Huskies' rivals call for heavy penalty
Posted: Wednesday February 10, 1999 04:55 PM
Five of new Washington coach Rick Neuheisel's assistants spent Super Bowl Sunday -- three days before signing date -- on the road visiting recruits. That was one day beyond the NCAA deadline, which made four coaches who were after some of those same kids mighty unhappy. Gary Barnett of Colorado, Sonny Lubick of Colorado State, Mike Bellotti of Oregon and Mike Price of Washington State all know the value of being the last one in a recruit's home, and they asked the NCAA to crack down on the Huskies. But the NCAA's typical penalty is that for every illegal day spent on the road, that coach must stay home for two days the following year. Two days is a small price to pay for a recruit's signature, illegal or not.
Recruiting time ... again
So now that recruiting's over, it's time for coaches to start ... recruiting. For the last few years, one of the most effective recruiting tools has been to lure top juniors to a coach's summer camp, where the prospects can be timed and run drills. Joe Paterno started this at Penn State and now every coach has followed suit. The latest gimmick is to invite seniors-to-be to pay their own way to campus for a visit this month, preferably on a weekend with a men's basketball game. This month, Michigan, Ohio State and Washington will host juniors. One of the topics on Division I's agenda this year will be an early signing period for football players. It has worked well in basketball.
Spring practice, Texas-style
Texas coach Mack Brown starts spring practice in little more than two weeks. That is earlier than most, but Brown gives some solid reasons why. If a player gets hurt, he has more time to heal. Coaches have an extra month to recharge their batteries for the next season. And the players finish their football work in time to enjoy spring with their fellow students. Brown tried the schedule at North Carolina and liked it. However, his successor at Carolina, Carl Torbush, moved spring practice back so that it will end in mid-April. Torbush wanted to guarantee quarterback Ronald Curry, who is also a guard on the basketball team, two weeks of spring practice. Torbush is a basketball optimist. He scheduled the last two weeks so that they fall after the Final Four.
Auburn's escalating woes
Auburn and Florida State couldn't wait to set up a nationally televised Bowden vs. Bowden game for next September. Then Auburn forced Terry Bowden out as coach last fall. Now the school has announced it will pay Florida State $1 million to break the two-game contract. Let's add up what forcing Terry Bowden out of a job has cost Auburn. It's paying him a $652,000 settlement. He keeps his house for five years. He keeps two cars for three years. Auburn paid Ole Miss $100,000 to buy out new coach Tommy Tuberville's contract. The Atlantic Coast Conference says it will demand $850,000 from Auburn if Florida State can't find an opponent suitable for television. Commissioner John Swofford also suggested that the ACC schools boycott Auburn. That's potentially $3 million out of Auburn's pocket and yet another self-inflicted black eye. Somebody stop the Tigers before they hurt themselves again.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers the college football beat and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's College Football Preview.
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