Colorado defensive coordinator Greg Brown has been on the job for just a few months and already he could be considered a jinx.

Jered_BellLast Friday, during a meeting with CU's other assistant coaches, Brown said he thought sophomore Jered Bell could be a potential starter at cornerback — big news, considering the Buffs were looking to replace NFL draft picks Jimmy Smith and Jalil Brown and had seen little production out of the other players competing for the positions.

So, Brown, pleased with his new find, pulled Bell aside before Saturday's practice and told him how highly he was thought of and that ample playing time was in his future.

Three hours later, Bell, while doing a routine non-contact drill, collapsed to the ground, clutching his knee.

By the end of the day, news surfaced that Bell had torn his ACL leaving Brown scratching his head and back looking for answers in the secondary.

That's tough. What an unfortunate deal," Brown told the Boulder Daily Camera. "He had just worked himself

While many continue to scratch their heads over the timing of the firing of North Carolina coach Butch Davis, several UNC boosters are doing something about it.

ButchThey're talking about suing.

Several football supporters, who are providing ample funds to UNC's Kenan Stadium "Blue Zone" project, are seeking possible legal action against chancellor Holden Thorp and the school because of the odd timing of Davis' firing.

Don Brown, one of five attorneys representing the group, said he plans to file a public information request as early as today asking for all correspondence — including emails, text messages, letters and voice recordings — between the Chancellor and various University officials.

The issue, according to Brown: Why was Butch Davis fired just nine days before fall practice, and after repeated public statements over the past year supporting Davis as UNC's head coach?

"I can tell you, everybody that we represent is furious about the timing of Butch Davis' firing,'' Brown, whose

Butch Davis

North Carolina can't catch a break.

While trying to avoid an ethical conundrum Thursday, UNC chancellor Holden Thorp actually created one by inadvertently committing a secondary NCAA violation.

Thorp was irked that former coach Butch Davis had offered a scholarship to his son, Drew, in the midst of an all-consuming NCAA investigation without first discussing it with either Thorp or athletic director Dick Baddour. According to NCAA rules, however, no university official can comment on the status of a potential recruit, even if he is the former coach's son — and even if the official is trying to distance the school from the recruit.

"Yesterday I honestly answered a specific question asked by a reporter about a scholarship offer to a prospective student-athlete," Thorp said in a statement released by the school. "I am advised that acknowledging the scholarship offer was an NCAA Level II Secondary violation, which I regret. In accordance with NCAA policy the University has voluntarily

The least you should know about the 2011 Trojans. Part of Pac-12 Week.

• What are we fighting for? USC was picked to finish first in the South Division, but that doesn't mean a whole lot since the Trojans can't play in the first-ever Pac-12 championship game due to NCAA sanctions. They also can't participate in a bowl game. So what exactly is USC playing for this year? Mostly pride and showing that some NCAA sanctions aren't going to change the tradition of stellar football at USC.

"Yeah, we're not thinking about the negative aspects of the season," quarterback Matt Barkley said during Pac-12 media day. "We have so much going for us this year, so much talent and the special teams with the character and leadership that we have on this team. We're taking it one game at a time."

If there's one thing USC can do this year, it's right the ship that's gone a bit off course during the past couple years. USC has lost nine games during the past two seasons. The Trojans had only lost nine games

The "Free Tressel" movement among Ohio State players has ended almost as quickly as it began.

Two days after OSU freshmen proudly displayed "JT" wristbands to show support of the Buckeyes' ousted head coach, the school asked them to take them off and hand them in.

Not out of spite for Jim Tressel, mind you. It was more of a cautionary measure: The players had not run the wristbands by Ohio State's NCAA compliance office before pictures started showing up across the web earlier this week, sparking fears that wearing them might violate rules against players' promoting items for sale.

Players bought the wristbands for $15 each from an unnamed individual within the program. They were returned and the money was refunded.

Tressel resigned on May 30 for covering up major NCAA violations involving players trading memorabilia for tattoos and other benefits, including cash, a move the university hopes will deflect harsher penalties from the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. Meanwhile, the

The least you should know about the 2011 Cardinal. Part of Pac-12 Week.

• Fear the beard no more. The world wept when quarterback Andrew Luck shaved his highly publicized beard earlier this week, but if you're superstitious, it's probably just as well. Luck, the nation's top Heisman nominee, didn't have a beard a year ago when he threw for 3,338 yards and 32 touchdowns and found himself in New York getting the royal treatment from the Heisman Trophy Trust. And he had no beard when he decided to forego the NFL draft, where he was sure to be a top pick, and returned to Stanford for his junior year.

No, the beard would just confuse all that good karma and perhaps cast a black cloud over what could be an all-time great season for the Cardinal. Despite only four offensive starters returning (five if you count senior receiver Chris Owusu, who was injured last year), Stanford should once again have one of the top offenses in the country, after ripping defenses for more than 30 points in 12

Kansas and South Carolina players have been censored -- at least for the rest of the season.

Both Kansas coach Turner Gill and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier mandated their players not use Twitter during the season and possibly for the foreseeable future.

"Twitter can be a distraction, per se, but our biggest thing is really why we decided not to have our student-athletes not to have a Twitter account is really that we feel like it will prevent us from being in preparation for our program to move forward," Gill said.

If you can decipher what Gill is trying to say here, please let me know. Surely he isn't blaming Kansas' 3-9 season on the use of Twitter? Honestly, Daymond Patterson and A.J. Steward, who starred in a popular YouTube series called  "D.P. and A.J. take on KU" actually kept the team relevant this offseason with their videos and tweets.

Although, if Kansas comes out with an undefeated season, well, then maybe there's something to this whole Twitter thing.

While some

Butch Davis may have been fired from North Carolina, but not before making sure the family name had a chance to live on.

Drew_DavisBefore getting the ax last month, Davis reportedly offered a scholarship to his son, Drew, a senior quarterback at East Chapel Hill High, without telling chancellor Holden Thorp or athletic director Dick Baddour.

"I found out about that a couple months ago when I saw it online," Thorp told the News & Observer. "And yes, I was disappointed that neither the athletic director nor I knew about that."

UNC is already in the NCAA spotlight and doesn't need any more attention. The university is currently facing penalties for nine NCAA violations. Its hearing before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions is Oct. 28. Davis was fired on July 27 for what Thorp said was a "collection of problems."

Sons earning scholarships from their coaching fathers aren't anything new in college football. Recently, Cody Hawkins played quarterback under his father, Dan, at Colorado, and Riley Dodge