What'd I Miss?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Posted by DCS

Guilty as charged. I've been AWOL for a few days, but I gotta tell you; it's tough holdin' down a full time job and sneaking in time to feed my passion.

Apparently I've missed out on all the latest Big East coaching staff movement. Jim Leavitt at USF is out another coordinator now that long time assistant Wally Burnham is moving on to Iowa State. Star Bull d-lineman George Selvie is beside himself following Burnham's decision to bolt for Aimes. To make matters worse, it looks like yet another defensive assistant in Troy Douglas, will be moving on to coach defensive backs at UNC with Butch Davis.

In regards to above, I can't say that I'm all that surprised that this is occurring. Part of the draw for Burnham to join Paul Rhoads at Iowa State, is to have the opportunity to coach alongside his son, who currently coaches at Elon, but will now coach the Cyclones' D-line. That being said, if Douglas announced his departure first, it might have opened a spot for Burnham's son to join Leavitt's staff in Tampa, thus keeping Burnham around for a while longer. That didn't happen though, so Leavitt is left to fill vacancies for his two coordinators and a defensive backs coaching positions. The good news? USF's schedule is complete with a second D-1AA team on the docket for 2009.

What else?:

• The folks at Bleed Scarlet are not fans of the idea of Rutgers playing two D-1AA opponents in 2009
• Chas at Pitt Blather opines on the O-Coordinator opening at Pitt
• Chuck Bednar thinks LeSean McCoy may be helping Brian Westbrook out in the Eagles' backfield next year
• Rutgers O-Coordinator John McNulty is apparently being looked at to join the Arizona Cardinals' staff (Tom Luicci / Newark Star-Ledger)
• Brian Bennett of ESPN's Big East Blog discusses the conference's under-the-radar successes
• Doug Marrone rounds out his staff with long-time NFL assistant Bob Casullo ...
• ...meanwhile, he hasn't heard from hot prospect David Oku yet

Brian Bennett Rushes More

Friday, February 13, 2009

Posted by DCS

Brian Bennett's next gimmicky stunt over at his ESPN Big East Blog is to compile a running list of "Mount Rushmores" of Big East football programs. He's providing four individuals per program, that define the building blocks of their perceived success. I don't really have a problem with any of the selections he made, but I'm somewhat surprised he didn't pick Tom Jackson (if only for his NFL Game Day career status) for the Louisville Mount Rushmore. Anyway, without further ado, here are B-Squared's first three mounts:

• Louisville
• UCONN
• Cincinnati

Just a couple of more links:

• Mitch Vingle of the Charleston Gazette reports that WVU ticket prices will not go up in 2009
• Greg Gregory speaks about his departure from USF

Here's a Shocker: Gregory is Officially Out at USF

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Posted by DCS

It doesn't happen often, but today, Brett McMurphy who authors the Bulls Report, scooped his journalistic rival Greg Auman of the USF Sports Bulletin. Today, he is the first to announce that former USF offensive coordinator Greg Gregory is officially leaving the program for the same post at the University of South Alabama (an upstart D-1A program this year).

It was a long and strange saga that began with Gregory notifying head coach Jim Leavitt that he was interviewing for the vacant tight ends coach position at the University of Florida, being relieved of his coordinator duties by Leavitt (all while still working on behalf of the Bulls), switching offices with former OC Mike Canales, and now officially leaving the program for the affectionately acronymed USA.

As McMurphy points out at the end of his piece, Leavitt will have to decide between elevating Canales to OC (as many expect he will) and hiring a wide receivers replacement from outside, or vice versa. Hey, I hear Mitch Browning is still maybe...sorta...available?

Linkage

Posted by DCS

Too busy unfortunately to come up with my own material at the moment, so:

• Brian Bennett answers your questions here and here
• Greg Auman of the USF Sports Bulletin says that MagicJack may in fact be back as the sponsor of the St. Petersburg Bowl next year and beyond
• Tom Heiser of the Louisville Courier-Journal weeps for Dalton Cissel who turned down Navy to walk on for Kragthorpe's "sinking ship" (pun intended I suppose)...
• ...speaking of Louisville, B-Squared (a Louisville native himself) interviews the Cards' new d-coordinator, Brent Guy
• More from Tony Fiammetta's journey toward the NFL
• A thoughtful piece from Bleed Scarlet on how Iowa's days recruiting in the Garden State may be over

A Hump Day Look Around the Big East Football Landscape

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Posted by DCS

Here's what I've got for you:

• In case you were worried, USF's academic performance rating improved (Brett McMurphy / Bulls Report)...
• ...and the MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl is no more...well sort of
• Rutgers hires a Director of Football Recruiting Operations
• Bill Stewart suspends Jock Sanders indefinitely; no surprise there (Scout.com)
• Keith Sargeant of Scarlet Scuttlebutt opines on the Sporting News' rating of Kenny Britt as a top 10 prospect for this year's NFL draft
• Greg Auman of the USF Sports Bulletin assures the Bulls faithful that it's okay to schedule two D-1AA opponents

Two Post-Lunch Links

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Posted by DCS

Just a couple of links for you to digest with your lunch this afternoon:

• Brian Bennett of ESPN's Big East Blog goes over what to look for in each Big East team this Spring
• Jock Sanders on the chopping block at WVU?

D-Coordinator Tresey Leaving Cincinnati

Posted by DCS

Photo Credit: Scout.com

Yet another coaching change to announce; this time on the defensive side of the ball. Despite leading the 31st overall defense in the country last season, Joe Tresey "differs philosophically" with Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly. That is why Tresey and the Bearcats are parting ways, leaving Kelly to have to find a replacement going into the Spring. It it unclear at this point, whether Tresey's replacement will come from inside or outside of the program, but it's reasonable to assume that it would be someone from outside of the program because anyone who worked under Tresey would most likely jive with the previously employed defensive philosophy.