw play at the end of the half for a 39-yard touchdown run and a seven-point lead for the Orange team, which featured the Vols' first-team defense and second-team offense. The White scored on its only third-quarter possession (quarters were shortened to 10 minutes for the second half), thanks to a methodical 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive capped by a 1-yard pass from Bray to tight end Mychal Rivera. Bray, who struggled in last year's Orange and White Game, was solid on Saturday, completing 14 of his 26 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown.

The Orange team put together one last scoring drive, this one lasting more than 5 minutes, that ended with Derrick Brodus' 37-yard field goal with 9:04 left in the game. The White team couldn't answer on either of its last two possessions in the fourth quarter. As a result, members of the White team will eat hot dogs with chips and water with no ice during a team meal Sunday. Members of the Orange team will eat steak.

Petrino backlash Arizona schools eyeing Arkansas transfer

Linebacker Brock Haman asked for, and was granted his release from, his Arkansas scholarship last week. Haman, a Scottsdale high school product, is rumored to be leaning toward a transfer to the University of Arizona or Arizona State University.

“That would be my preference as a parent,” Doug Haman, Brock’s dad, said according to the Tucson Citizen and referring to where he wants his son to land.

The elder Haman also foresees the potential for his son to receive a waiver from the NCAA, generally because of the “Petrino situation” and specifically because of, well, the “Petrino situation”:

Doug said the family is pursuing the possibility of Brock being eligible to play in 2012 because of the coaching circumstances. Arkansas last week dismissed head coach Bobby Petrino, who admitted to being involved in an “inappropriate relationship” with a recently-hired university employee.

Haman suffered a foot injury prior to the start of the 2011 season, which cost him all of his true freshman season.

Saban has no long-term issues for WR injured in brawl

Speaking before the Tide’s White House visit, head coach Nick Saban told reporters that he had visited with wide receiver DeAndrew White, who was hospitalized with what is reportedly a concussion. According to Saban, the injury is not something that’s expected to linger well into the future.

The coach did, though, hope White and others — including those who may have been around the area at the time — will take a lesson from the incident and learn from it.

“I don’t think he has any long-term issues,” Saban said. “My message is, I don’t really know for sure what happened, but if you value your future, everybody should learn from the lesson of, don’t put yourself in those type of situations.”

…

“Well, we don’t have a curfew, so they weren’t breaking any rules,” Saban said. “I don’t know if there were a bunch of players out. Again, I don’t know a lot about what happened. I know that a bunch of players were going to get something to eat. But I’m always disappointed when anything happens to a player after 12 o’clock. The players know that.”

The altercation occurred sometime around two a.m. local time yesterday. It remains unclear what role if any White played in the brouhaha. Two males were arrested for firing handguns into the air in an apparent attempt to disperse the crowd, although police have stated that the individuals were not directly involved in the fight.

White had 14 receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns as a redshirt freshman during the Tide’s title run last season. He’s one of a handful of receivers vying for “significant playing time” during the recently-concluded spring practice sessions.

Tide WR hospitalized following early-morning altercation

Andrew Gribble reports that Tide wide receiver DeAndrew White was hospitalized following some type of altercation outside of The Strip sometime around 2 a.m. local time Thursday. White sustained what the paper described as an apparent concussion.

A 31-year-old man suffered severe head injuries during an altercation at around the same time, the News reported, although it’s unclear if those injuries occurred during the same incident or a different one. A pair of males in their early 20s were arrested for firing a gun into the air in an apparent attempt to break up the scuffle. University police said neither individual was directly involved in the altercation.

There are no details yet as to White’s involvement in the incident was, or if he was even directly involved, and what led to his head injury.

The UA football program, which is scheduled to be honored at the White House today for its 2011 national championship, has yet to comment on the situation or update White’s health.

Failure to appear nets Mizzou lineman an arrest

Missouri offensive lineman Chris Freeman was arrested Monday night following a routine traffic stop. According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, Freeman was pulled over by an officer in Columbia who noticed a defective light on the car he was driving.

While he wasn’t ticketed for that, he was arrested after the officer ran his name and a warrant came up. Freeman had been given a ticket for failure to yield at an intersection in mid-March but did not show up for an April 10 court appearance, which resulted in the arrest warrant being issued.

Head coach Gary Pinkel said any discipline would be handled internally by the team.

Freeman was originally a member of the Tigers’ 2009 recruiting class but, due to an NCAA clearinghouse issue, was not permitted to join the program until the fall of the following season. After redshirting in 2010, Freeman played in three games as a redshirt freshman last season.

Saban doesn’t want player’s dad to feel bad over shattered crystal

A mini-brouhaha erupted earlier in the week after word filtered out of Tuscaloosa that the crystal football symbolizing Alabama’s 2011 BcS title was accidentally knocked over and shattered over the weekend.

Adding a comical layer of intrigue to the story? The person responsible for shattering the $30,000 piece of Waterford hardware is reportedly the father of a current player, having tripped over a rug of some type and straight into the trophy on display in the school’s athletic facility.

The “culprit” has not been identified — nor should he/she be, unless that’s what they want — and UA is in the process of procuring a replacement trophy, which is handmade in Ireland. As should be expected, head coach Nick Saban doesn’t really understand what all the hubbub is about over a shattered trophy, expensive or not. And, actually, he’s more concerned about the person who did the damage than the damage itself.

“Breaking the crystal ball, even though it’s very meaningful, nobody got hurt,” Saban said at a Crimson caravan stop in Huntsville, Ala., Tuesday. “Nobody meant to do any harm and I’m sure we can replace it. It’s not as bad as everyone’s making it out to be and I don’t want the parent of the player who had the mishap to feel bad about what happened.”

by J. Taylor

Jessica Dorrell resigns from her position with Arkansas

Jessica Dorrell has resigned from her position in the Arkansas athletic department, the school announced today. The move comes just days after Dorrell was placed on administrative leave following her role in the Bobby Petrino scandal at UA. Petrino was fired last week for misleading “the athletics department and university about the circumstance” related to the April 1 motorcycle accident involving him and Dorrell. Petrino lied about Dorrell’s presence at the accident to athletic director Jeff Long and gave Dorrell an “unfair and undisclosed” advantage when she applied for and received her job as the student-athlete development coordinator for football. Not to mention $20,000 in cash for an Acura.

Dorrell has agreed that “she would not attempt to sell or profit from her affiliation with Razorback Athletics” as part of the resignation, although she is set to receive “approximately $14,000 as part of a settlement and resolution of all matters between the parties.”

In other words, Dorrell received $34,000 in a matter of weeks.

“While Ms. Dorrell had a legitimate right to apply for and accept a position within the football program, the circumstances surrounding the former coach’s decision to hire her compromised her ability to be effective in such a position,” Long said in the statement. “She and I believe she should have the opportunity to move on.”

Arkansas LB arrested on pair of charges after burglary

According to the Fayetteville Police Department, Gilbert, along with two others, broke into an apartment late last Thursday evening and proceeded to take items out of the residence. The apartment belonged to a fraternity brother of one of the other alleged intruders, Jesse Booker.

As a result, Gilbert has been hit with charges of aggravated burglary and theft of property. He has been suspended indefinitely from the team.

Among the items stolen included a purple and gold Omega Psi Phi banner, Booker’s fraternity, camouflage military clothing, a plastic purple and gold hockey mask, two dog collars and four $20 bills.

There is also apparently a partial tape of the incident taken by a cellphone that was given to the police.

Tip from ArkansasSports360.com

PGA's John Daly offers Jeff Long advice on Arkansas coaching search

In the week since Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long gave coach Bobby Petrino the unceremonious boot, about the only new development regarding UA’s “coaching search” is that there haven’t been any developments… at least publicly. Everyone from Gus Malzahn to Gary Patterson and former NFL coach Steve Mariucci has, in some form or fashion, deflected any talk connecting them to the vacant position.

By his official Twitter account, PGA member and Arkansas alum John Daly decided he would toss another name into the UA coaching hat for consideration: former NFL coach and ESPN analyst Jon Gruden.

Been trying to help, all is in @JeffLongUA hands & I’ve passed all info to him–if that is the route they want to go I think that Gruden would be the perfect fit! Razorback fans would welcome Gruden with open arms! I know it’s a long shot but I live for Arkansas!

If we can’t get Gruden we need a NFL coach–Petrino raised the bar in Razorback football & I’m hoping @jefflongUA gets us someone strong is my point! I’m here to support our Hogs & the decision that is made!

For the past two years, Gruden’s name has, at least in passing, been associated with every single coaching vacancy at every level of football. Still nothing has ever happened, one could see the fit here at Arkansas though, you can only wish.
by B. Taylor

Florida student dies after fall from upper level of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

A University of Florida student died Sunday evening after falling from the upper deck of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, university police have confirmed.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, 26-year-old Michael Richard Edmonds Jr. passed away as a result of the fall, which happened at the northwest corner of The Swamp. It’s unclear whether Edmonds Jr. was an undergrad or grad student, the Sentinel noted, although the Gainesville Sun reports that he was studying journalism. While no one saw Edmonds Jr. fall, witnesses described hearing a “loud noise” and saw a man lying on a sidewalk underneath a tree outside the stadium. 911 was called and several of those witnesses attempted first-aid, but sadly those efforts failed. The incident occurred at around 7 p.m. ET. Police have yet to rule the death a suicide, although UPD spokesman Maj. Brad Barber told the paper that foul play is not suspected.

“If suicide is in fact what it turns out to be, these certainly are tragedies,” Barber said.

The Sun reported that Edmonds Jr. was charged with driving under the influence Saturday and released on a $2,000 bond later that afternoon. He fell to his death a little more than 24 hours later.

Bama's Richardson escorts cancer survivor to her Prom

Can we have a moment to applaud Trent Richardson for doing something incredible off the field? Richardson attended the Hueytown High School prom this weekend with senior Courtney Alvis. She was diagnosed with leukemia last year, but her goal was to make it to her senior prom. With no date, Richardson stepped in to escort her. She is still taking medication, but according to the tearjerker ESPN piece, as of today, there is no cancer in her bone marrow. Going to prom with a two-time national champion is pretty neat too. Richardson’s mother is also a cancer survivor.

Vandy's Team Black dominates Spring Game

Vanderbilt's football team concluded its spring practice on Saturday as Black defeated Gold, 33-0, in the annual Black and Gold Spring Game at Vanderbilt Stadium.

"I thought the scrimmage went well, thought spring ball went well," Vanderbilt Head Coach James Franklin said. "Most importantly, we stayed healthy."

Team Black, comprised mostly of first-teamers dominated the pass-heavy game on both sides of the ball, but it was the play of junior wide receiver Jordan Matthews and redshirt freshman wide receiver Josh Grady that the 8,500 in attendance will remember most.
Playing for Team Black, the duo combined to score three of Vanderbilt's touchdowns, including the final score of the game when Grady took a direct snap and found Matthews, who bobbled the pass a few times before hauling it in and racing down the field for a 54-yard score with 1:34 to play.

"We had run the play three or four times," said Grady, "and after one of them, Jordan Matthews came up to me and said, `Josh you don't always have to throw it in the flat; I'm going to be wide open.' I said, `OK.' Next time we came out and Austin Monahan did a great job of sealing the edge. I saw Jordan, got it to him and he did the rest."

Matthews had scored earlier on a 17-yard strike from starting quarterback Jordan Rodgers in the second quarter and Grady rushed for an eight-yard touchdown out of the Wildcat formation in the third quarter.
Matthews finished with seven catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Grady did not catch a pass, but carried the ball three times for 35 yards and a score, and completed both of his passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.

Discipline still a point of contention for Derek Dooley

Derek Dooley was quick to point out those positives from the second scrimmage for Tennessee on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. But they weren’t the things that really seemed to stick in the mind of the Vols coach as he left the field and began preparing for the final week of spring camp.

“The biggest thing that is kind of holding us back right now is, No. 1, our level of discipline on the simple things,” Dooley said. “Discipline on the simple things, lot of penalties, we made too many mistakes that are really simple things. The second one is our attitude just when the flow of the game begins to happen and how we get affected by things that shouldn’t affect us — whether it’s a big play or (a guy) is tired or didn’t get a call or maybe one guy is jawing a little bit. Those are the things right now that are anchoring us that we’ve got really to work on.

“But I’m pleased with the effort, I’m pleased with the toughness.”

That certainly wasn’t all the Vols had to feel good about after the last significant live workout before they wrap up spring next week with the annual Orange and White Game.

Junior quarterback Tyler Bray bounced back from a rough first outing by completing 13 of 23 passing attempts for 180 yards with an interception and a touchdown.

Arkansas's Jessica Dorrell placed on administrative leave

From the Associated Press, Arkansas football employee Jessica Dorrell has been placed on paid administrative leave. University spokesperson Steve Voorhies confirmed Dorrell’s leave Friday morning, but provided no further details as the situation is considered a personal matter.

Bobby Petrino was placed on paid administrative leave by athletic director Jeff Long last week when it was discovered Petrino had not been forthcoming about Dorrell’s presence during a motorcycle accident on April 1. Petrino was fired by Long earlier this week.

In his press conference, Long stated Petrino had an inappropriate relationship with Dorrell which the coach did not disclose to UA. Additionally, Petrino gave Dorrell “an unfair and undisclosed advantage for a position on… [the] football staff” that constituted “a conflict of interest”, as well as $20,000 to purchase a black Acura.

Dorrell was making just over $55,000 as the student-athlete development coordinator, a position she accepted in late March. Documents obtained by 40/29 TV in Arkansas show that Dorrell was hired over other candidates because of “experience.”