John Clay's Sidelines

SEC links for Wednesday:

Best story of the day may be David Hooker’s piece in the Knoxville News-Sentinel on Aaron Douglas, the returning offensive line starter at Tennessee who decided to pack up and leave Knoxville. Douglas said he dealt with depression problems, saying, “”It was really tough there for four, five, six weeks,” he said. “I had no desire to really do anything. It’s hard to explain. It’s just like your self-esteem bubble has been popped. I tried to handle it the best I could.”

By the end of spring drills, new Vols coach Derek Dooley lost Douglas, running back Bryce Brown and quarterback Nick Stephens. No wonder some think Tennessee will struggle to get six wins this fall.

BTW, the Tennessee-Oregon game on Sept. 11 will kickoff at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Also in the News-Sentinel, John Adams likes the idea of Phil Fulmer and Al Gore as commencement speakers.

Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger has a Q&A with new Mississippi State athletics director Scott Stricklin. As has been pointed out, Scott was associate athletics director for media relations at UK, but his dealings with sweethearts like me and other members of the local media did not deter him from earning the top job in Starkville.

Stricklin on his job:

“I think we’ve got to start dreaming. Twenty-five years ago we had 30,000 seats in our football stadium. This year, we averaged almost 55,000 people, 25 years later. I think we need to start coming up with a vision right now of what 75,000 football seats might look like at Davis Wade Stadium. We’re not going to get there overnight. It’s going to be a process. But once you have a long term plan, then you can start phasing it in. I think in short term, we’re going to need to add some seats there based on where the demand is right now.”

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Ex-Tennessee player admits depression’

SEC links for Wednesday:

• Chris Low of espn.com reports that the NCAA calls Alabama a “serial repeat violator.”
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News writes that the NCAA remembers Alabama’s past sins.
• Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News reports on the release of Alabama’s rebuttal to the NCAA.
• John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that Lane Kiffin’s quarterback loyalty is a worthy selling point.
• David Climer of the Tennessean writes that Tennessee seems to be back on a successful path.
• Randy Rosetta of The Advocate reports that Les Miles is still looking for answers at LSU.
• Tim Tucker of the AJC hands Georgia a mid-season report card.
• David Ching of the Athens Banner-Herald writes that Georgia needs to change the culture.
• Mark Wiedmer of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes that the Mark Richt era is much like the Phil Fulmer era.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: NCAA calls Alabama a “serial” violator’

SEC links for Thursday:

• David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger reports that Ole Miss has been prepping for spotlight of tonight’s ESPN game with South Carolina.
• Joe Person of The State writes on Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead.
• John Davis of the Oxford Eagle writes that Snead is upbeat about the SEC opener.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun writes about SEC’s football tilted balance of power.
• Seth Emerson of The State writes that South Carolina’s basketball class is stacking nicely.
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News writes that the Nick Saban-Bobby Petrino rivarly is more than hot air.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: South Carolina-Ole Miss square off tonight’

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Tennessean’s David Climer writes that Tennessee is stuck with Jonathan Crompton.
• Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun writes that Tim Tebow wants to respond to Lane Kiffin.
• Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel asks, “Can Lane Kiffin coach?”
• Peter Kerasotis of Florida Today thinks Kiffin may eat crow.
• Writing for the AJC, Stephen Caldwell reports on ex-Falcons coach Bobby Petrino’s time in Arkansas.
• Mark Bradley fo the AJC gives five reasons why Georgia may have turned the corner.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Tennessee stuck with Crompton?’

SEC links for Friday:

• Tony Barnhart of the AJC examines whether the question about Tim Tebow’s virginity was out of bounds.
• State columnist Ron Morris writes that Tim Tebow can’t hide from good-guy image.
• Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger writes that Ole Miss’ basked in the glow at SEC Media Days.
• Ian Rapoport of the Birmingham News writes that SEC mystery coach does not deserve blame for ignoring Tim Tebow.
• Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun believes that signs point to Steve Spurrier in the Tebow debate.
• Tennessean columnist David Climer writes that Ole Miss’ Jevan Sneed might be the SEC’s best quarterback.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Was Tebow virginity question out-of-bounds?’

SEC links for Wednesday:

• In the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Bob Holt previews Arkansas coach John Pelphrey’s return to South Alabama, where the Hogs play tonight. “At Gottfried’s suggestion, a clause was put in Pelphrey’s contract that if he left South Alabama to coach at a school in a major conference, he would schedule a home-and-home series with the Jaguars as a buyout clause rather than incur a financial penalty. ‘It’s tough for us to get SEC teams in our building, so this is much better for us than a buyout,’ Gottfried said. ‘But John easily could have bought his way out of this, and he kept his word.’”

• The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Bruce Pearl’s name has been mentioned in connection with the NBA opening for the Washington Wizards. Actually, the mention comes from the Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonell, who wrote, “I heard an interesting name Monday as a potential candidate for the Wizards job down the road: Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl. Grunfeld is a Tennessee alumnus and was also around Pearl when he coached Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Grunfeld was running the Milwaukee Bucks.”

• In the Gainesville Sun, Kevin Brockway reports on Florida’s win over Washington in the CBE consolation game. “With No. 17 Florida struggling to hold on late against Washington in the consolation game of the O’Reilly Auto Parts/CBE Classic, the Gators turned to an old standby to bail them out Tuesday. Senior guard Walter Hodge broke an 81-all tie with a 3-pointer with 1:01 left, allowing Florida (4-1) to hold on for an 86-84 win against the Huskies to salvage third place in the tournament.”

• In the Mobile Press-Register, Paul Finebaum writes that the odds are stacked against Auburn on Saturday. “Others have wondered if it’s true that Nick Saban has considered resting his starters against Auburn so nobody would get hurt before the SEC title game.Or will he simply let the seniors play for a series or two so they can get a standing ovation from the adoring crowd? What chance does Auburn have of pulling the upset? Two shots: Slim and none.”

• Birmingham News columnist Kevin Scarbinsky writes that Auburn’s challenge is to go down with a fight. “You know times are tough for the Auburn football coach when the best public compliment he’s gotten in ages comes from the Alabama football coach. And it comes five days before the Iron Bowl. We’re a long way from Ray Perkins vs. Pat Dye.”

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Pelphrey returns to South Alabama’