There is the Pac-12 which is THE Conference of Champions and then there is what is happening in college football around the country!
Here is the latest…
SOUTHEAST / ACC
Virginia Cavaliers head coach, Mike London, has arguably one of the most unique non-coaching employment histories of any Power 5 Conference coach.
Fortunately for the FSU Seminoles, Mike London’s police career was behind him by the time they met the Cavaliers last fall.
In a story which continues to be shared over and over, while a college and NFL player himself (Richmond Spiders and Dallas Cowboys), London was also a police officer and detective in Richmond, Virginia prior to pursuing a coaching career. He worked in the street crimes division at a time when Richmond was in the Top 5 in the country in … murder rates!
It is a riveting story about how he got a second chance in life when a suspect he was chasing pointed a gun at his head, pulled the trigger and nothing happened … it is that moment which made him realize the time had arrived to change careers.
Translation to coaching college football: When you put your life on the line every day working in law enforcement, there is nothing “too tough” to deal with standing on the sidelines during a football game!
SOUTH / SEC
In the category of, “Understatement of the Year”… J.C. Jackson, a cornerback at the University of Florida is no longer on the team or enrolled in school following his arrest for 3 counts of armed robbery.
New Gator head coach Jim McElwain said Jackson is ”dealing with some things outside that are a lot bigger than the Florida Gators.”
Really?
And while sports and politics often collide, only in the South would the state legislature try to pass a bill referencing the name of a player who neither played football in the state nor resided there!
Tim Tebow shows off his form that … never mind.
A few weeks ago the “Tim Tebow Act” passed by the Alabama House of Representatives would allow for home-schooled students in the state of Alabama to play for their local public high school teams. Tebow played for a public high school in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida while being home-schooled.
However, the bill faces a very uncertain future as it has been defeated in recent years albeit in different versions. It is also opposed by the Alabama High School Athletics Association. The margin of victory in the House was less than 10 votes and it now goes to the Senate.
MIDWEST / BIG TEN
College football players pull some crazy acts but perhaps none more interesting than Penn State DL Anthony Zettel going “tree tackling.”
But does it have any moves?
Teammate Jordan Dudas, apparently along to video “the tackle” captured the 6-foot-4, 278-pound Zettel taking down a tree with picture perfect form. Yes while the tree already appears “dead” it still seemed quite “rooted.”
I am not sure what Penn State coaches would have thought had the junior Zettel injured himself for his senior season.
SOUTHWEST / BIG 12
We can all agree spring practice in college football begins to set the table of optimism for every team heading into the rest of the year.
Yet blogger Clayton Trutor has taken it to a new level with a bold prediction that on September 4, SMU will defeat Baylor!
Despite Las Vegas having already established SMU, the home team, a 35-point underdog; or that last year Baylor, not particularly known for having stout defenses, won 45-0 and the fact SMU is “rebuilding”(Trutor’s own word).
OVERTIME
Finally, in the “you have to be joking” category, ex-Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis is STILL the highest paid coach in any sport at the school?!
Charlie Weis continues to draw a fat salary from Notre Dame.
As remarkable as it seems and a story it would take a degree in accounting to detail, between Notre Dame and Kansas, another former employer of Weis, he could be paid nearly $25 million for NOT coaching either school!
Weis, who was fired in 2009 at Notre Dame (That is right … 6 years ago.), was paid almost $7 million at the time of his firing and has subsequently received four payments of around $2 million each with two more payments to come to a total of around $19 million.
At Kansas, Weis was let go after 4 games into his third season and around $5.5 million remaining on his contract.
Combine the two and Charlie Weis redefines the phrase “golden parachute” at least as it applies to former college head football coaches. Incredible.
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I grew up in Eugene beginning in the sixth grade. Graduated from South Eugene High School in 1973 and the University of Oregon in 1977 with a BS in Journalism. My father was on the UO faculty(Architecture and Allied Arts School) and I have been a life long Duck fan! While my present work is that of being a tennis teaching professional, I continue use my college degree in a wide assortment of writing efforts and look forward to doing so with FishDuck!