GrayEagle

Maybe, but he's done so much for basketball already and he's got a grandson coming on board the football team next year so I'd think that his next big donation would probably be to football.

Our 2,644 average placed us 9th in attendance average in the conference. Middle Tennessee led the way with 6,774 but that had a very good team and they've lost their coach so I don't expect to see them back on top next year. ODU and UTEP each averaged more than 6K and Marshall and WKU more than five. Western Kentucky may very well lead the attendance average this coming season because they'll get good attendance from those coming to see their new phenom and they'll get a couple more home games against a good opponent with the new scheduling. Since we know much about the players on our team (and the coaching), I expect our attendance to approximately double over this year as I believe that the new culture will include basketball.

I'm a little shocked that he's not starting at guard. Who's going to run over a 6'9", 330 lb. guard? Mostly no one. But they sure could run around him as a tackle.

Also remember that Fine was on a somewhat limited playbook last year. Harrell plans to give him more weapons this year. I believe that the running backs are good enough that any defense can't ignore them and concentrate heavily on the pass. I also believe that the offensive line will be better than last year. Lastly, I believe that the schedule is slightly easier than last year. Looks greater than 4500 yards to me.

We are #29 entering the hunt. Seventeen are FCS; fifteen are G5; and two are P5. He has scheduled visits with the two P5s...Iowa State and Kansas. He has taken an unofficial to nearby Houston. I hope that we can at least get him here for an official visit. We've had several come here and get caught up in the university, city and players. Have a visit Mr. Todd. You just might like it here.

I often hate to see these lists because there always seems to be a player or two that gets shafted. In this case it was one of our own...E J Ejiya. E. J. should have been the number 2 or 3 linebacker on the list. He was third in several categories of the returning players from last year. One of the four, Tauefua, only played in 8 games. I guess the only consolation is that it is preseason. I hope that Ejiya leaves no doubt that he belongs on the all-conference list when this season ends.

It seems to me that the other positions have a decent amount of 3* or near 3* athletes. For those that don't (or didn't) we have been able to recruit better talent or the ratings didn't match the talent. In other words we've been able to find those athletes that were underrated. For example, look at quarterback. Mason Fine was a less than average recruit (.7743) who was sadly underrated and has blossomed beyond all expectations. That's been true for nearly all positions. Jeff Wilson didn't turn any heads but he was very successful. Kelvin Smith at tight end didn't get much attention but I believe that he has done a more than acceptable job. The same has been true for virtually every position except the offensive line. For some reason, we weren't able to get any 3* recruits on the o-line and none of the other recruits have blossomed to acceptability although I'm hoping that Manase Mose breaks the trend. Was it the coaching, the coaching evaluation, or the recruiting? Whatever it was it doesn't appear to be working.

Just when I was beginning to have some confidence in the recruiting ratings, I began to scrutinize the figures assigned to our offensive line. Either we recruited some very mediocre linemen or the rating gurus don't give o-linemen any respect. Our only 3-star lineman is the former starting center Creighton Barr. He checked in at .8080. There was only one .79; former starting tackle Jordan Murray at .7905. Three were given marks in the .78s: newcomer Daizion Carroll leads with .7892. Backup backup center Dakoda Newman comes in next at .7824 and Cole Brown follows at .7803. The largest group given ratings were the .77s. Jacob Brammer was rated at .7790; Chandler Anthony .7750; Brian Parish .7709; followed by projected starters Thomas Preston III and Sosaia Mose at .7700. Two in the .76s were Jordan Redfearn and projected starter Manase Mose. Redfearn was rated .7691 and Mose .7642. In the last rated group were Jevin Pahunui at .7483 and arguably our best lineman...Elex Woodworth received a rating of .7481. The three remaining all transferred from a four year institution and thus did not receive a rating. One was the remaining starter Riley Mayfield and squadmen Ted Fausak and Chad Hickson. Edit: I inadvertantly left off Brendon Weatherspoon from the list. I found that he was given a rating of .7750...the same as Chandler Anthony and about the middle of the pack. That, in fact, is better than the average of the starters (.7631).

Anyone know why he is showing no interest to any of his offers?

I did a little digging and found that Scout does not have a rating system. Query the national rankings on Scout and it brings up 247 ratings. I don't know the connection between the two; perhaps someone could find out. The third rating could be ESPN. They must do it for all of the FBS but only P-5 teams are shown on their individual ratings (unless all G-5s are lower than 75.

I don't think that summer practices count unless all are required to attend. I'm not even sure that what would be considered "practices" by the NCAA are allowed. That would mean with coaches present. Aren't there just 30 practice days allowed before the beginning of the season?

Yes, Rivals rating system still exists. They have us 51st nationally in spite of not giving 3-star ratings to 3 or 4 of our recruits. I don't understand why their rank is not included in the 247 composite some of the time. What concerns me is Scout. It appears that if the third rating of the composite is blank, that's because they do not have the Scout rating.

All of UAB is under control of the Bama Board. UAB does not have a board of directors. They might have an appointment to the Bama Board to voice UAB's interests.

I'm not that close to the UAB situation but the whole thing reeks of mismanagement. The old TV contract called for $200,000 per team and I'm not sure how much UAB received since they just revived the program. The new contract calls for $400,000 per team. Hardly anything to get giddy about since the former take was $1M but it's still more than their operating figure had been in the planning stage of the new season after the stadium bonds were approved. What's so difficult about revising your budget to include any changes and wait until that budget is approved before hiring any new personnel? The only plus that I can give the AD is the selection of the football coach. Other than that, his administration appears to be a catastrophe and he should be out looking for a job along with the SID.

ONWARD & UPWARD!!!!

Wow! This is a great way to cure boredom that has been occurring from the end of spring training to the beginning of fall training. New playing field, very good recruiting season (and not over), IPF coming soon, TV revenue doubling, and record year for fund raising all resulting in improving our culture. We still have a long way to go but we're much closer to where we want to be than where we were. There are more improvements in facilities, facility upgrades and staff in all sports with even more planned. It's a great time to be a part of the Mean Green Nation.

Kudos to Coach Biagi! With Ejiya and Garner (our two best linebackers) being seniors, I was really worried about our linebacking future. There are a couple or three with potential but that's about it. Then along comes this recruiting class and from the looks of recruits video our linebacking problem seems well on the way to recovery. You gotta love these four commitments!

This goes way back but I just saw Wood's video and his rating is a highway robbery. Likewise I also looked at Taylor Jacobs and he also got the shaft. These guys have great recognition, speed to get there and they wrap up. Converse Judson and SGP are a high level of competition and they deserve better. I really liked the Murphy twins too. They do about the same as Wood and Jacobs but at a little lower level of competition (Bishop Lynch). I have no argument with their ratings.

Neither has 247...and they do show the Murray commit to us. Tulane may very well do that for every visit to them.

Demeco doesn't have a rating yet but he made the Daily Oklahoman Super 30 so it should be a good one when released. I also saw that he was up to 290. So, it looks like at 6-3, 290 we got about the biggest and best available. We no doubt have Derrick Shaw to thank for this. Maybe in a couple of years they'll be playing side by side on our defensive line. It looks as if Tulsa was the only other FBS offer. He did hold three FCS offers including Abilene Christian and SFA.

Since Murray was an academic All-American juco player perhaps he will receive a scholarship based on academics (as Draper had). Then if he's a contributor, GMac will give him a scholarship for his senior year. That would be the best case scenario.

Johnny was/is one of my favorite people in the sport and a class act. I wish him nothing but success. Go Johnny Go!

How many times have you seen snopes give a negative report to anything the liberal media purports as truth?

And definitely helmet-to-helmet targeting. One official threw the flag but he was apparently overruled. I believe had it been anyone, other than a service academy, the original ruling would have stood. The replay was obvious. Of course, that wouldn't have softened the concussion but I hope that it doesn't make him a target for future hits.

It seems to me that their #1 prospect should be Willie Fritz. Not only is Fritz a rebuilder (Georgia Southern, Tulane), he's from the area (Shawnee Mission). The triple option would make the Jayhawks instant trouble for the Big XII. So, go away and leave our coaches alone.