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Texas president denies rumored pursuit of Alabama coach Nick Saban (report) | AL.com
The latest Nick Saban-to-Texas rumors made it all the way to University of Texas president Bill Powers' desk. Powers, in a Thursday interview with the Austin American-Statesman, denied that the school was pursuing the Alabama coach to replace Mack Brown, whose fate as the Longhorns head coach has yet to be decided.
"I've never met Nick Saban. I've never talked to Nick Saban. We have not hired Nick Saban," Powers told the American-Statesman. "Mack's our coach, and I can say flatly that the rumors we have hired or come to an agreement with Nick Saban or even talked to him are false."
Well, I'm sure that will squelch the rumor once at for all. Yep. I'm sure we'll never hear any more about this one again...
Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier to interview for Washington head job (report) | AL.com
He was considered a top candidate, and now the Washington interest in Alabama's offensive coordinator is taking the next step.
Doug Nussmeier will interview for the vacated Husky head coaching job Thursday, ESPN reported. Brett McMurphy reported Nussmeier and Boise State coach Chris Peterson would meet with Washington officials about the opening.
I like Nuss. In the few times that I've seen him talking with the media, he seems like a very knowledgeable guy that is perfectly at ease in his own skin. Given the fact that Nuss was the offensive coordinator at Washington before coming to Bama, I'm sure that he will jump at the chance to head back to the evergreen state if the Huskies were to extend him an offer.
Our own Gumpin On Saturdays did a Q&A for UW Dawg Pound regarding the potential hire. Check it out.
Of course, there's always the chance that this is true...
Washington Huskies to hire Chris Petersen of Boise State Broncos - ESPN
Boise State coach Chris Petersen is expected to be named head coach of the Washington Huskies on Friday, according to a source.
Petersen will be one of the highest paid coaches in the Pac-12.
First off, if this is true, I'm happy that we get to hopefully hang on to Nussmeier for a bit longer. But also, what the deuce? Peterson has had his chance at a half dozen high profile jobs the last few years and he goes to Washington? Okay.
SEC title game matchups are what to watch in Week 15 - ESPN
Possible hangovers:
One could hardly blame Auburn if it entered this game a bit flat. Gus Malzahn's Tigers are coming off consecutive miracle wins against their biggest rivals: Georgia and Alabama. Chris Davis' missed field goal return for a touchdown against the top-ranked Crimson Tide resonated outside the sports world, considering that it was a subject on conversation on "The View" and the "Today" show and not just on sports highlight shows. Likewise, an emotional win against Texas A&M prompted the home fans to empty onto the field after Missouri clinched the SEC East title last Saturday. If one of these teams starts slowly Saturday, it could easily find itself facing a big deficit early in the game.
I would like to restate that I should like very much to Auburn lose this game. Please and thank you, Santa. That'll be all.
SEC Championship Game: Auburn and Missouri's Common Opponents - Team Speed Kills
The general impression that you get from these teams is true when it comes to the common opponents. Auburn's side is inflated in comparison, or Missouri's is more muted depending on your perspective. War Eagle scores more, but it allows more too. It gains more yards per play, but it gives up more too.
The biggest thing that I wasn't aware of ahead of time was Missouri's greater success in the turnover department. Indeed, Mizzou leads the SEC in overall turnover margin at +15 on the season. Auburn is right in the middle of the pack at +1. The large discrepancy is less about lost turnovers, as MU has lost just four fewer than AU has, but rather it's in forced turnovers. Missouri has forced 27 on the season, while Auburn has forced only 17.
I've only linked two articles about the SEC championship game, and I'm already tired of talking about it and if you don't mind I think I'm just going to lie down and sleep until the game is over somebody wake me up when this has passed.
Willie Meggs press conference on Jameis Winston: Recap - Tomahawk Nation
Willie Meggs addressed the media Thursday to announce that Jameis Winston will not face any charges after his office concluded an investigation into an alleged sexual battery from December 2012. Meggs spoke for over 30 minutes, and had a lot to say. Here is what you need to know:
Meggs opened by saying that the investigation timeline had nothing to do with football. He refused to say whether the announcement was a vindication for Jameis Winston, or an indication of a lack of evidence. He deferred to the State Attorney's Office report, which should soon be available.
He did, however, tell ESPN TV that he did not find the complainant as someone who he believed he could put on the stand. He said that sometimes weak witnesses can be bolstered by additional evidence, but that was not the case in this investigation.
This story sucks. There's no point speculating here, as the official decision has come down based on much more information than any of us have at the moment. The most important thing to remember here is that, at the very least, this girl thought she was raped. I think the best course of action for everyone on this site would be to move on from the topic and not speculate further. For an excellent write-up about the situation, see this article written by Andy Hutchins of Alligator Army. Here's an excerpt:
We can argue that the way the investigation was handled also makes it clear that protocols for rape cases ought to be established and strenuously followed, so as to prevent some of the same errors from happening again.
And we can certainly argue that we, the people, need to do better, especially by making rape allegations less harrowing to report and have investigated through better policing of our sentiments to respect both alleged victims and people presumed innocent before proven guilty.
13.9.1 Letter of Intent - Limitation. Each SEC member institution is limited to signing 25 football prospective student-athletes to a National Letter of Intent, Conference financial aid agreement and/or institutional offer of athletics financial aid from December 1 through May 31st of each year. (Adopted 5/29/09; effective immediately; revised 6/3/11; effective August 1, 2011)
As his post points out, academically eligible student-athletes who enroll in January are now allowed to sign aid agreements with universities as early as Aug. 1.
What does this mean?
According to Woodbery, the Vols had players sign aid agreements last month. He writes, "By the letter of the law, those players wouldn't count against the SEC's signing limit. They're freebies, if you will."
If this is a true loophole, expect it to disappear immediately. I'm a bit incredulous, myself.
As it is, I'm not sure why Tennessee would even need a loophole for this year. Yes, they have 33 commitments, but they only signed 21 players in the last two classes. Simply carrying forward the four slots for the last two years would be enough to get them in line with the rule.