Kickoff Zone College Football Blog

Another high profile freshman has announced that he will be leaving an SEC Power.  Quarterback Zach Lee, the 9th rated pro style quarterback coming out of high school and a four star recruit according to Rivals, has signed to play professional baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Lee, who had been participating in summer drills with the LSU football team, was signed to play both football and baseball for the Tigers, but will leave the university to concentrate on his professional baseball career full time.

Lee, a 6-feet-4, 200-pounder from McKinney, Texas, was the 28th pick in the Major League Baseball Draft in June. He made his decision late Monday night, minutes before the 11 p.m. CDT signing deadline. Steven Henson of Yahoo Sports reported the contract was for $5.25 million over five years.

In other football/baseball related news, Clemson sophomore and starting quarterback Kyle Parker has signed to play professional baseball with the Colorado Rockies.  Unlike Lee at LSU, Parker will not leave the Clemson football team, and is expected to be to suit up for the Tigers this season.

Tags: Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson University, LSU, Live Update, Louisiana State University, NCAA, Southeastern Conference, bcs, recap, rumor mill, transfer by Tommy
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Freshman defensive back Jordan Haden’s father has confirmed that he will transfer from the University of Florida before ever seeing the field as a player. 

A four star recruit and the brother of former Gator star Joe Haden, Jordan Haden’s father stated that he has no hard feelings towards the university, and that the school was just not “the best fit” for his son. 

The school has granted Haden his release, freeing him to sign and play for any school following the 2010 season, including rival SEC programs.

Tags: College Football, Florida Gators, NCAA, Southeastern Conference, University of Florida, bcs, rumor mill, transfer by Tommy
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As we reported last week, the enrollment of Jeremiah Masoli at the University of Mississippi is now official.

Not surprisingly, Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt is taking a beating over this from the national media.

In other news, former Tennessee RB Bryce Brown is apparently wanting to enroll at Kansas State, but Tennessee Head Coach Derek Dooley will not release him from his scholarship for the upcoming season.

Tags: Big XII Conference, College Football, Derek Dooley, Kansas State University, NCAA, Ole Miss, Preseason Prognostications, Southeastern Conference, University of Mississippi, University of Oregon, University of Tennessee, Vols, bcs, recap, rumor mill, transfer by Tommy
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According to reports coming out of the states of Mississippi and Oregon, former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has enrolled at Ole Miss:

According to the Rivals.com Rebels site Rebel Grove, University of Mississippi officials admitted Masoli to graduate school at the Oxford campus late Wednesday after carefully considering the former Heisman Trophy candidate’s obvious talents against the off-the-field problems that got him dismissed from Oregon in June.

In a post late Tuesday on the Mississippi athletic department’s Web site, Nutt addressed the issue of taking on any player this close to the start of the season.

“Rarely are there are any talented players still available in the summertime,” said the coach who began considering Masoli after redshirt freshman Raymond Cotton quit the team on Saturday, leaving the Rebels with just two quarterbacks on scholarship.

Tags: College Football, NCAA, Ole Miss, Southeastern Conference, University of Mississippi, University of Oregon, bcs, rumor mill, transfer by Tommy
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According to ESPN, USC defensive end Malik Jackson has decided to transfer to the University of Tennessee.

USC defensive end Malik Jackson said Monday he will transfer to Tennessee, becoming the second Trojan to take advantage of NCAA-instituted bylaws that allow USC juniors and seniors to transfer without sitting out a year.

That makes two upper classmen who have decided to continue their playing career elsewhere, and one wonders what Lane Kiffin’s depth chart will look like over the next few seasons, as sanctions and transfers start to drain on their resources.  I bet he’s not to thrilled that one of his players will be tranferring to his former school.

Tags: College Football, Lane Kiffin, NCAA, Southeastern Conference, Top 25, University of Southern California, University of Tennessee, Vols, bcs, pac 10, transfer by Tommy
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After yesterday’s post, which speculated on whether UGA is at a crossroads of the Mark Richt Era, I thought it would be a good idea to look at the program which that basis was mirrored upon… in other words… can Derek Dooley be successful as the head coach in Knoxville?

We’ve done numerous posts here about the downfall on Rocky Top, but up until this point, have not offered any prognosis on what is needed to be done for the program to recover. 

The coaching problems the Vols have faced are well documented, but the major issue facing Coach Dooley is depth.  Dave Hooker outlines this problem quite nicely in this article.

Example #1:

Five players from the 2006 class left the program, didn’t qualify academically or were dismissed. Four have been lost from the 2008 class. From those two classes, UT lost four offensive linemen, a glaring weakness for 2010.

Example #2:

UT’s 2007 class is another matter entirely. It was highly ranked, but has since been one of the most disappointing signing classes in recent memory… 17 of those signees didn’t complete their eligibility. They either never made it to campus because of academic issues, were dismissed after they arrived or left the program.

Example #3:

Then there’s the attrition that one would expect from two coaching changes in little more than a year.

All that has resulted in 30 UT signees failing to complete their eligibility.

Then, there are 19 one-time UT commitments who went elsewhere after a coaching change was announced.

A dozen left in the Fulmer-Kiffin transition. Another seven left in the Kiffin-Dooley transition.

For any program, this is the key when having to replace a head football coach.  In the BCS era, where success and championships still rely on numerous sets of college football power rankings and ratings systems, program stability is still  the key to sustaining that tradition.  The are many examples of top programs who have suffered after the departure of a coach who has been the selling point of a program for over a decade. 

The fan base and the team lose that comfort zone and the stability which the program had come to rely upon, and in many cases, it takes the administration a couple of tries before they find the right ingredients for that stability again.  Traditional powerhouses such as Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida and Nebraska have all experienced this at some point in the last decade or so, and only the Crimson Tide and the Gators have fully recovered from this transitional period. 

Alabama’s situation may be the most similar, considering the length of coaches tenure between Gene Stallings and Nick Saban.  For all the success the Tide has achieved under Nick Saban, the fans had to endure the painful realities of irrelevance during the eras of Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, and Mike Shula, while conviently trying to purge the Mike Price era from their memories.

With every coaching change comes a large exodus of players and recruits who were either loyal to the former staff, or don’t fit the philosophy of the new one.  Three coaching changes in as many years can cripple a program for many seasons before they are able to regain their footing.  For any program to sustain their position among college football power ratings, there must be stability within that program. 

Between Tom Osbourne and Bo Pelini were Frank Solich and Bill Callahan.  Notre Dame has yet to find their former success as Lou Holtz was succeeded by Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, and Charlie Weiss; and that doesn’t bring into account the Alabama-esque debacle they faced with George O’Leary.  There are major doubts about whether or not Rich Rodriguez is the right man to bring the program back to the level of Lloyd Carr’s prominent run in the late 1990’s.  Between Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, Ron Zook was the head coach at the University of Florida. 

When it comes to continuing a tradition of excellence within a major football powerhouse, quick fixes are rarely the best answer.

Is Derek Dooley another quick fix, or will he last longer than his immediate predecessor? 

We’ll look at this question in Part 2…

Tags: College Football, College Football Power Rankings, Derek Dooley, NCAA, Recruiting, Southeastern Conference, University of Alabama, University of Georgia, University of Tennessee, coaching carousel, transfer by Tommy
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According to the Associated Press, University of Alabama backup quarterback Starr Jackson is considering a transfer:

 Star Jackson’s high school coach says the Alabama quarterback is considering a transfer.

Lake Worth (Fla.) coach Errick Lowe told The Tuscaloosa News and The Birmingham News that Jackson is weighing his options. Reached on Tuesday by The Associated Press, Lowe would only confirm that Jackson met with Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban last week.

Jackson played in five games last year as a redshirt freshman, but freshman AJ McCarron overtook him on the depth chart during the season. Highly regarded signee Phillip Sims enrolled early and went through spring practice. 

Jackson was a highly coveted talent coming out of high school, but it became apparent last season that he may not be in Nick Saban’s plans for replacing rising senior Greg McElroy after next season.  Jackson was a 2007 U.S. Army All-American and rated by Rivals as the #2 scrambling and the #5 pro style quarterback in the nation coming out of high school.  Scout also rated him as a 4 star prospect.  Whether Jackson is a bust or just not a good fit in Saban’s system is still up for debate.  While many FCS would likely give him a shot, he is said to be considering FBS Georgia State.

Tags: College Football, NCAA, Nick Saban, Southeastern Conference, University of Alabama, rumor mill, transfer by Tommy
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According to news reports, UGA QB Logan Gray is mulling a transfer after being named the back up quarterback heading into summer.  From the USA Today:

Two weeks ago, Georgia wrapped up spring practice with three candidates for the quarterback job. The Bulldogs could be down to one with junior Logan Gray considering a transfer after freshman Aarron Murray was named the starter.

Gray’s departure would follow the dismissal of Zach Mettenberger, who was kicked off the team earlier this month for violating team rules.

Georgia coach Mark Richt is hoping to talk Gray into staying. The pair met on Monday night. Associate athletics director Claude Felton said of Gray: ”he is weighing options for the remainder of his playing career.”

While the Bulldogs would still have current 1st string QB Aaron Murray, a move by Gray would leave the position desperately thin.  As was mentioned in the article, the expulsion of Zach Mettenberger already left them without a lot of depth, but Gray’s departure would leave no other scholarship quarterbacks on the roster with the exception of Murray, who is a RS freshman.  They do have signee Hutson Mason, a highly touted HS quarterback, joining the team in the fall, but that will leave UGA with no experience at the most important position on the field. 

Murray may turn out to be a great quarterback, but any coach would tell you that depth and game experience are vital and without Gray, UGA has none.

Tags: College Football, Mark Richt, NCAA, Southeastern Conference, University of Georgia, recap, rumor mill, transfer by Tommy
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From all indications that have come out of the Volunteers spring practice, it appears as though Nick Stephens decision to transfer was nothing more than writing on the wall, as junior college transfer Matt Simms appears to be the new favorite to take over for the graduated Jonathan Crompton.

It’s been a long two years for the University of Tennessee.  At this point last year, a lot of the Volunteer fans were hoping that Stephens would actually win the job over Crompton.  Of course, Crompton then executed a near miraculous turnaround and even though he is not considered a high draft pick, he has been rated as one of the top quarterbacks in the upcoming draft by some experts, including The Sporting News.

Although Stephens would not likely have performed a Cromptonesque-type turnaround his senior season, his departure leaves a void.  The Tennessee Volunteers are young, inexperienced, and very thin on the depth chart.  One can always expect some players to leave a program after a coaching change, but the Vols are on their third coach in three years and the program can not afford any more defections.   

It could be a very long time before UT is able to rebuild their program to the expected standards of their fanbase.  The truth is that the firing of Philip Fulmer and the decisions made by the Athletic Department following his departure are directly responsible for this mess.  One can debate whether or not letting go of Fulmer was the right decision for days and still not come to any satisfactory conclusions, but Athletics Director Mike Hamilton’s choice of Lane Kiffin as the next coach turned out to be a disaster. 

That’s not to say that Kiffin is a bad coach.  The  jury is still out, but there’s no arguing the fact that the Vols were an improved football team last season.  However, Kiffin’s decision to abandon the program after only one season has effectively wiped out any sort of progress the program made on his watch because of the turnover rate that happened under him… and the number of players left on the team who are talented enough to contribute in the SEC level keeps getting smaller and smaller.  The small buyout clause in Kiffin’s contract may have been the biggest mistake Mike Hamilton could have made. 

Derek Dooley may turn out to be a very good choice, but it would take anyone years to clean up the mess left by Kiffin, Mike Hamilton, and the University of Tennessee.  The college game may have passed Philip Fulmer by, but consequences of his firing have left a mess that will take years to clean up.

Tags: College Football, Derek Dooley, Hot Seat, Lane Kiffin, NCAA, Southeastern Conference, University of Tennessee, Vols, coaching carousel, spring practice, transfer by Tommy
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Wes Rucker reports the breaking news, which speaks for itself:

Tennessee coach Derek Dooley announced Thursday that rising senior quarterback Nick Stephens has decided to leave the UT football program and transfer to another school.

Dooley said he tried to talk Stephens in to waiting until the end of spring practice but understood his need to make a decision now.

Tags: College Football, Derek Dooley, NCAA, Southeastern Conference, University of Tennessee, Vols, recap, rumor mill, spring practice, transfer by Tommy
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