He's easily on pace to set some kind of NCAA scoring record today. But then, so was Mississippi State quarterback Interception McGee with six through three quarters before he was mercifully benched.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued subpoenas for 39 collegiate athletic departments in a probe of their relationships with student loan providers. At its most basic, this investigation is asking whether or not cash, kickbacks, gifts and other bribes or misleading measures were communicated between various student loan providers and the cited athletic departments.Cuomo is investigating whether athletic departments at these universities agreed to promote SFS loans to students in exchange for kickbacks.
"Students trust their University's athletic departments because so much of campus life at Division I schools centers around supporting the home team," said Cuomo. "To betray this trust by promoting loans in exchange for money is a serious issue, especially when Division I schools already generate tremendous revenue from their student athletes. Today's action is an important new step as we continue to examine the unethical conflicts that pervade the student loan industry.
"The Attorney General's office is specifically investigating whether athletic departments evaluated UFS interest rates before recommending their federal loans, or if their endorsement of UFS was based purely on payments from the lender. Such an arrangement would constitute revenue sharing, which is a violation New York state consumer protection laws, as well as a violation of federal law.
D-IA football schools named (prominent schools in bold): Arkansas State, Auburn, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Colorado State, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, Ohio, Oregon State, Rutgers, TCU, Tulane, Alabama-Birmingham, UCLA, UCF, Houston, Kansas, Louisville, Oregon, Pittsburgh, USF, UTEP. See link for complete list.
Of note: USC and Texas have also been scrutinized in a similar probe, but to my knowledge it has not been linked to their athletic departments but rather the university-wide financial aid offices of the schools.It's good that athletic departments have an awareness of and working relationship with loan providers, but obviously there's a problem when that relationship gets too cozy and bad loan options are pressed upon students and student-athletes.
(Via: Yahoo!)
Kelly Quinlan of UGASports.com is reporting that Georgia offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Neil Callaway will be named head coach at Alabama-Birmingham today at a 3 p.m. press conference at the school. 
As expected, former Auburn Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan accepted the head coaching job at Samford (AL.) on Friday. The surprise was that he apparently turned down the head job at UAB hours earlier.
It appears that UAB made a play to keep Sullivan and offered to move current head coach Watson Brown to athletics director and make Sullivan the head coach. Indications on Thursday were that Sullivan was leaning toward the UAB job.
In the end, it seems that Sullivan didn't want to work for Watson Brown any longer. He served as offensive coordinator until this past season when Brown stripped him of those duties and began calling plays himself.
The results were disastrous. UAB limped to a 3-9 record this year. Watson Brown's job is very much in jeopardy this morning. Many close to the situation believe that changes will be made. The leading candidate surprisingly, is LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, who's reportedly interested. Why he would want it is anybody's guess.
Meanwhile, Sullivan, one of the truly great guys in college football, takes over a struggling Division I-AA program. However, word is the administration at Samford is first rate and is willing to give him the tools needed to win.
It looks like the perfect fit. Sullivan gets to remain in Birmingham and do what he loves most - coach. Don't be surprised to see him turn the program into a national power. He should be able to hire qualified coaches and be a strong recruiter. Let's all hope for the best for one of Auburn's all-time greats.
