Kicking it with Houston Nutt, Part 1
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
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| Douglas Jones/Icon SMI | |
| After 10 years at the helm at Arkansas, Houston Nutt decided to begin anew with Ole Miss. |
OXFORD, Miss. — To say Houston Nutt looks happy these days is quite the understatement. Always bubbling over with enthusiasm and can-do exuberance, Nutt is starting over at Ole Miss this year after a bitter divorce from the school he thought he’d never leave. Things got so nasty last year at Arkansas that fans were filing open records requests for Nutt’s cell phone records, as well as e-mails that had been forwarded to people by Nutt’s wife, Diana. Arkansas’ administration made an attempt to keep Nutt following last season and offered him an extension. But after 10 years, he’d had enough of Arkansas and the Arkansas fans had apparently had enough of him. The rest is history. He walked away and landed at Ole Miss a few days later. Here’s Part 1 of my Q&A with Nutt, who still brings it the way a Southern Baptist preacher does on Sunday mornings. Check back later for Part 2, where Nutt shares some of his feelings about the whole Arkansas situation:
One of your best players, defensive end Greg Hardy, had surgery earlier this week to repair a stress fracture in his foot. What’s the latest on when he might be back?
Houston Nutt: I think we caught it in time where it was more of a hairline stress fracture, so we’re thinking that by our first conference game [Vanderbilt on Sept. 20] he’ll be ready. He’d snapped the other one in the 11th grade and was running great and practicing great the first five days. Then the first day in pads, he couldn’t put weight on it. It was sore, and the doctor put his hand in there and it was really painful. They did the X-ray and there was a little bit of a stress fracture. They went ahead and put the screw in it. We’re hoping four, five, six weeks at the most.
What’s the latest on defensive tackle Ted Laurent’s knee injury?
HN: Hopefully, by the second game, he’ll be ready to go.
With all the newness on offense — new system, new coordinator in Kent Austin and new quarterback in Jevan Snead — how has everything progressed?
HN: We’ve gotten a lot better. Thank goodness Jevan Snead is here. I think he’s improved. Kent’s really taken him to another level. But, again, [Snead] hasn’t played in a long time, under the pressure, the blitzing and all that staff. We’ve done a lot of good against good, first team against first team. Maybe we haven’t done as much tackling, as far as taking people to the ground, but we’re trying to match the speed of the game and get his mind going again. Boy, he’s got a strong arm, though, and has been doing great.
What’s your greatest challenge with this program?
HN: It’s very simple, the mind of an 18, 19, 20-year-old that hasn’t had much success. When you look at the last four years, not one young man in that meeting room raised his hand and said, “I’ve experienced a bowl game.” And then last year, not one guy can say, “I won an SEC game.” That’s a very big hurdle.
What is coaching at Ole Miss like compared to how you viewed the program from afar the last 10 years?
HN: I’ve always had an awesome respect for Mississippi from the other sideline, all the great players and the tradition looking back. Once you get here, it’s unique. It’s a heck of a little town, and these people are hungry for football. They’re starving for a winner. You feel that, and that motivates you. The location is awesome for recruiting. I’m familiar with the coaches and have recruited all the other states around Mississippi.
If you’re going to win at Ole Miss, other than this state, where else do you have to go to get players?
HN: It’s vital for us that you get a few out of Louisiana, a few out of Alabama and Georgia, too. We’ll go into Florida some and then from Little Rock I-40 east all the way through West Memphis and Memphis, we’re going to get two a year.
What have been your impressions of freshman tailback Enrique Davis?
HN: He’s had a really good camp. The grind of it has hit him a little bit and the speed of the game. But, boy, they just fall off of him. There were a couple of scrimmages where you were, “Wow.” He has a very strong lower body.
You’ve coached a bunch of good running backs. Two weeks into camp, has Davis demonstrated some of the qualities that all the great ones have?
HN: No doubt about it. He doesn’t look like a freshman. His body is very mature. Now he’s got to bring the mental part of it to the practice field.
How much has this league evolved over the last 10 years, and do you think we’ll see many more unbeaten league champions?
HN: If we do, it will be every so often. You might have a run like Auburn [in 2004] and Tennessee [in 1998], but I think it’s going to be one out of every five years or one out of 10 years, something like that.
Kicking it with Houston Nutt, Part 2
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
OXFORD, Miss. — It’s obvious that the way it all ended for Houston Nutt at Arkansas still cuts deeply. He’s done his best to bite his tongue about the whole situation since taking over at Ole Miss, but shares some of his feelings in Part 2 of my Q&A with him. The thing that stuck out to me while spending some time with Nutt on Saturday morning was that any bitterness he might have harbored has been replaced by the anticipation of taking on this new challenge. Ole Miss hasn’t won an SEC championship in more than 40 years, and Nutt would love nothing more than to bring a title back to the Square. He likes what he sees in the defensive line and at linebacker, especially some of the younger players, and is excited about the possibilities with Jevan Snead at quarterback. The concerns are at cornerback and depth in the offensive line, especially next season after tackle Michael Oher is gone:
How refreshing has this move been for you?
Houston Nutt: It’s been awesome and has really just re-energized me, my family, all of the coaches who’ve been with me. It’s just been great.
How hard has it been for you not to rehash some of those bitter final days at Arkansas and instead look straight ahead at the challenge you have here?
HN: Not at all. It’s all about these players now, this town, this program. It has been nothing but full steam ahead. There’s no reason to look back.
Who’s happier to be here — you or your family?
HN: Boy, that’s a close call. I think both of us equally are really glad. I really thought I’d be in Arkansas for life, but things change and things happen. But this has been a great move for us all.
When you decided that you could no longer put your family through some of the things they’d endured at Arkansas and made the decision to walk away, did you have any idea that you’d be coaching in the SEC again a few days later?
HN: No way. Now I did know (that he was leaving Arkansas) after the LSU game, after we won that game, and you get back home and people are still on you. It wasn’t that many people, but they were so loud. I told (wife) Diana that it was time to go. But we had no idea that it would be this quick, this sudden, in the SEC, in the Western Division and at Ole Miss.
What about the irony of coaching in the Western Division where you’ll get to face Arkansas every year?
HN: Walking out to the bus after we played Ole Miss here this past year, I had about five or six people from Arkansas following me out and saying some pretty bad things, even though we won 44-8. I’m on the bus waiting for the motorcycle to get in front of us, and there’s this elderly couple with Ole Miss on their hats knocking on the bus door. I told the bus driver to see what they want. They’d seen what some of the Arkansas people were saying and said, ‘If they don’t want you, we’ll take you over here, Coach Nutt.’ You talk about ironic. Who would have ever thought?
How quickly did everything go down with Ole Miss after the LSU game?
HN: It was inside 48 hours. Jimmy Sexton (Nutt’s agent) called me and said there were two other possibilities (Baylor and SMU), but then this one happened. And to stay in the SEC just excited me. Here’s the other thing: It wasn’t, ‘Why don’t you come over and look things over and all that?’ It was happening right then.
Will your family go back for the Arkansas game on Oct. 25 this season?
HN: Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Have you allowed yourself to think about what that week’s going to be like?
HN: You can’t help but think about it a little bit. There will be a lot of football and a lot of water under the bridge by the time we get to that point, but it will still be very unique coaching from that other sideline.
Do you have more good memories or more bad memories when you look back on your time at Arkansas?
HN: More good. We had 10 great years there, went to eight out of 10 bowls, three (divisional) championships and two times that we went to Atlanta (for the SEC championship game). It’s just that that last year was so bad.
Do you believe that familiarity breeds contempt in this era of college football coaching? Can you be at a place too long sometimes?
HN: The days of the Bobby Bowdens, Frank Broyles, Paternos … I don’t know if you’ll have that anymore. Your words get old, and people are looking for something new.
How much pressure is there in a league like the SEC that chews up and spits out coaches?
HN: How about this one: There have been 27 head coaching changes since I first came into the league. The pressure of wanting to win is enormous. Stadiums are full. TV packages are big. Tailgating is the best. There’s more competition than ever before in recruiting. Recruiting is an individual sport now. Everybody keeps up with it.
Austin back home at Ole Miss
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
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| John Sokolowski/US Presswire | |
| Kent Austin, former coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is returning to his stateside football home at Ole Miss. |
OXFORD, Miss. — When Kent Austin journeyed to Saskatchewan, Canada 21 years ago to begin his CFL playing career, they kidded him about his Southern accent.
When he returned to his alma mater earlier this year to take on the offensive coordinator duties at Ole Miss, they kidded him about his Canadian accent.
“I’ve heard it both ways,” Austin joked.
Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt hasn’t really noticed. He’s just thrilled to have the former Ole Miss great on his staff.
“Kent’s brought a lot of good ideas to us in the passing game,” Nutt said. “The connection was (former Arkansas offensive coordinator) David Lee, who I’ve worked with for a long time. David had recruited Kent and knew him very, very well. That’s when I started looking at him from afar.
“To me, the very unique quarterback coach is one who truly tries to help somebody fundamentally. A lot of coordinators … what they all try to do is get up on the board and put up as many plays as they can. Kent is a teacher first and fundamentally very sound and also has the expertise when it comes to strategy and X’s and O’s.”
Austin, who ranks among Ole Miss’ all-time passing leaders, had spent his entire professional playing career and all of his coaching career in Canada until he got the call from Nutt.
At that point, Austin had pretty well decided that Canada was where he’d finish his career. He’d won Grey Cups as a player, assistant coach and head coach. And as a rookie head coach for Saskatchewan last season, Austin was named CFL Coach of the Year after leading the Roughriders to the Grey Cup championship.
But the combination of coming home and coaching under Nutt was too hard to turn down.
“It wasn’t just that it was my alma mater,” said Austin, who was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. “If it wasn’t for the fact that Houston was here, I don’t know if I would have come back. I was a head coach at the time. And for me to leave and take a coordinator’s job, it was going to have to be somebody that embodies all the qualities that Houston embodies for me to come work for him.
“He’s a winner, an outstanding coach, and more importantly, an outstanding human being.”
One of the more intriguing storylines this season for the Rebels will be how well Nutt’s run-oriented offense marries with Austin’s pass-heavy style.
“It will be a hybrid of his run and play-action stuff and my drop-back stuff,” Austin said. “You’re going to see multiple formations, multiple personnel groupings and a lot of movement. We’re not just going to be in shotgun all the time, and we’ll spread the ball around. We’ll go from two tight ends, to no tight ends all the way up to five receivers.
“How much we can absorb as an offense will determine how deep we go into the different formations and personnel groupings. I believe in variety.”
It’s no secret that the CFL game is markedly different from American football and features different nuances, from the longer fields, to 12 players rather than 11 and three downs rather than four.
If anything, Austin thinks the adjustment from the CFL game will only help him.
“I come from a league that’s very creative and rewards creativity,” Austin said. “It’s not easy getting first downs in the CFL in three-down football. You don’t have a throw-away down, and that forces you to re-think the game and forces you to focus on being efficient on every down and distance.
“If you’re consistently in second-and-long, you’re probably in for a long day in the CFL. You have no choice but to create a passing game that’s very efficient.”
Austin has been pleased with the Rebels’ play-making ability at receiver. Mike Wallace is a proven deep threat, and Austin said Dexter McCluster will line up all over the field.
“But in the SEC, you’ve still got to be able to run the football,” Austin said. “Whether we’re pass-blocking or run-blocking, we’ve got to be able to control the line of scrimmage. We’ve got to do some things from a play-calling standpoint to help our line, but I think we’ve got some athletes that can go create some things in space. And I think Jevan (Snead) will flourish in that environment because of his ability to get rid of the ball so quickly and the fact that he’s very accurate.”
It’s still a bit surreal for Austin that he’s back at Ole Miss after last quarterbacking the Rebels during the 1985 season. He admits that never in his wildest dreams did he expect Nutt to call. In fact, he and his family were on vacation in California when Nutt did call.
And it wasn’t like Austin’s phone had been ringing off the hook to come back and coach in the United States — despite all of his success in the CFL.
“You’re sort of out of sight, out of mind up there, which is really unfortunate because there are a lot of good coaches in Canada,” Austin said. “It’s really a profession of who you know and who you trust. When you get away from that network, it’s hard to stay plugged in.”
Then again, there’s probably only one call Austin could have received from a college football program and been genuinely interested.
He got that call.
“I believe that doors open and close for a reason,” Austin said. “When a door closes, you’re supposed to find out why. And when a door opens, you’re supposed to find out why.
“I’m glad this door opened.”
SEC in the headlines: Trucking toward the Bluegrass
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
If you’re looking for the best routes to take while traveling through Alabama and Mississippi, I’m your guy.
I just spent the last week in those two fine states and am up to speed on every highway and back road leading to and from Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The folks at all four schools were great, and the anticipation on all four campuses was the kind of thing that makes this time of year so much fun.
Students were moving into their dorms. Band practice could be heard all across campus. Sorority rush was in full swing, and the football practice fields were dotted with a bunch of players and coaches convinced that this is their year.
At each of my four stops, I had a chance to sample some of the tasty cuisine. Some of my recommendations include Chuck’s Fish in Tuscaloosa, Momma Goldberg’s in Auburn, the Cotton District Grill in Starkville and BBB (a killer breakfast) in Oxford.
There’s no rest for the weary, and I’m headed to Kentucky on Monday morning to spend some time with coach Rich Brooks, who’s attempting to do something this season that hasn’t been done since Bear Bryant was roaming the sidelines in Lexington.
If the Wildcats make it to a bowl game for a third straight year, it would be the first time that’s happened at Kentucky since 1949-51. Brooks, who turns 67 on Wednesday, faces a difficult challenge in making it three in a row after losing so many key players on offense from last season’s 8-5 team.
But this time two years ago, there were a lot of people around the league (and in Kentucky) who didn’t even think Brooks would still be coaching the Wildcats, much less making a run at the Bear.
Check back on Monday afternoon, and I’ll have something up from my chat with Books. I’ll also catch up with a few of the Wildcats’ players. Is it really true that the defense might have to carry this team this season, especially early?
We’ll see what they think in the Land of the Big Blue.
As for what’s coming up later this week, I’ll fly to Arkansas on Wednesday to look in on the Hogs and Bobby Petrino. Don’t know if he’ll do it, but I’ll ask him to call the hogs while I’m in town.
Here are a few links from around the conference over the weekend:
* Jonathan Crompton comes back strong in his second scrimmage for the Vols.
* The more he scrimmages, the more Alabama freshman receiver Julio Jones is making believers out of everybody.
* The Hogs’ Ben Cleveland has his work cut out in the battle for playing time at tight end.
* The ‘Head Ball Coach’ is simplifying his offense, and quarterback Tommy Beecher says a big thank you with a more efficient scrimmage.
* LSU quarterback Andrew Hatch has to leave the scrimmage with stiffness in his back, and redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee takes advantage with a solid showing.
* Another setback for Vanderbilt’s George Smith, who continues to show his teammates his unbreakable will and unyielding spirit.
Kicking it with Rich Brooks, Part 1
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
LEXINGTON, Ky. — There hasn’t been any magic formula for Kentucky’s turnaround under Rich Brooks, who enters his sixth season in Lexington. The veteran NFL and college coach had a plan, stuck to that plan and is now seeing the results after back-to-back eight-win seasons and bowl victories. You go back two years ago at this time, though, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody outside of his own household that truly thought he was going to make it. But the Wildcats’ improved recruiting began to show up on the field that fourth season, and they won five of their last six games to ensure that Brooks would get to finish what he started. Now, Brooks has the program at history’s doorstep. Not since Bear Bryant was coaching at Kentucky from 1949-51 have the Wildcats gone to three straight bowl games. They get a chance to match that feat this season, and Brooks — who turns 67 on Wednesday — gets a chance to put his stamp on one gem of a rebuilding job at a place most said it couldn’t be done … in football. Here’s the first part of my Q&A with Brooks, who sat down with me on Monday morning in his office:
Is this as many good football players on defense as you’ve had on one team since you’ve been at Kentucky?
Rich Brooks: No question about it, and that showed up big-time Saturday in the scrimmage again. To me, we’ve got SEC size and SEC speed on defense basically at every position, and we haven’t had that since I’ve been here. Plus, we have people behind them that are very similar.
How much has your success the past two years opened up doors in recruiting?
RB: Early on, guys just had to buy the vision. I guess you could say we got fortunate in evaluating guys that we thought were good players that some other people didn’t … Jeremy Jarmon, for example, Braxton Kelley, Trevard Lindley, who was recruited by almost nobody. Those guys aren’t only good players. They’re great players. Myron Pryor would probably be in that category. Corey Peters was fairly highly recruited, and we were able to keep him in-state. Just getting some of those guys like that who all of a sudden blossom into really good players has made a huge difference for us on that side of the ball.
How much has your defense had its way with the offense this preseason, and how different has that been from last year?
RB: They’ve kicked our offense’s (butt). It’s night and day different from what happened through the first five years. There were times in some of the early scrimmages we would have three, four or five years ago that the offense could stand back there and throw it at will even though we didn’t have a great offensive line, I didn’t think. They had all day to throw. People were wide open, and now there’s nobody getting wide open. If the ball’s complete, it’s being contested or he’s being hit just as it gets there. It’s just different on defense now. We’ve definitely closed the gap on the defensive side of the ball, where we’d been further behind. We started to close it last year, but we were still not as solid as we needed to be. If we’d had this year’s defense with last year’s offense, that would have been pretty special.
How concerned are you about your offense and its struggles this preseason?
RB: Well, I’m more concerned now than I was two weeks ago. I’m disappointed where our offensive line is. I thought that part was going to be very good. We’ve shuffled some people around and had some injuries. Our running backs, I still feel very good about. I still feel good about our tight ends, even though we don’t have an acrobatic catcher like Jacob Tamme. The receiving position and quarterback position are the two biggest unknowns going in. We have talent there. I like our talent. They have to show that in games, and if this last Saturday is an example, we have a ways to go.
What’s your plan at quarterback right now?
RB: (Sophomore) Mike Hartline would start, and we would see how the game went. If we were not moving the ball, I might make a change to (true freshman) Randall Cobb just to see if I could shake things up. Hartline can run a little, but Cobb can run really well. There’s a possibility early on to have a change-of-pace deal at quarterback, but my biggest concern is getting our offensive line gelled in the next two weeks.
With three starters back in the offensive line, what’s been the biggest problem?
RB: Our problem has been blocking Corey Peters, and that’s been our right guard primarily, so we’re going with our third guy there now. We’re moving Brad Durham in there from tackle to look at him. He’s bigger and stronger than (Stuart) Hines, a redshirt freshman, and (Jess) Beets, who’s a junior college transfer who didn’t play much last year.
Is Cobb good enough and mature enough as a true freshman that he could play both receiver and quarterback this season?
RB: He will play some receiver. Right now, we’re giving him a smaller package at receiver than we are the rest of the guys. He’ll primarily be in our three-receiver set. But he’s practicing 85 percent of his time at quarterback and 15 percent at receiver. The first three or four days, it was 50-50. He’s pretty damn good.
Kicking it with Rich Brooks, Part 2
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
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| Mark Zerof/US Presswire | |
| Coach Rick Brooks thinks Kentucky can hang with anyone in the SEC. |
LEXINGTON, Ky. — How much better has Kentucky gotten under Rich Brooks? More specifically, how much better has the talent gotten under Brooks? When he took the job in 2003, the Wildcats had one player who could consistently run under a 4.5 40-yard dash. Now, they have somewhere around 20. This year’s team is probably going to have to lean on the defense more than it ever has under Brooks, who thinks the Wildcats finally have enough talent and depth on that side of the ball to hold their own against anybody they play in the SEC. The Wildcats open the season on Aug. 31 at Louisville, a game that will be critical in their quest to run their bowl streak to three straight years. After the opener comes three straight games at home against Norfolk State, Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky and then the SEC opener at Alabama. Brooks’ message to the Big Blue Nation is that he has no intention of going back to where he found this program. The prognosticators are picking the Wildcats to fall off this season. Brooks ain’t buying it. Here’s the second part of my Q&A with Brooks, one of the more underrated coaches in the country:
How much has it registered with you that you guys have a chance this season to do something that hasn’t been done at Kentucky since Bear Bryant was here?
Rich Brooks: To me, the key is making it happen a third year in the postseason and not missing for eight years or 10 years or 15 years like Kentucky’s been missing. I truly believe that we have enough talent on this team that we should be a very good team. Based on what I’ve seen in the predictions, I think we’re much better than that. I understand why those predictions are made, because when you look at our schedule, Kentucky historically against some of the teams we play … we haven’t beaten them very often. But we’ve pecked away the last couple of years, and I think that’s going to continue this year.
Have you pretty well accomplished what you set out to do when decided to take on this challenge?
RB: I think this year is going to be a big step in answering that question. If we can have a winning season again this year and get to postseason play, then I’ll say, ‘Yeah, I think I’ve accomplished what I came here to do.’
You initially started off as sort of a consultant for Kentucky officials when they were searching for candidates after Guy Morriss bolted, right?
RB: I told them the second or third conversation that, ‘Hey, if you get to the bottom of your list and you’re not happy with it, if you’re interested, then I’d be willing to talk to you about the job.’ Lo and behold, on Christmas Eve, they wanted to talk to me, so I guess their last true option went bye-bye. And there were quite a few that went bye-bye.
Did you have friends and colleagues tell you that you were crazy to be taking this job at this point in your career?
RB: No, not really. I knew the history. What I saw when I came here was that I was surprised where this was compared to where Oregon was when I went to Oregon. We had pretty much a full stadium, very good facilities and the wherewithal financially to do what we wanted to do. Plus, Kentucky sits in an area that if you want to get in a car and drive 10 hours, you can get into about two-thirds of the population of the United States. You’re surrounded by a lot of good football players. I felt just like a lot of other guys that had come through here that, ‘Golly, you should be able to get it done here.’
Aren’t you an example of why an administration has to give a coach time, at least four or five years, to prove that he can get a program on the right track?
RB: There were very few who thought I’d be back (after his fourth season). But when you commit to a coaching change, you have to let it play out a little bit unless you see just disaster after disaster after disaster. There were a lot of reasons that disasters could have happened to us and did happen to us, because of what we were going through with the scholarship limitations and the negativity surrounding another probation. We were getting better players, but it wasn’t evident until two years ago. A lot of those players played probably before they should have and played younger than they should have and took some lumps. By the time we got enough of those good players together, it started to pay off.
How close were you to not surviving?
RB: I don’t think I would have been here had we not had the season we did in 2006. In my mind, I was very fortunate to get to that year, because there was a lot of negativity and fan unrest and pressure to go get some big-name coach who would come in and wave the magic wand. To get to the fourth year was the critical thing. Once we got to the fourth year, we showed that we were capable, even after the disaster at LSU (a 49-0 loss). Anybody that watched and knows anything about football could see we were getting better players.
Your offensive coordinator, Joker Phillips, has already been named as your replacement. Are you pretty close to walking away and handing it over to him?
RB: I don’t know. One of the reasons we did that was that every year I’ve been a head coach, I was either getting ready to be fired or getting ready to retire, one way or the other. What I wanted to do was dispel anything on the recruiting front that, ‘Gee, if you go there, who are you going to be playing for? Or they may switch and run the wishbone.’ We’re having some success in recruiting, more success than we’ve had, because of what we’ve shown the young recruits we’re doing on offense and defense, and they like it.
Has this been as fulfilling as anything you’ve done in your coaching career, to get this program to a point where nobody really thought possible?
RB: I don’t take a lot of time to reflect on things like that. To me, if I can do it again this year, if we can get this thing and go to postseason play again this year … I would say that would be a pretty damn good feeling. But what we’ve done the last two years seems like it’s 20 years ago already. It’s what we’re doing now that counts.
Why are so many NFL coaches coming back to the college ranks, and was it tough for you to leave the NFL in 2000?
RB: I was in the NFL in the 70s for four years as a young assistant. It was a great job. You didn’t have recruiting. You didn’t have fund-raising. You didn’t have academics. You just coached football. You didn’t have free agency in the offseason in those days. In those days, you didn’t evaluate talent. Your scouting department did. You had a normal life in the offseason. Now, the NFL is a 12-month-a-year deal. We went to the Super Bowl, and usually you get a week off. We were told you got one day and then to come in and we had to get into free agency evaluations. After evaluating them, you recruit them and then go to the combine and then they send you out on the road to work out the guys you’ve already seen work out at the combine. You have to write up reports and then you have mini-camps and then the passing camps. You have no down time. Depending on who you’re working for, some people give you a month off in July. but coach (Dan) Reeves only gave us two weeks off, and there was a weekend of mini-camps in between. I just got burned out and decided, ‘I don’t need this anymore.’
Any theories on why coaches like Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier that had great success in the SEC didn’t pan out in the NFL?
RB: A guy like Saban and Spurrier come from very successful (college) programs where they had total control of most everything that happened and then they went into a situation where they didn’t have total control. They may tell you that you do going in, but you don’t. You’ve got the general manager, the owner, the college personnel guy, the pro personnel guy, and they’re all in their own little power plays. It’s a different environment, and it’s all football. But there’s also a lot of politics in the NFL. There’s not as much politics in college football, and you have more people pulling the wagon in the same direction in college than you do in the NFL. It’s a power-oriented league. Some coaches get in and they think it will be one way, but it’s not.
Jarmon’s next act could be his best
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jeremy Jarmon might be Kentucky’s resident actor, but he’s as real as it gets when he talks about this program, the challenge of doing things that haven’t been done here in more than 50 years and the motivation of being one of the forgotten ones during the recruiting process.
One of the most accomplished pass-rushers in the SEC, Jarmon also played a lead role this spring in the UK Theatre production of the play “Weak/Side/Help.”
His role on the football team is to bury quarterbacks and ball-carriers. He thinks he’ll have more help in that area than ever before this season.
“The defense takes a lot of pride in knowing that we’ll possibly be the backbone of this team,” said Jarmon, who was fourth in the SEC last season with nine sacks. “Not that the offense is going to have a down year, but the offense doesn’t have as much firepower as it has in the past. That’s OK, because we feel the defense can perform at a level that no defense has played at here in a long time.”
Why the confidence, especially for a unit that finished last in the SEC a year ago in scoring defense and 10th in total defense?
Jarmon looks around him and sees bona fide SEC-caliber players (with experience) at every position for the first time since he’s been at Kentucky.
And with the way the defense dominated the offense in last weekend’s scrimmage, it appears the defense had better be pretty good if the Wildcats are going to make three straight bowl trips for the first time since 1949-51.
Jarmon, who had 13.5 tackles for loss last season, predicts that defensive tackles Myron Pryor and Corey Peters are both in for huge seasons. He doesn’t stop there, either.
“Look at the LSU game last year and how Corey Peters more than held his own,” Jarmon said. “If Myron Pryor stays healthy for us, he’s going to have a breakout year. In my opinion, I think he’s the best defensive tackle in the league. I feel we have the best interior line in the country.”
Peters was the only one of the three that was highly recruited. In the secondary, cornerback Trevard Lindley was also a recruiting nobody. He’s now one of the best cover cornerbacks in the league.
“Our coaches have done a great job evaluating,” Jarmon said. “That shows despite what all the scouts and recruiting experts say. They say this guy is a five star and this guy is a four star. That means nothing. Our coaches don’t get lazy. They go out there and actually find talent.”
Jarmon, who’s from Collierville, Tenn., wasn’t recruited by Tennessee. He was about 245 pounds as a senior in high school and only 17 when he graduated. He’ll play at 285 pounds this season.
“I played with a good motor. I just didn’t play the recruiting game and go to all the camps,” said Jarmon, who remains motivated by something Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said to him during the Kentucky-Tennessee high school all-star game in 2005.
Jarmon was more than holding his own that week against some players that had signed with Tennessee, guys that had played right down the road from Jarmon in high school. He said a couple of them introduced him to Fulmer.
“Coach Fulmer looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, I know who you are. You’re a good player. You’re going to be a better player when you grow into your feet,’ ” Jarmon recounted vividly. “Whatever that meant, I don’t know. I absolutely took it as a slap in the face.
“I still don’t know why they didn’t recruit me. I guess they felt that there were guys from other places, California or somewhere, that would better fit their program.
“That’s fine, though, because I ended up where I wanted to be.”
Kentucky’s quarterback picture still evolving
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Who’s going to play quarterback for Kentucky this fall?
Now that Curtis Pulley is out of the picture, the guy pushing him all spring, sophomore Mike Hartline, has moved to the head of the pack.
Hartline’s chief competition for the job might come from a guy that Hartline would love nothing more than to get the ball to a few times this season in one-on-one matchups on the perimeter.
True freshman Randall Cobb has been one of the most impressive athletes on the field this preseason, according to Kentucky coach Rich Brooks, and he’s going to be on the field somewhere.
That’s fine by Hartline.
“Whatever it is - quarterback, receiver or catching punts - he’s too athletic for us not to put him on the field. We’re going to get him the ball in some way, shape or form,” said Hartline, who’s attempted just six passes during his career.
“It also pushes me, too, because you see somebody that young and that talented with that potential. It’s a competitive thing I like. I don’t take it as a threat, because he’s my teammate. We’ll make each other better.”
The 6-6, 205-pound Hartline is also a good athlete and went to the state track and field finals in several events as a high school senior. But what the Wildcats will need from him more than anything is to effectively distribute the ball.
Hartline credits quarterbacks coach Randy Sanders with helping him learn the intangibles of the position. Former Kentucky star quarterback Andre Woodson also said Sanders was a big part of his development.
Woodson went from six touchdown passes and six interceptions in 2005 to 71 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions the last two seasons.
“It puts a little more pressure on me (with Pulley being gone), as far as getting the job done and stepping in and being the guy,” Hartline said. “But every time I’ve been here in my life, I’ve been up to challenges and up to the pressure. I don’t think this will be any different.”
Many of Hartline’s top receiving targets will also be new. Outside of Dicky Lyons, Jr., there’s very little experience. Brooks thinks several freshmen will be factors this season. Among them: Aaron Boyd, Eric Adeyemi, Matt Roark, E.J. Fields and Gene McCaskill. Boyd has been slowed my mono and Fields a hamstring pull.
Of course, there’s also Cobb, who’s spending 85 percent of his time with the quarterbacks and 15 percent of his time with the receivers. He said he caught just one pass in high school in Alcoa, Tenn., but it was a 49-yard touchdown.
He’s not going to be picky about where he lines up this fall - quarterback or receiver. But look for him at both spots.
“They’ve given me a lot of responsibility, and I’m going to run with it,” Cobb said. “I just want to do whatever I can to help this program stay on the move.”
Cobb threw for 22 touchdowns and ran for 13 more last season in leading Alcoa to its fourth straight state championship. His house sits about 10 minutes from Neyland Stadium, and the Vols wanted him.
In the end, though, Cobb said Kentucky had been on him the longest and he also felt like he would get a fairer shot at playing quarterback for the Wildcats.
“Tennessee started recruiting me pretty hard after I had a breakout game my senior year, but that was too late,” Cobb said. “They said they were recruiting me as a quarterback. I wasn’t really sure. I didn’t feel comfortable with the situation. I felt I had some coaches up here at Kentucky that I could trust, who were loyal and that everything they told me … I could believe.”
Believe this: Cobb won’t have to wait long to show what he can do in Big Blue.
Warren cleared to play for Vols
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
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| Greg Drzazgowski/Icon SMI | |
| Brandon Warren caught 28 passes for 301 yards his freshman season at Florida State. |
Tennessee finally received the news it’s been waiting on since June. Tight end Brandon Warren, a transfer from Florida State and potentially one of the Vols’ most dynamic offensive threats, has been ruled eligible to play this season by the NCAA.
Warren had been practicing with the Vols, but was in limbo as to whether or not he’d be able to play this season. He left Florida State before his freshman year was complete to be closer to his mother, who lives just outside Knoxville in Alcoa, Tenn., and was battling cancer. Warren didn’t play anywhere last season and instead took classes at a nearby community college.
The decision on whether he’d be eligible sort of hung out there for a while, frustrating Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer and others in the Vols’ program. Officials at Florida State weren’t too enamored with Warren leaving and felt like he was using the whole situation as a means to get back home and play for Tennessee.
After no decision was made on the matter in the SEC office, in large part because the ACC office wasn’t comfortable with how everything went down, the NCAA staff ultimately ruled in Warren’s favor. He’s listed as a sophomore this season.
Having a couple of healthy tight ends is vital to what first-year offensive coordinator Dave Clawson wants to do with the Vols’ offense this season.
Here’s the official release on Warren put out by Tennessee officials on Tuesday.
From Man O’ War to the Ozarks
August 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
After spending Monday in Kentucky with coach Rich Brooks and some of his players, I’ll be boarding a plane later Tuesday for Fayetteville, Ark., and will have a day’s worth of updates, notes and features from the Hogs’ camp on Wednesday. I hope to catch up with Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino on Wednesday afternoon for a Q&A session.
First. though, a few final thoughts on the Wildcats. I really don’t think Brooks gets the credit he deserves for what he’s done at Kentucky. The way he’s upgraded the recruiting there in the face of so much negativity two and three years ago is nothing short of remarkable. There was some muffled laughter around the league when Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart hired Brooks back in 2003. Brooks was going on 62 at the time, had been out of coaching for two years and hadn’t coached college ball in nine years.
Brooks was anything but Barnhart’s first choice, too. Even Brooks jokes that he got the job only after numerous coaches turned the Wildcats down.
But in retrospect, he’s exactly what Kentucky needed. He was tough enough and resilient enough to stand the heat when things got ugly his first couple of seasons. He was a keen talent evaluator, which you had to be at Kentucky. Parade All-Americans weren’t flocking to Lexington, and Brooks and his staff were able to go out and find good players that weren’t on all the recruiting lists.
Most importantly, Brooks had a plan and stuck to that plan. He did so with grace and class and deflected the criticism on him and not his players during the lean years. He didn’t get too low with the lows and isn’t too caught up now in the fact that the Wildcats have won back-to-back bowl games.
If they make it three in a row this season, I think Brooks will walk away and hand it over to Joker Phillips, who’s already been named as his successor.
Given the job that Brooks has done at Kentucky, he deserves to walk away on top and on his terms. Plus, he’s got a little more boating he’d like to do out in Oregon. He’s just got to make sure he has the right guy on the oars this next time so there aren’t any more adventurous swims to shore.
Whenever he calls it quits, this much we know: He leaves the Kentucky program in a whole lot better shape than he found it, and that’s the true measure of any coach.
