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Disgust for agents unites even rivals

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Posted: Tuesday July 27, 1999 03:52 PM

Agents remain a bigger problem in college football than dirty recruiting. And most coaches remain largely in the dark.

Consider this story: Last spring, Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer called Florida coach Steve Spurrier to ask about agent Tank Black. This was no small act, because Fulmer and Spurrier are not friends.

It seems Black was courting several of Fulmer's players, and Fulmer, who knew that Black had previously represented Florida players, asked Spurrier what he thought of Black. Spurrier told Fulmer that as far as he knew, Black was OK.

Just weeks later, Black was formally accused by the NFL Players Association of giving cash and gifts to three Florida players before they had finished their college careers. Black denies the charges and claims he's the victim of a vendetta by rival agents, but investigations are ongoing.

Stoops ready to talk trash

It seems Stoops loved the way Spurrier would make bombastic statements about his opponents, and plans to do the same thing at Oklahoma. Remember when Spurrier called the Citrus Bowl the winter home of the Tennessee Volunteers? Well, Stoops thinks that sort of rhetoric will help him fire up his own team. In fact, he's already working on how to "dis" Texas and Oklahoma State in public.

Seminole stud; Array of arms

With practice beginning in the next two weeks, here are some players you can expect to have breakout seasons.

At Florida State, 6-foot-4, 240-pound junior defensive end Jamal Reynolds has inherited the glamour position played previously by the likes of Peter Boulware, Reinard Wilson and Andre Wadsworth, all high first-round draft choices in the last three years. Seminoles' defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews says Reynolds, who hasn't started a game, could be as good as any of them.

Even though five quarterbacks were taken with the first 12 picks in last spring's NFL draft, there are several returning this season who should get plenty of attention.

Expect Purdue's Drew Brees to get most of the early quarterback publicity. Expect Georgia Tech's exciting 5-10 Joe Hamilton to get the Doug Flutie vote. Expect Marshall's Chad Pennington, who was throwing to Randy Moss two years ago, to get the sympathy vote for playing in the Mid-American Conference.

They're all good. But so is Louisville senior Chris Redman, who threw for more than 4,000 yards last year and remains right alongside Brees on NFL lists.

 

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