Alabama picks up new director of football operations

The University of Alabama has picked up a new director of football operations, Joe Pannunzio. Pannunzio replaces Mike Vollmar, who left Alabama in January to take a job the associate athletic director position at Michigan. Pannunzio spent the last five years coaching tight ends and special teams at Miami under Randy Shannon. Prior to Miami, Pannunzio was the Murray State head coach for six seasons. "I’m honored to have the chance to work at such a special place like the University of Alabama and I’m really looking forward to moving into this administrative role," Pannunzio said in a press release. "This is as good as it gets when it comes to college football and I appreciate Mal Moore and Nick Saban offering me this opportunity. In terms of running an organization, Coach Saban is the best in the country and my family and I are looking forward to being a part of the great football program here at Alabama."

Decision made, but only Clowney and mom know for now

Jadeveon Clowney said he decided three days ago where he will attend college. He still plans to wait until Monday to tell the world, though. The nation's No. 1 football prospect shared his decision only with his mother. He's confident the secret is safe with her, he said before he began basketball practice at South Pointe High. "She ain't going to tell anybody," the defensive end said. Clowney will hold a news conference at 10:15 a.m. Monday and make South Carolina, Clemson or Alabama happy with his choice. Clowney said he made his decision based on "who I felt at home around the most and how I'm going to feel when I'm playing with the people." "I had to think about that," he said. "I was laying down one night and came up with the decision and said, 'That's where I'm going to go,' and told my mother."

Clowney took calls from USC coach Steve Spurrier and Tigers coach Dabo Swinney on Wednesday, and an Alabama coach also called this week, he said.

Delaying a decision nearly two weeks after National Signing Day apparently had less to do with ensuring it was the right choice than it was about feeding the egos of Clowney and, or those around him. How else do you explain knowing your destination a full week ahead of the scheduled announcement, and yet still going through with the ESPN-fueled circus?

New rules may give college football an NFL look

College football could be taking a few pages right out of the NFL’s rule book. On Thursday, an NCAA committee proposed adopting a 10-second runoff for clock-stopping penalties in the final minute of each half, changing the intentional grounding rule and experimenting with placing umpires behind the running backs. A vote on the proposals is expected April 14. It should sound familiar. Last year, the NFL moved umpires from their traditional position in the middle of the defense to the offensive backfield for safety reasons. The NCAA is now asking schools to experiment with moving the umpire during spring practice and spring games to assess whether it gives them better angles to make calls.
Safety is part of the reason for other changes, though. Players lined up within seven yards of the center on scrimmage plays are still permitted to block below the waist anywhere on the field, but the committee is recommending tighter restrictions on other players. Receivers or running backs lined up outside the tackle box will be allowed to block below the waist only if they are blocking straight ahead or toward the nearest sideline. If they go inside and block toward the play, it would be a penalty. "This is a significant change because now the default philosophy is that blocking below the waist is illegal except under these circumstances," Redding said. "Before, the philosophy was that blocking below the waist was legal, but there was an extensive list of times when you couldn’t do it." Another proposal calls for assessing a 5-yard penalty on the defense if three or more players try to overpower one offensive lineman on place kicks. But there are even bigger changes coming. This fall, for the first time, unsportsmanlike penalties called on scoring plays before a player crosses the goal line will be assessed from the spot, taking away the touchdown. Televisions also will be added to the coach’s boxes to help determine whether the head coach should challenge a call. Both of those rules were approved last year. Intentional grounding will not be called if an eligible receiver is in the area of the pass. Previously, it was called if the receiver did not have a reasonable opportunity to catch the ball. Also, the 10-second runoff could be used for the first time. "The idea is to prevent a team from gaining an advantage by committing a foul to stop the clock," Redding said. All of it has an NFL feel.

Ole Miss QB Mackey undergoes knee surgery

According to the Bastrop Daily Enterprise, Mackey underwent surgery Thursday to repair torn meniscus in his left knee. The good news for the junior is that there’s a recovery of no more than four weeks, meaning he should be 100-percent healthy for the start of the spring sessions. After transferring from the JUCO ranks last year, Mackey took a redshirt for the 2010 season. In addition to Mackey, Nathan Stanley and another JUCO transfer, Zach Stoudt, will be vying for the starting job, although the former will enter the spring as the presumptive front-runner. There’s also a chance that West Virginia transfer Barry Brunetti could be in the QB mix as well. Brunetti is seeking a hardship waiver from the NCAA that would allow him to forgo sitting out the required transfer year.

Barnhart signs contract extension at Kentucky

Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart is sticking around to finish what he started. Barnhart signed a contract extension with the school that will keep him on campus through 2019 and boost his annual salary to $600,000.

The university hired Barnhart, 51, in 2002 with Kentucky’s football program on NCAA probation for recruiting violations. Now in his ninth year with the program, Barnhart has kept his department out of major NCAA trouble and has made many high-impact coaching hires, such as men’s basketball coach John Calipari, football coach Rich Brooks and women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell. Barnhart said he’s looking forward to the next eight years so he can "finish the deal" on many of his department’s goals, including facility updates. Among his highest priorities, he said, is a facelift to Commonwealth Stadium. He also said he will continue working with the city toward deciding between renovating Rupp Arena or building a new arena altogether, although there is no timetable. "We’re the gold standard of college basketball, and we’ve got to make sure our facilities have the gold-standard look to them," Barnhart said. "What that means for the University of Kentucky, we’ll find out hopefully very quickly." Kentucky President Lee Todd, who announced the extension Wednesday, is retiring at the end of the 2010-11 academic year after serving as president for 10 years. He said he wanted to extend Barnhart’s contract for "two or three years now," but he made it a priority before leaving office in June. "I'm doing a heck of a favor for the next president of this university, and don't think I'm not," Todd said. Barnhart, a native of Kansas City, Kan., was rumored to be a candidate to be Kansas University’s athletic director when the position opened in 2010. Barnhart said he never seriously considered leaving Kentucky.

"We’re from there and there was a lot of chatter from folks back home, but that's all it was: chatter," he said.

Cam Newton impresses during a workout for the media

Enjoying the San Diego sunshine and saying that he's "shooting for greatness," Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton gave the media a glimpse of the workouts he's going through daily as he prepares for the NFL combine and draft. Wearing gray shorts, a black long-sleeve T-shirt and orange cleats, Newton did agility drills and then threw passes to a handful of receivers for nearly 45 minutes at a suburban high school on Thursday. Newton has been in San Diego since late January, working six days a week with quarterbacks coach George Whitfield Jr. and receiving advice from Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon. While his passes looked crisp, there's a lot for Newton to work on. Chief among them is taking snaps from under center. He often took snaps in the shotgun formation as he ran the spread offense at Auburn, which he led to the BCS national title. He said he's working on "the whole grand scheme of playing quarterback in the NFL. A lot of times I probably can count on one hand the times I took a snap from under center in one game. But now it depends what scheme you go into, but at the same time you have to be able to get a snap from under center and be fluent at it. That's one of the first things we tried to tackle."

Asked if he was surprised some people don't think his skills won't translate to the NFL, he replied: "That's the competitor that I am. I won't be surprised, I'm making that leap right now, until I'm a Super Bowl champion. That's what I'm going for from Day One, reaching for greatness. The supporting cast that I have is pushing me to be great, I'm pushing myself to be great and I demand greatness for myself. So coming in the door, working out every single day, I'm shooting for greatness."

Why Washaun Ealey will never play another down for UGA

University of Georgia head football coach Mark Richt suspended leading rusher indefinitely Washaun Ealey this past week. Ealey was suspended from all team activities for not showing up for a disciplinary run. This marks the second time the Twin City native and former Emanuel County Institute standout has been suspended for behavioral reasons. The first incident occurred last offseason where the Georgia running back fled the scene of accident and was driving on a suspended license. Richt forced Ealey to sit out of Georgia's season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette, which the Dawgs won 55-7. Also, when you look at Ealey's career at Georgia, his numbers are very unimpressive. He is coming off a season where he only rushed for 811 yards with 11 touchdowns, and the team's running game was nonexistent. In Ealey's freshman year he only ran for 717 yards and three touchdowns. Also, let's not forget about the key fumbles against South Carolina and Mississippi State in his 2010 campaign, which ultimately led to losses. Georgia finished under .500 in 2010 for the first time since 1996 and suffered an embarrassing loss to Conference USA's Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl, putting Coach Richt squarely on the hot seat for 2011. The recruiting season for UGA was a great one. The team landed the sixth best recruiting class nationally, headlined by the signing of arguably the best running back in country, Isaiah Crowell out of Carver High School in Columbus, Georgia. Richt has already said Crowell is going to play next season and will likely be the starter. That was going to be the case even if Ealey had not been suspended. The team already has a viable backup at running back in Caleb King and would not need Ealey even if he was not reinstated to the program.

With the current situation Washaun Ealey picked a bad time not to show up for a simple run.

Lou Gehrig’s Disease claims life of former A and M, Miss. St. head coach

Former Texas A&M head football coach Emory Bellard, who as a Texas assistant coach in the late 1960s developed the wishbone offense for the Longhorns, died early today after a long battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), according to A&M officials. Bellard, a Luling native who lived in Georgetown in recent years, was 83.

Bellard became the Aggies’ head coach in 1972 and coached them to a 48-27 record in seven seasons. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Texas, where he developed and installed the wishbone triple-option offensive attack that helped the Longhorns claim national championships in 1969 and 1970. As part of his extensive legacy, he was the first A&M coach to recruit multiple African-American players as part of his classes.

After leaving A&M, Bellard coached for seven years at Mississippi State before ending his coaching career at Spring Westfield High School.

Florida football lands 19 on fall SEC academic honor roll

Forty-six University of Florida student-athletes were named to the 2010 Southeastern Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll on Wednesday by league commissioner Mike Slive.

A total of 19 Florida football players earned spots on the Academic Honor Roll.

The 2010 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 2010 Spring, Summer and Fall terms.

Any student-athlete who participates in a Southeastern Conference championship sport or a student-athlete who participates in a sport listed on his/her institution’s NCAA Sports Sponsorship Form is eligible for nomination to the Academic Honor Roll. The following criteria should be followed: (1) A student-athlete must have a grade point average of 3.00 or above for either the preceding academic year (two semesters or three quarters) or have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above at the nominating institution. (2) If a student-athlete attends summer school, his/her grade point average during the summer academic term must be included in the calculation used to determine eligibility for the Academic Honor Roll. (3) Student-athletes eligible for the Honor Roll include those receiving an athletics scholarship, recipients of an athletics award (i.e., letterwinner), and non-scholarship student-athletes who have been on a varsity team for two seasons. (4) Prior to being nominated, a student-athlete must have successfully completed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours of non-remedial academic credit toward a baccalaureate degree at the nominating institution. (5) The student-athlete must have been a member of a varsity team for the sport’s entire NCAA Championship segment.

University of Florida Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll Recipients – Fall 2010
Name	Sport	Major
Gary Beemer	Football	Applied Physiology & Kinesiology
Zack Brust	Football	Building Construction
Trey Burton	Football	Social & Behavioral Sciences
John Fairbanks	Football	Social Studies Education
Christopher Guido	Football	Health Science
Frankie Hammond Jr.	Football	Telecommunications - News
Cody Hampton	Football	Nutrition
Chas Henry	Football	Sports Management
Jelani Jenkins	Football	Sociology
Duke Lemmens	Football	Event Management
David Lerner	Football	Sport Management
T.J. Pridemore	Football	Polical Science
Sam Robey	Football	Criminology
Michael Ross	Football	Political Science
Brandon Sanders	Football	Health Education & Behavior
Shawn Schmieder	Football	Biology
William Steinmann	Football	Political Science
Caleb Sturgis	Football	Sports Management
Justin Trattou	Football	Sports Management

Cam Newton situation costly for Auburn

According to Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, Auburn has spent $170,000 in legal fees since mid-October on the Cam Newton "case". All of the fees have gone to the Birmingham-based firm of Lightfoot, Franklin, White LLC. The information came to light as part of an open-records request by the News. The NCAA has been investigating the recruitment of the one-and-done, Heisman-winning quarterback since early last year. While the NCAA found Newton’s father had committed a violation by soliciting money in exchange for his son’s signature on a Letter of Intent, the NCAA has found no evidence that the player was aware of what his father was doing or that Auburn played a part in the pay-for-play scheme. The investigation is still ongoing, SEC commissioner Mike Slive told ESPN.com earlier this week that "nobody has written me a letter that says it’s over", meaning the university could still face additional legal fees before the probe comes to an end. "AU attempts to address compliance matters with internal staff to the extent possible," AU senior associate athletics director Scott Carr told the paper. "Whether it can do so depends in part on whether the questions asked require more staff time than is available internally."

While the $170,000 paid is quite a hefty sum, the News notes that Michigan paid over $600,000 to the same law firm during their recent run-in with the NCAA.

Jesse Grandy, WR/KR leaving Ole Miss

Ole Miss sophomore wide receiver/kick returner Jesse Grandy has decided to leave the Rebels to be closer to an unspecified family member who is dealing with an illness, reports the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. Grandy, a Pine Bluff, Arkansas, native, had 20 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown this season. He returned a punt for a touchdown against Fresno State. There has been no word yet if he will play football somewhere else. Coach Houston Nutt said his desire to keep Grandy was “secondary” to Grandy’s desire to be with his family during a difficult time.

Strange as it may be, former West Virginia quarterback Barry Brunetti decided to leave WVU and transfer to Ole Miss to be closer to his mother, who was dealing with an illness as well.

Auburn announces 2011 football schedule

The Auburn football team will open the 2011 season on Sept. 3 against Utah State at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Mississippi State, Florida, Ole Miss and Alabama will be Auburn's Southeastern Conference home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium, while the Tigers' road schedule will include games at South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia.

The Tigers open SEC play on Sept. 10 at home versus Mississippi State before traveling to Clemson on Sept. 17 and rounding out the month by hosting Florida Atlantic (Sept. 24).

Auburn will begin October with consecutive road games at South Carolina (Oct. 1) and Arkansas (Oct. 8). The game at South Carolina will be the Tigers' first appearance in Columbia since 2006. The Tigers return home to host Florida on Oct. 15 for the first time since 2006, followed by a trip to LSU (Oct. 22) and back to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Oct. 29 against Ole Miss.

The Tigers will have an open date on Nov. 5 before traveling to Georgia on Nov. 12. Samford will serve as Auburn's annual Homecoming opponent when the Tigers host the Bulldogs on Nov. 19. The 2011 schedule concludes on Nov. 26 against Alabama in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

UGA suspends 2010′s leading rusher

According to Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com, and citing a source close to the situation, running back Washaun Ealey has been indefinitely suspended by the football program. The suspension apparently stems failing to report for a punishment run last week. What that punishment was for remains unclear. Ealey is barred from all team activities and from working out in any UGA facility. Obviously, his availability for spring practice is up in the air. Last season, Ealey, who was suspended for the 2010 opener following an arrest, led the Bulldogs with 811 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns.

On signing day last Wednesday, UGA signed Isaiah Crowell, the No. 4 back in the country according to Rivals. Crowell is expected to be given the opportunity to carry the Bulldogs’ running game load as a true freshman.

LSU's Coach Frank Wilson for being named Rivals.com Recruiter of the Year

LSU running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Frank Wilson had a monster haul for the Tigers. Focusing primarily on in-state prospects, he helped LSU land three five-star players from Louisiana - offensive tackle La'El Collins, defensive tackle Anthony Johnson and wide receiver Jarvis Landry. Wilson also helped LSU sign receiver Odell Beckham Jr., running back Kenny Hilliard, offensive linemen Trai Turner and Corey White, all in-state four-star recruits. For good measure, Wilson had a hand in LSU getting four-star quarterback Zach Mettenberger from Butler County C.C. in Kansas, addressing the biggest need overall in this class.

Tide confirms Groh hiring

Groh will serve as Nick Saban‘s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. "We are excited to have Mike join our staff," said Saban. "He did an outstanding job here a year ago and when he left, he was one that I hoped we could bring back to Alabama at some point. He knows the game and what we want to do in terms of philosophy and terminology from an offensive standpoint. He relates well to the players and is also a very good recruiter. We are pleased to have Mike and Elena back with our football program at the University of Alabama." The hire represents a reunion of sorts between Groh and Saban as the former served as a grad assistant for the latter in 2009. "Having been at The University of Alabama for the 2009 National Championship season, I have a great appreciation for the Alabama football tradition and the first-class manner in which Coach Saban runs his program," said Groh. "The opportunity join Coach Saban’s staff at Alabama is special and I’m excited to be back. I had a terrific experience last season coaching for Charlie Strong at Louisville and learned a great deal from him. Under his direction, I’m confident they will compete for many Big East Championships in the years to come."

Groh spent last season as quarterbacks coach at Louisville, but spent most of his coaching career on his dad Al Groh‘s staff at Virginia.

Top lineman chooses Alabama this time

Top offensive line prospect Cyrus Kouandjio has opted to play for Alabama instead of Crimson Tide's rival Auburn. Alabama received a faxed letter of intent from Kouandjio (kwan’-RO) on Saturday.

Kouandjio of DeMatha High School in Maryland is regarded as the nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle and one of the top five prospects overall. He committed to Auburn on national TV Wednesday but never sent the binding letter of intent. Kouandjio had posted on his Facebook page earlier that he would play with his older brother Arie, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman, at Alabama followed by “ROOLLLLL TTIIIDDDEEE!!!” The Facebook post drew hundreds of comments in the first hour.

Alabama’s recruiting class was already rated No. 1 nationally by Rivals.com.

Saban sees no unfair treatment with grayshirts

Florida president Bernie Machen's perspective, on the SEC’s ability to find loopholes in the 28-player LOI ceiling is frustrating. For the second year in a row, two SEC schools have oversigned their class, as Arkansas and South Carolina both exceeded the limit this signing period with 30 and 31 LOIs, respectively.

One of those loopholes for coaches has been grayshirting players, an act Machen finds, at times, "morally reprehensible". "The universities, with full knowledge of what they are doing, extend more athletic scholarships than they have," Machen has stated.

Saban addressed the over-signing topic as well, noting that critics adding Alabama's new scholarship players can't begin with the number 85.

"We have never gotten rid of a player because of his physical ability," Saban said. "Any player that has left this program prematurely has created his own exit route. … Nobody really knows how many guys we had on scholarship last year, but it wasn't 85. I can tell you that. We have some people that could not finish the season that will probably not be able to continue to play, that will be replaced and we have several players that can graduate and may not come back for their fifth year, who have been redshirted. When you add all those things up, plus guys we have that may not qualify, it is not fair to criticize the numbers. When you look at the numbers without knowing all the facts and internal information, I think that is a little premature and unfair."

Alleged Orgeron workout of recruit latest Kiffin Era issue for Vols

In the wake of a report from AOL Fanhouse that the NCAA is prepared to slap Tennessee with a failure to monitor violation, the football program could be facing an additional leftover issue from the Lane Kiffin "era". Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com reports that the NCAA, as part of its investigation into the program, is looking into whether one of Kiffin’s assistants, Ed Orgeron, conducted a workout with a potential recruit in May of 2009. That prospect, Brandon Willis, gave a verbal commitment to UT eight months later, but ultimately signed with North Carolina when Kiffin and Orgeron left for USC.

The workout, if true, would be a blatant violation of NCAA rules.

NCAA rules allow college coaches to observe a prospect twice during the spring of his junior year. However, the college coach may not instruct the prospect or conduct the workout. The NCAA doesn’t allow in-person contact between a college coach and a prospect off the college campus until a six-week period that begins after Thanksgiving of the prospect’s senior year of high school.

The recruiting calendar is clear and well understood in the coaching community. The evaluation rule, sometimes referred to as the “no-tryout” rule, is clear, too. Unlike some portions of the NCAA manual, there is no gray area regarding either potential violation. Orgeron, two sources said, conducted the workout of Willis at 6 a.m.

Per Maisel, UT would probably be hit with secondary violations if its proven the workout took place, and may face sanctions such as “a reduction in off-campus recruiting days by the coaching staff and a reduction in official visits by high school prospects.” For the actions of a coach who is no longer at the school.

When contacted by Maisel, Orgeron said he’s "been told that I’m not allowed to comment. That’s what I’ve been instructed to do. That’s what I’m doing."