Top Four Stories Following College Football Regular Season Final Weekend

After the final weekend of the 2015 College Football regular season, there are some immediate topics that stand out to me.  While some storylines still need to be settled during Conference Championship weekend we know for sure a few things:

 

1. Les Miles gets redemption while LSU shows their true colors

For a couple of weeks, rumors swirled that Louisiana State University would buy out Head Coach Les Miles contract and get a new Football coach.  Despite the fact Miles has won a National Championship, two SEC Conference Titles, and is one of the top recruiters in the nation, boosters and administration wanted a new head of the football program.  They wanted to use a three game losing streak and three consecutive years of diminishing record versus in conference opponents to bring in a new guy. 

The saying “Where there is smoke, there is fire” applies to this disgraceful situation.  From LSU Boosters putting up money to pay for the contract buyout to LSU Administrators putting out “secret feelers” to three different potential coaches speaks volumes about Louisiana power brokers.  It is disgraceful to throw a great coach who has been loyal to the school and his players for years.  While Miles had opportunities to leave LSU, he stayed.  Just because Miles and LSU Football are not the top program in the SEC is negligible.  In fact, of all active SEC Football Head Coaches Miles is the second most successful man to Nick Saban of Alabama.  The truth is that it is intellectually dishonest to believe that Jimbo Fisher, Chip Kelly or any other rumored names to replace Miles would do a better job at LSU.

Moving forward LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva should be the man on the hot seat now.  He was silent for weeks, waited until after the win versus Texas A&M to declare his “support” for Les Miles. This whole dilemma has been disgraceful in the way it was handled and at some point we have to hold people accountable.  Also don’t forget Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal called out LSU Administration over how they have handled this situation and Jindal supports Miles as Football Coach at Louisiana’s top state university.

2. The College Football Playoff committee got it right on Notre Dame

When the College Football Playoff committee dropped Notre Dame out of their Top Four rankings in favor of University of Iowa I was one of the people decrying the flip flop move by the committee.  Now in hindsight of Notre Dame’s loss to Stanford it looks like the Committee got this one right.

In their last couple game Notre Dame has not played up to expectations and their litany of injuries are catching up to them.  The team is starting their 2^nd string Quarterback along with their 4^th string Running Back; not exactly a recipe for success.  Furthermore, unexpected close wins against teams such as Boston College does not help their overall resume in the eyes of the Committee.  Now the loss to Stanford not only seals their fate as not Playoff Bound but they get the consolation prize of going to a good Bowl game.  Kudos to the College Football Committee for seeing Notre Dame for who they are…like Dennis Green said “They are who we thought they were!!”

3. Virginia Tech’s next Head Coach will be Justin Fuente

Despite the “rise” of University of Memphis’ Football program over the last couple years, many college football fans do not know of Justin Fuente.  Fuente is a former collegiate Quarterback who was the TCU Football Offensive Coordinator before being hired as Head Coach at Memphis.  Over the last four years Fuente has showed he is a good recruiter and developer of talent.  But he is also the “hot coach” in college football, which does not always equal success when they move on to the next job.

In the past College Coaches such as Randy Edsall, Derek Dooley, Will Muschamp, and Tyrone Willingham all were at one time the “hot name” and got the next job but then couldn’t live up to the expectations placed on them.  Fuente is a good recruiter and offensive minded coach.  But there is a reason why Fuente is retaining Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, and that reason has to do with Fuente knowing his limitations.  Foster has been one of the top ten defensive coordinators in college football over the last two decades.  Fuente knows from his experience coaching at TCU that his offensive prowess and recruiting talents will be fruitless without a defense to compliment them.  Also, keeping Foster is a good faith gesture to Virginia Tech boosters to show he is not coming in to “change everything” like other “Hot Name” Coaches have done in other stops.  Fuente is already off to a good start and he hasn’t even coached a game yet at Virginia Tech.

 

4. Mark Richt and Kyle Flood firings expose a dark side of collegiate athletics

On Sunday University of Georgia and Rutgers University fired their Head Football Coaches, opening up more positions to be filled among the major college football programs.  But these firings indirectly expose the dark underbelly of collegiate athletics in today’s world.

Mark Richt was the Head Coach at Georgia for fourteen years, compiling a win-loss record of 145-51 and lead his team to finish the season ranked in the top ten in the country six times.  But in a “what have you done for me lately” culture, Richt had not won an SEC Conference title since 2005.  After three seasons in which Georgia did not meet pre-season expectations, Richt’s standing with the athletic department and boosters led to what the University is calling a “mutual” parting of ways.

The truth is, multiple reports tell us that Georgia Boosters and Administration had grown tired of Richt and wanted a new man in charge of the Football program.  With the resources and desire to “keep up with the Joneses” of other SEC schools, Georgia will be throwing all they have to get the biggest fish in the college football coaching availability pond.  There will be rumors that range from Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Chip Kelly to Alabama Defensive Coordinator Kirby Smart to University of Houston coach Tom Herman; but none of these or other potential candidates bring any guarantees of success.  Richt was a symbol of stability at Georgia and hopefully the administration learns from the errors of their fellow SEC schools.

When Tennessee parted ways with their long-time head coach Phil Fullmer, the administration thought they knew how to move the football program forward.  Over the last seven seasons Tennessee has employed three different Head Coaches.  Meanwhile South Carolina went “big name hunting” after Lou Holtz retired in 2004.  In ten plus seasons with Steve Spurrier South Carolina won 86 games but never won an SEC Conference Title.  So history tells us that moving on from a Football Coach who has been in place for years does not always equal success or a real upgrade.

On the other side of the coin is the Kyle Flood firing at Rutgers.  Rutgers Football program was a prominent program during the late 1950’s through early 1960’s winning three conference titles over a period of four years.  Greg Schiano came to Rutgers after coaching at the University of Miami and brought a winning attitude on the field and on the road as a recruiter.  Schiano built up a Rutgers program from the ground up and leading Rutgers out of obscurity to their first national rankings and Bowl Games in three decades.  But after ten plus seasons Schiano wanted to take on the challenge of coaching in the NFL (an endeavor that went sour); his replacement was Kyle Flood.

Flood would get off to a hot start as a Head Coach in which he led his team to co-Conference champions and close Bowl game loss.  But after that initial success, Flood’s Rutgers team would stumble, compiling a mediocre over win-loss record of 18-20.  Many of the issues with Flood came to a head earlier in 2015 when several players on the football team were arrested and charged with felonies.  Meanwhile, Flood reportedly had a physical confrontation with a university professor over the “mistreatment” of one of his players.  What was revealed in 2015 was that Flood’s success in 2012 was with Schiano’s recruits and in Flood’s efforts to keep up the talent level of the program was more willing to take chances on recruits with troubled histories.  Flood, not being the caliber of coach or recruiter Schiano was, made the mistake of sacrificing scruples to win ball games.  Those choices led to the university’s football program to receive a black eye in the aftermath of past issues with the Athletic Department and Admiration over recent issues.

Now Rutgers must move forward and bring in a Football coach who doesn’t just change the culture of the program but has the moral high ground to pull the program back to a level of respectability while also being able to recruit at a level on par with their membership in the Big Ten Conference.  Rutgers will also be looking for a new Athletic Director; with the firing of Julie Hermann Rutgers will replace her with Pat Hobbs who will be the university’s third Athletic Director in four years.

Universities have become multi-million dollar operations who utilize their Football programs as revenue generators.  Memberships in major athletic conferences such as the SEC and Big Ten help garner the University’s Athletic Department money and exposure that they would not receive with membership.  Also part of the deal is the expectations placed on these programs by Administration and Boosters; whether a coach is fired for bringing shame to the university or the coach has outstayed his welcome, the dark truth of College Football is that winning more games than you lose each season is not enough to keep a coach his job.  There are numerous layers that are both public and private that go into the hiring and firing of Football Coaches.

Future of University of Miami Hurricanes Football

With the firing of former University of Miami Hurricanes Football Coach Al Golden, Miami will be in search of their fifth Head Coach since 2000.  “The U”, as it is famously and infamously known as, has been in search of reclaiming their “glory years” for over a decade.  Back in the 1980’s Miami’s Football was one of the dominant forces in college football, winning three national titles with three different Head Coaches.  From 1983-2001 Miami has won five National Championships while sending hundreds of players to the ranks of the NFL. 

But since their loss to Ohio State in 2002 National Title game the Football program at Miami has been on a downward spiral.  From poor recruiting classes to teams not meeting expectations to coaching mis-hires by Athletic Directors, the tumult of the Miami Hurricanes program has been well documented.  In fact, if it wasn’t for Billy Corben’s documentaries about “The U” many people would not understand the depth of the impact of Miami Hurricanes’ Football Program.  The 1980’s Miami Hurricanes changed how other college football programs looked at players and football success. 

Before the 1980’s many football programs success was gauged by winning Bowl games and beating their rivals year to year, and if you had players who won a Heisman Trophy or other major awards that was credited to coaching legacy.  The emphasis was on the school and coaches. The players were treated as an accessory to success.  But Miami Hurricanes Head Coaches Harold Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, and Dennis Erickson were not demonstrative leaders of their football programs.  They focused on the student-athletes and let players express themselves on the field.  After Miami’s dominance the standards for college football excellence shifted.  No longer was the emphasis on just winning versus rivals and winning bowl games to make the university money.  Instead the goal was great recruiting classes, sending as many players as possible to the NFL, winning as many games as possible, and playing a schedule that gets you on TV.  Yes, winning championships are the ultimate goal, but the 1980’s Miami Hurricanes showed that a successful football program could no longer be gauged by just the old standards.

The standards set by “The U” in the 1980’s have evolved over the last 25 years.  In 2015 The University of Miami is behind the times in terms of facilities, quality coaches, and winning big games.  Miami’s football facilities are not up to par compared to many other schools who play Division 1 Football at the highest level of competition.  Their stadium is a 45-60 minutes’ drive away from campus (depending on the time of day), and they have an obsession with hiring coaches who are lacking certain necessary skills to be successful head coaches at a University such as Miami.  After Butch Davis left in 2000, look at the coaches who were brought in to be Head Coaches:

-Larry Coker was considered a “Players’ Coach”.

With a background as an offensive position coach and offensive coordinator, Coker won a National Title in 2001 and led the Hurricanes to another championship game in 2002 with a roster full of players recruited by former coach Butch Davis.  Once those players left for the NFL, Coker never won more than 9 games in a season and he had trouble recruiting the same level of talent.  Also as an offensive minded coach and his lack of recruit acumen the defenses his last couple years dropped off.

-Randy Shannon was hired to be a throwback Head Coach.

Because of his background as a defensive coach and as a former player at “The U” he was a very good recruiter.  Despite Shannon raising the level of play of the team’s defense, cultivating top 25 recruiting classes for four straight years, and also raising the overall graduation rates and GPA of the football program, his win-loss record before he was fired was 16-16.  Shannon was not a great football game manager nor was he good at hiring the right offensive coaches to develop the team’s offensive skill players.

-Al Golden was a rebuilding coach from Temple

Golden spent five years rebuilding a University of Temple Football program that had a win-loss record of 3-31 before he arrived on campus.  After bringing Temple back to Football relevance and their first winning seasons in 30 years, he was hired to do the same in Miami.  But when the school fell under NCAA sanctions, Golden’s uphill battle to rebuild the program took a major hit.  His style of recruiting and coaching was not the best fit for a program whose tradition was based around great athletes being led to win big games.  Golden had trouble beating rivals, consistently finishing the season below expectations despite the talent on the roster.  According to many reports, Golden had trouble relating to players and his game plans were lacking in creativity.

Whoever becomes the next University of Miami Football Head Coach has an uphill battle in their efforts to try to raise the level of play of a program that has not won more than 9 games since 2003.  Overcoming a lack of support from school administrators, underwhelming football facilities, poor stadium location, and recruiting to players who were in kindergarten the last time Miami was playing in a National Championship game; the challenge is real and daunting for anyone becoming the next Head Coach.  Their next Head Coach needs the following attributes:

-High Football IQ and good coaching staff:

Miami needs to bring in someone who is more well-rounded than previous coaches.  The great head coaches in college football in 2015 are great game day strategists, work well with their coaching staff, and know how to hire great coaches that compliment and fulfill the needs of the football program.

-Recruiting plus development:

Miami’s next Head Coach needs to be more than just a great recruiter.  The coach needs to have experience at developing players to be great on game day.  Having talent is a good start for any football team, but a coach who can maximize that talent on the football field is just as important.  One of the major traditions at Miami is the hundreds of players who have gone on to be starting players in the NFL.  Continuing this tradition is an important part of the school’s history and future success.

-Bridge the gap between the athletic department and the rest of the University: The next Head Coach of the University of Miami needs to build the relationship behind the scenes of advancing the football program.  Whether people in South Florida want to admit it or not, Miami’s Football program has made that university millions of dollars, most of that money that has not been invested back into the football program.  Most of that money was used to invest in academia, other athletic programs, and giving people with fat pockets more money to put in those pockets among the university’s administration.  What made Charlie Strong a great coach at University of Louisville, Chris Pederson at Boise State, Mark Richt at University of Georgia, Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State, as well as Mark Bellotti and Chip Kelly at University of Oregon was their ability to not just win football games, not just recruit high level talent, but also get their university to invest resources into the football program and its players.  These skills at relationship building with administration, academia, players and future recruits open doors for Strong, Pederson, and Kelly to get next level job opportunities while coaches such as Richt, Gundy and Bellotti became mainstays at their Universities.

Can the University of Miami reclaim their tradition of excellence?  Yes, but they need the right head coach who can do what Larry Coker, Randy Shannon, and Al Golden were unable to do.  Like I said earlier, you are recruiting kids who were in kindergarten the last time Miami was a great football program.  The football program needs a fresh approach, a different strategy on and off the field, things that Coker, Shannon, and Golden were unable to offer.  

SMU, NCAA, & the Double Standards of College Athleticism

Southern Methodist University has received punishment for breaking rules from the governing body of Collegiate Sports, the NCAA.  Among the“charges” against SMU include Academic Misconduct and Unethical Conduct in the Men’s Basketball Program along with lack of control of the program by Head Coach Larry Brown.  SMU has been banned from the 2016 postseason and Brown has been suspended for the first 9 games of the season.  While this is not the first time a college team coached by Larry Brown has received NCAA punishment (he coached at Kansas and UCLA previously), the real issue here is the double standards in collegiate athletics in terms of players, coaches, universities and the NCAA.

Let’s first focus on the coaches and what their role is as Head Coaches in collegiate athletics.  What is their job description exactly?  Because if you ask the NCAA, an Athletic Director, a University President, Players, and NBA Scouts you may get 5 different answers.  The reality is that the system makes it difficult to do any of the duties asked of these coaches.  First and foremost, these coaches are expected to win ball games, but they have to do so with limited practice hours every week.  These coaches are expected to recruit talented players, but they are expected to do so with numerous limitations in place on how much they speak to recruits and when/where they interact with them.   These coaches are expected to oversee the sport’s program they coach while also monitoring their players.  Yet these men and women at the collegiate level are expected to also be life teachers, mentors, and university representatives.

While many of these “duties” I state above conflict with each other, I ask what is most important: Academics, Winning Games, Mentorship, or Program Management?  The truth is that every time you hear about sanctions against a school’s Athletic Program or its players, there are three other incidents that never get reported.  There are guidelines published by the NCAA but no consistency in punishment.  Why is the University of Southern California Football program more “evil” in their lack of institutional control than SMU Basketball program?  Why was what Dez Bryant did years ago worse than what Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston did?  Why is Jim Boeheim better or worse than any other coaches who didn’t have institutional control?

I know as the reader you may be saying “I don’t remember half those incidents you are talking about” or “Why are you comparing ‘Apples to Oranges’?” but the whole point is that you don’t remember all the details of every NCAA punishment and that these situations are not all that different.  The reality is that the NCAA is the overseer of a multi-faceted, multi-billion dollar business that hundreds of Universities cash in on every year.   Lots of green is made from televised sporting events and game tickets are sold just like the professional ranks.  But we are told these are “Student-Athletes”, that this is “Amateur athletics at its highest level”, that “Academics come first, Sports come second”; so then why do we hire and fire coaches in college for the same reasons as the professional ranks?

The double standards come down to the simple conflict between what is important.  SMU didn’t hire Larry Brown to be their Men’s Basketball because he graduated so many student athletes or he has a great relationship with Academia.  He was hired to win basketball games, to recruit the best players, because when you bring in the best players and win ball games then the University makes big money.  The truth is that these Universities treat their Head Coaches and Student-Athletes like business investments.  But as soon as the NCAA comes in the University distances themselves from their Head Coaches and Student-Athletes, blaming them for everything.  Everything is alright for the NCAA and Universities to make money off Collegiate Athletics, but when these players and coaches do “whatever it takes to win” then we start the blame game.

I do not blame Larry Brown for what happened at SMU with the Basketball program, just like I do not blame Pete Carroll for what happened at USC with star Football player Reggie Bush.  I blame the system that is in place for putting these coaches and players in a position where they feel the need to “bend the rules” in order to meet expectations.  The NCAA wants their big time TV contracts but want to maintain the “integrity” of Student-Athletics and Academic environment.  The NCAA and their member Universities want the best of both worlds and the Public Relations that go along with it.  They do not care about the Students’ futures or their Academics.  The Universities point to statistics and say “Look at our graduation rate” but do not mention these Student-Athletes majored in Liberal Arts, Communications, Sports Management and other degree fields that have limited real world application for employment.

Whether it is SMU, USC, Syracuse, Miami, Dez Bryant, AJ Green, or anyone else this is all a charade of punishments by the NCAA.  There is no consistency, no bona fide legal process, no use of precedent, just a bunch of subjective interpretations of situations and circumstance b people who care little for the people they place judgments on and only care for maintaining their strangle hold on their power and money.  If it wasn’t for all these double standards, most of these coaches and players would never get in trouble.  Furthermore, these sanctions from the all-mighty NCAA hurt more innocent people than transgressors.  Remember how Penn State lost scholarships and was banned from postseason because of a few men’s negligence and another man’s evil?  Yeah those NCAA punishments only hurt the players and coaches who had to deal with the sanctions in aftermath of all that mess of lies.

Johnny Manziell and NCAA Corruption

The whole Johnny Manziel fiasco has become the rampant celebrity gossip talk of the sports world.  But many are ignoring the real issue that this saga has presented to us, not about Manziel, but about college athletics as a whole.

Manziel was suspended for the 1^st half of Texas A&M’s first game of the 2013 Football season for violating the “Spirit of the Law” concerning his signing of autographs and memorabilia.  The NCAA informed Texas A&M that they had not found evidence that Manziel had received money for signing thousands of items in random hotel rooms during the winter months of 2013.  Of course, the NCAA came to this conclusion within a couple weeks after Manziel’s parents had retained the services of a power, well-known lawyer. 

This is where college athletics showed their true colors.  Since most college athletes do not have the family or financial resources to attain such legal representation, many athletes over the years have received suspensions and schools have had to “vacate” past wins, loose scholarships and receive bowl bans over other “violations”.  While none these violations equal any actual felonies or misdemeanors in the court of law, the NCAA has bi-laws and regulations that are in place to “protect” the student-athletes.  So while these same athletes are not allowed to have jobs during the athletic season or use their fame for profit, the schools and NCAA can make as much money as they want.  But there is no Congressional investigation into the “monopoly” that is college athletics, because there is money involved and they are part of the in-crowd. 

Let’s look back at another athlete who did not have legal representation and was punished by the NCAA.  Former Oklahoma State Wide Receiver Dez Bryant was considered a candidate for the Heisman Trophy in 2009.  But the NCAA suspended him for the rest of the season because he “failed to disclose” he had lunch with former NFL Superstar and current NFL Network TV personality Deion Sanders.  Apparently, because Bryant had associated himself with some with an indirect connection to the NFL and “lied” about it, he violated his Amateur Status and was then deemed ineligible to play college football.

But what if Bryant’s family had the money or he had the resources to attain a powerful attorney, would he have been ruled ineligible?  If his college was a private school (Oklahoma State is part of the public college system in that state) and had an athletic department who would hire an attorney to represent Bryant on his behalf (similar to what happened at Auburn with Cam Newton during his breakout, Heisman Trophy season) then what would have happened?

The reality is that this propaganda about “We are here to protect the kids” from the NCAA and the schools who say “We really care about this kids as people” is a total farce.  Universities and the NCAA are institutions of Business that offer a service to educate people who they deem “qualified” to attend and enroll.  The absolute disregard for precedent or justice by the people who run these institutions is a disgrace.  Whether it is the mishandling of the investigation into potential violations at the University of Miami or the “see no evil, hear no evil” disgrace that was the Mike Rice situation at Rutgers or the NCAA making money off the likeness of athletes on the covers of video games that have the official NCAA stamp on them, the concept of a moral high ground is an absolute joke. 

Manziel is a blue-blood, member of the upper class in America, he thinks he can get away with anything, that he is “above the law”.  The NCAA always punishes schools and athletes they deem are “guilty” because they can’t defend themselves or because they cannot stand before an independent arbitrator to plead their case.  Whether its Dez Bryant, University of Southern California, or Southern Methodist University, there is a common theme: if you are not in with the blue-bloods or elites, you are definitely going to get punished for your “transgressions”.

 Is Dez Bryant the only collegiate athlete to have lunch with someone associated with a professional sports organization? Nope.  Was USC the only school to ever have a player whose family received favors from a prospective agent? Nope.  Was Miami the only school to ever have students receive money from “supporters” of the athletic program? Nope.  Was SMU the only school who was “paying” players to come to their school?  Nope.  But these were the ones who the NCAA decided to investigate.  The reality is that for every school or athlete who is caught and punished, there are two others who get away with the same or similar violations of the NCAA bi-laws.

So instead of people asking the US Congress to get involved in the affairs of professional sports organizations like the NFL and MLB over steroid testing, why don’t they instead investigate the NCAA and its member institutions who claim to have the best interests of the student-athletes in mind, when in reality, it’s a flawed system that is more interested in the financial bottom line than the well-being of these so-called student-athletes.  There’s no investigation into why USC received punish for the actions of the family of a member of their football team.  No investigation into how the NCAA is making money from the likenesses of their student-athletes in video games or selling of their jerseys on their website.  No investigation into the debacle at Rutgers University with the Mike Rice fiasco. 

Obviously, the people who scream the loudest “We want to protect their children from those who would take advantage of them” are actually the ones who really don’t care an ounce about them.  Yelling and screaming is for those who want attention or to justify their existence.  It doesn’t matter if its Politicians, University Presidents and Athletic Directors, or the “powers that be” at the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Modus Operandi seems to have a common theme: They do what they need to do to stay in positions of power and influence, while making as much money as possible while not being held accountable for their actions. 

So the next time you see Johnny Manziel pop up on your tv, just remember, he gets to continue to play football because he had the resources to afford him legal representation, while many other athletes are not so fortunate.  Have fun explaining this one to your kids.

Steve Alford is the man for the job

There was a great deal of chatter this weekend about the hiring of former New Mexico Head Basketball Coach Steve Alford to take over the same position at the prestigious UCLA basketball program.  Eleven National Championships is nothing to sneeze at, UCLA has more history in just their basketball program than most school entire athletic programs combined.

But note the word “history”.  The reality is that in the ten seasons that Ben Howland was Head Coach he led the school to the Final Four three consecutive seasons.  There were those who disliked Howland’s recruiting or felt he wasn’t a “UCLA man”.  Well congratulations, UCLA hired another guy who isn’t a former Bruin or a California guy.  John Wooden isn’t coming back to coach anytime soon and Howland wasn’t the coach who delivered the results wanted.

Hiring Steve Alford was one of the best options for UCLA for many reasons, yet I want to start with why the other “popular candidates” would not have been the right choice.  In order to have a successful basketball program at UCLA you need to be able to recruit the fertile region of Southern California while presenting a positive image of the school.  Popular “Mid-major” coaches such as Shaka Smart, Brad Stevens and Andy Enfield all are excellent coaches but none of them have recruiting connections in California.  This was the major problem with the hiring of Howland over a decade ago, he had to learn on the job; recruiting California is different than the northeast or Midwest.  Basketball to California is like Football to Texas: it’s the king of all sports.  And those kids and parents who have a crazy passion about basketball looked at a guy like Ben Howland as an outsider.  Both Smart and Stevens are great at maximizing the potential of their players and finding diamonds in the rough, but neither guy is known for their recruiting ability.  UCLA is about results, recognition, and headlines.  Enfield is the best recruiter of the three “hot name” coaches but he doesn’t have the west coach recruiting connections.  Also, Enfield just began head coaching a few years ago, he doesn’t have much of a resume except that he is a “basketball lifer”.

This is where Alford comes in and shines about the rest.  During his tenure at New Mexico he did recruiting in Southern California and has familiarized himself with the area, schools and people.  Alford also has the ultimate weapon in recruiting: championships.  Alford was a starting player in the 1980’s winning a National Title under Bob Knight at Indiana and as a member of the Gold Medal winning basketball team in the 1984 Olympics.  When recruiting big time players, being able to walk around with that kind of Cache means you got a hand up on many coaches.

Also important about Alford is his background as a coach.  While he hasn’t had great postseason success at Iowa or New Mexico, he does have the ability to “resurrect” dying basketball programs.  Before he got to those two schools neither one were known as “winning” programs.  The truth hurts UCLA alumni and fans: your basketball program needs some “resurrection”.  Somewhat apropos considering Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus this past weekend, UCLA basketball for some people is a religion (i.e. football in Texas).  I am not saying Steve Alford is a “messiah” of any sort but he has the coaching and recruiting ability as well as the basketball acumen to take UCLA and make it great again.  Only time will tell if his qualifications for the jobs add up to results.  But one thing is for sure, he is definitely a very qualified candidate.

NCAA Tournament Results & Aftermath through the perspective of My Bracket

So after a crazy last week and weekend I have finally had time to breathe and review my NCAA Tournament Brackets.  Going 24-8 in the main opening round of the tournament (now known as the “2^nd Round”) I am in rarified air considering most people’s brackets are busted.  I have all my Final Four predictions intact.  But I still got some games wrong, so lets review the College Basketball weekend and the aftermath:
 

My Final Four: Louisville, Ohio State, Miami, and Florida

Obviously I didn’t exact take a major “risk” in my original Final Four picks by selecting a 1 seed, two 2 seeds, and a 3 seed but so far I am safe. 

Louisville because I believe they are peaking at the right time.  Peyton Siva and Russ Smith are finally playing up to their potential while Giorgi Dieng has atleast one block in seven of Louisville’s last eight games.  There are few teams in the NCAA tournament who have the combination of talented guards and aggressive front line big men to give Louisville problems.  The two biggest threats to Rick Pitino’s Cardinals, Michigan State and Duke, are set to play each other in the Sweet 16.  While Oregon will give them a good game, I see Louisville getting the win because they have better overall skill players.

I have been on and off the Ohio State “bandwagon” for the last few years.  I picked them to come out of the West Region this year is because I felt the bracket was weak.  Gonzaga proved to be the weakest number 1 seed (losing in the Round of 32) while the 3 seed( New Mexico) , 4 seed (Kansas State) and 5 seed (Wisconsin) all  lost in the Round of 64.  The only teams left standing in Ohio State’s way to the Final Four are Arizona, Wichita State, and LaSalle.  Not exactly “Murder’s Row”.  If Ohio State plays up to their potential, they will be in the Final Four.

Aside from the fact I have been a “U” fan for years, the University of Miami has never had great basketball program.  Head Coach Jim Larranaga has changed the basketball culture at Miami and has led a group of upperclassmen to a place where the school has never been before: a major basketball program that has a chance to win a national title.  Standing in their way at this time are two athletic, Big East tested schools (Marquette and Syracuse) along with the pre-season national title favorite (Indiana).  The road to the Final Four is not an easy one for the Hurricanes but I believe Shane Larkin, Kenny Kadji, Durand Scott, and Rion Brown are up for the challenge.

Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan is one of the most successful and seasoned Head Coaches in college basketball today.  At times the Gators have underachieved this year but in the Tournament they have really come to play after the “embarrassing” loss to Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament Finals.  Florida has won their first couple NCAA tournament games by an average of 23 points.  Florida Gulf Coast has had a good run but I think Florida has a more experienced coach and the athletes to neutralize the FGCU Eagles playing style.  While both Kansas and Michigan pose interesting matchups for Florida I believe the Gators have the team and the right head coach to be able to handle either of those teams in order to get to the Final Four.

I was wrong about: Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Missouri, Colorado, UNLV

Obviously I am not some super genius because I was wrong about these matchups just like the other 50 percent of America.  Here is what I learned by these mistakes:

-I underestimated Wichita State, thinking since they had a few kids graduate; meanwhile Pittsburgh played underwhelming basketball and did not have enough offensive firepower to catch up after they got behind.   Proving it was not a fluke, Wichita State also went on to defeat number 1 seed Gonzaga.

-Did anyone, truthfully, believe Wisconsin would loose to Harvard?  The Badgers have solid talent and a very good coach Bo Ryan.  Watching Wisconsin struggle to execute their offense and hit jump shots was surprising.   

-Kansas State was one of the most athletic and underrated teams in the NCAA tournament field.  But   La Salle came into this game after winning the opening round/play-in game with the attitude that they could win any game.  A confident underdog is always dangerous and Kansas State didn’t play up to their potential.  And I was the guy who had Kansas State reaching the Elite Eight; that was a bad call.  Congrats to a hard working, talented La Salle team that got to the Sweet 16.

-Missouri and Colorado were two athletic teams that were considered top five teams in their respective conferences.  But both struggled against teams that presented bad matchups that they could not overcome.  It appeared both teams went into desperation mode and got away from what got them into the tournament.  But the two schools that defeated them, Colorado State and Illinois respectively, didn’t make it past the round of 32.

-UNLV had the dubious task of facing a team they defeated during the regular season at a “neutral site” that is within driving range of that opponent’s campus.  It was practically a home game for the California Bears and the weakness of UNLV was exposed: traditional point guard.  With all of their great skill players the Rebels had no one to run the offense and no one stepped up to be a leader on defense. 

I was right about: Florida Gulf Coast,  Oregon, Michigan, Marquette

-Why did I pick FGCU to make it to the Sweet 16?  Because I thought their style of play matched up well against Georgetown, San Diego State and Oklahoma.  With excellent athletes, good defense, and high intensity offense translates to many opponents because they do not have a surplus of NBA talent.  Also, FGCU beat the Miami Hurricanes earlier this season.  They passed my “eye test” and maybe I was one of the few people who thought so.

-Oregon was seeded so low by the NCAA committee it was pathetic.  Oregon was inconsistent through out the season, but part of that was due to injuries.  What Oregon had that their opponents Oklahoma State and St. Louis didn’t have was aggressive rebounders.  Oregon was very underrated and they showed they did not deserve to be a 12 seed after being one of the top teams from the PAC-12 this past season.

-Picking Michigan and Marquette wasn’t exactly a major reach since they are 4 seeds and well-known good teams.     But there were those who doubted them because they had tough matchups.  Marquette had to survive near defeats to Davidson and Butler.  Meanwhile Michigan showed that they are ready to handle any challenge put in front of them.  Having talented guards and forwards are the staples of what has gotten Michigan and Marquette this far.  It will be interesting to see if their talent can help them continue their journey in the NCAA tournament.

Minnesota and UCLA fire their head coaches, but why?

I was not too surprised when UCLA fired Ben Howland but I didn’t agree with the move.  Howland, who had a run of three straight Final Four appearances but there were those in the administration at UCLA who felt Howland had overstayed his welcome and he was not what they school wanted in the long run.  But who will take the position?  VCU’s Shaka Smart is not leaving Virginia and Brad Stevens is happy to stay at Butler.  I also do not see FGCU’s head coach leaving no income tax and suburban Fort Meyers, Florida for Los Angeles.  UCLA will have to do an exhaustive search to find a coach who can be the coach and recruiter than is needed to match the reputation and history of UCLA.

Meanwhile Minnesota fired the best caliber head coach in the school’s history.  Tubby Smith helped resurrect the reputation of the Minnesota basketball program that was marred by scandal in the 1990’s.  Smith brought credibility to the basketball program and the school.  But they school did not put out the work to support him.  The facilities have not been upgraded in over a decade while Smith is having to recruit against great basketball programs like Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Indiana.  Firing a great coach like Smith makes me question the perspective and outlook of the Minnesota athletic department that over the last ten years had struggles in many of their team sports’ programs.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh loses in the first round with a team that had more talent on their team than UCLA and Minnesota but their head coach Jamie Dixon loses in the first game in the tournament.  Dixon gets a long term contract extension.  Smith wins a game in the tournament with Minnesota but he gets fired.  Something is wrong with this picture.

The Catholic 7, Mark Teixeira, & Darrell Revis: Sports Quick Hits for 3-6-13

As I write this blog post, the winds sound bad outside but I still have power and I am safe, thank God!  So, lets distract ourselves from the miserable weather of the northeast and talk some sports.

The "Catholic Seven" Get Even

While it is not official, the break up of the conference known as the Big East has crossed its biggest hurdle: money.  While the Big East was trying to keep up with the changing college sports landscape by adding more high profile football schools it was neglecting the historic roots of its basketball members.  With schools such as Syracuse, Rutgers, Norte Dame, and Pittsburgh leaving for "greener pastures" the Big East's "answer" to this was to replace these staples of the Big East with schools such as Temple, Navy, Memphis and Houston.  While all of these schools coming into the Big East have solid athletic programs, this really hurt the conference in their negotiations for a new TV contract.  Getting left out in the cold were the schools known as "The Catholic Seven".  Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, Marquette and DePaul are well known for their basketball tradition and basketball is the major financial athletic programs at those schools, not football.  So these seven universities have set the ground work to leave and create their own athletic conference.  But here's the kicker: its going to be called the "Big East" and they get to play their conference tournament at Madison Square Garden.  Also, these seven schools get to keep all money generated by their athletic programs for receiving bids to the NCAA tournament.

To all of this I say, good for them!  While college football is a major money maker for numerous universities, to neglect other schools in a conference for the sake of football and tv money is poor management by the Big East.  So now the "Catholic 7" get to keep the rights to the name of the Big East and keep the "basketball mecca" in New York City as their conference tournament home as a consolation prize.  Of course, the "left over" schools are going to make out well too.  Cincinnati, South Florida and Connecticut will receive a large portion of the exit fees being paid by the colleges leaving the Big East. 

So keep all of this in mind the next time you hear a politician or university president talk about how "this is about the kids" because we all know, its really about the money!

Mark Teixeira has a wrist injury, again

As a former high school athlete who suffered a serious wrist injury, I can understand what Mark Teixeira is going through.  He had to pull out of the World Baseball Classic after he injured his wrist during a batting practice session.  While reports claim he will miss 8 to 10 weeks, even when he is healthy again he has to get his swing back. 

Teixeira's wrist injury will probably haunt him for the rest of his career.  I played baseball in high school and some in college.  With a past wrist injury it will always affect your swing.  The speed of a baseball swing is in the wrist, all great hitters preach this in books and baseball camps.  For a really good hitter like Mark this will be a problem cause if his wrist does not heal or he does not rehab properly it will hamper his ability to hit for average.  I specifically focus on his average cause for his career Teixeira was a .302 career hitter before the last two seasons.  In 2011 and 2012 he had a batting average of .248 and .251.  This is a major drop off.  His power wont drop as much because the base of a hitters power is in the torque produced by his hips and the strength in his shoulders to generate the inertia.  The more torque and inertia is generated through a hitter's bat when he makes contact will determine how hard the ball is hit and how far it could potentially travel.

I know from personal experience that a wrist injury can forever affect one as a hitter.  While as a kid in little league I was a good hitter.  But after my wrist injury at 14 years old my swing was never the same.  When I made good contact I was able to generate some good hits and some power.  But my wrist was never the same in maintaining balance for an even swing through the zone.  I hope for Mark Teixeira's sake he is able to recover from this injury because he still has the potential for atleast a few really good seasons.  Only time will tell how much his wrist problems will hold him back.

Makes the Yankees wonder about their 100 plus million dollar investment in a few offseasons ago.

Darrelle Revis and his football future

Recovering from a major injury is always a fight uphill for any athlete.  But Darrelle Revis has more to worry about than just his rehab: where will he play next season?  The New York Jets have said all the right things in public, but behind the scenes they are shopping their Pro Bowl star.  Revis, who is considered one of the top Cornerbacks in football, is available to the highest bidder.  The Buccaneers have the cap room and the need for a top notch cornerback.  Some think he may end up with the 49ers because San Francisco has a plethora of draft picks to make a major offer..  There is also speculation that the Falcons would want to aquire Revis since they released Dunta Robinson and they need another ball-hawk in their defense secondary opposite of Asante Samuel.  The possibility for a Revis-For-Dummervil deal is a popular rumor and would work without either the Jets or Broncos under the salary cap.

But a bigger question for Revis is how will he perform in a new enviroment.  He has been a Jet his whole career and has played for defensive minded head coaches such as Rex Ryan and Eric Mangini.  Where ever Revis ends up people should lower their expectations for him because aside from coming off a major injury, he will need time to adjust to his new teammates, new defensive scheme, and a new football enviroment.  While I have no doubt Revis has the drive, work ethic and talent to excel with any NFL team, he may need some time to adjust.  The 2013 season may not be the best for Darrelle Revis, but expect him to bounce back and have a great 2014 season for sure, just to prove to his peers and competition he still has what it takes to be the best cornerback in the NFL.