Clemson assistant named as Auburn’s co-DC

AP

Three days after adding Ellis Johnson to his new Auburn coaching staff, Gus Malzahn has given the new coordinator some co-defensive help.

Malzahn announced via a release that he has hired Charlie Harbison as the Tigers’ co-defensive coordinator.  Harbison will also serve as AU’s defensive backs coach.

“Charlie is an outstanding coach and recruiter and we’re excited to have him join our staff,” Malzahn said. “He’s very familiar with Coach Ellis Johnson, having coached together on two different staffs, which will be a tremendous asset to our defense. He is a true professional and one of the class guys in college coaching.”

Harbison comes the The Plains after spending the past four years at Clemson.  He also has extensive experience in the SEC, serving on staffs at Alabama (1998-2000; 2003-06), LSU (2001-02) and Mississippi State (2007-08).

“I’m looking forward to joining Coach Gus Malzahn’s staff at Auburn,” Harbison said. “Having coached against Auburn on several occasions, I’m very familiar with the great success and tradition associated with the program. This is a tremendous opportunity for me and my family.”

Harbison is the third assistant added by Malzahn, joining Johnson and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee.

(Photo credit: Clemson athletics)

AP

Two players who would have been potential starters for Oklahoma State are no longer with the team. Head coach Mike Gundy confirmed Monday that Lyndell Johnson and Jake Jenkins have decided not to return to the Cowboys in 2014.

“We have a number of players who won’t be with us in the spring from an injury standpoint, some of them because medically we don’t feel like they are ready and the others because I don’t want to push it in the spring,” Gundy said, according to Tulsa World.

Johnson was listed second on Oklahoma State’s depth chart for the Cotton Bowl against Missouri at the end of last season. With Shamiel Gray graduating, the Cowboys had a starting job that likely would have been Johnson’s to lose if he chose to stay with the team for his final year of eligibility. Jenkins was the starting center for Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl and also would have ben the projected starter for this fall. Gundy says both players are off to pursue non-football goals.

It gets a little bit more concerning for Oklahoma State on the offensive line this spring. Gundy also confirmed Travis Cross, a back-up center, has graduated and will skip on his remaining eligibility. That means Paul Lewis, a redshirt freshman last fall, will be the likely starter in the middle fo the offensive line this fall. Lewis and Cross were both back-ups to Jenkins last season.

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The Nkemdiche brothers are striking back in court. The two Ole Miss players, Denzel Nkemdiche and Robert Nkemdiche, have filed a counter-suit seeking $2 million according to a report by The Clarion Ledger.

The lawsuit is a counter to a lawsuit originally filed by Matthew Baird. Baird accuses the Nkemdiche brothers of being a part of a group of individuals who attacked him outside of a fraternity house in mid-February 2013. The Nkemdiches say Baird’s statements are “untrue and false statements.”

“Nkemdiche would state and show that he suffered and sustained harm, injuries, damages, and/or losses as a result of the false and defamatory statements made by plaintiff/counter-defendant Matthew Baird and that, therefore, Nkemdiche is entitled to a judgement against (Baird) for compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by the jury,” the lawsuit filed by each brother reads in separate statements.

Ole Miss has suspended Denzel Nkemdiche for the season opener against Boise State. Robert Nkemdiche remains in good standing on the football program at this time.

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A West Chester University football player risked his playing career to save another person’s life.

Fullback Jared Bonacquisti donated marrow in the summer of 2011 after learning he was the perfect match for Sigitas Sleckus of Chicago. Bonacquisti learned he was a perfect match for Sleckus after participating in an event sponsored by the Andy Talley Foundation, the foundation run and organized by Villanova head coach Andy Talley. Bonacquisti signed up on the marrow donor registry at the event as a freshman and made the decision to try to help save someone’s life despite having no idea who the recipient would be even though it would affect his physical condition for football. Sleckus calls the division two football player his hero, but Bonacquisti tries to keep things in perspective.

“To me, heroes are people in the military, policemen and firemen, people who put their lives on the line every day,” Bonacquisti said last week to the Daily Local News. “I’m just a person who did a good thing.”

Bonaquisti and West Chester came within one game of playing for the Division 2 football national championship last year, but Bonaquisti says this was much more meaningful to him.

“My teammates may not agree with that, but this experience tops that by far,” Bonaquisri said to the Daily Local News.

The two got a chance to meet for the first time over the weekend. This video feature on the story comes from CSN Philly.

Photo credit: West Chester Athletics

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It seems like a relatively slow news day on the college football front, so why not take a quick look at the progress being mad eon the renovations of Texas A&M’s football stadium, Kyle Field.

As you may know by now, Texas A&M had to shut down the annual spring game this season due to the renovations taking place on the football stadium. A new, extra large scoreboard is just a part of the $450 million plans that will expand the seating capacity to over 100,000 fans and add some nice luxuries for fans and donors. The renovations began promptly at the conclusion of Texas A&M’s football season. There have been various videos and photos from the renovations that should be completed prior to the 2015 season (the stadium will be usable during the 2014 season), and now one YouTube member has shared their perspective form the outside of the stadium. In the video you can see the progress being made on the brick facade of the east side of the stadium, the first major phase of the renovation project.

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This is a great time of year around the sports world. Not only are spring football camps opening up and ongoing around the country, giving a fans a breath of fresh air and a preview of what is to come in the fall, but basketball is marching toward a national championship. You know, if you’re in to that sport with the round ball on the hard court. There is room for both sports of course, but please refrain from attempting to draw comparisons between the two.

One of the popular things football writers like to do this time of year is defend the sport of college football as the supreme sport over its basketball counterpart. This is unnecessary of course, as most of the targeted audiences for the sports tend to overlap enough to satisfy both cravings. Another gimmick is to come up with a field of 64 football teams and determine who would win a gridiron edition of the tournament. Heck, maybe that is someone out there chooses their winners in the office pool every year.

Wichita State completed a rare undefeated season on Sunday, assuring an unblemished record when they play their NCAA Tournament opener next week and essentially locking up a number one seed. Inspired by the remarkable feat, Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated wonders if a mid-major in college football could possibly qualify for the new College Football Playoff about to kick off in the upcoming season. The answer is rather simple: yes.

It certainly will not be easy, but the formula may not stray too far from what the traditional path to busting the BCS has been made up of in recent years. Go undefeated, win the conference championship and maybe score a notable victory or two along the way to open some eyes. With four spots open at the mercy of the selection committee, there will come a year when one of the schools not from a major conference could have that type of resume that is just too hard to ignore. It will not likely happen often, but it is certainly possible.

But why do we bother drawing comparisons between college basketball and college football when discussing the postseason? What is the point? Both college basketball and college football operate differently from top to bottom. This year football will finally operate a postseason under a somewhat similar philosophy with the four-team college football playoff, but basketball has 64 (68) spots open and every conference champion gets in no matter what. Every conference champion will get a spot in the basketball tournament. There is a hypothetic possibility only one conference champion could get a spot in the college football playoff. Until football has an expanded playoff structure with similar access to the basketball variety, there is no comparison between the two sports.

Comparing college football and college basketball is essentially along the lines of comparing apples to oranges.

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Michigan’s defense in 2013 was in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten, which clearly is not good enough in Ann Arbor. Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison is looking to get the 2014 Wolverines to play at a higher level in the fall.

“I always have a sense of urgency,” Mattison said according to MLive.com before the Wolverines open up spring practices. “The bar was set here a long time ago with how you are supposed to play on defense. And if you don’t play that way? You could call it urgency.”

Mattison played a key role in setting the bar so high for Michigan’s defense. He was the architect of the dominant defenses Michigan used to play their way to a share of the 1997 national championship, which Lloyd Carr still laments sharing with Nebraska. He has also been a part of the coaching staff that helped developed a dominant force with the Baltimore Ravens in between his stints with Michigan.

Michigan ranked eighth in the Big Ten in scoring defense last season, allowing 26.8 points per game. The Wolverines were fifth against the run, seventh against the pass and fifth in total defense. Those rankings show that Michigan does not have that much higher to climb among Big Ten teams, but the school that finished first in each of those defensive categories won the Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl last season, Michigan State.

When the bar is set high in East Lansing, those in Ann arbor need to take notice. Mattison is well aware of the situation.

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The conference commissioners will discuss and debate whether or not to add an early signing period to college football’s recruiting calendar later this year. Georgia head coach Mark Richt seems to feel concerned about the idea.

“I always say ‘Be careful what we ask for’ because I don’t know what that will do to our recruiting calendar,” Richt said to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “I think there’s some sanity to it right now. I think if everybody plays by the same rules, then it’s good as it is.”

There are many details to sort out with regards to a potential early signing period. Right now it is purely in the discussion phase, with no concrete plans to implement. Whether or not it would even be possible to add it to the recruiting calendar for the Class of 2015 is unknown, although it may be more likely to become a reality for the next recruiting cycle if there is support from the Conference Commissioners Association in June, when they are scheduled to meet and review the concept in more detail.

“I’d be afraid to change it,” Richt said. “I don’t want to turn the regular season into such a recruiting frenzy that you can’t even coach your team on a weekly basis. I enjoy coaching football, too.”

Richt’s concerns about pushing key recruiting to the middle of the football season is a shared opinion of those opposing the idea. While we do not yet know when the early signing period would take place, placing it somewhere that overlaps with the football season is the most likely scenario. If that is the case, Richt’s concerns are legitimate because it would take away from preparing for games on a week-to-week basis by head coaches and assistant coaches who now must prepare for a game that week and focus on recruiting pushes a little more than they may typically do under the current model.

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This is a pretty important week for college basketball. The big conferences are wrapping up the regular seasons and getting set for their various conference championship tournaments. Some conferences have already crowned their conference champions for the year so the countdown to Selection Sunday is already one.

It is not all that often we see schools win their conference championship in football and men’s basketball, but it does happen from time to time. Will any of the conference champions from last fall have a shot at winning their men’s basketball championship by Selection Sunday? Here is a run down the various FBS conferences and quick look at whether it is possible or likely.

ACC

Football champion: Florida State

It certainly would not be impossible for Florida State to run a hot streak in the ACC tournament this week, but the Seminoles have quite the uphill battle in front of them if they are to pull off the conference championship double-dip. Florida State was 0-5 against the top four teams in the ACC this basketball season. We will call this one possible but unlikely.

American

Football champion: UCF

The UCF Knights finished the regular season with a losing record at 12-17. Let’s just go ahead and say this is not going to happen. Not with the defending national champions at Louisville in the conference and a strong Cincinnati team to get through, not to mention the competition from UConn, Memphis and SMU.

Big 12

Football champion: Baylor

Can Baylor come out on top in the Big 12? It probably would not be a complete shock, although the BEars were 9-9 in conference play this season. But the Bears are a 20-win program and that did not happen by accident. The basketball Bears average 75 points per game, which is just a few more points than the football team could score. Possible but probably not likely.

Big Ten

Football champion: Michigan State

This could be the best bet around the country for an FBS school to pull the double-dip. The Spartans upset Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game last December, and the Spartans are a known basketball power. Michigan State will enter the Big Ten tournament with a high seed and are always going to be a tough out. Michigan and Wisconsin have good opportunities as well in one of the most competitive conferences in the country. Michigan State has limped to the finish line, but you can never count out the Spartans when it is tournament time.

Based on history, we will call this one a realistic possibility. If the Spartans were at full strength, it might be considered likely.

Conference USA

Football champion: Rice

Not happening. Moving on.

MAC

Football champion: Bowling Green

This is another one that will not be happening. Bowling Green finished the regular season in last place in their division.

Mountain West Conference

Football champion: Fresno State

This one would be considered a pretty big shock. It is not because Fresno State is a .500 team, but because San Diego State and New Mexico are far and away the top two programs in the conference. UNLV is not all bad either. Do not count on Fresno State getting this done.

Pac 12

Football champion: Stanford

Stanford will enter the Pac 12 tournament somewhere in the middle of the Pac 12, so they would have their work cut out for them in the conference tournament. Sometimes this tournament can be unpredictable though. Colorado came out of nowhere to win it two seasons ago, so who is to say Stanford won’t get it done this year? Me, that’s who. Certainly far from impossible, but not at all to be expected.

SEC

Football champion: Auburn

There is a reason Alabama is obsessed with football. Neither Alabama or Auburn will make a run for the SEC title this season, and that means Auburn will not pull off the double-dip. Instead, it could be two SEC East schools that failed to play in a bowl game last season that play for the championship (Florida and Kentucky).

Sun Belt

Football champion: Louisiana-Lafayette

If there is a conference that appears to be the second best bet after the Big Ten to have the same school claim the football and men’s basketball title, it may be the Sun Belt. Louisiana-Lafayette won the football title by way of a tiebreaker, and considering how even the top of the conference may be this basketball season, this could very well be possible. Georgia State is the team to beat, but the Ragin’ Cajuns could make a run. Georgia State won both match-ups this season, but both were within seven points. Let’s throw this under the Likely category for now, but note that Georgia State is standing in the way.

What about the FCS schools?

If you dig deeper then you will find some other schools who have claimed their own double dips. Ivy League champion Harvard did just that with a football and men’s basketball championship this season. Coastal Carolina also managed to win both Big South championships this season.

For more college basketball coverage, be sure to check out College Basketball Talk.

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No matter how talented Ohio State may be on offense at the skill positions, without a solid offensive line providing protection none of it will matter. The Buckeyes lose four starters on the offensive line, returning just one, so this spring the focus on the offense should be starting up front.

“We’re not really worried about who we lost,” sophomore Pat Elflein said to The Columbus Dispatch. “We’re just worried about who we’ve got now. We’re just focused on getting better every day. We definitely have some big shoes to fill, but we’re capable of it.”

To recap, Ohio State is losing Jack Mewhort, Marcus Hall, Corey Linsley and Andrew Norwell to the NFL. They return junior Taylor Decker, who is moving from right tackle to left tackle. Ohio State will not be lacking in potential on the offensive line though. Ohio State just recruited four four-star offensive linemen in the Class of 2014 according to Rivals.com, and the Class of 2012 that is coming in to their own now also included three four-star recruits, including Decker. The offensive line has the individual talent to be one of the top units in the Big Ten, one that helps separate Ohio State from most of the rest of the conference, but as was put on display by Michigan State and Clemson in Ohio State’s two-game season-ending losing streak, it is far from being a dominant force that could compete for a championship.

Last season saw Ohio State give up 22 sacks, which was in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten and a stat that is relatively common for a team with a quarterback who can make plays happen with his feet. But quarterback Braxton Miller has been roughed up in his time in Columbus. The Orange Bowl resulted in a lingering injury that sees Miller limited at best this spring as he rehabs following surgery on his throwing shoulder. If keeping Miller healthy is the biggest key to success this season for Ohio State, then consider the offensive line the key master (or are they the gate keepers?).

Finding an identity as a unit on the offensive line will be critical for Ohio State. That begins now.

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Utah is coming off back-to-back losing seasons with identical 5-7 records, but this time of the year is all about positive energy no matter what happened last fall. Spring brings optimism in every college football camp, just as it does in every spring training camp in Florida or Arizona around Major League Baseball. The Utes have had a rough transition in to the Pac 12 but there is nothing keeping these players from having a little fun as they put in their work for the upcoming season.

Utah brought an end to their winter workout conditioning in grand style. To celebrate the end of a grueling workout schedule, the Utes cranked up the volume and busted out some dance moves. Some players were more graceful than others, as you might expect, but the important thing was the team released and had a good laugh together.

Sadly there is no sight of Kyle Whittingham breaking it down.

Helmet sticker to Lost Lettermen.

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Nebraska safety Corey Cooper is being held out of spring practices for the time being. Turf toe is to blame, leaving the returning starter moving around in a walking boot on his left foot. The injury is not one that is being considered too serious, although head coach Bo Pelini says now is not the time to push it.

“I’m not going to push Coop at this time of year,” Pelini said Saturday, according to Lincoln Star Journal.

There is no need for Cooper to rush back of course. because he has already established himself as one of the top returning players for the Huskers in 2014. Last season he recorded 91 tackles and came up with an interception early in the season. Not having him on the field during practices now will open up some playing time for some other players to improve the experience down on the depth chart. Nathan Gerry and LeRoy Alexander are expected to continue filling in with the first team defense until Cooper is able to get on the field.

Nebraska also got their new defensive backs coach in to the mix, Charlton Warren. Warren joined the Huskers coaching staff this year after nine years at his alma mater, Air Force.  He apparently is making for an impression with his energetic in his first practice with the team.

“He was out there yelling, jumping around with us, running down the field with us,” senior cornerback Josh Mitchell said to the Lincoln Journal Star. ”I thought he was going to pull a hamstring.”

Among the roster changes this spring for Nebraska is the absence of safety Harvey Jackson. Jackson is not listed on Nebraska’s spring roster, a surprising development considering he would have been one of the most experienced players in the Nebraska secondary. There has been no word on why Jackson is no longer on the roster according to multiple reports.

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Should the NCAA bring an end to the legal battle in the Ed O’Bannon case and settle, or should the organization challenges the plaintiffs in what could potentially be a landmark case favoring against the NCAA? That is the question that continues to be asked as the court battle officially begins in just a matter of months.

The opinions of some athletic directors on how the NCAA should handle the case at this point is a bit mixed, according to a survey of SEC ADs by Al.com. Settling now, before getting to court, could end up saving the NCAA and schools a big amount of money. It may be worth it considering the potential circumstances if the NCAA were to lose in court. But the all-or-nothing gamble seems to be something worth risking according to some. It all depends on who you ask.

“I’m a lawyer and there are times when you gamble and times you try to reach a settlement,” Vanderbilt Athletics Director David Williams said in response to Al.com’s question. ”But it seems to me this is one where you try to come to a solution and go on about our business because I do think it is a big gamble. The consequences could be very, very large.”

LSU athletic director Joe Alleva has a different opinion. Per Al.com;

“I think the NCAA feels like they have a very good case, but who knows when you get in front of a court and judge?” Alleva said. “If star players could start selling their names themselves and making money off it — selling autographs, selling T-shirts — it could change the landscape significantly for those athletes. It would be market-place driven, obviously. I don’t know what the answer is going to be.”

The chips could be down on the table soon enough. Should the NCAA play it safe and just settle? Settling could open a door for a number of other lawsuits against the NCAA to gain some sort of legal advantage, as it would make the organization look weaker and serve as the organization conceding there is a financial incentive in its operations.

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A record number of underclassmen are declaring early for the NFL Draft this year, and a good number of those players will not be drafted by an NFL team. Some may not even receive a contract offer after the draft wraps up. Dan Rooney, chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, penned a column suggesting college football’s star players resist the urge to enter the NFL Draft before completing their college eligibility. Some of Rooney’s comments are debatable, but considering Rooney’s respect level in the NFL, it is an interesting point of view expressed.

Rooney suggests that players are receiving four-year scholarships that pay for their entire college experience, which of course has been argued to be a blatant lie on a number of levels. Rooney also suggests that many NFL teams do not want players leaving early, although if that were truly the case would they not tend to stray away from the underclassmen? NFL teams will pluck the top juniors if they will help their team win, but Rooney is likely directing his comments to those underclassmen that hope to be drafted in the late rounds.

According to Rooney, the NFL Player’s Association has conducted a study that suggests players who play their full four years in college go on to have longer careers in the NFL. That is actually a pretty interesting point. Why is that? Rooney explains.

“Because those men are more prepared to be professional players, both on and off the field,” Rooney says.  ”This is why the players union has always supported college players staying in school.”

Rooney may have his own league to blame in part for enticing more and more underclassmen to get in to the NFL. Or perhaps the agents are to blame. The way contracts escalate in the NFL, it is a financial incentive to get in to the league earlier and start making more money at an earlier age, as opposed to sticking around another year (or two) in the college game and fall behind in the payment structure of the league. Rooney challenges that idea as well and suggests the NFL has the best interests of the younger players in mind.

“College players should not be encouraged to make decisions contrary to their long-term interests by people who are motivated by a desire for short-term, and often illusory, gains,” Rooney says. “We will continue to work with colleges, the Players Association and others to encourage young men to stay in school. If they make it into the NFL, they have a better opportunity to enjoy long and productive careers and continue to live well for many years after their playing days turn into memories.”

You can read the full column from Rooney via Journal Sentinel.

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In Lincoln, Nebraska we have a wide receiver playing quarterback. Down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana we have a quarterback playing wide receiver.

LSU has confirmed that quarterback Rob Bolden will make a position switch and is working out at wide receiver this spring. Bolden transferred to LSU in 2012 after Penn State was slammed with NCAA sanctions. Although he was allowed to have a free transfer, he did redshirt one year at LSU after making the switch. Bolden had split playing time as Penn State’s starting quarterback with Matt McGloin in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Bolden had not thrown a pass since arriving at LSU. In fact, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., running back Spencer Ware and punter Brad Wing each recorded more pass attempts the past two years than Bolden, a former highly-rated quarterback recruit out of Michigan.

Bolden’s move to wide receiver came as a bit of a surprise, but LSU head coach Les Miles appears happy with the early play and signs of progress by a couple other quarterback options competing for the starting job this spring.

“I felt both quarterbacks, Brandon Harris and Anthony Jennings, have gotten stronger and more capable,” Miles said. “Brandon, in his short amount of time here, has gained some weight and strengths and looks a little bit better. [Redshirt freshman] Hayden Rettig’s lost some weight, looks better, and he had a nice practice today.”

Jennings is the only quarterback returning this spring with any playing experience, not including the two seasons Bolden played quarterback at Penn State before transferring prior to the 2012 season.

LSU also confirmed a few other position changes Saturday. Jalen Mills will move from cornerback to safety. Lamar Louis is switching from middle linebacker to the outside. Kwon Alexander is also switching linebacker positions from sam linebacker to will linebacker.

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Nebraska may not have the same sort of quarterback competition other programs have this spring. With Tommy Armstrong in the fold, the Huskers look to have their starter already figured out at the start of the spring practice season. this is not stopping the Huskers from trying out some different things though, including wide receiver Jamal Turner getting back to his quarterback roots.

”This spring is the time for us to experiment and maybe take it to a different level,” Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini said. ”He likes it. He thinks he’s Russell Wilson. Jamal isn’t lacking for confidence.”

Turner was recruited to Nebraska as a dual-threat quarterback but with Taylor Martinez in Lincoln the Huskers had their dual-threat option pretty much in place. Now with Martinez gone, Turner is getting some reps as quarterback this spring to give the Nebraska coaching staff some things to think about heading in to the 2014 season. Armstrong will likely remain the top quarterback, but if Turner can pull off some plays and prove to be confident under center then Nebraska may have some tricks up their sleeves in the fall. That is the plan.

”It just gives us some other options, some wildcat things,” Pelini said. ”He has quarterback in his background, so it’s not new to him. We’re going to give him significant reps at quarterback this spring and see where it is.”

When the fall comes around, Turner is probably more likely to stick to his receiver duties. He had 13 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown last season, and he could have a chance to have more of an impact this season

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