Headlinin’: Bret Bielema takes his anti-Urban campaign to a higher power
Making the morning rounds.
• I shall have satisfaction. Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema followed up his signing day shot at Urban Meyer Thursday by asking his athletic director, Barry Alvarez, to have a little chat with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany during today's athletic director meetings in Chicago about Meyer's "unethical" recruiting tactics at Ohio State. Bielema and coaches from Michigan State took aim at Meyer on Wednesday for violating a "gentleman's agreement" among Big Ten coaches not to pursue recruits already committed to another Big Ten school, standard operating procedure in Meyer's old SEC stomping grounds at Florida. This year, Ohio State flipped eight prospects who were already committed elsewhere after Meyer was hired in late November, including four-star linemen Kyle Dodson and Se'Von Pittman from Wisconsin and Michigan State, respectively, giving the Buckeyes the best overall class in the conference.
"I can tell you this. We at the Big Ten don't want to be like the SEC—in any way, shape or form," Bielema told the Sporting News. "I called Urban and we spoke about it. We talked about it, and he said it would stop and it did. I'll let our commissioner deal with anything else. That's not who we are [in the Big Ten]. We settle things among ourselves as coaches." Well, until you get the athletic director and commissioner involved. [The Sporting News]
•Boy Wonder. If it seems like just yesterday that Utah quarterback Brian Johnson was leading a Sugar Bowl ambush of Alabama, that's because it basically was: Johnson graduated just three years ago, in the spring of 2009, which makes his promotion to offensive coordinator at his alma mater at the tender of age of 24 all the more startling. It helps, of course, that he'll be working for his old head coach, Kyle Whittingham, for whom he's also served the last two years as the Utes' quarterbacks coach.
"Brian is a leader and a special coaching talent, just as he was a special player," Whittingham said in a press release, "and he is the right person to lead our offense." [Salt Lake Tribune]
• Das Boot, Part One. Georgia is expected to dismiss two players, wide receiver Sanford Seay and cornerback Nick Marshall, for allegedly stealing $500 from a teammate in a university dorm room, though criminal charges are not expected to be filed in the case. Marshall saw special teams duty in 13 of 14 games last year as a true freshman, and also had designs on joining the UGA basketball team; Seay redshirted. There's no official word on either's status from Mark Richt or the university. Update, 10:42 a.m. ET: Per a university press release, both Seay and Marshall have been dismissed for a "violation of team rules," along with a third freshman, cornerback Chris Sanders. [Athens Banner Herald, Fox5]
• Das Boot, Part Two. Clemson wide receiver Joe Craig has been booted from the team on the heels of a weekend arrest for criminal domestic violence. According to an arrest warrant, university police were dispatched to a "fight call" at a nearby apartment at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, where Whitney Fountain — a member of the women's track team and the mother of Craig's son — accused Craig of striking her, leaving "a red mark below her neck." Fountain and her sister retaliated, according to the warrant, leaving injuries to Craig's face and neck.
Previously, Craig was suspended for the first three games of last season for his involvement in a fight with a different female track athlete last spring, which did not result in an arrest or charges. [Charleston Post & Courier]
• The Rap Sheet. Cincinnati running back Akise Teague, 20, was arrested Wednesday on one count of burglary for allegedly stealing various items from unlocked dorm rooms as fellow students slept in January. According to court documents, Teague admitted to taking unspecified items when confronted by university police and gave investigators a written confession. [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• Book it. USC quarterback Jesse Scroggins, one of three ex-blue chips vying for the title of heir apparent to Matt Barkley, is on thin ice academically and may be ineligible next season if he fails to deliver a good semester in the classroom. "He's fallen behind," coach Lane Kiffin told the Orange County Register. "He's in a hole. He has a lot of work to do." [Orange County Register]
Quickly… Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi is retiring after a decade on the job, with a gleaming on-campus stadium and no NCAA sanctions to show for it. … Regular season attendance across all divisions set a new record last year, though FBS attendance was slightly down from a record high in 2010. … Oklahoma quietly signed six players from the juco ranks, most in the Bob Stoops era. … Missouri's basketball coach isn't recruiting Dorial Green-Beckham for the Tigers' hoops team. … Heath Shuler isn't seeking a fourth term in Congress. … And Cassanova McKinzy was only joking about spurning Clemson because he didn't know there was a Chick-Fil-A on campus, although anyone who's had Chick-Fil-A likely considers that a perfectly valid consideration.
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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
