Meeting the Two-Deep | Yesterday's victim was C Justin Keown (YouTube).
OC Brown on with 1340's Jack Dale | I'm not sure how I missed this yesterday, but offensive coordinator Neal Brown talked with footbaw with SportsRadio 1340's Jack Dale. Brown did break a little bit of news when he said that RB Bradley Marquez (DTN recruiting profile) would be starting out at receiver (I think this is absolutely the right move), WR Jakeem Grant (DTN recruiting profile) is one of the fastest players on the team, and he thinks TE Jace Amaro (DTN recruiting profile) was the best high school tight end in the nation last year. Brown also talks a bit about the offensive line and needs some of the second tier linemen to step up their game this fall.
We're #32! | I mentioned yesterday that one website had the Red Raiders at #50, but that Rivals had not ranked Texas Tech yet . . . until yesterday where Rivals ranked the Texas Tech Red Raiders at #32. This feels about right and I think this is a fair assessment from Rivals.
Tuberville Talks Paying Players, Jim Donnan and Time With Players | There was an Outside the Lines piece on former Georgia head coach Jim Donnan who is being implicated with a Ponzi scheme, although Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville says that Donnan wasn't to blame:
"Jim was the recruiter," Tuberville said when asked by ESPN how he came to invest in GLC Enterprises. "I think Jim was a little like the rest of us. He thought it was going to be a good deal and it just went bad."
Of course, the court documents apparently say the same thing:
According to the court documents, Donnan and his wife, Mary, "solicited investments from more than 50 individuals and entities to GLC" and made commissions ranging from 15 percent to 20 percent for any new investments solicited.
"James Donnan is substantially, if not principally, responsible for the initiation and operation of a far-reaching ponzi scheme that defrauded GLC and its investors of approximately $27,752,159," the court documents state.
Tuberville also talked about paying players with ESPN's David Ubben and Tuberville thinks that players should get a share of the pie:
"Each school gets a cut at the end of the year of TV money and bowl money. But then the conference gets a cut of that. Why isn’t there a cut there for the players?" he said. "Say, 'OK go split this up in the conference, all your players.' I’m talking NCAA basketball tournament, everything. There should be some kind of cut for the players. It’s just getting too expensive to live and it’s getting to the point where we’ve got to show the athletes that we want to take care of them, and I’m all for that."
Finally, Tuberville talked with ESPN's Ubben about how coaches need more time with players:
"We’re limiting ourselves in terms of the ability to be a guardian to these kids. I’m a father to 119, 120-some 19 to 20-year olds. And they’re away from home for the first time," he said. "And it’s very difficult, I promise you. It’s been made more difficult the last seven-eight years when the NCAA, in their wisdom, said ‘Ah, let’s cut back on the amount of time coaches can spend with their players.’ It just does not make any sense at all."
There's no plan in place or planned conversations to change that, but Tuberville would love to see that change.
"We’re going to have to address a lot of issues, but everybody that’s worried about, 'Well, are they getting an edge? Are they getting the edge?' We’ve gotta quit worrying about that," he said. "We need to worry about the student-athlete first, in terms of their welfare, in terms of their well-being and all of those things, and I’m sure people are going to have some coaches that go overboard and stretch things, and that’s why we put these rules in, but sooner or later, we’ve got to think of the athlete first."
The Longhorn Network vs. Texas A&M | The discussion continues as I Am The 12th Man continues to rail on the Longhorn Network, although I think that some of what the IAT12M is writing was being written or suggested on TexAgs. Anyway, IAT12M thinks that the Longhorn Network is a booster and also says that the head of the Longhorn Network will be picking the high school games to broadcast that focus on current commits to Texas (full disclosure, I didn't listen to the audio as I just didn't have time). This morning, the Chron's Brent Zwerneman writes that the Longhorn Network has the attention of the TAMU board of regents:
The execution session will be informational only, including concerning UT’s plans to air a Big 12 football game on the ESPN-owned network, and to potentially air high school games, the insider said. No action will be taken, the person added, the regents will simply be informed of the latest by lawyers concerning the deep-pocketed network.
The insider said A&M is committed, for now, to making a 10-team Big 12 work, and that the threat of a potential move to the Southeastern Conference is not in the immediate future. The Aggies nearly bolted the Big 12 for the SEC last summer, after Nebraska left for the Big Ten and Colorado for the Pac-12, before last-hour financial pledges for the remaining members by Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe kept the league intact.
The A&M insider added, however, that UT’s network, funded by ESPN, might put the league’s other nine schools at disadvantages on multiple fronts, and A&M is leading the way in checking every possibility – and also leaving its long-term options open should the league appear to have one dominating member thanks primarily to the unprecedented network. The Longhorn Network is a 20-year, $300 million partnership between ESPN, UT and IMG College.
I don't know what to think about all of this. Of course, we can argue as to whether or not TAMU actually had an offer from the SEC (some say it was an outright offer, others say it was contingent on OU coming with them) and whether or not the SEC is even an option for the Aggies. You'll also have folks stating that the TAMU BOR meeting is to investigate a bolt to the SEC, but the article seems to make it clear that this isn't an option now. Anyway, it wouldn't surprise me to think that what the meeting will consist of how can they slow down or outright stop the Longhorn Network and how can the other nine institutions create a network of their own that effectively squeezes out the University of Texas. I am also sure that the attorneys will get paid.
2nd Hand Images | For those of you who don't know, RB Baron Batch started a non-profit called 2nd Hand Images to help those people that need help. You can buy photos that Batch took during his trips to Haiti to help out that charity. Go check it out!
Texas Tech Miscellaneous | ESPN's David Ubben takes a look at the 2012 recruiting classes . . . RRS.com's Chris Level and Aaron Dickens are running through the roster and tackle numbers 99 through 90 . . .
Oklahoma St. Preview | Bill Connelly previews the Oklahoma St. Cowboys for SB Nation and has his fun stat nerd tidbit at Football Study Hall. Good stuff.
Miscellaneous | Beautiful work from Shakin The Southland on the Wishbone / Inverted Wishbone from a direct snap and the Oregon Ducks . . . per SB Nation, LSU has been interviewed by the NCAA about Will Lyles . . . Rivals.com's 10 biggest recruiting busts . . . Crimson and Cream Machine breaks down the Big 12 offensive lines and has Texas Tech at #5 . . . here's a feature on the "Workout Kid". I don't know what to say other than holy-cow, this kid knows how to workout and can play some football . . . Big East Coast Bias has their take on the SEC media guide (think asterisk) . . . Black Heart Gold Pants on the price of victory in college football . . .
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