UF Prez Calls for Raise for Meyer — School Slashes Budget by $42M

University of Florida president Bernie Machen has come out stating head football coach Urban Meyer deserves a raise.

“He should be [the SEC's highest-paid coach],” Machen said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “He’s the best.”

LSU coach Les Miles is currently the highest-paid coach in the SEC, arguably the strongest football conference in the NCAA.

While I do agree with Machen’s idea in principle, of course performance should be rewarded and Meyer is the best coach in the nation right now, this is not the right time for a raise. Why? Because on Tuesday the school announced over $42 million in budget cuts. This is in addition to $69 million that was slashed over the past two years. In the middle of this budget crisis, it doesn’t seem like a raise for the head football coach should be among the school’s top concerns.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge college football fan. I get it – Florida doesn’t want to lose Meyer to a higher bidder that could come calling. However, this should be a decision that the university and Meyer should come to an agreement on so they both come out of it looking good. There are other needs the school has and could use that money for, like things that directly affect its student-athletes, that are more important in the greater scheme of things. Florida and Meyer should both remember, college is an institution for learning first. And yes, football is a huge revenue generator for the school, but even considering that, I think the money that would go toward a Meyer raise could affect many more students if used elsewhere. Waiting and not working out a raise right now will make both the university and Meyer look far better in the eyes of the football community and greater community at-large.

Kentucky BBall Faces Image Problem

I just finished writing a post about John Calipari needing to fix his image due to NCAA allegations made against his former school, Memphis, while he was the head coach. Cal was just named new head coach at Kentucky following the 2009 NCAA tournament.

Then I go to the ESPN homepage and see the following headlines:
Ex-UK coach Gillispie suing school, seeking $6M
UK recruit Wall pleads guilty to misdemeanor

If you’re keeping track at home that’s three, yes three, negative stories involving the Kentucky basketball program (counting the Memphis allegations because of Calipari) to hit in less than 24 hours. This should be a fun time for the Kentucky athletic department’s PR people…..

Another Scar for Coach Cal?

Today I saw the story break on ESPN that Memphis’ basketball program is facing NCAA charges that a former player cheated on his SATs. The player only played for the team for the 2007-2008 season and 2008 tournament.

The story states that if the allegations are proven true, Memphis could have to forfeit its Final Four appearance from that year. Then Memphis coach John Calipari was not named in the NCAA report, but in terms of image that doesn’t really matter. In 1996 Calipari lead UMass to its first Final Four appearance, but the school ended up having to vacate the appearance because of NCAA violations. He’s also been criticized throughout his career for low graduation rates. Due to the past violation by a program under his watch, Calipari will undoubtedly receive criticism for this current Memphis allegation regardless of whether or not the school is convicted. That’s just how image and reputation work. You don’t have to be convicted to tarnish your image.

Coach Cal will now face an uphill battle in his new job as head coach at Kentucky to reverse the negative connotations associated with him. I’m sure the PR people for Kentucky’s PR department will advise Calipari to do some volunteer work in the community, but I think this stigma associated with him is something that will take more time to change. It’s not an easy fix to simply throw out the image of community-friendly Calipari. He’s been involved in the community at past stops – that’s not the issue. This is something bigger that can really only be fixed through improved graduation rates and proper recruitment of stand-up high school seniors. It will be interesting to see what Calipari does at Kentucky.

My Super Bowl Prediction

With the Super Bowl just about 4 days away, it’s time for me to make my prediction.

I think the game will be pretty close, closer than many think. The Cardinals are a good team; the Steelers don’t hold as big of an edge as many believe.

Let’s break it down:

The Cardinals definitely have the better offense because it has the ability to just go off. They can score points in bunches. Pittsburgh has a solid offense, but they don’t have that big play ability to go off. However, they’re more run oriented than Arizona, meaning they can control the game clock and manage the game a little better. My vote for the better offensive team still goes to Arizona though.

The Steelers have the better defense, hands down. The Cardinals have a much improved defense over the regular season, but it’s still not as strong as the Steelers’ unit, which is the best in the league.

For special teams, I think the two teams are pretty close. I give the slight edge to the Cardinals though because I think Neil Rackers is one of the best kickers in the game.

The two coaching staffs are extremely good as well. Tomlin and Whisenhunt are both very good coaches in just their second year at the helm. I’m also looking forward to Pittsburgh’s D-Coordinator, Dick LeBeau, matching wits with Arizona Offensive Coordinator, Todd Haley. I actually can’t make a choice with this one. The two staffs are both good and it’s too close to call.

I think Pittsburgh possesses the intangibles, the main of which is experience. Many Pittsburgh players were on the team back when the Steelers beat the Seahawks in Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie year. They all learned from that and know what to expect. Their nerves won’t be as quite on edge as many of the Cardinals will at the start of the game. Kurt Warner has been to the big one before, but have many of the other Cardinals’ players?

Looking at my categories, if I would just calculate who won the most categories it comes out as a tie, 2-2 with one tie. I think the intangibles put the Steelers over the top. My call is Steelers, 24-20.

But just for the record, I will be rooting for Arizona. How can you not (unless of course you’re a Steelers fan or hater)? They’ve been so bad for so long, it would be great to see them win this one.

What Would You Ask the President To Change in the Sporting World?

Today was an historical day for our country with the swearing in of President Barack Obama. He has a lot of things he will now have to devote his attention to. However, much has been made about the new President’s love of sports. After President Obama voiced his opinions on the BCS system, many thought changing that flawed system would be one of his goals. He has since stated that he will not use his powers as President to try and initiate changes to it,  but many in the sports media have still contemplated possible changes he could make. Mike and Mike even provided listeners with the one thing in sports they would like to see President Obama change.

Just for the record, I personally think the newly sworn-in President has much more important matters to think about than issues in sports.

But just for fun, I’d like to hear from you. If you could ask President Obama to change one thing in sports, what would it be?

Super Bowl Storylines for the Next Two Weeks

Does anyone like that we have to wait 2 weeks now to watch the Super Bowl? What’s the point of the two week span from the NFL conference championships to the Super Bowl? It’s money…… Well, it’s actually buzz, which then leads to money. Two weeks gives the NFL a second week for the media to run storylines and talk about the big game, building buzz for it beyond those that watch the NFL each week. These storylines, that will run everywhere from ESPN to blogs to the major networks, will reach new people that they hope to pull in to watch the Super Bowl. Then they hope to convert those casual fans into more loyal ones. Example: Let’s say a guy’s girlfriend hears about Kurt Warner and his story, tunes into the big game and roots for Kurt’s Cardinals, and always will remember what she heard about Kurt. Maybe she becomes a Kurt/Cardinals fan and will be interested in catching some of his games next year.

I know what you’re thinking – that’s not going to happen. In most cases, yes, but it could, and the NFL hopes so. Most of the storylines will not appeal to people that don’t regularly follow the league. Most of them will be for those of us that watch week in and week out, but every once in a while you’ll get a story that has mass appeal.

The storylines have become pretty predictable:

• Kurt Warner’s journey revisited (grocery store to Super Bowl…and now back to the Super Bowl again.
• Cardinal head coach Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm playing their old team, the one that passed over both of them when choosing a head coach in favor of Mike Tomlin.
• The Anquan Boldin saga: Was his heated sideline conversation with offensive coordinator Todd Haley blown out of proportion? Or are there really negative feelings between the two?
• Ben Roethlisberger and his concussions.
• Mike Tomlin – will he become the second african-american head coach to win a Super Bowl? I sense some Tomlin/Tony Dungy storylines as well. Tomlin coached under Dungy and was mentored by him, and Dungy of course was the first african-american coach to win a Super Bowl.
• Power/physicality vs. speed/finesse. The Steelers are the former while the Cardinals are the latter.

I’m sure there will be many more, this is just a starting point. Enjoy the stories these next two weeks!

NFL Conference Championships: Post-Games Wrap-Up

Now that yesterday’s are over, let’s see how I did. Last week I predicted that Pittsburgh and Philadelphia would be left standing at the end of the day for an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl. I was half right, going 1-1 with my picks. The Steelers did beat the Ravens, but the Eagles lost to the Cardinals.

The Cardinals-Eagles game was a tough one to pick. I’m not very surprised Arizona won. Read my prediction post, I made this comment in reference to the Cardinals:

And I actually think they could win the game.

They’ve become a good, solid team. They showed that last week in Carolina and proved it to the world yesterday against Philly. We all know about their offense, but their defense has come around. Yes, this really is a championship caliber team.

Did anyone see the sign an Arizona fan was holding during one of Fox’s crowd shots?

“We are who we thought we were!”

(In reference to the famous rant by former Cardinals coach Dennis Green, of course. By the way, has there ever been a better rant by an NFL coach? That one is legendary in my mind. Much better than even Jim Mora or Herm Edwards.)

An interesting point, it doesn’t seem like this Arizona team has not changed much since Green was the coach. Is Ken Whisenhunt the difference? Or has the team finally matured together? Or were they just a few personnel changes away from making the jump (like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie)? Hard to say.

I think Pittsburgh proved, after beating Baltimore for the third time this season, that it really is the class of the NFL. They were one of the top teams at the beginning of the season and remained that way for the duration.

My prediction for the Super Bowl will come closer to the big game, since the NFL makes us wait for two weeks….during which we’ll see every angle possible outlined by the news media (which actually could make for another post in itself – stay tuned for that……..)

Jim Caldwell – Tony Dungy’s Twin?

No, I’m not insinuating that new Colts coach and recently retired Colts coach Tony Dungy are actually blood brothers. But I’ve been reading a lot of statements like, “Caldwell is not Dungy’s identical twin” in various coverage clips of Caldwell’s appointment as head coach. These statements are coming not only from reporters, but also from team representatives like Colts president Bill Polian making comments like Caldwell isn’t ‘Tony Dungy Lite.’

I guess I don’t really understand why the Colts and others are trying to distance Caldwell from Dungy. I think the Colts could do much, much worse than having Caldwell end up being a clone of Tony Dungy. Personally, if I were a Colts fan, I think I would hope that Jim Caldwell is exactly that – a clone or twin of Tony Dungy. At this point we’ve seen articles all over about Dungy’s NFL accomplishments and strong faith so I won’t go into detail on those. I’ll simply say Dungy is one of the most successful football coaches in the history of the league. I feel like he’s always been underrated. Jim Caldwell learned from one of the best, a guy that in my mind deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame someday. So everyone, please stop with the comments that Caldwell is not a Tony Dungy. Caldwell is his own man, but if he approaches his new job in the same way Dungy formerly did, the Colts will be in a good place and Caldwell will make a name for himself.

NFL Conference Championships

Before I give my thoughts on the conference championships I thought it would be fun to take a look back at how I did with my predictions for the NFL playoffs.

Yes, I took a bit of time off since I last posted. Ok, yes, bit is an understatement…. It’s been a long time since I last wrote. But I’m back in the game now.

Back in August, before the season started, I made my predictions on which teams would make the playoffs. It’s going out on a limb a bit to make predictions on playoff teams before the season starts, but I figured what the hell, why not?

In the AFC I thought the division winners would be the Patriots, Steelers, Colts and Chargers, with the wild card spots going to the Jets and Jaguars. I didn’t do terrible…. I was correct on two of the division winners – Pittsburgh and San Diego. The Colts made the playoffs, just didn’t win their division. The Patriots and Jets were in contention for playoff spots, so I wasn’t totally off on those either.

In the NFC I predicted that the Giants, Packers, Bucs and Seahawks would win their divisions and the Cowboys and Panthers would be wild card teams. I went terribly wrong with the Packers and Seahawks. The Giants were the only division winner I correctly predicted. The others either made the playoffs or were in contention.

I’m not too upset with how I did. It was pre-season picks, it really is a crapshoot. Better luck to me next year I guess.

Now on to what I think will happen this weekend in the conference championships:

NFC Championship – Philadelphia Eagles vs. Arizona Cardinals

Would anyone have predicted at the beginning of the year that the conference championship would be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium? Didn’t think so. Just based on that I would love to see the Cardinals win this game. And I actually think they could win the game. Their defense last week played great and completely shut Carolina down. Jake Delhomme I’m sure wanted to go home after the first half. Arizona’s offense speaks for itself. Kurt Warner is playoff tested and will provide a lot of leadership for the Cards.

After saying all that, I think the Eagles will win the game though. Philly’s defense is better than Arizona’s and has been more reliable week in and week out. Donovan’s just as playoff tested as Warner. Ok…..you’re right, he hasn’t won the big one like Kurt. Let me rephrase that – Donovan’s just as playoff tested as Warner in conference championship games. There, that’s more accurate. Most importantly, Brian Westbrook will not have two bad games in a row. The guy’s a stud and will show up for this game.

The game will be very competitive, but in the end, the Eagles defensive unit will make one more stop that will be the difference.

Philadelphia – 24,  Arizona – 21

AFC Championship – Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

It’s very hard to beat a team three times in one season. This had me leaning toward Baltimore. Until I did a little research…

On this Sportsbetting forum (note that I don’t condone sportsbetting – it loses you lots of $$$  – but the data here is great), it was shown that 18 times in the history of the NFL, teams have met for a third time when one team won the first two meetings. I learned that 62% of the time the team that won the first two meetings also won the third. So while it is hard, it’s not quite as difficult as I originally thought.

Pittsburgh is the better overall team. The Ravens have a great defense, a better than expected offense, but I think the Steelers reign supreme in both categories. Roethlisberger is battle tested, Flacco is not. I think the game could ultimately come down to that.

I think we’re looking at a Pennsylvania Bowl via Tampa for the Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh – 17, Baltimore – 10

Fan Q&A: Dallas Cowboys

For today’s NFL preseason fan Q&A, ATCG will take a look at early NFC favorite, the Dallas Cowboys. The questions were answered by Jeff, a friend of a friend and Cowboy fan living outside Austin, TX.

1. Do the Cowboys need to make the Super Bowl for Wade Phillips to return as the head coach next year?

 

Let me start off by saying that I am a Wade Phillips fan, he wasn’t my first choice of hire, but that was just out of my own ignorance!  The guy is a (regular season) winner everywhere he goes and he gets the most out of his players and they respect him.  But having said that, the Cowboys don’t just need to make the Super Bowl for Wade to return, they need to win it, and even then we might see a change!  It’s pretty apparent that Jerry Jones has designated Jason Garrett as Head Coach in waiting, and there’s a reason that he kept Garrett from signing with another team this offseason.  I think most fans like Wade, he’s a helluva coach and a genuine Texan through and through, but that might not be enough.

 

What’s interesting is the coaching staff.  It includes lots of familiar names from the world of football.  Wade Wilson, Skip Peete, Ray Sherman, Hudson Houck, Dave Campo, Todd Grantham, Reggie Herring, and Bruce Read are all on the staff and read out like a who’s who of nfl coaches.  Former Cowboys LB Dat Nguyen is a linebackers coach.  Wade’s son is on the staff, as is Jason Garrett’s brother.  With this staff in place, Jason Garrett can take the reins tomorrow and wouldn’t miss a beat. 

 

2. How much will Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones improve the Dallas secondary? Will he cause any off-field headaches?

 

Getting Adam Jones really gave the secondary some versatility, assuming he behaves himself and is the player he was for the Titans.  Dallas’ two weakest links last year were the secondary and the return game.  Jones provides valuable options for both.  He is a dynamic returner and a solid corner.  With the depth now at corner after the draft of Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, you could see up to 7 different corners on the active roster each week.  Also, there are rumors that Adam Jones could take over the starting spot sometime in the future with Anthony Henry moving to safety.  Then your safeties would be Henry and Ken Hamlin and longtime Cowboy goat Roy Williams could be expendable.  Something all Cowboy fans would love to see happen! 

 

I think with the leadership of the Boys office, coaches, former players, and current players, you won’t see Adam Jones provide any headaches much like Terrell Owens and Tank Johnson have moved away from.  Both are now considered leaders on this year’s squad.  Tank Johnson and former players Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin have really taken Jones under their wing, something that would have really scared you 10 years ago, but seems to fit now.  

 

3. How much will Felix Jones add to the running game in his rookie season?

 

He might not add that much to the running game this season, but his overall contributions to the team should be valuable enough.  I think Jason Garrett hopes to give Felix Jones about 10-12 touches a game through rushing, receiving, and the return game.  Felix has impressed through training camp with his ability to run between tackles and see the whole field, something that wasn’t a strength of his last year at Arkansas.  If he can show an ability to pass block, I can see Jones playing a lot of third downs.  He also gives the offense a lot of options with two back sets, splitting him wide, etc.  While not the same “name” power as Reggie Bush, you could see Dallas use Jones the same way that New Orleans does, as they have a similar skill set.  And you’ll definitely see him returning kicks next to Adam Jones.

 

What will be interesting is to see how Jason Garrett and Tony Romo distribute the ball this season.  They have playmakers all over the field and can utilize just about any formation they want.  They really made an effort to grab playmakers this offseason in Felix Jones, Tashard Choice, and Martellus Bennett and combined with Marion Barber, Terrell Owens, Jason Witten, and Patrick Clayton, it’ll be fun to watch them move the ball around, which in my mind makes Tony Romo the key guy on this team.  The offense will live and die by him.  If he gets injured, this will be a very average team at best with Brad Johnson at QB.  

 

4. The NFC East is expected to be pretty competitive this year. Will the Cowboys be able to put together a good enough record to receive a first round bye in the playoffs?

 

The NFC East could be the toughest division outside of the AFC South.  Last season, all four teams were over .500.  Only the AFC South was able to match that.  The East was the only division to have all its teams score more points than they surrendered.  It’ll definitely be a tough division once again in 2008. 

 

If Donovan McNabb is healthy, Philly is one of the tougher teams in the conference, evidenced by the fact that they have won the division 5 times, were 11-5 one other year, and have been to 4 conference championship games all over the past 8 years.  They could go 5-11 or 11-5 and it wouldn’t surprise me either way.  The key to that team once again is McNabb.  As bad as it seemed they were last year, they were 8-8 and missed the playoffs by one game.

 

The Redskins are a tough team to call.  Expectations are high every year and every year they fall apart.  Daniel Snyder spends money like Angelina has babies!  They are always the trendy pick to make that turn around.  That being said, I do like Jason Campbell (as much as it pains me to say that about a Redskin!) and think he is getting better.  Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts provide a solid, when healthy, running back tandem and they upgraded the receiving corp with Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas.  Their defense has a few holes at DT, LB, and FS, but has plenty of stars as pass rushers and cornerbacks to be stable.  Once again health will be the ongoing need for Washington to be a playoff team.  They could go 9-7 and not make the playoffs.

 

Only two things pain Cowboy fans more than watching the Giants hoist up that Lombardi Trophy last year, that’s watching the Redskins or Eagles do it!  The Giants have a very solid team again this year.  Eli Manning might have played himself onto a fantasy football roster spot with his performance late last season.  They have running backs, receivers, and a tough offensive line.  Losing Jeremy Shockey won’t hurt them one bit.  Defensively, once again look for them to create pressure.  One word comes to mind when talking about the G-Men:  Solid.  Just a good, solid all around football team. 

 

With all that being said, I think the Cowboys have the personnel to be the best team at the end of the regular season and secure a first round bye.  Anything less than a Super Bowl berth for this team, would be deemed a failure.  When you look at the conference the only team that gave the Cowboys a run for that top seed in 2007 was the Green Bay Packers.  With a QB change in 08, I don’t see them having that same success this year.  I’ll go ahead and predict the playoff teams to look like this…Dallas, NY Giants, New Orleans, Seattle, Minnesota, and about 6 teams competing for that final spot, but Washington grabbing it. 

 

5. The Cowboys’ receiving unit doesn’t look as deep as in past years. Will this hurt the balance of the offense?

 

I might be the only one, but was in favor of the hard stance taken by the Cowboys over Terry Glenn.  He was never healthy enough to contribute and didn’t need that distraction.  In fact this question should have been asked prior to last season since Glenn was unaccounted for last year.  I feel the receiving unit is deep enough with quality NFL prospects that the team will be fine.  When you add in the tight ends to this receiving core, it looks even better.  In fact, if you look at last year’s receivers you can take away Terry Glenn for all but what?  3 plays?!  So I’m reluctant to call him a loss this year if he hardly played last year.  Actually, we added rookie free agent Danny Amendola to the fold.  So if anything, we are deeper this year. 

 

Our three tight ends are set and so are Owens and Crayton as your starting wideouts.  Scouts say it takes 3 years for receivers to find their way in the NFL, we have two of them in Sam Hurd and Miles Austin.  Hurd’s got the hands and Austin’s the fastest guy on the team, if either one of them steps up during training camp expect good dividends.  Both have good NFL size and hard work ethics, they both know it won’t be handed to them.  The other spots at receiver will be manned by prospect Isaiah Stanback and rookie Amendola.  Stanback is a former Washington Huskie QB who also ran track and although he didn’t play baseball in college, was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2006 Amateur Draft.  He is definitely a playmaker drawing comparisons with Hines Ward and Antwaan Randle-El.  Expect him to see more playing time this season. 

 

As a fellow Texas Tech alum, I have followed Danny Amendola for a few years now.  Most compare him to another Red Raider, Wes Welker, and while similar in size, they do offer a few differences.  Welker has a little more speed and was a more dynamic punt returner, while Amendola is a hands guy.  He’s a sure fire football player who will catch the ball anywhere on the field and isn’t afraid to go across the middle despite his size.  You won’t catch him in the open field but look for him in a slot position catching balls in traffic as Mr. First Down.