Two potential starters among three Tar Heels lost to season-ending injuries

By John TaylorAug 8, 2013, 10:33 PM EDT

Less than a week into summer camp, and injuries are already beginning to take its toll on North Carolina’s depth chart.

Sophomore bandit (hybrid defensive end/linebacker) Shakeel Rashad and sophomore safety Sam Smiley (pictured, No. 3), head coach Larry Fedora confirmed Wednesday, will miss the 2013 season due to injury. The former suffered an unspecified knee injury, while the latter is dealing with a foot/toe issue.

Additionally, walk-on wide receiver Dalton Stogner suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Both Rashad and Smiley were competing for starting jobs at their respective positions.

“Any time you lose one guy, it’s concerning,” Fedora said. “And to lose three – that’s why you’re constantly talking about depth. Building that depth and doing the things that it takes, depth-wise.”

Last season, Smiley started five of the seven games in which he played. He missed five due to, again, lingering foot/toe injuries. Rashad played in 11 games in 2012, starting the regular season finale.

Walk-on USF TE arrested on misdemeanor fraud, theft charges

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By John TaylorJun 23, 2017, 3:55 PM EDT

Another day, another resetting of ye olde arrest ticker.

According to multiple media outlets, South Florida’s Adrian Palmore was arrested this past Monday on one count of fraudulent use of a credit card and count of petit theft. The tight end’s arrest came at a Tampa-area IHOP.

From WFLA-TV:

In the arrest report obtained by News Channel 8, officers say Palmore tried to pay for a meal with a credit card that the victim, Rigoberto Torres Meza, claimed was stolen.

Before the meal was served, police say the victim contacted the restaurant, telling them the card had been stolen after his bank told him that someone tried to use the card.

The report went on to say that Palmore had initially said a friend gave him the card. Palmore then admitted he took the card after finding it at school and decided to use it “due to being hungry.

“We are aware of the situation and are in the process of collecting information,” the school said in a statement. “The student-athlete has been removed from participation in team activities at this time.”

Palmore is a walk-on who played in one game last season. He’s also the third Bull to be arrested this offseason, Charlie Strong’s first as USF head coach.

Defensive end LaDarrius Jackson was arrested in May on charges of sexual battery and false imprisonment. Not long after, he was arrested again on the same charges and dismissed by Strong.

Bulls defensive back Hassan Childs was hospitalized in stable condition after being shot in late March. A day later, Childs was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault and one count of misdemeanor marijuana possession in connection to a road-rage incident the night he was shot. Childs allegedly pointed a gun at least twice at a man, Jovanni Jimenez, and his family and was ultimately shot three times by Jimenez.

Childs too was dismissed from the football program.

Lincoln Riley spells out new responsibilities for Oklahoma staff

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By John TaylorJun 23, 2017, 3:27 PM EDT

Not surprisingly, there have been some tweaks made to Oklahoma’s coaching staff in the wake of Bob Stoops‘ retirement.

The OU football program announced Friday that Cale Gundy and fifth-year assistant Bill Bedenbaugh have been named by Lincoln Riley as the Sooners’ co-offensive coordinators. Both will continue on with their previous roles under Stoops, Gundy as inside receivers coach and Bedenbaugh as offensive line coach.

Riley, however, will retain the play-calling duties he’s held the past two years in Norman. The head coach will also continue to oversee quarterbacks.

Other than sliding Calvin Thibodeaux from defensive line coach to defensive tackles coach and adding Ruffin McNeill as defensive ends coach — that outside hire was announced earlier this month — all of the other coaches from Stoops’ last staff will remain in the same jobs.

“I feel like I’m the most fortunate first-year head coach ever with the staff we have in place,” said Riley in a statement. “I’ve coached at least two years with each one of these guys and I’m not shy in saying I think we have the best staff in the country.

“All of our coaches are excited to continue to work with each other as we aim to positively impact the young men in our program and bring many more championships to Norman.”

After UCLA, Baylor visits, ex-LSU lineman opts for Texas JUCO

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By John TaylorJun 23, 2017, 2:04 PM EDT

In the end, a former highly-touted high school prospect will start over at a much lower rung on the college football ladder.

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Willie Allen has decided to attend Tyler Junior College and play football this season for the Texas JUCO. The offensive lineman told the Baton Rouge Advocate that he decided to take the JUCO route so as not to miss out on another season of eligibility as he had previously burned his redshirt.

The move comes nearly three weeks after Allen decided to transfer from LSU.

Prior to settling on the Texas JUCO, Allen had taken visits to, among others, Baylor and UCLA. TCU had also been given serious consideration by Allen, but he was blocked by LSU after that Big 12 program reportedly had contact with the player before he had formally requested a transfer.

A four-star 2016 signee, Allen was rated as the No. 10 player at any position in the state of Louisiana and the No. 17 tackle in the country. Only one lineman in the Tigers’ class that year, guard Donavaughn Campbell, was rated higher than Allen.

An unspecified leg injury suffered in the midst of summer camp sidelined him for his true freshman season and led to Allen taking a redshirt for 2016.

Allen was the third offensive lineman to transfer since December. That month, tackle Chidi Okeke opted to leave; four months later, Andy Dodd did the same.

Another member of Allen’s recruiting class, four-star defensive back Savion Smith, announced May 31 that he would be transferring as well.

Dwayne Wallace, Cal’s starting right guard, no longer with team

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By John TaylorJun 23, 2017, 12:21 PM EDT

Just a little over a month before the start of summer camp, Cal’s offensive line has taken what some might consider a rather significant hit.

In a very short and terse press release, the football program announced that “Dwayne Wallace is no longer associated with the school’s football program.” No reason was given for what could be best described as an eyebrow-raising departure.

The first two years of the 6-5, 330-pound Wallace’s collegiate playing career were spent at the junior college level in Riverside, California. He transferred to Cal in January of 2016.

In his first and what turned out to be only season with the Golden Bears, Wallace started nine of the 12 games in which he played. Exiting spring practice, Wallace was firmly entrenched as Cal’s starting right guard.

With Wallace’s departure, Cal’s offensive line will now have four new starters for the 2017 season.