S. Alabama coach found dead; coroner rules self-inflicted gunshot

As South Alabama prepares to embark on its final transition year into full-fledged Div. 1-A membership, the football program has been forced to deal with an unimaginable tragedy involving a member of its coaching staff.

In a press release issued Tuesday evening, and was sadly lost amid the Bobby Petrino fallout at Arkansas, the university announced that assistant coach Kurt Crain was found dead in his home earlier in the afternoon.  While the school stated that further details were unavailable, aside from police reporting foul play was not suspected, the Baldwin County (Ala.) coroner subsequently ruled that Crain had died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Crain was 47 years old, and leaves behind a wife and three children.

“We’ve lost a great man, coach and mentor at the University of South Alabama,” said USA head football coach Joey Jones in a statement. “In my opinion, Kurt was one of the best overall coaches I’ve ever seen. He cared about the players, they respected him greatly, and he was a tremendous football coach and motivator. I think about what a great man and what a great teacher he was for these young men.

“All Kurt would ever talk about was his family and how much he loved his wife and kids. That’s the kind of man he was.”

The Birmingham News wrote that, “[l]ast season, Crain suffered with prostatitis, an infection of the prostate, which required at least three surgeries during the season.”  Crain had lost 32 pounds and most of his prostate as a result of the disease.  It’s unclear what if any role the disease played in Crain’s apparent suicide.

Crain had been an assistant at USA since 2008.  He was an All-American linebacker at Auburn and played on the Tigers’ 1987 SEC championship season.

Our heartfelt thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to his wife, children and anyone else impacted by this tragedy.

(Photo credit: coachkcrain.com)

AP

Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater ended the 2012-13 season as one of the early preseason Heisman favorites for the upcoming year. Whether he makes it to New York next December remains to be seen, but if he does, the senior doesn’t want any help from the school.

Per WDRB.com, Bridgewater asked his coaches for no Heisman campaign from the program.

“He went to the coaches not wanting a Heisman-type campaign,” UL SID Rocco Gasparro said. “He wanted it to be about team and if we won as a team individual recognition would come anyway. It says a lot about the character of Teddy, I think, and how much his team means to him.”

If nothing else, it’s a departure from his tone toward the Heisman last month. When asked in April if he would mind the school putting on a Heisman campaign for him, Bridgewater said ”Not at all. It’s something that I’ve been training for my whole life to be in these shoes, and at this stage, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

That’s because there isn’t, but if Bridgewater really is more focused on the bigger picture, good on him. If he — if Louisville — has a great year with the more than manageable schedule the Cardinals face, he’ll probably be in New York either way.

AP

Given the boot from Boise State earlier this month for violating team rules, defensive lineman Sam Ukwuachu says he’s found his transfer destination. And it’s back in his home state of Texas.

Speaking to Sic’EmSports.com, Ukwuachu says it’s a “done deal” that he will transfer to Baylor early next month. The redshirt freshman recently visited Waco and chose the Bears over Florida and Utah. Baylor cannot comment on the news until Ukwuachu officially enrolls.

“Baylor was my best option. It’s close to home. It’s a good program. [Boise St. Chris Petersen] really helped me to where I wanted to go. Things just didn’t work out up there,” Ukwuachu told the site, adding that while he was reportedly dismissed from the team, he and Petersen came to a mutual understanding that it was best to part ways. Ukwuachu also missed Boise’s spring practice because of what Petersen called “personal things.”

Ukwuachu played in all 13 games for the Broncos last season, including 12 starts. He was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.

Barring a special waiver, Ukwuachu will have to sit out a season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules.

AP

Like many of you, I’m sure, I was glued to the television yesterday watching as a horrifying tornado ripped through central Oklahoma.

While Monday’s events are separate from football, there is a football angle. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and his family live just south of Moore, OK, a town unfortunately hit hard by yesterday’s storm. Stoops said his family could see the tornado through their back window; he was working at OU’s football offices at the time.

“It crossed over just north of us and just about a mile from our home,” said Stoops.

To his knowledge, no player was directly affected by yesterday’s tornado. However, two assistant OU coaches, a grad assistant and strength coach, lost their homes.

We’re glad Stoops, his family, and the entire OU family, are safe. And certainly our thoughts go out to those who were not so lucky.

(Hat tip: the Oklahoman) 

AP

What do coaches always say to quarterbacks? You better be able to make all the throws in your playbook blindfolded?

Johnny Manziel says “challenge accepted.”

Known more for his improv ability, the Heisman Trophy winner showed off his throwing accuracy as well during a “Zorro drill” while training with quarterback guru George Whitfield Jr. Blindfolded, Manziel tossed just two uncatchable balls out of 29 attempts. Not too shabby.

“I have always said he has the best antenna in football,” Whitfield said. “I think he just proved that.”

And if anyone needs anymore proof, here’s a video of one of the passes.

It might not be on the level of a trick shot video, but it’s impressive nevertheless.

(Hat tip: Fort Worth Star-Telegram) 

Getty Images

Tragically, the Little Casears Pizza Bowl and its accompanying mascots (pictured) are likely no more. At least when it comes to its current venue.

According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, the Detroit Lions are expected to create and operate their own bowl game that will be played at Ford Field beginning in 2014. The unnamed bowl would match teams from the ACC and Big Ten rather than the Big Ten and MAC, which is the current tie-in setup for the Pizza Bowl.

Et tu, Detroit?

The ACC and Big Ten are already headed toward a Pinstripe Bowl matchup with many bowl contracts expiring after the 2013 season. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has made a point that he plans on emphasizing more attractive bowl matchups in the future and the Little Casesars Pizza Bowl has been far down the conference’s pecking order. Where this new bowl places on the Big Ten’s new lineup remains to be seen, but an ACC opponent would be an upgrade.

Conversely, the loser in this scenario, should it come to fruition, would be the MAC. And anyone who loves Little Caesars. Bowl officials told the Detroit Free Press that the game could be moved to Comerica Park in Detroit, but it’s overall future appears to be very much in doubt.

AP

Tight end Jake Golic (pictured left) never made much of an impact on the field for Notre Dame. That’s understandable considering he sat behind guys like Tyler Eifert and Kyle Rudolph. Now, the son of former Irish and NFL defensive lineman Mike Golic will spend his final year of eligibility somewhere else.

Mike Golic said on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” that his son will transfer to Cincinnati as a grad student and be eligible to play right away. Officially, UC cannot comment on the transfer until he enrolls. The Bearcats are looking to replace the productivity of Travis Kelce, who was taken in the third round of last month’s NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Golic will rejoin former Notre Dame teammate Gunner Kiel at Cincinnati. The quarterback was added to UC’s roster last month.

AP

With 100 days left before the start of the college football season, the watch lists are already underway. Yesterday, the preseason Rimington Trophy watch list was released. There are 44 eligible linemen on this year’s list with 17 players returning from last year’s watch list.

Of the 44, nine players are from the SEC, while the PAC-12 and Mountain West Conference each have five candidates listed. Last year’s winner was Barrett Jones from Alabama (pictured).

David Andrews, Jr., Georgia
Russell Bodine, Jr., North Carolina
Evan Boehm, So., Missouri
Jake Brendel, So., UCLA
Betim Bujari, Jr., Rutgers
Ben Clarke, So., Hawaii
Sean Conway, Sr., Western Kentucky
Dillon Day, Jr., Mississippi State
Reese Dismukes, Jr., Auburn
Dominic Espinosa, Jr., Texas
Dillon Farrell, Sr., New Mexico
Jay Finch, Sr., Georgia Tech
B.J. Finney, Jr., Kansas State
Matt Galas, Jr.,  Nevada
Bryce Giddens, So., Arkansas State
Hroniss Grasu, Jr., Oregon
Gus Handler, Sr., Colorado
Jonotthan Harrison, Jr., Florida
Andre Huval, Sr., Louisiana-Lafayette
Gabe Ikard, Sr., Oklahoma
Travis Jackson, Jr., Michigan State
David Kekuewa, Jr., Bowling Green
Ryan Kelly, So., Alabama
Zac Kerin, Sr., Toledo
Kody Koebensky, Sr., Arizona State
Tyler Larsen, Sr., Utah State
Taylor Lasecki, So., SMU
Corey Linsley, Jr., Ohio State
Macky MacPherson, Sr., Syracuse
Mike Marboe, Jr., Idaho
Shane McDermott, Jr., Miami
Cole Pensick, Sr., Nebraska
Ryan Powis, Jr., Army
Bryce Redman, Jr., Houston
Austin Reiter, Jr., USF
Weston Richburg, Jr., Colorado State
Isaac Seumalo, Sr., Oregon State
James Stone, Sr., Tennessee
Bryan Stork, Sr., Florida State
Travis Swanson, Sr., Arkansas
Evan Swindall, Sr., Mississippi
Valerian Ume-Ezeoke, Jr., New Mexico State
Brandon Vitabile, Jr., Northwestern
Robert Waterman, Jr., UNLV

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Some links from around college football on a Tuesday… 

• Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are reaching out to help the victims of yesterday’s devastating tornado.
• Are coaches keeping the potential for multiyear scholarships a secret from athletes? An interesting read here from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
• The Sports Business Journal asks if the ACC is late to the conference network party.
• Speaking of the ACC, Maryland’s 2014 game against Virginia Tech at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium is on hold for now.
• The Washington Post has obtained the documents in the ACC-Maryland dismissal hearing.
• Bill O’Brien will be featured on Tuesday night’s episode of “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” on HBO. It sounds like it’ll be worth viewing if you get the channel.
• Indiana got a late addition from a 320-pound offensive lineman.
• The pretrial hearing for Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins has been delayed.
• A lot of rumors are circulating about Notre Dame commit Eddie Vanderdoes.
• Alabama’s shattered BCS trophy is still worth a pretty penny apparently.

The Military Bowl is getting a venue change, and a slightly more appropriate one at that.

With the announcement Monday that Conference USA added a tie-in to the Military Bowl came the official news that the bowl would be moving from RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington D.C. to Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis where the Naval Academy plays its home football games.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post and ESPN’s Brett McMurphy reported the move earlier Monday morning. The game, previously known as the EagleBank Bowl until 2010, has been held at RFK stadium since it’s beginnings in 2008.

The game will select last in the ACC’s bowl lineup and give C-USA six bowl tie-ins in 2013. However, Navy is not precluded from playing in the bowl despite the fact it will now be held at the Academy’s home site.

The Midshipmen lost the inaugural EagleBank Bowl in 2008 to Wake Forest.

(Photo: NavySports.com) 

AP

Less than a month after granted his release from Arkansas, quarterback Brandon Mitchell has found a new home to finish his collegiate career.

Mitchell told ESPN’s Joe Schad he has decided to enroll at North Carolina State for his final year of eligibility.

“I like the culture, coaches, expectations within the program starting all the way at the top, and most importantly chemistry,” Mitchell told Schad. “I felt I built it with players in just three days. Bottom line is I want to win, and I want to win now. They have the best opportunity there for success and just had one missing piece.”

Because Mitchell is graduating from Arkansas this year, he will be eligible to play immediately. With the departure of Mike Glennon, Mitchell should have an opportunity to compete for the Wolfpack’s starting quarterback job, though Mitchell could play the role of an offensive athlete as well.

Either way, Mitchell will join former Florida QB Jacoby Brissett, who transferred to NC State earlier this year.

Reuters

Suspended for spring practice for violating team rules, Alabama wide receiver Danny Woodson will transfer to another in-state school.

Per al.com, Woodson will transfer to South Alabama. Jaguars coach Joey Jones confirmed the move during Sun Belt spring meetings.

“We’re very excited about having Danny Woodson at South Alabama,” Jones said. “I really admired his play in high school and we wanted him very badly out of high school. Of course we understood when he signed with Alabama. But we believe we have a potential All-America-type receiver coming here and we’re obviously very excited.”

Woodson, a former four-star receiver for the Tide, had one catch for nine yards in six games last year. He redshirted his freshman season in 2011 and must sit out a year to satisfy NCAA transfer rules.

AP

As John noted late last week, three of Wes Lunt‘s five possible transfer destinations – Southern Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt — were reportedly deemed off-limits at the discretion of Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. That left Lunt with two schools — Louisville and Illinois — to consider out of his original five.

According to ESPN’s Joe Schad, Lunt has already taken an unofficial visit to Illinois. Schad writes that Lunt feels comfortable with offensive coordinator Bill Cubit‘s offense and has a good relationship with Illini coach Tim Beckman. But while a visit to Champaign was expected for Lunt, the reasons behind Gundy’s decision to block certain schools from the QB’s transfer wish list have been more vague. That’s where Schad provides some clarity.

Schad reports that reasons for the restrictions include:

• That Lunt allegedly cited a desire to transfer “closer to home” and that those blocked schools are not “closer to home.”
• The belief that at least some coaches at some interested schools improperly contacted Lunt.
• The possibility Oklahoma State could face some of the blocked conferences in a bowl game.

If true, it would shed some light on why Gundy did what he did. Of course, it still looks bad for Gundy given that he’s just months removed from being a reported candidate for both the Arkansas and Tennessee jobs. And, for clarification purposes, Lunt can transfer wherever he wants; getting a grant-in-aid during his first year at his new school is what’s at stake.

Generally speaking, the fact that a coach can go from job to job with no consequence (outside of a buyout) while placing restrictions on players is ridiculous. The NCAA is providing some help to give athletes immediate eligibility in more pressing cases, though it has no bearing on those restrictions.

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Larry Scott made a big splash as Pac-12 commissioner when he landed a multi-billion television deal for his conference that will make it among the richest in college athletics.

In that vein, Scott has upstaged his own league. Citing tax records, the Wall Street Journal reports Scott made over $3 million for the 2011-12 year. That amount would apparently make him the highest paid commissioner at the college level. Scott’s total salary of $3,022,462 breaks down into $1,575,000 in base salary, $1,376,000 from a bonus and additional compensation of $71,462.

For reference, that’s a couple hundred thousand more than Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and about twice as much as SEC commish Mike Slive.

But who’s counting?

Can’t say it’s not deserved, though. Scott has done a tremendous job with the Pac-12′s exposure over the last few years.

AP

Miami’s response to its Notice of Allegations is due today  as the university heads toward a June hearing in front of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions. The program hasn’t suppressed its feelings about the NCAA’s investigation, however. UM president Donna Shalala has called for no additional sanctions beyond the ones self-imposed by the school and a motion to dismiss the case was reportedly filed in March.

Most of that, of course, stems from the fact that the investigation reached FUBAR status earlier this year when the NCAA revealed it had to investigate itself due to improper conduct by its enforcement staff.

Now, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports an unnamed former Hurricanes assistant is pointing fingers as well, although this time at the SEC.

Here’s what Jackson noted in his Sunday column:

One former UM coach accused of wrongdoings complained privately that what the ex-UM coaches allegedly did paled in comparison to unreported violations committed in the SEC.

Without any names or examples, it’s hard to take that kind of cliché accusation seriously. Or, perhaps SEC programs followed Andy Staples‘ seven steps to successful cheating. Besides, it’s UM that’s under the microscope here, not the SEC. Attempting call someone else out isn’t going to change anything.

What could change the direction of this case, though, is if Miami provides enough evidence to support its case being tossed now that its response to the NOA has reportedly been filed.

Meandering our way through the offseason, a single one-liner at a time…

– Anderson Independent Mail: Clemson’s Sammy Watkins enters ’13 as ACC, national receiver to beat.

– The Sun Belt Conference has unveiled a new logo, motto.

– The Birmingham News reminds us that the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2013 is not just about Nick Saban.

– For what it’s worth, Spartans middle linebacker Max Bullough garnered the most votes in an mlive.com poll that asked “Which Michigan State or Michigan football player would you pick first?”

– Chuck Landon of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch has an interesting view on Twitter seemingly taking over the sports universe.

– In what should serve as hopeful news for Vol Nation, head coach Butch Jones is going nonstop when it comes to beefing up recruiting at Tennessee.

– The Daily Oklahoman takes note of Oklahoma State’s looking to make recruiting inroads out West.

– Is Oklahoma looking to go tall at the wide receiver position on the recruiting trail?

– Arizona Republic: Former Arizona State quarterback Andrew Walter gave signals that he might be suited for politics.