NCAA Football FanHouse

Kentucky's Gillispie: "Maybe There is One Coach" That Wouldn't Want the Challenge

Sportz Assassin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:42:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Basketball, Kentucky Basketball, SEC Basketball, NCAA Basketball Video, ESPN

Here is an interview that Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie had on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption.

He was asked about the pressure and expectations of coaching at a place at Kentucky. At the 2:30 mark, he says this:

"I can't think of one coach in Ameri- ... well, maybe there's one coach or a few coaches that wouldn't want that challenge."

That had to be a shot at Florida coach Billy Donovan. Maybe shot is a strong word, but it is still a dig at the Gators coach. As you may know, Donovan was the frontrunner for the Kentucky job and bowed out ... which gave Gillispie the shot.

Gillispie has rewarded the Wildcats with a dramatic turnaround midseason, a 12-4 SEC mark, a share of the SEC Coach of the Year award and a likely trip to the NCAA tournament.

In Donovan's defense, he had his own challenge. Building a basketball program at a football school and winning back-to-back championships is quite a feat. You cannot blame him for not wanting to leave that.

Kentucky's Gillispie: "Maybe There is One Coach" That Wouldn't Want the Challenge originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:42:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gators Make Foley a Million Dollar Man

Ryan Ferguson — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 07:50:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Football, Florida Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, NCAA FB Coaching, Florida

Jeremy Foley is the latest addition to a growing line of multi-millionaires in the Florida Athletic Department.

A steady rise in the 31 years since [he was hired] has resulted in Foley becoming the highest-paid athletic director in the country among public universities. Foley, 54, has agreed in principle to an 11-year contract extension worth an average annual salary of $1 million.

"Simply put, Jeremy's contract is what you would expect for the best athletic director in the nation," Florida President Bernie Machen said.

Foley is considered one of the best athletic directors in the country. His hire of Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan -- both young and relatively unproven coaches at the time of their hire -- looks brilliant in retrospect. Foley's employees have been responsible for 3 national championships in the NCAA's two biggest sports in the last two years. In Foley's 11-year tenure, the Gators have won a total of 12 national championships across its spectrum of sports teams.

It almost seems comical now, but there was a time -- not too long ago -- in which Florida fans were calling for Foley's head. The low point for Foley's star was when Ron Zook's Gators lost to Sylvester Croom's Mississippi State Bulldogs, easily the worst team in the SEC in 2004. Foley took a lot of heat for Zook's haplessness, but to his credit, made a quick decision to axe Zook. His timing made the hire of Urban Meyer possible, and many schools have since emulated his quick-hook act to better position themselves for the post-season coaching search.

Gators Make Foley a Million Dollar Man originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 07:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Florida's Entirely Predictable Offseason Continues With Arrest

Brian Grummell — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 14:28:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Football, SEC, Florida Basketball, SEC Basketball, NCAA Basketball Police Blotter, NCAA FB Police Blotter, Florida

Florida football returnman Brandon James and Gator basketball player Brandon Powell were arrested recently after reportedly buying marijuana from an undercover police officer. The players bought 0.8 grams for $20 and were then nabbed after the transaction was recorded on audio and video.

Florida has suspended both indefinitely. This isn't the first off-season incident for the Gators after the Gators won the BCS national championship in January.

No fewer than seven Florida football players have dealt with significant legal issues since Feb. 1 and erased some of the good vibes from last season's national championship team.

This offseason of tumult and arrest is entirely predictable. There's simply a pattern here that's impossible to ignore: championship football teams get in trouble. Lots of it. I don't know if it's because of the high profile or arrogance or what, but it's there. Almost every recent college football champion this decade has had a slew of off-field issues following it from Oklahoma to Ohio State to USC to Texas to now Florida.

This is the new reality. Of course people will forever try to pin these situations on the schools because they're delinquent or evil or whatever other term satisfies their angst. Perhaps this is all simply the cost of being at the top. It's nice if some schools do their best to prevent these things, but as we can see those efforts don't always work out so well.

Florida's Entirely Predictable Offseason Continues With Arrest originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 13 Jun 2007 14:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Urban Meyer Cashes In On Billy Donovan's Foibles

Brian Grummell — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:14:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Football, SEC, Florida Basketball, Florida

Sometimes it pays to have an otherwise successful peer do something really stupid. Such is the case for Florida football coach Urban Meyer. It was announced last week that the Gators' football coach, leather jacket warrior and national champion will be paid $3.25 million annually as part of a six-year contract extension.

This wouldn't have been as likely even a few weeks ago, but then Billy Donovan almost left, stayed, left, and then returned. His bouncing ball act may have forced Florida to commit extra case to ensure some permanence with its pair of championship coaches.

It's not Meyer's fault, but the NCAA skeptics will be certain to mention this pay raise (and Nick Saban's salary!) to Congress. It's also certain to raise the salaries of several coaches including Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll. Stoops is alleged to have a clause in his contract allowing for near or matching salary to other highly paid coaches. Carroll will just flirt with the NFL again next offseason and quietly sign another fat extension.

Previously At FanHouse
Billy Donovan Needs To Be a Man and Apologize
Sources Confirm Billy Donovan Will Leave Gators for Magic
Things Take a Decidedly Kentucky-Ish Turn for Donovan

Urban Meyer Cashes In On Billy Donovan's Foibles originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:14:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UF President Slams Greg Oden, Big Ten, BCS

Ryan Ferguson — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 11:39:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Football, SEC, NCAA FB Fans, NCAA FB Gossip, NCAA FB Rumors, Florida Basketball, Ohio State Basketball, Big Ten Basketball, SEC Basketball, NCAA Basketball Gossip, NCAA Basketball Rumors, NCAA FB Scandal, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State

Actually, you can add Michigan and Jim Delany to that list.

Here's the full story. University of Florida president Bernie Machen has been pushing for a playoff system for college football since before Florida was selected to play in the BCS National Championship against Ohio State. In fact, he started putting the wheels in motion before Florida won the SEC championship game against Arkansas in late '06.

That he still campaigns for a playoff today, despite the fact that Florida ended up being lucky enough to get selected to the title game instead of Michigan, says volumes about his passion for the subject. And in this recent CBS Sportsline interview, Machen used both barrels of his verbal shotgun to express his thoughts.

More after the jump. (You'll be entertained, I promise.)

SPLN: On another subject, is there any way to explain the athletic success at your school the past two years?

Dr. M: More and more schools are going to try to copy our model. It's a family oriented, team-oriented system. There are kids who started on some tournament teams this year that we backed away from because of the academics.

We're the ones who started this thing about the storefront schools (giving away degrees). I started that because I got (mad) that some of our competitors were taking kids that we knew didn't belong in college.

What's going to happen I hope is that everyone starts to realize, you can win the right way. You can graduate your athletes.

SPLN: That raises another question. What did you think of Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany's open letter comparing the Big Ten to the SEC?

Dr. M: It's ridiculous. What a homer. I was at Michigan (as provost and dean of the school of dentistry). I know how they get in at Michigan. Don't talk to me about the Nobel laureates at Michigan.

Just look at Greg Oden's class schedule this semester. The Big Ten has fought the conference playoff, then they (complain) because Ohio State doesn't have a game in 48 days. (Actually 51 between the last game of the season and the BCS title game. The Big Ten traditionally ends its regular-season football schedule before Thanksgiving).

Full disclosure here: obviously, I'm an SEC and Florida fan, but I happen to agree with most of what Dr. Machen is saying. Jim Delany's inferiority complex shines brightly in his ridiculous diatribe blasting the SEC (and Orson from EDSBS wrote a brilliant and brutal dissection of Delany's idiocy which perfectly sums up my feelings on the matter) and I have absolutely no problem with Machen calling him out on it. I agree that a playoff is good for college football and that the 12th game is a boil on the sport's hindquarters. I love Machen's emphasis on graduation. And I agree that the BCS is more concerned about self-preservation rather than what's good for college football.

But Bernie, you don't need to call out Oden, who has impressed me all year long as a well-rounded, respectful ~~43-year old~~ kid who is a true team player. His amazing talents have made the 2007 college basketball season all the more exciting and intriguing. And his class schedule is, frankly, none of your damn business, or at least, you shouldn't be picking on an individual player. I wouldn't appreciate it if the president of another school called out one of our players for something like, oh, say, firing a semi-automatic rifle into the sky after a nightclub scuffle. That's embarassing enough without having to deal with scrutiny from schools in other conferences.

So, Bernie... keep it real, man. I appreciate everything else you said. KEEP SAYING IT! We need a playoff. And we need to graduate student athletes. But when you're heaving stink bombs at the enemy, leave the kids out of it.

UF President Slams Greg Oden, Big Ten, BCS originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 08 Apr 2007 11:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thad Matta to Urban Meyer: "We're Going to Kick Your Butt"

Ryan Ferguson — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 15:28:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Football, SEC, Florida Basketball, SEC Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, NCAA Basketball Fans, NCAA Basketball Gossip, NCAA Basketball Rumors

With 7:54 to go in the second half of Florida's 86-60 rout of Ohio State, Urban Meyer was shown chatting with former Ohio State receiver Cris Carter.

Greg Gumbel: "That's Urban Meyer, the head football coach here at Florida. You don't think he'd like this game to be some sort of an indicator as to when these two teams meet for the BCS championship game, do you?"

Billy Packer: "Well, Thad Matta gave him a little message yesterday. He went over to his seat is and he wrote down on the seat, 'We're going to kick your butt in the BCS championship.' So I'm sure that was a very interesting little message he received when he sat down today."

"Interesting," indeed.

Note to Mr. Matta (and the rest): Thank you for demonstrating what Ohio State athletics is apparently about... all talk, no action.

Thad Matta to Urban Meyer: "We're Going to Kick Your Butt" originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 24 Dec 2006 15:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCAA's Top Coaching Duo: Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan

Ryan Ferguson — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:54:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Football, SEC, BCS, Bowl Games, NCAA FB Fans, NCAA FB Gossip, Florida Basketball, SEC Basketball, NCAA Basketball Fans, NCAA Basketball Gossip

Larry Vettel at Gatorcountry.com wrote a nice piece entitled "Florida Duo Is Nation's Best Coaching Tandem." (requires subscription) Billy Donovan and Urban Meyer, not surprisingly, get the nod as the nation's two best coaches in the NCAA's top two sports -- Division I-A football and Division I-A men's basketball. Is Larry biased? Sure he is -- as am I -- but I think even the nastiest, bitterest Gator Hater would have a hard time arguing with championship quality success the Gators have had throughout the year of 2006. After all, not too many schools can say they field teams which can legitimately hunt for national championships in both sports, much less actually play for them... in the same year.

Vettel made a Top 10 of the best coaching duos across the nation. His picks include:

#10: Notre Dame (Charlie Weis, Mike Brey)
#9: Tennessee (Phil Fulmer, Bruce Pearl)
#8: LSU (Les Miles, John Brady)
#7: North Carolina (Butch Davis, Roy Williams)
#6: Southern Cal (Pete Carroll, Tim Floyd)
#5: Oklahoma (Bob Stoops, Jeff Capel)
#4: Texas (Mack Brown, Rick Barnes)
#3: Louisville (Bobby Petrino, Rick Pitino)
#2: Ohio State (Jim Tressel, Thad Matta)
#1: Florida (Urban Meyer, Billy Donovan)

I wouldn't argue #1 or #2. Donovan and Meyer... well, what can you say? They're the best, or, if you want to argue that point, they are without a doubt among the best of the very best. At OSU, Jim Tressel wins... and wins... and wins, while Thad Matta landed the hottest recruiting class of 2006 and Greg Oden looks to be every bit as good as advertised. Those two are also among the very best in their respective sports, and having them together at one school, especially with the tradition of winning at Ohio State, is a huge boon for the Buckeyes.

I might have swapped #3 for #4 if baseball was a consideration. In 2005 Texas won the World Series in college baseball, beating... Florida! ... for all the marbles. But as it stands, you can't argue with the long-term success Rick Pitino has had in his sport, or the inroads Bobby Petrino has made in the last few years. My only concern would be trying to keep two head coaches named "Petrino" and "Pitino" straight in the athletic department's phone banks.

#6 is almost perfect for Southern Cal, who fields Pete Carroll and his obscene win-loss column in football, but so-so Tim Floyd in basketball. Even Vettel says, "Tim Floyd has built two other solid programs and in year two is attracting top talent to play for the Men of Troy. Still, he drags down the combo ranking." It'd be hard to rank Carroll much lower than #3 in the list of active head coaches who enjoy yearly success, and many would rank him #1.

#7 is a highly debatable choice considering Butch Davis has yet to coach a single down of football at UNC. Nonetheless, he has had incredible success at the riches-to-rags Miami Hurricanes, who are "enjoying" a post-season preparing for the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise. My money is on UNC rising to the top of the ACC within 3 seasons. Meanwhile, Roy Williams keeps the Tarheels in perennial contention for a Final Four run.

#8, LSU, is sure to draw some ire from certain LSU fans, who are certain that Les Miles and his gigantic-enormo baseball cap is the wrong guy for the job. Still, in year two of his reign, the Tigers are 10-2, ranked #4 in the country, and have been given the fun and easy job of disemboweling the vastly overrated Fighting Irish in the Sugar Bowl. BCS, #4, automatic win in the Sugar Bowl... that's not half bad. And I like them at #8 because John Brady, despite his success in bringing LSU to the Final Four last year, went on an immediate "I need a pay raise" whine campaign the moment LSU lost to UCLA. I never liked the way he forced the spotlight on himself rather than his players when they had accomplished so much. So in my view Brady drags this combo down slightly. Otherwise I'd have bumped them up to #7 or #6.

Ah, and at rear admiral we have the country's favorite hamburglar, "Cheeseburger Charlie" (who no doubt rues the day he uttered the word "cheeseburger" in a press conference.) This might have been a bone thrown by Vettel, but I'm not sure I'd include this pair. Weis' success at Notre Dame has been noted in the W-L column, but the fact is that the Irish -- "America's Favorite Team" (which America?) -- shouldn't need great coaching to beat the teams they've beaten in Weis' tenure. Weis has yet to beat a ranked opponent and this January's matchup with LSU will be his second attempt to win a bowl game -- one in which he is hopelessly outclassed, in my opinion. Expect the Irish to lose yet another bowl game. My problem with Weis is that he really hasn't proven anything other than the fact he's a better coach for this group of kids than Ty Willingham. BEAT somebody before opening your yap, Charlie! On the flip side, I thought Mike Brey was a good basketball coach last year despite the Irish's strange penchant for losing in the last few seconds of the game, and the Irish look to be NCAA tournament-bound in '07.

--

What makes Florida's dominance in both sports right now so special is the fact that in the modern era, parity is widespread, the "Pay 'em to Play" dynasties of the Bear Bryant variety are long gone, and winning is harder than ever, especially in the SEC, which is absolutely loaded with talent. It is truly great to be a Florida Gator in 2006. We must savor and enjoy these moments because as quickly as they come, they can disappear again... but with Donovan and Meyer at the helm, the likelihood of this happening are greatly diminished. We Gators simply can't ask for better coaches, better support, better facilities, better recruiting bases. Everything has fallen into place, and you know who we have to thank for that?

Jeremy Foley, Florida's Athletic Director, who only 24 months ago at this time had just signed Urban Meyer after Ron Zook's disastrous run at head coach. Foley also took a chance on a young kid named Billy Donovan in 1996, showing that Foley has a unique insight (or incredible luck) into understanding how to find the right head coach for a program... his emergency decision to hire Zook notwithstanding.

Enjoy 2006. 2007 will only get better. Go Gators.

NCAA's Top Coaching Duo: Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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