McDuck

A couple of blurbs from Football Scoop. The first is about Ohio State claiming the #1 ranking in NIL deals and includes the following We knew in August, for example, that the average NIL deal for a Division I athlete was $471, with a median of $35. A handful of big deals pushed the marketplace upward; the median deal at the FBS level was just $5 more than the median deal at the Division III level. $471 average? $35 median? Although unclear if the amounts are monthly or annual, cumulative or per deal, it still pales in comparison to the monthly stipend included with a scholarship. https://footballscoop.com/news/ohio-state-nil-earnings The second is from last fall and deals with Quinn Ewers getting over a million dollars before he played a snap of college football. Obviously that deal pushed Ohio State to the top of the NIL rankings. It would be interesting to see a follow-up now that Ewers has transferred to Texas. I hope he set aside a tidy sum to pay taxes. I'm not going to try to calculate Federal tax (are they required to pay FICA on endorsements in addition to income tax?) but a quick glance at State of Ohio rates puts his bill over $40,000 if he got the full amount reported. https://footballscoop.com/news/quinn-ewers-million-dollar-autograph-nil-deal

The total scholarship count cannot exceed 85. Signing classes are a maximum of 25 new signees. There is a 'one time' exception which allows up to seven additional transfers if a school lost that many in the portal.

Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, presented by Nextiva: Jarek Broussard, RB, Colorado Broussard led the Buffs offense by rushing for 813 total yards on 129 attempts through Colorado’s five games and was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, presented by Nextiva, three times in 2020, the most of any player over the seven-game season. He is the first Colorado player (offensive or defensive) to earn a Pac-12 player of the year honor. On Dec. 5, in the Buffs’ 24-13 win at Arizona, he ran for 301 yards on 25 attempts, the fourth 300-yard rushing game in school history and first since 2002, including 155 rushing yards in the second quarter alone, a school record for most in a single quarter. Started his career by rushing for over 100 yards in each of Colorado’s first four games this season, the first player to do so in school history. Broussard is the first FBS player to start his career with four games of 100+ rushing yards since Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson did so in 2004 (did so in his first nine games). In the Buffs season-opener against UCLA, he ran for 187 yards and three touchdowns, the most yards ever by a Buff in their collegiate debut and the most by a Pac-12 player in their debut since 2011. His three rushing touchdowns that day tied a Colorado record for most in a running back’s debut.

I wasn't aware of the book, thanks. Skipping Amazon I found https://madhoopsthebook.com/. The site has a section titled Floor Burns and Flashbacks written by Bud Withers, a writer I always enjoyed. Just read the entry "A warm night with the Kamakazes" and bookmarked the site so I can read the rest. A teaser is below, good stuff. In 1974, Harter took the team on a summer junket to Australia. Except in those days, such a trip could be ridiculously long and the competition would never end. Most foreign trips nowadays are of the 10-days-or-so variety, with perhaps four or five games. The Ducks, believe it or not, played 19 games on the trip, won all of them, and were gone 30 days. They stopped off in Tahiti for a game en route, and were lodged in a dowdy motel. Players complained about it, so the Ducks were moved to a military installation with concrete floors, and, says Stringer, cockroaches running a three-man weave everywhere. It became a dilemma – pull the blanket hard over your body to protect your hide, or expose yourself to the steamy tropical air. “And the coaches were in a resort!” Stringer exclaimed. That was the game when Harter, displeased at the Ducks in the first half, threatened at halftime to invoke a curfew and his relaxation on drinking alcohol on the trip. So Oregon went out and won by 40.

Link to the actual interview in the recap.

Maybe I'm naïve but I don't see the coach of a women's team freely using a term generally considered derogatory towards women.

Mastro isn't coaching this year to deal with some family health issues. Bryan McClendon has the title Co-OC, maybe they decide he is the fall guy.

According to Football Scoop another OC candidate has turned Mario down. I read somewhere this is the third time Mario has heard "no thanks" in his search. Has Joe Moorhead been talking? Report: Jason Candle turns down Miami coordinator role, will remain at Toledo by Zach Barnett of Football Scoop

It seems the Director of Player Personnel is allowed in home visits.

Interesting clip from an Arizona TV station. I assume MKA was fairly loud towards the end of the game so Graves must have been screaming his obscenities since there is quite a distance between them when she flips him off. Short clip, the finger is given at the one minute mark. Can't we just get along?

Another factor not mentioned is how many schools will hire a coach because they are feeling pressure to save a recruiting class? Perhaps the guy they truly want is on a NFL staff headed to the playoffs. They can't wait, even the regular signing day is before the Super Bowl. They settle for door #2 then pay $10-20 million in a couple years to fire him.

The odds of even having the opportunity must be astronomical. Maybe during March Madness.

Are the recruiting services still evaluating Hawaii football? Less than a dozen players in Hawaii receive grades from 247 while Rivals "Class of 2022 State Rankings" goes straight from Georgia to Illinois, skipping the state altogether. It wasn't that long ago Hawaii produced multiple prospects. The 247 list from 2019 has over a dozen FBS signees, schools like Notre Dame, USC, UCLA, Ohio State as well as lesser schools like Washington. A couple covid years later the list shows two kids to Arizona, one to Stanford, and Rogers to Oregon. I can't imagine the actual talent dropped that fast that quickly. Fewer kids getting to the mainland for camps?

I was really disappointed when he chose UCLA over Oregon. Now, looking strictly at production he had 18 receptions for 286 yards last season as a third year player. With limited scholarships I hope they recruit someone a bit more dynamic.

Kelly Graves cursing at an opposing team seems TOTALLY out of character from my observations. On the other hand the Arizona coach has apparently been caught at least twice publicly flipping off an opponent. I've noticed a fairly aggressive demeanor from her in the past. The linked article reads like a weak attempt to justify poor behavior by Arizona. Unless I see something concrete I don't believe the accusation.

A staff member who is prohibited from direct off campus contact with a recruit is visiting high schools it is a violation waiting to happen. For example if the staff member and the high school coach are meeting and a potential recruit walks in that is a secondary violation. Should it happen a few times it could easily be considered a primary violation. It may be the case they are just doing background screening at a recruits school but it is akin to playing Russian roulette. Recruiting rules must have changed.

Obviously a visiting recruit interacts with a large number of staff but I've always thought that off campus recruiting was the exclusive venue of the head coach (with limitations) and the ten person staff of on field assistants. Today Director of Recruiting Don Johnson tweeted the following. He isn't an on field assistant. In this new free for all of college sports does anybody know the rules?

One small mitigating factor is walk ons can enter the portal. For them it almost makes sense, gets their name out there and maybe they pick up a scholarship. Possibly what happened Cross Patton at Nevada.

The article is disturbing on a couple levels. First a players parents and relatives get attacked for where a kid opts to go to school? What is wrong with people? Second is the single minded obsession Bru had with football. I don't know if his parents encouraged him or just allowed it to happen but, IMO, it is not particularly healthy. The domestic violence allegation could well be the result of a kid totally lost because he can't play a game. Shades of Todd Marinovich. "He thought attending Mater Dei, instead of going to neighborhood Palos Verdes High School, was the best option to achieve his college football dreams. Shelby woke him up every day at 5 a.m., making him egg-and-cheese burritos or bacon-and-egg bagel sandwiches, and he'd be out of the door by 5:45 a.m., in time to lift weights in Orange County by 7 a.m. He'd attend class and practice for the rest of the day, having double responsibilities as a two-way player, not coming home until 9 at night. Sometimes he struggled to keep his eyes open while they drove home on the 405 because he was so exhausted."

Not sure how well he can run routes carrying all his baggage. Didn't he enroll at USC, transfer to Texas and then back to SC? Third or fourth time in the portal. A judge Thursday denied a bid by attorneys for USC wide receiver Bru McCoy for a stay on the school’s July 28 indefinite emergency order removing him from campus four days after a felony domestic violence arrest.