Gamecock in ATL
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@I4Bama People need to stop with the argument that Miles is living off of Nick Saban's work. If that were true, then Nick Saban would still be trying to turn around Mike Shula's mess. Miles has been the coach at LSU for 6 years - and as goofy as he may seem, you can't argue with his success. Three times he has a top 10 finish.
Miles is a players' coach, and that helps him recruit. It only works because it's genuine. If Saban tried this it would be awkward.
"just four teams" haha is this guy serious?
Could you imagine if Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin would have all won titles in the past 7 years? Tell me the B1G wouldn't be the best league in the land. What a joke - looking for pageviews I guess (and he probably got them).
@JamesKeith Last I checked, none of us are paying a fee to read this website.
On the USC DL topic, however, I too felt that coach Ward stepped over the line with the "more than football" comment. Brad Lawing has been an assistant at USC for nearly 20 years, so I don't think he owes anyone an explanation if he wants to leave, and if he does want to explain it, he doesn't need his boss to do it. In the past few years, Lawing has done a great job of coaching what has been one of the league's premier d-lines. And it goes well beyond Clowney.
I'm so confused by this game. Yes, the turnovers were key to Florida's wins and losses this year (ask me how I know), but this is a team with the most impressive resume in college football. And yet they seemed clueless. I don't know what to blame it on other than not being into the game ... but it's hard to imagine someone not getting up for the Sugar Bowl.
On a side note, those were probably the best uni's I've seen all season by any team. Old school UF looked awesome. So much better than all of that pro combat crap that everyone wears ...
Spurrier should suspend him for the UF game. This has no place in the game, and hopefully the team will look beyond Saturday and think about the broader message here.
Why has everyone (Mr SEC included) jumped to the conclusion that Spurrier is wielding some sort of power to have Morris fired? If that does happen, and if that is what Spurrier is alluding to about "changes" being forthcoming, then I will stand corrected and admit that Spurrier is crossing the line.
However, how do we know that USC is not simply cutting off Mr. Morris' press pass? I'm not an expert in this realm, but presumably the university grants press access to certain individuals for these interviews, calls, etc. If one of those granted access repeatedly prints lies, why is it not in the university's right to revoke that special access? Sure, Morris can write whatever he wants, but the university does not have to enable him and give him undue credibility by allowing access to Spurrier. If THAT is what the "changes" are that Spurrier speaks of, how is that taking away the freedom of the press in any way, shape, or form?
@John at MrSEC @83toATL John, I agree with you about how every fan thinks the media is biased against them. And personally, I think the Ron Morris thing is overblown - at the end of the day Morris is one of those writers that people read, in part because they hate him. Just look at all of the comments on his page - "Ron, you stink, and your writing is terrible" and yet that commenter reads that page time and time again.
However, I will get more specific than "83toATL" did. This isn't just about Ron Morris in general. This, in my opinion, is specifically about the piece that Morris wrote last week (this site linked to it), where Morris basically accused Spurrier of playing a hurt Shaw, causing him to get hurt further, and then covering it up. From the Morris column:
"Me thinks Spurrier has adeptly shifted the attention from one of the most ill-advised decisions of his illustrious coaching career"
"Despite the injury, according to Spurrier, Shaw could have returned to the game in the second half. And, according to Spurrier, Shaw is “fine” to play Saturday against Missouri. Maybe I missed where USC physicians invented a new cure over the weekend for deep bruises and/or fractures to the shoulder. Or, maybe Shaw is an incredibly quick healer the second time around."
"Or, maybe Shaw goes into Saturday’s game with the same questions surrounding his running and throwing abilities as he did against UAB.
My guess is the latter. My guess also is that, because of Spurrier’s poor decision to play Shaw against UAB, USC will be dealing with the quarterback’s sore shoulder for most of the remainder of the season."
And then, as we know, Shaw plays every meaningful snap in the game and goes 20-21 passing.
I think it's THIS article that peeved Spurrier enough to not want to speak to Morris, or perhaps, to have Morris' fellow journalists goad him into an apology. Like him or not, if there is one thing Spurrier wants in his legacy, it's that he played clean and had integrity. That's why he went to such great lengths to open the program up in the NCAA probe last year. That's why he went off on Morris last year when he lied about Spurrier stealing Ellington from the hoops team. And that's why he's ticked again at Morris with the concept that he put a player's health at risk. Whether he is being a baby or not is for the individual to decide (this site, even though I like it, obviously feels that way) - personally, I think Spurrier is gloating a bit ... letting this one simmer until people read the Morris article and then see Shaw's stat line from Saturday ...
Childish or not by Spurrier, you've got to admit that Morris is again out of line.
John - you're a journalist - would you write something like the above?
Put aside the issue of whether or not the dad should be talking ... wouldn't Joker be better served to put him in rather than save him for later? I'm not sure Joker needs to be worried about how good the 2016 UK team will or will not be ...
I guess the counterargument is that Smith and/or Newton can help him win THIS season better than a true frosh, but if it were me, I'd rather be a coach of a 3-9 team with a promising QB that is developing and some sense of "next year" for the fans than a 4-8 team that has no sense that next year could be better.
Good look at the landscape. I think, due to schedule, that the most likely undefeated team outside of the SEC would be FSU. An undefeated FSU would likely play ahead of the one loss Bama that you describe (even though I would argue that a one loss Bama would be more deserving). The other top 10 teams are most likely to each lose a game (as is typical in most years in CFB).
Of course, given that there is an SEC title game, I actually think it will be unlikely to see more than one 0/1 loss teams in the SEC. The reality is that someone always slips up somewhere - it's a tough conference week in and week out. I don't know the stats (would be interested if someone does), but I don't think there are usually 2 teams that finish in the SEC with 1 or fewer losses.
@John at MrSEC @TremontReb Hilarious ...
Gotta obey the rules DJ ... that's a big loss for the Mizzou game
Maybe I am missing something here, but why didn't they just move the game back to Saturday?
Great move Ags, and nice job promoting the conference in TX.
Is Red Clay trying to say that A&M has not been relevant since plastic helmets were introduced? I'm not sure Ole Miss has a lot of room to talk. I guess this guy hates Ms State so bad that he takes it out on A&M because they have the same color jerseys ... wow that's logical
This is a big concern - especially since Auguste's backup (Legree) is inexperienced and played poorly last year. I would guess that some freshmen will get playing time.
Well said
Agree it's a myth that the players are not being penalized. They are, which is unfortunate since they are 'innocent' in this case. Also punished are the fans ... this is a tough pill to swallow for another group of 'innocents' here.
However, the NCAA punished the Institution known as Penn State, and there's bound to be lots of collateral damage.
That said ... it's a good reminder of perspective - all of this 'collateral damage' is meaningless in the big picture of life, but what Sandusky did has created heartache and turmoil that will last a lifetime. May God be with the real victims here.
@John at MrSEC No, I totally agree that the AD job is one of those 'heads you win, tails I lose' type of jobs. And as I said, I think Hyman overall was a good AD for Carolina.
My main point is just that him leaving now is actually not a bad thing for Carolina. The next big thing will be replacing Spurrier, and I just don't know if I trust Hyman to do that. Mike McGee hired Tanner, Holtz, Odom, and Spurrier. That's pretty darn good for an AD at a school that has been mired in mediocrity for most of its history. If we get another AD that has that sort of mindset, and we also get the tailwind of Hyman's facility projects and the NCAA bullet that he dodged, we will be in good shape.
Thanks for the response. Personally I liked the nuked paragraph.
Thanks for being humble on the Spurrier hire. The other thing not accounted for here is the failed hire of Darrin Horn.
So on the surface this looks like a big coup for A&M, but talk to Gamecock fans and they will probably tell you the following:
1) Hyman's hires have been mixed to down (Horn bad, Staley good, Martin seems good, but obviously time will tell. Also Horn would be weighted much more than Staley given that Men's BB is much more popular (nothing meant against Staley, it's just the way it is)). The best coaches, hands down, at USC are Spurrier and Tanner. These were not Hyman hires.
2) Hyman has done a good job as a project manager. This includes overseeing revenue growth (much of this was SEC TV money, but the alterations to the season ticket program have helped), facility improvements (I would argue that the baseball diamond is the nicest in the country, and they are finally getting some football things fixed, e.g. the videoboard), and last but not least, the NCAA investigation (the NCAA actually got all gushy with love for SC, and penalties were avoided ... never thought I would see that).
3) Other/intangibles are also probably negative. Hyman's wife personally got involved with the Stephen Garcia saga (on personal grounds), which came across as out of line and unprofessional. Hyman also refused to back Spurrier with the Ron Morris saga (which I will admit was goofy, but Hyman could have provided some cover fire and still played down the episode. Instead he went Pontius Pilate style and washed his hands. Regardless of how stupid it was, Spurrier should have had some good political capital built up with Hyman that should have been cashed in.
So while I would say it's a good move for A&M, that's more because they got an experienced SEC AD. But for Carolina, the "projects" seem about done, and the next big AD move will be replacing a retiring Spurrier in 3 years. Do I want Hyman making that hire? I don't think so. So this is actually good for A&M and SC.
John - curious of your take on this when looked at through this lens. Thanks for all of the good coverage each week.
@Dash1Bravo Here's also hoping that Spurrier has a few more years left in him.
@JB TexasEx As Ronald Reagan used to say ... "there you go again."
Did I ever say that South Carolina was a flagship school in the SEC? No, I didn't. SC adds depth, intriguing games on a national level (e.g. SC vs. UGA), and a strong fan base and atmosphere (80k stadium). Not an Alabama, but certainly an asset to the conference.
You are changing the subject a little bit to current performance with your reference to Bama and LSU. By that measure alone, Texas is not a powerhouse in the Big 12 anymore than Tennessee is in the SEC. But we both know that is the wrong metric. Beyond Bama and LSU, UF, UGA, and Tenn are all big brands that any conference would kill for. Add SC and Auburn and you start to get the idea on depth in the conference. Oh, now add A&M too, which even though you despise, you know is a very strong addition to the league.
As for the future, I know you read a lot of Orangebloods.com, but let's get real - no one knows how the realignment will shake out. Count FSU and Clemson IF you get them. Those would be nice schools for you to add, but don't count them yet. Also we'll see how the TV deals turn out.