College Football Confidential

UNT's Dodge gives spring update

With his second spring practice set for March 6, UNT coach Todd Dodge has much on his mind.

It's a laundry list, starting at center and defensive tackle. On Wednesday, DT Isaac Thomas was released from a Denton hospital after nine days of treatment for a blood clot in his leg that, thankfully, was detected early. In 2002, Texas A&M defensive tackle Brandon Fails died when a similar leg clot traveled to his lungs.

Thomas, UNT's 300-pound bear in the middle of the DL, has not been cleared for physical activity. Dodge said Thursday he'll know more about Thomas' spring status next week. Right now, he's a no-go. Joseph Miller and Jonathan Stewart are the spring first-teamers, with redshirt freshmen Jesse DeSoto and Jordan Scoggins right behind. Moving defensive end Charlie Brown inside is a possibility, Dodge said.

On Thursday, starting center Kelvin Drake will have surgery to "clean out" an injured ankle he played on late last season. UNT first thought Drake could heal with rest by March 6, but that's no longer an option. He can run and cut in early July. "The decision was whether to have him for spring or two-a-days," Dodge said.

Drake's main backup, Chad Rose, will miss spring practice after shoulder surgery. Rose started 12 games at center in 2006. So, redshirt freshman J.J. Johnson will "get a ton of reps," Dodge said. With junior-college transfers Nate Jenkins and Gabe Hollivay not arriving until August, the OL will be more of a look-see deal this spring.

More housecleaning:

--OG/OT Tyler Bailey is up to 295 pounds and could play 2-3 line positions this spring.

--WR Evan Fentriss (knee) will miss the spring. Fentriss, a transfer from Rice who sat out 2007 as per transfer rules, was one of last spring's more exciting players.

--DE Tye Rexrode will forgo his final year of eligibility and not return by his choice, Dodge said.

--Back this spring from 2007 injuries/surgery are LB Colt Mahan and DB Zach Babb.

--Troy Phillips

RE: UNT's secondary

Props to alert UNT fans who pointed out that sophomore Antoine Bush started all 12 games last season. Left him out while breaking down secondary possibilities in the wake of Todd Dodge signing nine defensive backs on Wednesday. Still leaves UNT thin (three players) on returning secondary experience.

Typical case of the obvious getting away. Thanks, folks.

--Troy Phillips

UNT's new-look secondary

Upon further review as signing day moves to the rearview, North Texas' objective as far as the secondary now apprears twofold. Mean Green coach Todd Dodge signed nine defensive backs.

Not only did Dodge need better pass coverage, he needed more bodies. Since the fall, UNT has lost:

CB Dominique Green: First brought charges of racism against UNT's coaching staff after he was suspended in midseason. Not returning.

CB Desmon Chatman: Joined in Green's racial claims after his own indefinite suspension. Won't return.

DB Kevin Ealey: Played in four games as a true freshman, was granted a release.

CB Evyn Roman: Played in 11 games but has left the program.

Safeties Aaron Weathers, Roderick Cotton and Cliff Higgs were seniors in 2007.

That's a lot of missing DBs, with S Kartey Agbottah and CB Latif Nurudeen as the only players to see time in last year's secondary. S Greg Garden, a transfer from Navy, didn't play in 2007 as per transfer rules.

Don't look for much in back of the linebackers to materialize this spring. The fun starts in August.

--Troy Phillips

Major snafu with Scott, Texas

Darrell Scott, the nation's top-ranked running back recruit, eventually selected Colorado over Texas because of concerns about whether he would learn enough to maximize his abilities under Major Applewhite, the Longhorns' newly installed RBs coach. At least, that's the New York Times' take on the situation.

Scott shared his thoughts with a Times reporter, who was granted exclusive access to the player's final deliberations in the recruiting process earlier this week. The story appeared in Thursday's editions. During the talk with his mother, Alexis Scott, the running back quickly narrowed his list of finalists to Texas and Colorado. But he chose Colorado, where assistant coach Darian Hagan is heading into his third season in charge of the Buffs' RBs and oversaw the entire recruiting process involving Scott.

Applewhite, a former quarterback who will be a RBs coach for the first time in 2008, joined Texas' staff on Jan. 16. Applewhite, 29, replaced Ken Rucker, who had coached RBs for more than two decades at the college level.

Scott cited Applewhite's perceived unfamiliarity with the position on multiple occasions during the deliberations, according to the Times. Some excerpts:

-- In sharing his concerns about whether Applewhite could develop him as a running back, Scott said: "The more time I thought about it, the more it scared me."

-- "I do need to learn from somebody," Scott said, referring to the nuances of the position. "I do need to know how to actually do footwork and everything."

-- After calling coaches from both schools to inform them of his decision, Scott uttered these words to Texas assistant coach Bobby Kennedy, the Longhorns' primary contact in the recruiting process: "Texas isn't the spot for me because of that move. That's it."

During his Wednesday news conference to announce his signing class, Texas coach Mack Brown made it clear that he considers Applewhite a recruiting asset, not a liability. He said the same thing applies to new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, 36, who joined the staff on Jan. 4.

"Major had recruited this state for Rice, and some for Alabama. So he didn't really jump in late. He just came in and knew ... he was on the run when he got here," Brown said. "And Will is just a worker. He jumped right in and took off. So I don't think we lost anything in the recruiting process with the new coaches."

Based on Scott's comments, he clearly thought otherwise.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Mack Brown sounds off

Texas coach Mack Brown says he is a proponent the idea to add an early signing day (in December) for college football. He thinks the idea would minimize rules infractions. But he says the sport can never be completely clean. Some key nuggets on that topic from Brown's signing day news conference:

-- "We will never get rid of cheating. You can't catch the good ones and they can still sleep good at night. I do think (an early signing date) would save money and take pressure off the kids. More tough decisions are made near ... signing day because more coaches panic and more families panic when the pressure gets on."

-- "You're always going to have violations by schools because some coaches are going to cheat. That's the way they've made their living. That's in every profession, not just ours ... You're always going to have some families that buy into that and you're always going to have a certain level of families that look you right in the face and lie to you."

-- "I've talked to Joe Paterno about it ... and said, 'Joe, what do you do with guys that are being bought?' And he said, 'Stay away from them.' I said, 'Do you turn them in?' And he said, 'Nah, it doesn't do any good. Just stay away from them."

-- "There's been some publicity this year about colleges backing out (on players), and that's a very difficult thing. You can offer too may because more come than you (expect) and you can get caught. But there's not much publicity on parents that look a coach in the face and lie. That's a two-way street. Parents tell a coach (their son) is coming and then change their mind. But a coach can't tell a kid, 'You have a scholarship' and then change his mind. I don't understand the difference. I do with kids. I don't with parents."

_ Jimmy Burch

Playing for now at K-State

Kansas State just announced it has signed the 32nd and final member of its 2008 class. The Wildcats' haul includes a whopping 19 junior-college transfers, including six who enrolled in January and will take part in spring drills.

Obviously, coach Ron Prince has decided the future is now in Manhattan, Kan. Even in all the seasons that former coach Bill Snyder built the K-State program around JC signees, he never signed 19 in one class.

As things stand right now, K-State will add more JC players than Texas Tech's number of projected signees. And that total is not far behind the expected total of total signees for Texas, Colorado and Kansas (20 each).

_ Jimmy Burch

Rough morning for Big 12 South

The top three signing classes in the Big 12 South all took a step backward this morning. Oklahoma lost out to Alabama on a signing-day announcement from standout WR Julio Jones. Texas lost out to Colorado on a signing-day announcemet from standout RB Darrell Scott.

Jones and Scott were among the nation's handful of five-star prospects, as judged by Rivals.com. So we're talking about significant difference-makers.

At Texas A&M, the Aggies lost a four-star commitment when Weatherford DE Kapron Lewis-Moore signed with Notre Dame.

All three schools still project to finish 1-2-3 among Big 12 schools -- Oklahoma, then Texas, then A&M -- when recuiting analysts judge these classes at the end of the day. But the gap won't be as large as it could have been.

Among the North Division schools, Missouri and Colorado seem to be making the biggest signing-day gains. Each school has landed a five-star signee, with the Tigers adding heralded QB Blaine Gabbert and the Buffs adding Scott.

Kansas, which finished 12-1 last season, seems to be landing more across-the-board quality and reaching for fewer players who are not rated highly but might be late bloomers.

_ Jimmy Burch

Scott spurns Texas, chooses Colorado

Darrell Scott, the nation's top-ranked RB prospect, has chosen Colorado over Texas. He has an uncle who plays WR at Colorado, sophomore-to-be Josh Smith. The two grew up together, were HS teammates and have been close their entire lives.

During his live announcement on ESPNU, Scott said: "Family comes first."

He also said that Colorado coach Dan Hawkins "has a vision" for the Buffs' program and he wants to be part of it. Along the way, Scott said: "Hopefully, we can pull in that national championship."

Colorado, a 6-7 team last season, is rebuilding nicely under Hawkins. Scott figures to be a plug-in starter in Boulder and will face the Longhorns' defense this season.

Scott's decision, which went against the predictions of most recruiting analysts, means that the Texas TB job in 2008 will be a battle between Vondrell McGee, Chris Ogbonnaya and five incoming freshmen who are members of today's signing class: Brock Fitzhenry, Ryan Roberson, Jeremy Hills, DeSean Hales and Tre Newton, a Southlake Carroll grad. Fitzhenry, Hills and Newton will take part in spring drills.

Among the newcomers, Hills (5-10, 181) and Hales (5-10, 165) earned four-star accliam from Rivals.com. The others received three stars. Scott was one of the nation's few five-star prospects at the position.

What's the bottom line? Scott's decision to spurn the Longhorns means Texas' class probably will be ranked just outside the Top 10 by recruting analysts at the end of the day, rather than being a consensus Top 10 class. But, like any other signing class, the real proof of who "won" or "lost" today's battle for the blue chips won't be known for another 2-3 seasons.

But there's no denying you must consider Scott's decision a major blow to Texas' psyche and to analysts' assessment of the Longhorns' 2008 class.

_ Jimmy Burch

Texas optimistic about Scott

Most recruiting analysts rank Texas as a slight favorite over Colorado in the race to sign Darrell Scott, the nation's top-ranked HS running back, today. Scott will make his announcement live at 11:50 a.m. on ESPNU.

Scott has an uncle who plays for Colorado -- they're only one year apart in age and played together in HS -- so the Buffs have a strong emotional pull working for them. Texas, however, has an immediate vacancy at TB, now that leading rusher Jamaal Charles is headed to the NFL.

Scott's decision is the lone hanging chad in determining whether Texas' class cracks the Top 10 nationally. It's a borderline group without him, a Top 10 class with him. Already, nine incoming freshmen are enrolled for the spring semester and will take part in spring drills: OL Mark Buchanan, WR Dan Buckner, RB Brock Fitzhenry, DB Blake Gideon, RB Jeremy Hills, LB Dravannti Johnson, RB Tre Newton, OL David Snow and K Justin Tucker.

Texas is expected to sign 20 or 21 players, depending on Scott's decision.

-- Jimmy Burch

UNT spring practice dates

North Texas is scheduled to start spring football practice on March 6, the first of 15 workouts including scrimmages and the April 12 Spring Game at 2 p.m. at Fouts Field. The schedule is as follows, with most times pending:

Week 1: March 6, 7

Week 2: March 10, 11, 13

Week 3: Spring Break, no workouts

Week 4: March 25, 27, 28 (scrimmage)

Week 5: March 31; April 1, 2, 4 (scrimmage)

Week 6: April 8, 10, 12 (Spring Game)

For now, it appears the March 28 and April 4 scrimmages will be closed to the public, but no official word yet.

--Troy Phillips

UNT 2008 schedule shuffled, set

For weeks, North Texas has attempted to broker a four-way deal to make a significant alteration to its 2008 football schedule. UNT officials said Tuesday the deal is done.

UNT will open the season on Aug. 30 at Kansas State, not LSU as previously planned. The Mean Green will host Tulsa Sept. 6 and then go to LSU on Sept. 13. After a bye week, UNT travels to Rice on Sept. 27, the date originally reserved for the Kansas State game. Rice, which was supposed to host UNT on Sept. 13, is expected to release its schedule today.

The cause of all the consternation? LSU wants to play a TV game against a BCS nonconference opponent on Aug. 30, and now has that date open. UNT opens Sun Belt Conference play at home Oct. 4 against Florida International.

--Troy Phillips

Bennett headed to Pitt

Former SMU coach Phil Bennett, who was fired with four games remaining during the 2007 season, has accepted the defensive coordinator's job at the University of Pittsburgh. A source close to the situation confirmed Saturday that Bennett has alerted friends and family members to the impending hire.

A formal announcement is expected soon.

Bennett, 51, spent six seasons at SMU and compiled a record of 18-52. His best season was 2006, when the Mustangs finished 6-6 but did not receive a bowl bid. Bennett's signature victory came in 2005, when the Mustangs upset then-No. 22 TCU, 21-10, giving the Horned Frogs' their lone defeat during an 11-1 season.

Bennett, a former Texas A&M player, has previously served as a defensive coordinator on staffs at Kansas State, Texas A&M and TCU.

_ Jimmy Burch

TCU announces spring practice dates

The TCU football team will begin spring practice March 1 and conclude April 5 with its Spring Game in Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Per NCAA rules, the Horned Frogs will have 15 practices during spring drills. TCU will not practice the week of March 10-14 due to Spring Break.

The Frogs, who have advanced to nine bowl games in the last 10 seasons, are tied for 14th nationally with 46 victories over the last five years.

UNT could tweak 2008 schedule

UNT's 2008 football nonconference schedule, while yet to be announced, is set...for the moment.

The 2008 opener at national champion LSU on Aug. 30 could be moving but would require string-pulling. LSU, with one open date, apparently wants to play a TV game on Aug. 30 against a better opponent than UNT. The Mean Green has a Sept. 20 open date, but LSU is playing Auburn that day.

To make this work, LSU might need UNT to move its Sept. 13 game at Rice to some other date, if possible. Currently, LSU is showing a "TBA" in its 2008 schedule on Sept. 13. As for UNT-Rice moving to Sept. 20, that wouldn't work; Rice is at Texas that day according to the Longhorns' future schedules.

Right now, UNT is scheduled to host Tulsa on Sept. 6 and play at Kansas State on Sept. 27. LSU has games against Troy and Mississippi State on those dates, respectively.

UNT has already switched 2008 openers once, completing an agreement with Miami (Fla.) to drop an Aug. 30 meeting at Dolphin Stadium, the Hurricanes' new home starting next season.

UNT should announce its 2008 schedule soon.

--Troy Phillips

It's official: DeLoach hired at UNT

Former UCLA safeties/special teams coach Gary DeLoach can expect a warm welcome at Saturday's football banquet after the season UNT's defense had.

Head coach Todd Dodge said Thursday that DeLoach is the Mean Green's new defensive coordinator, replacing Ron Mendoza, who was fired Jan. 2. DeLoach coached at UNT from 1998 to 2002, the last three as DC.

DeLoach had a few connections to UNT other than his previous experience. Current offensive line coach Spencer Leftwich, who also worked at UNT under Darrell Dickey, is a former colleague. While at UCLA, DeLoach passed through Southlake while recruiting Dodge's players at Carroll High School.

"The first person I thought about was him," Dodge said. "I checked with [coaches] I always lean on, two or three people, and asked their opinion. They mentioned Gary, who I was already thinking about. It just confirmed what I was wanting to go with."

DeLoach has 28 years of college coaching experience, 13 as a defensive coordinator. A Houston native, DeLoach has other stops at Texas A&M, Stephen F. Austin, New Mexico State, Trinity Valley Community College and the Frankfurt Galaxy of the now-defunct World League.

Despite changes at UCLA with the hiring of new coach Rick Neuheisel, DeLoach had a chance to stay at UCLA, with much of the defensive staff retained. Family ties in Houston and the chance to rebuild a UNT defense that helped win four consecutive Conference titles (2001-2004) figured into the move.

DeLoach's first day of work is Friday, Dodge said.

_ Troy Phillips

DeLoach off UCLA's books; UNT next

It's now January 22, which for UNT football fans means Gary DeLoach should be named the Mean Green's defensive coordinator any day. DeLoach, the former safeties/special teams coach at UCLA, is expected to replace Ron Mendoza, who was fired after a 2-10 season.

At UCLA, DeLoach was hired on or before January 14, 2003, meaning he has met the required five-year tenure to receive full monthly benefits from the California educator/coach retirement system. DeLoach coached at North Texas from 1998 to 2002, the last three seasons as defensive coordinator. He spent several years coaching in Texas at the high school level (one season), as well as UNT, Texas A&M, Stephen F. Austin and Trinity Valley Community College.

DeLoach, 53, could have stayed at UCLA but chose to be closer to his mother and other family in Houston. He interviewed with UNT coach Todd Dodge several weeks ago, and sources say he's been the top guy all along. Dodge still needs a cornerbacks coach after the person he targeted, former Baylor assistant Clay Jennings, accepted the same job at TCU.

_ Troy Phillips

Offseason lists

Texas Tech is No. 10 ... in SI preseason football

Oklahoma is seventh, Tech 10th, Texas 15th and TCU conference rival BYU 18th in the 2008 preseason football rankings by Stewart Mandel of SI.com, done after the NFL defections. Georgia is No. 1. Read about it at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/01/16/power.rankings/index.html.


UNT is No. 3 ... in SN’s Terrible 20 for 2007

The Mean Green is noted for allowing 71 touchdowns in 12 games. Read the entire Terrible 20 by Sporting News’ Tom Dienhart at http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=meetthew

Applewhite's initial thoughts

Major Applewhite, Texas’ newly-hired assistant head coach/running backs coach, offered a handful of interesting insights during his introductory news conference in Austin. Applewhite, 29, acknowledged a desire to become a head football coach at the college level _ some day. But he downplayed any thoughts that he looms as the replacement-in-waiting for current Longhorns’ coach Mack Brown, 56. Such a notion, said Applewhite, is too far down the line to speculate about at this juncture. The former Texas quarterback, who holds the school’s career record for passing yards (8,353), said he’s learned the importance of making “tough decisions every day” as a college coach. Toward that end, he considers his benching as a player in favor of Chris Simms during his college career “a blip on the radar” has no negative impact on his relationship with Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis. In fact, Applewhite considers Davis his primary mentor in the coaching profession. “He always understood me, and I always felt that it was a relationship that I wanted to carry on beyond my time at Texas,” Applewhite said. Although Applewhite _ an offensive coordinator at Alabama (2007) and Rice (2006) the past two seasons _ will offer input, Davis will remain the Longhorns’ offensive play-caller during the 2008 season. Applewhite will oversee the running backs, a first-time assignment on his coaching resume. Applewhite offered the following insights on issues facing himself and the 2008 Longhorns: On replacing leading rusher Jamaal Charles, who will enter the NFL draft: “Obviously, Chris (Ogbonnaya) and Vondrell (McGee) … are going to have to step up. I’m going to meet with those guys (and establish) how we want to work at that position, the toughness that we want to exhibit mentally and physically, the effort and discipline that I want to see … on and off the field.” On coaching RBs for the first time: “The obvious part of being an offensive coordinator for the last two years is that you have to know all facets of your offense. I understand … the things we’ve been doing with the run game (at Texas).” On recruiting players to his alma mater: “As a player, guys (being recruited today) got to see me play. So it gives me a good chance to get my foot in the door and get my phone calls returned. I will be able to talk about my experiences playing at Texas … I think (his youth helps him relate to recruits). But it’s more about the continuity of the staff. A recruit is buying into a staff, into a program and into a philosophy. It’s not a four-year decision. It’s a 40-year decision that most of these guys are making. So they have to feel comfortable with the program and the leadership.” _ Jimmy Burch

TCU in process of hiring CB coach

Former Baylor cornerbacks coach Clay Jennings has been in to interview at TCU for their CB coaching position. He spent the past year at Baylor and was at Houston, Louisiana-Lafayette, Sam Houston State and Southern Arkansas (and other schools) before that. Jennings went to high school in Waco, and he played college ball at North Texas (defensive lineman 1992-95).

The Frogs hope to fill the position by the middle or end of next week. Charles McMillian was the CB coach at TCU, but he left for Texas A&M last week.

-- Mercedes Mayer

OU finalizing Norvell deal

Jay Norvell, an ex-teammate of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops at Iowa, may be named later today as receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator to replace Kevin Sumlin, who left to become the head coach at Houston.

Norvell told the Lincoln Journal-Star on Wednesday that he had accepted the position, confirming rumors from late last week. but an OU source said Thursday that though confirmation could come later today or Friday, the deal was not quite done. Norvell was offensive coordinator under Bill Callahan at Nebraska for two years before moving to UCLA, where he could call his own plays.

This will actually be Norvell's second hire at OU. Stoops hired him in 2002 as receivers coach, but he left a month later to coach tight ends for Callahan with the Oakland Raiders and followed him to Nebraska. Norvell and the UCLA staff lost their jobs after a 6-6 season and he was a finalist to succeed Joe Tiller at Purdue, also reportedly interviewed with Mike Sherman for a position on his staff at Texas A&M.

He's 44 and has also coached at Iowa State, Wisconsin and the Indianapolis Colts.

OU already has commitments from several top high school receivers, who may have a good shot at playing this season because of the defection of Malcolm Kelly to the NFL and Adron
Tennell's injury and offseason surgery.

-- Mike Jones

Applewhite deal done

Major Applewhite is headed back to Texas to become an assistant football coach, sources close to the situation have confirmed. Applewhite, 29, has accepted an offer from coach Mack Brown to become the Longhorns' running backs coach. An official announcement cannot be made before the close of business today (5 p.m., Wednesday). A likely scenario involves a Thursday news conference to formally present the Longhorns' latest hire.

Applewhite, who spent the 2007 season as Alabama's offensive coordinator, is a former UT quarterback who holds the school record for career passing yards (8,353).

_ Jimmy Burch

A&M coaching trends

There are two trends in new Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman's hires for his staff.

First, on the offensive side of the ball, there's a lot of NFL experience. Sherman has been gone from the college game for a long time. Offensive coordinator Nolan Cromwell came from the Seahawks and has never coached at the college level. New running backs coach Randy Jordan is a nine-year NFL veteran and then went to Nebraska in 2004 under coach Bill Callahan.

Which leads us to the second trend. Jordan is the fourth hire from Nebraska. The first hire by Sherman was Tim Cassidy, who has strong A&M ties and was brought in to be the associate athletic director for football, a similar position as he held at Nebraska. Since then, they've hired the strength and conditioning coach, the defensive line coach and the running backs coach from Nebraska. All of those coaches were under Callahan, who went to Nebraska from the NFL before he was fired after this season.

One concern about the hires is if there might be too much of an NFL flavor on the new staff. The coaches in the NFL get a lot more time to work with the players than they will in college. Callahan brought and NFL-type of offense to the Cornhuskers and one criticism of him was that it was too complicated for the players, especially given the time constraints.

It will be interesting to see how it all works in College Station.

_ John Miller

Major hire expected

All signs point toward Major Applewhite returning to Texas as he heads into today's interview with coach Mack Brown for a vacancy on the Longhorns' staff. Applewhite, 29, will be accompanied by his wife, Julie, a San Antonio native who -- like her husband -- would welcome a chance to move back to the Lone Star State.

Applewhite spent last season as Alabama's offensive coordinator. The Birmingham News reported that Applewhite's contract with the Crimson Tide would require Applewhite or his new school to pay a $50,000 buyout if he departs before completing the two-year deal, which expires after the 2008 season. Don't expect that to be a stumbling block. Applewhite earned $250,000 last season at Alabama, a figure UT could easily match or top.

Sources close to the situation suggest both parties welcome Applewhite's return to Texas, where he set the school's career passing record (8,353 yards) while serving as a Longhorns' quarterback from 1998-2001. At this juncture, the only vacancy on Brown's staff is for a running backs coach. That appears to be the position Applewhite would take for the 2008 season, although he'd clearly have the ear of Greg Davis in game-planning sessions because of their close relationship.

Play-calling duties? Those would remain with Davis, from all indications, although Applewhite's input would be welcomed.

By completing this hire, Brown will have added a young coach he considers a "star" in this business to each side of his staff: Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator and Applewhite as an offensive assistant. Brown is seeking creative ideas from younger staffers and he'll get plenty.

If, in the process, he's added his eventual successor to Texas' staff, so be it. But don't expect that to be an imminent move. Brown, 56, joked during last week's press conference to introduce Muschamp that he might not be interested in stepping down until he's 78, following in the footsteps of Florida State's Bobby Bowden. The purpose was to squash the idea that Muschamp was UT's next coach in waiting, as some have speculated.

Frankly, I wouldn't expect Brown to coach another 22 years. Probably not even another 12. But I wouldn't expect him to be stepping down in such a timely manner that Muschamp or Applewhite would project to be his successor unless one or the other is willing to spend a long apprenticeship on the UT staff.

The more likely of the two to do that would be Applewhite. And, by accepting a job as the Longhorns' RBs coach, he can get take a step in that direction. Expect that first step to become official soon. Perhaps by Wednesday, definitely by the end of the week.

_ Jimmy Burch

TCU completes non-conference schedule

The Horned Frogs have completed their non-conference football schedule for the 2008 season after putting the finishing touches on their contract with Oklahoma. TCU will play Stephen F. Austin, Stanford, SMU and Oklahoma in the fall, with SFA and Stanford at home and SMU and OU on the road.

This is the fifth time in the last seven years for TCU to play a Big 12 opponent in the regular-season, and they've faced Big 12 teams twice in bowl games in that span. The Frogs beat the then-No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners 17-10 in their season-opener in Norman in 2005.

Mercedes Mayer

New OL coach for the Aggies

New coach Mike Sherman continues to fill out his staff as he announced the hiring of Jim Turner as the offensive line coach on Thursday.

Let's hope his stay with the Aggies last longer than his last gig. He was hired last January to be the offensive line coach at Boston College, his alma mater. Evidently the fit wasn't right for Turner, as he suddenly resigned from the Eagles in April.

Sherman has known Turner from back when he was a coach at Green Bay.

“Jimmy and I share similar philosophies when it comes to the offensive line,” Sherman said. “When I was at Green Bay, he would come and visit. When I watched tape of his line play, I observed a group of excellent technicians and that comes from coaching.”

Turner also served as a Marine from 1990-94, which is another thing Sherman likes about his new offensive line coach.

As a former Marine officer, Jimmy will be our conduit to the Corps of Cadets because the Corps is very important to me and our staff here at Texas A&M," Sherman said. I can see the discipline, leadership and mental toughness learned from being in the Marines Corps passed along to our football players. I think he is an excellent coach."

_ John Miller

Applewhite could be joining Texas staff

Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, a former Texas quarterback who holds the Longhorns’ career record for passing yards, appears close to joining coach Mack Brown’s staff.

Sources close to the situation confirmed Monday that Applewhite has been approached about filling the vacancy that surfaced last week when running backs coach Ken Rucker took another job within the UT athletics department. An announcement could be made by Wednesday.

Applewhite, 29, played for the Longhorns from 1998-2001 and holds Texas’ record for career passing yards (8,353). He set the school’s single-season passing mark (3,357 yards) in 1999. After finishing his college career, Applewhite spent two seasons as a graduate assistant on Brown’s staff before working as a full-time assistant on staffs at Syracuse (2005), Rice (2006) and Alabama (2007).

Applewhite spent last season as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for the Crimson Tide (7-6) but shared game planning duties with Joe Pendry, Alabama’s assistant head coach/offensive line coach.

— Jimmy Burch

Brown comfortable with fresh faces at RB, TE

For the first time in his tenure at Texas, coach Mack Brown has two underclassmen who will enter the NFL draft in the same year. TB Jamaal Charles, the team's leading rusher, has departed after his junior season. TE Jermichael Finely, a burgeoning talent who was redshirted in 2005, is gone after playing only two seasons at Texas.

NFL draft analysts project no better than a third- or fourth-round selection for either player in the 2008 draft, which means both may be headed toward disappointment in April. In terms of replacing both in next year's offense, Brown said he's comfortable leaning on returnees Vondrell McGee and Chris Ogbonnaya, as well as one of more freshmen who could crack the RB rotation next fall.

In addition, Texas coaches like the progress they've seen from three young TEs who will battle for Finley's spot in spring drills: Blaine Irby, Ian Harris and Josh Marshall, a Martin HS product. Irby played some last season as a true freshman. Harris, a 2007 signee, was redshirted. Marshall, who moved from WR to TE last spring, will be a sophomore during the 2008 season.

Asked about replacing Charles and Finley, Brown said: "Stars don't win games. Your team wins games. I think we've recruited well enough to replace them. This just gives someone else a chance to step up."

_ Jimmy Burch 

Muschamp making positive impression

Will Muschamp, Texas' newly-hired defensive coordinator, is quickly winning over players and fellow staff members with his fiery personality and creative approach. Texas coach Mack Brown said Muschamp is "as good as anybody in the business" at making in-game strategic adjustments and getting the most out of the available talent.

In a Friday news conference, Muschamp said he will decide during spring drills how best to utilize Texas' existing talent and he will do so based on personal observation, rather that watching a heavy dose of videotapes from the 2007 season. He also offered some telling nuggets about his philosophy and his personality. Among them:

"I can't really tell you we'll be 4-3, 3-4 (as a base formation) ... We're going to be multiple," Muschamp said. "We're going to be fast. We're going to be physical. The kids are going to play hard or they're not going to play. I want to play relentless. I want to play with toughness."

"I think it's a clean slate every day," Muschamp said of his practice philosophy, who mandates a fluid depth chart. "It's a day-to-day operation. Everything is based on consistency in performance defensively. If they understand that they've got to do it evey single day (in practice), then it's really not hard for them to get up 12 Saturdays out of the fall. That's what I'm pushing for."

"Being good on defense is tackling well and playing in space," Muschamp said. "Your most important job as a coach is sitting down and evaluating your talent, evaluating your players and putting them in the best position where can be successful. You can't ask a kid to play man-to-man if he can't play man-to-man."

Brown described Muschamp, 36, as "high-energy" and "tough," which has drawn positive early reviews from players.

"I like his style," said LB Rashad Bobino. "These days, you have to be energetic and aggressive because offenses are improving every year."

DE Brian Orakpo said: "The energy and excitement he brings will be great ... It's really going to benefit us in the long run."

_ Jimmy Burch 

Aggies hire TCU assistant

Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman continues to fill out his staff and raided TCU on Friday, hiring cornerbacks coach Charles McMillian away from the Horned Frogs.

Overall, McMillian had a pretty nice run with the Horned Frogs. In 2005, he coached cornerbacks Drew Coleman and Quincy Butler, who both earned All-Mountain West honors. The next season, he started the year with two freshman at cornerbacks, Rafael Priest and Nick Sanders, and the Horned Frogs only allowed nine passing touchdowns that season.

_ John Miller

Dodge should name DC soon

A call to the UCLA football office on Friday revealed that safeties/special teams coach Gary DeLoach is no longer in the building.

"He wanted to go back to Texas," a football administrative assistant said.

To Denton?

"I have no idea," she said.

DeLoach, still an assistant coach on the UCLA web site, could be house-hunting in Denton area after interviewing this week with Todd Dodge for UNT's vacant defensive coordinator job. He's the most logical guy at this time for Dodge, who needs a recruiter with knowledge of the landscape to hit the ground running.

Likely to be named UNT's defensive coordinator in the next 10 days, DeLoach spent five seasons at UNT (1998-2002), the last three as DC. He coached the secondary all five years. Off just the defense, UNT had seven combined first-team all-Sun Belt selections in 2002 and 2001. He's been at UCLA since 2003.

UNT's defense hit many statistical milestones under DeLoach, but its pinnacle was a 24-19 victory over Cincinnati in the 2002 New Orleans Bowl. DeLoach has a close ally on the current UNT staff in offensive line coach Spencer Leftwich, who also had a previous UNT stint (1994-2002).

As far as recruiting Texas, DeLoach has the background. He's a Houston native and graduate of Howard Payne in Brownwood, having been an assistant coach at Texas A&M, Stephen F. Austin and New Mexico State. His defense at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens helped win a national title.

--Troy Phillips

Staff stability: the key to consistency

Football coaches frequently cite staff stability as a key in building long-term success at major-college programs. As we put the wraps on the 2007 college football season, here’s a little chart that reinforces that premise. In the decade of the ‘Aughts’ (2000-2007), nine programs have won 10 or more games at least five times. Among those nine schools, seven have had their current head coach in place for at least seven consecutive seasons (Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, USC, Georgia, Ohio State and TCU). The only exceptions, LSU and Boise State, have been long-term winners under multiple coaches for more than a decade. Although assistants come and go, stability in college football is measured by how long the head football coach remains in power at his school. By and large, that is the secret to the success of the schools that have posted the most 10-win seasons from 2000-2007. In that eight-year stretch, these schools have earned at least a share of seven national championships. A school-by-school breakdown, with 10-win seasons and national titles won in the past eight years: Texas (7 seasons with 10 wins, 1 national title) Oklahoma (7 seasons with 10 wins, 1 national title) USC (6 seasons with 10 wins, 2 national titles) Virginia Tech (6 seasons with 10 wins, no national titles) Boise State (6 seasons with 10 wins, no national titles) LSU (5 seasons with 10 wins, 2 national titles) Ohio State (5 seasons with 10 wins, 1 national title) TCU (5 seasons with 10 wins, no national titles) Georgia (5 seasons with 10 wins, no national titles) _ Jimmy Burch

Sherman retains Malone

New Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman announced that he will keep one coach from the Dennis Franchione staff, as Van Malone will remain with the Aggies. He has spent the last two seasons as the cornerbacks coach for Texas A&M and will be the defensive backs coach under Sherman.

It's not a big surprise that Sherman elected to keep Malone. The former Longhorn defensive back has the reputation as being the top recruiter from Franchione's staff and will play a big role in keeping their current class as intact as possible.

_ John Miller

Open quarterback battle

Mike Sherman said it will be an open competition for every position on the football team.

What could be an interesting battle to watch will be at quarterback. While Stephen McGee has started the last two years, Jerrod Johnson has shown a lot potential, both with his mobility and his arm strength. It won't help McGee that he will be limited to basically non-contact drills during the spring because of offseason shoulder surgery and Johnson will get the majority of the spring snaps. That's not the best scenerio for McGee, who will be trying to learn a new offense which will rely more on the passing game. McGee has had more success running the ball than throwing the ball.

What works in McGee's favor is his experience and his leadership ability. While Johnson has shown a lot of potential, he's still very raw. He didn't start playing quarterback until his final season of high school. McGee has been playing quarterback all his life and played in a pass-oriented offense in high school.

_ John Miller

Sherman's take on Martellus leaving for the NFL

New Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman had phone conversations with tight end Martellus Bennett about entering the NFL draft, but did not actively try to persuade him to return for his senior season.

"That is a decision they have to make themselves," Sherman said. "I really believe this _ if you have to convince someone to come back, they don't come back as the same player a lot of times. So if they're really eager to go, to turn their mind and somehow sway the numbers to make it look like he needs to come back, I didn't want to do that. He got some pretty good information from the NFL. I thought I gave him some very accurate information in terms of what his draft status would be. And he made his decision based on what he accumulated. So, we with him well."

_ John Miller

Hey, Jim Delany. What's your excuse this time?

Last year, not long after Florida 41, Ohio State 14, Big Ten Conference commissioner Jim Delany posted an open letter on his league's web site. It's purpose was to explain why the Gators' team speed appeared to be superior to the Buckeyes'. Delany's main message was that the Big Ten had higher academic standards than the SEC and that was why the SEC had faster athletes.

Here is the money paragraph:

"Not every athlete fits athletically, academically or socially at every university. Fortunately, we have been able to balance our athletic and academic mission so that we can compete successfully and keep faith with our academic standards."

SEC commissioner Mike Slive bit his tongue and declined to get into open warfare over another commissioner's insults and socially insensitive statements.

After LSU 38, Ohio State 24, here's hoping Mr. Delany will have the good sense to keep his opinions to himself.

_ Wendell Barnhouse

Big 12's big finish

The Big 12's strong bowl performances provided a pleasant surprise today for league officials: four Big 12 football teams cracked the Top 10 in the post-season polls, with Texas jumping to No. 10 in both the AP and coaches polls.

Voters placed Big 12 schools in this order on their final ballots: Missouri (4th in AP; 5th in coaches); Kansas (7th in AP; 7th in coaches); Oklahoma (8th in AP; 8th in coaches) and Texas (10th in AP; 10th in coaches). Texas tied with Boston College for the No. 10 spot in the final AP poll.

It marked the first time since the 2001 season that the Big 12 has placed four teams in the Top 10 in the final polls. In addition, Texas Tech cracked the Top 25 in both polls, giving the Big 12 five ranked teams in the final polls. Tech finished 22nd among AP voters and was 23rd on the coaches' ballots.

It marked the first time since the 2000 season that the Big 12 placed five teams in the final Top 25 polls.

_ Jimmy Burch

BCS hot links

Here are some worthy click-and-reads in the aftermath of LSU 38, Ohio State 24.

Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski let readers conduct their own poll regarding the national championship. It came down to a final tie-breaking vote. See the results here.

ESPN.com's Pat Forde wants to make sure that a certain team is prohibited from next year's natonal champinship game.

LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini has moved on to his next job as Nebraska's coach.

Now that the 2007 season is officially over, college football talk will turn to what, if any, changes will be made to the much-maligned Bowl Championship Series.

Here's another reason why academics is a weak argument against Division I-A having a multi-team playoff.

_ Wendell Barnhouse

All hail Michael Adams

Who? Michael Adams is president of the University of Georgia and he thinks it's time for a Division I-A football playoff. Adams is chair of the executive committee, which is at the top of the NCAA's legislative food chain. He thinks there's a 50-50 chance that the NCAA can put together an eight-team playoff.

Here's his letter on the subject that Adams sent to NCAA President Myles Brand.

It always helps when a powerful president of a school (Georgia) that thinks it could have won the national championship winds up on the outside looking in.

_ Wendell Barnhouse

Consider the source?

During SMU’s news conference to announce the hiring of June Jones, athletic director Steve Orsini mentioned that he had heard from a number of Mustangs players.

Two that he mentioned in particular with helping in the coaching search were former Pony Express running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James.

Guess the Death Penalty has truly been forgotten on The Hilltop. Asking for advice of players from that bygone era of victories and rules breaking is like a bank robber asking John Dillinger for advice on how to go straight.

-- Wendell Barnhouse

Cheer or work?

I covered SMU’s news conference that introduced new football coach June Jones Monday afternoon.

I needed pom pons instead of a laptop.

Last month, I saw the video of Bobby Peterino’s “news conference” when he was introduced as Arkansas’ new coach. They called the hogs and it was more of a pep rally than a “news conference.”

SMU employed the same strategy (as did Texas Tech when it introduced Bob Knight as its basketball coach). It was standing-room only (OK, there were only about 50 folding chairs) and there were a couple of hundred folks crammed into a too-small area. All that was missing was Peruna.

I understand the excitement created by the hiring of a new coach. But there’s a place for cheering and welcoming and there’s a place for the media to (try and) do its job. The two shouldn’t intersect.

I don’t mean to sound bitter or angry, but I was there to do my job, not to sit in the middle of applauding Mustangs fans. And make no mistake _ the SMU folks were certainly hospitable and I was able to get my work done. So maybe there’s no reason to complain.

But how would you like it if you had a bunch of foks gathered around your desk cheering and clapping while you were trying to get your work done?

_ Wendell Barnhouse