nli-headline

The Recruiting Game Part 1: Commitment

College football recruiting exists as a game-within-the-game, with a final score given out each February on national signing day. So much in the recruiting game occurs behind the scenes, most of which the majority of fans will never see. For better or for worse, coaches are commonly judged more for how their recruits perform as […]

Is The Big 12 Conference Salvageable?

How close the Big 12 Conference was to full implosion six years ago this month, the world may never truly know. So many conflicting accounts surfaced at the time, and still leak out today, it’s difficult to parse reality from fiction. Colorado was the first to go, leaving for the former Pac-10 on the 10th. […]

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Jaylon Smith and Myles Jack Aren’t Warning Signs

Popular opinion dictated both Myles Jack and Jaylon Smith were first-round talents well before either qualified for the NFL draft. Both tumbled out of the first 31 picks Thursday, however, the result of injuries sustained their final season in college football. A simplistic interpretation of cause-and-effect dictates, then, that had either Jack or Smith sat […]

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5 For Friday: College Football Coordinators Mt. Rushmore

This week’s Q&A featured a question on first-year college football coordinators. Not included was the following gem from Bang The Book Radio’s Adam Burke, a topic deserving its own column. @kensing45 @cfbhuddle Who would be on the current "Mount Rushmore" of offensive & defensive coordinators? — Adam Burke (@SkatingTripods) March 16, 2016 This is 5 […]

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5 For Friday: The Best Conference Championship Games

Conference Championship Week — excuse me, “Champ Week,” as ESPN has rebranded it — is afoot and leading us directly into Selection Sunday. For college basketball junkies, it doesn’t get much better than the week-and-change of tournaments played across the country. Conference tournaments have given us such memorable moments as the 2009, six-overtime classic between […]

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Cobra, Von Miller and Other SEC Legends

Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller’s Super Bowl 50 MVP is now to college football what 1986 train-wreck Cobra is to cinema. The dreadful Sylvester Stallone actioneer was loosely based off a novel by Paula Gosling entitled Fair Game. Upon Cobra‘s release, Warner Books wanted the book rereleased to capitalize on the film’s box office success. […]

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It’s Hard Out Here for Coordinators

Coordinators operate as college football programs canaries-in-the-coal-mine, or Uncle Elmer’s trick knee just before a tornado. Abrupt dismissal of a coordinator often suggests impending trouble, or damage control amid ongoing turmoil. The relatively short shelf-life of most coordinators is reflective of today’s win-now college football landscape, albeit at warp-speed. This week alone, four programs coming […]