NCAA Football Ncaa Fb Rumors

Outgoing LSU receiver Demetrius Byrd is hospitalized and in intensive care after an auto accident. The Associated Press says his agent David Dunn expects him to be OK while LSU officials say the accident happened Sunday near his Miami home.

We're delighted to hear he should be alright but this is obviously tough news for him and his family just days before the NFL draft. Byrd had 37 receptions for 513 yards and four touchdowns last year, his second at LSU after transferring in from a junior college. He is perhaps most famous for his beautiful corner of the end zone game winning touchdown catch as time expired against Auburn in 2007 (video after the jump) that helped preserve LSU's national title hopes.

First, the Green Bay Packers expressed interest in Greg Paulus, the former Duke University point guard and high school All-American quarterback. Then, University of Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez had a meet-and-greet with Paulus about the possibility of playing in Ann Arbor this fall.

And today, there's this: Duke also wants in on the Paulus action. But unlike the Wolverines -- who could envision him as a quarterback in their spread offense -- Blue Devils football coach David Cutcliffe has no such plans. Nope, he'd like to kick the tires on Paulus, college wide receiver.

The excellent Dr. Saturday unearthed a nice find last Tuesday, citing a newspaper columnist in Alabama frustrated with the NCAA's punishment of Alabama and Florida State while USC seems to skate by after the Reggie Bush affair.

Progress has certainly been slow for the NCAA in developing some kind of punishment for the Trojans. It certainly appears Bush received extensive compensation from several wannabe agents while he was still playing at Troy, conduct against NCAA amateur rules. Folks are frustrated and out for blood, but perhaps they shouldn't be.

Lane Kiffin has done a bunch of kind of silly things since he became the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. But none of them can really top his most recent behavior: his coaching staff started ripping their shirts in front of recruits, WWE style.

Seriously. Now, apparently Kiffin didn't actually rip his, but the whole point of the exercise was to get the players pumped. And it worked, according to some of the accounts, even if it started a little awkwardly after an assistant coach told the high schoolers how seriously they take special teams at Tennessee.

We've been following this Bryce Brown saga for, well, probably less than the amount of time constituting a true "saga," but enough to possibly give credence that highly-recruited tailbacks are to the college game what highly-paid receivers are to the NFL (see also: David Oku).

While linking his name to nearly every hot commodity outside of his Wichita origins, up to and including Canada, the No. 1 offensive prospect according to Rivals had a verbal commitment to Miami, bolstered by the fact that his brother is currently a linebacker for the 'Canes and his pops apparently wants to see him at Miami too.

On Sunday the Nebraska Cornhuskers found out that one of the quarterbacks who they were expecting to compete for a starting job this spring, Patrick Witt, was transferring from the school. The news came as a bit of a shock considering that Witt could have been considered the favorite to win the job this spring based on being the most game-tested field general the Huskers had.

Well, it appears that Witt and his father wanted a little more assurance that Patrick would be the man under center this fall. Word out of Lincoln is that Witt was asking Bo Pelini to promise him he'd be named starter after spring practice or he was going to seek a transfer.

I think Virginia coach Al Groh gets enough done in 2009 to, at the very least, leave on his own terms. Say what you will, but the usual pattern dictates that Virginia surpass expectations a year after falling flat. Once that happens, the inevitable goes down and Craig Littlepage heads down I-20 to Richmond and meets whatever demands Mike London has.

Blue turf and blue collar: that's the Randy Shannon philosophy so-to-speak in regards to postseason berths as well as talent management. Particularly after Larry Coker's leather-so-soft touch (remember the Willie Williams article?), Shannon was sought to instill a stabilizing force to a program that was spiralling into internal chaos, and they weren't winning anymore all that much either.

Well, we saw how the Robert Marve saga ended up. And now, Bryce Brown, #1 recruit according to Rivals and semi-legendary waffler, no longer has a standing offer to Miami. Beyond the fact that Miami already has two highly-regarded tailbacks in its 2009, here's the money quote: "No one player is bigger than the University of Miami." This comes from a source within the UM program, but still- it's credible considering Shannon's bent as of late.

Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach is seeking a contract extension. The university is open to giving him one. However, the end result of their negotiations could be Leach getting fired.

Yes, you read that right. A coach with a 76-39 career record, coming off an 11-2 campaign that saw his team in the midst of national championship talk in November, could lose his job. Why? Because it appears schools are sick and tired of watching their successful coaches flying all over the country to interview for jobs they perceive as better than the one they have.

So you want to know how over-the-top college football recruiting has become, how utterly insane it is these days? Allow me to present the case of Bryce Brown.

Arguably the top prep prospect in the entire country, Brown verbally committed to Miami a year ago, but told The U. that he would still visit his other college options. He did so, putting together a list that included Oregon, Kansas State, Tennessee, USC and Auburn.

Then on signing day, with all those teams holding their breath, Brown signed with ... no one. And here's the kicker: He may not wind up at any of those places, according to his "manager" Brian Butler -- instead opting for a professional contract in the Canadian Football League.