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Shane Buechele leaving Texas for SMU

By Zach BarnettFeb 7, 2019, 5:26 PM EST
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It seemed like fait accompli that Shane Buechele would leave Texas for SMU, and that fate is now complete.

After putting his name in the transfer portal in mid-January, everyone who was anyone was pointing to SMU as his likely destination, and they did so for two reasons. First, it was close to home for the Arlington, Texas, native. Second and most importantly, the Mustangs were in the market for a graduate transfer quarterback after watching their own multi-year starter, Ben Hicks, graduate transfer to Arkansas.

Thanks to the new redshirt rule, Buechele will have two years to play for SMU, where he figures to compete with rising sophomore William Brown for the starting job. Brown played quite well as a freshman, hitting 53-of-85 passes for 625 yards with seven touchdowns against just one pick.

Still, Buechele will be seen as the favorite to start for SMU next season thanks to his experience playing and learning as a Longhorn. He started his first game as a collegiate player, throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns in that memorable-for-how-un-memorable-it-wound-up-being win over Notre Dame to kick off the 2016 season. He started that entire season, hitting 60 percent of his passes for 21 touchdowns against 11 interceptions.

Sam Ehlinger arrived in 2017 and Buechele beat him out for Snap 1 in Game 1, but injuries and inconsistent play saw him yo-yo from the field to the bench throughout the year. He saw serious action in five games, and for the year completed 137 of his 213 tosses for 1,405 yards with seven scores against four picks. Buechele was Ehlinger’s full-time backup this past season, but those involved still pointed to him as an integral part of the team. Tom Herman referred to Buechele as the most engaged backup he’d ever coached, and when called upon Buechele nursed home wins over Baylor and Iowa State for a temporarily injured Ehlinger, in the process connecting on 30-of-44 passes for 273 yards with two scores and one interception.

Those were the only two games in which Buechele played, meaning he will get to repeat his junior season for SMU in 2019.

Buechele is the third Texas quarterback to consider leaving and the second to follow through with it. Freshman Cameron Rising left already for Utah, and fellow freshman Casey Thompson opted to return as Ehlinger’s backup rather than leave. Texas signed 4-star Roschon Johnson in December and convinced 3-star Sam Saxton to spurn an offer from Rutgers (among others) to walk-on for his hometown team.

Penn State replaces special teams coordinator lost to NFL

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By John TaylorFeb 22, 2019, 10:10 AM EST
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A week after losing his special teams boss to the NFL, James Franklin has found a replacement.

Penn State confirmed Thursday that Joe Lorig has been hired as Franklin’s new special teams coordinator.  Lorig will also serve as an unspecified defensive assistant as part of Franklin’s Nittany Lions coaching staff.

The move to hire Lorig comes after Phil Galiano, who spent two years with the Nittany Lions, left earlier this month for a job in the NFL.

“We are looking forward to having Joe join our staff,” a statement from Franklin began. “We conducted a comprehensive study of special teams coordinators across the country to find the best fit for our staff and identified Joe as the best candidate. His special teams units have a history of being among the best in the country and we know he can continue that success here. I have also known Joe for many years, dating back to when we worked together at Idaho State under Larry Lewis.”

“I am extremely excited to join the staff at Penn State University and begin working with such a storied program,” Lorig said. “Penn State is a program with outstanding players, coaches and tradition. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Franklin and his entire coaching staff. My wife, three children and I are very appreciative of the opportunity to join the Nittany Lion family, and we look forward to helping Penn State win championships!”

The past three seasons, Lorig was the special teams coordinator at Memphis.  He also served as the outside linebackers coach for the Tigers.

Ex-Texas All-American takes defensive line job at UTSA

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By John TaylorFeb 22, 2019, 7:37 AM EST
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Rod Wright is officially returning to the state that helped launch his coaching career.

As had been speculated on over the last few days, UT-San Antonio has announced that Wright has been hired by Frank Wilson as the head coach’s new defensive line coach.  Wright played his college football for the Texas Longhorns in the mid-aughts, earning All-American and All-Big 12 honors as a defensive lineman during his time in Austin.

“We are excited to announce Rod Wright as our new defensive line coach,” Wilson said in a statement. “He was an outstanding collegiate player and he has done an exceptional job mentoring defensive linemen everywhere he’s coached. We think he’s one of the best young coaches in the country and he will be a great addition to our staff.”

This past season, Wright served as the line coach at East Carolina, his first on-field role at the FBS level.  Prior to that, he spent four seasons at FCS Sam Houston State.

Wright began his coaching career at his alma mater, working as a student assistant/defensive special assistant for three years at UT beginning in 2011.

Nation’s top 2017 recruit announces transfer to Miami

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By John TaylorFeb 21, 2019, 9:49 PM EST
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The transfer train has made yet another stop in South Florida, and this one brought a passenger with a helluva high school pedigree with not a lot to show for yet on his college résumé.

In mid-December, it was reported that Jaelan Phillips would be transferring from UCLA.  A little over two months later, Phillips announced on Twitter that he will continue his collegiate playing career at Miami.

Because of NCAA transfer rules, Phillips will likely have to sit out the 2019 season.  He would then have two years of eligibility to use beginning in 2020.

Phillips was the No. 1-rated recruit in the entire country for the Class of 2017 on 247Sports.com‘s composite board.  Despite that lofty ranking, although in large part due to injury, his collegiate career thus far hasn’t amounted to much.

As a true freshman, Phillips started four of the seven games in which he played. Despite missing nearly half the season because of an ankle injury, he finished fourth on the Bruins in tackles for loss with seven and second in sacks with 3.5. Battling additional injuries in 2018, including concussions, Phillips played in just four games this past season.

Phillips would be at least the seventh FBS player — and sixth from a Power Five program — to transfer to Miami since Manny Diaz took over at The U, joining USC safety Bubba Bolden (HERE), Virginia Tech defensive end Trevon Hill (HERE), Auburn running back Asa Martin (HERE), Ohio State quarterback Tate Martell (HERE), Buffalo wide receiver K.J. Osborn (HERE) as well as Phillips’ former UCLA teammate, defensive tackle Chigozie Nnoruka (HERE).

Clemson 4-star LB signee suffers knee injury in basketball game

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By Zach BarnettFeb 21, 2019, 6:43 PM EST
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When a clip of Trevor Lawrence getting into a scuffle during an intramural basketball game went viral earlier this week, a chorus of takes screamed into the void asking what a college football player was doing playing basketball in the first place.

Dabo Swinney has always defended his players’ intramural endeavors, reasoning that unpaid college students should not be treated as employees. “They’re just having fun and enjoying being college people and doing what college kids do,” he said.

Swinney has defended this even in light of Jordan Williams, a potential starter at defensive tackle, suffering a leg injury during an intramural basketball game that will keep him out of a crucial spring for his development.

And now the basketball injury bug has struck another Clemson player.

Bryson Constantin, a 4-star linebacker signee in Clemson’s 2019 class, suffered a knee injury while playing for Baton Rouge’s University Lab High School basketball team last week — and he believes it could be serious.

“At a basketball game last week, I came down from an alley and I felt a pop in my knee,” Constantin told TigerNet. “I went to the ER that night to make sure it wasn’t like a knee cap or anything like that. They figured out it was most likely my ACL. I went for an MRI two days ago but I had too much blood in my knee to do an MRI, so they drained all the blood out and they were like, the only way you’d have this much blood in your knee is if you did tear your ACL. I go back for an MRI this weekend or Monday, so I’ll know for sure what it is coming up soon.”

While active college players playing intramural basketball is a (somewhat) controversial practice, incoming signees playing for their high school teams is not. Many a college coach has waxed poetically about falling in love with a player’s gridiron potential while watching him compete on the hardwood.

Still, it’s a cruel bit of irony: the only place the nation’s best football team seems to suffer any sort of defeat is on the basketball court.