Shortening the games -- and maybe players' lives
Greg Schiano has a proposal to do away with kickoffs, and a way to make the game actually work. While everyone's been paying attention to concussions, and rightfully so, the most likely source of catastrophic injuries remains the kickoff.
But one of the culprits identified in the column about Schiano's ideas is only partly to blame.
This, of course, is the biggest obstacle Schiano faces: Tradition. No one likes even small changes in the game, and this is a big one. His idea requires people governing the sport to finally value player safety over fan entertainment, when nearly every decision tends to go in the other direction.
Which is true as far as it goes, but not in regards to one of the changes that the article talks about: Moving the spot for the kickoff back five yards. That wasn't done in the college game because of tradition or, as Schiano suggests, for excitement, but as part of an effort to speed up the game. For television.
With all the talk of amateurism and how important it is -- and I agree -- it's time for college presidents and the NCAA to set an example. Tell the television networks that the sport will no longer harm its players to capitulate to TV, and will either move the ball to the 35 or do away with the kickoff altogether.
Jadeveon Clowney 'on track' for South Carolina
This has been swirling around for a while now, but Jadeveon Clowney's high-school coach is saying he should be enrolling in Columbia this summer.
Tide LB leaves
It's hard to phrase Petey Smith's decision any other way.
"Basically, I just felt that I wasn't giving it my all," Smith said. "I'm not going to say I wasn't happy. I didn't feel like I had an opportunity to show what I could do with reps and everything. Instead of waiting, I thought I'd just go somewhere else."
Probably not somebody Nick Saban will miss too much.
Ducks-Tigers already sold out
That didn't take very long.